By the age of eighteen he had memorized the entire Bible
As it was, Savonarola was the precursor of the Protestant Reformation. By his terrific denunciation of the corruptions of the Roman Catholic Church, he prepared all Europe for the Reformation. His life and teachings had a great influence upon Luther, who acknowledged his indebtedness to him, and spoke of him as "a Protestant martyr."
And though Luther escaped his own death sentence, he found a particular resonance with Savonarola; two years after hiding away in Wartburg Castle, Luther published Savonarola’s prison meditations on Psalms 51 and 31 and praised him as “that godly man of Florence.”
CHAPTER XIV.
ST. VINCENT FERRER ENDOWED WITH THE GIFT OF PROPHECY —
THE GRACE OF MIRACLES ACCORDED, WITHOUT MEASURE, TO
THE SAINT.
OD, of Himself, and through the instrumentality
of His saints, revealed to Vincent Ferrer his
own predestination, and the glory which would
surround his name in the Catholic Church. This was
not enough : He moreover willed that the Saint's own lips
should announce it to the people. On one occasion, there-
fore, when preaching at Alexandria in Piedmont, he thus
spoke to his auditory : '* My brethren, I have good news
to tell you : there is a young man among you who will
be the glory of the Seraphic Order and of Italy (he sig-
nified St. Bernardino of Siena). He will take my place
among you when I shall have returned to Spain. His
heavenly life and holy teaching will bear most abundant
fruits; he will become a great light in the Church,
which will honour him before it accords the same honour
to myself." The prophecies contained in these words were
literally fulfilled. Bernardino of Siena, having entered
the Order of St. Francis, preached in Italy, died in 1444,
Käyttäjiä lukemassa tätä aluetta: Ei rekisteröityneitä käyttäjiä ja 1 vierailijaa