Post #6036

Whether in spite of this he was preaching to the few who had remained, or whether he was only protesting that he wanted to preach, he spoke with such resolution and energy, that from that sage alone the Heretics who were lost understood, if he made himself heard, and therefore they came to the sacrilegious resolution to kill him. The Saint heard this, and retired to a small cell, then reduced to a chapel, he stayed there for many days to beg God with harsh scourging, rigorous fasting and very ardent prayers, to want to forgive those blind and hardened people, and to give them docility to allow themselves to be instructed in duties, and in the dogmas of the Catholic Religion. Then he comes out of his retreat, and goes straight to the Adriatic beach where the Marecchia river flows into the sea and calls the fish aloud to hear him celebrate the praises of their Creator, since men so much more bound to glorify him did not want them. to listen. Upon hearing this command, many who were present, either out of curiosity having a distant following or conducted there for pleasure, among curious and mockers, to observe what was happening. And soon the water was moved, the fish appearing darting in various flocks, and dividing each in its own kind with beautiful order, the smallest ones closest to the Saint, the middle ones, and the largest ones further and further away forming an amphitheater; and all raise their heads of various shapes and colors from the water, like a carpet of gems; and there, standing still in the act of listening to him; indeed surprising and pleasant miracle. He took the Saint to represent to them the particular benefits they received from the Creator […] It seemed that those animals understood, they seemed so attentive; and that they consented and applauded his speeches by raising their heads and opening their mouths. Whether the bystanders were stunned is not to say. From the beginning some ran to the town square and, narrating the view, drew immense people to see such a great miracle. The Saint then: "Blessed be God - he said - that He is honoured by fish more than by heretical and unfaithful men". To such a manifest and unheard-of miracle there were few who could prevent copious tears of wonder and compunction. And here, blessed the fishes with the Holy Cross and dismissed them, these with waving their fins and tails and bowing their heads, dived and disappeared. Then resuming St. Anthony to speak: “From the silent animals of the sea - he said - you, men, learn to be grateful and obedient to God”; and having come to represent the malice of sin and particularly of the Heresy and to refute it with extreme force, the number of converts, both of the vicious and of the most brazen Heretics, was incredible; and very few were who did not surrender to him.