was to be a
savior of men, and the second part because he entered the monastery at
Horta. A short time after he finished his novitiate, people in some
way got the idea that he had a wonderful gift of healing, and soon
patients came to him in crowds from all parts of the country. He
continued healing for several years. At one time during the feast of
the Annunciation he cured six thousand persons, and at another time he
found ten thousand patients, from viceroy to laborer, waiting for him
at Valencia before the convent of St. Marie de Jesus. Notwithstanding
his apparently great success, his brother monks complained to the
bishop concerning the dirt and disorder caused by the crowds, and
after a reprimand he was sent at midnight to the monastery at Reus,
where he was known as Alphonse and assigned to the kitchen. In spite
of this, crowds continued to come and he was transferred from
monastery to monastery, but always with the same result--the crowd
sought him to be healed. He was known as simple, open, and obedient in
his relations with men, and austere toward himself. He was patient and
resigned, compassionate toward the poor and sick, and full of zeal for
their conversion. The number of patients he is said to have cured is
incredible, and it is even said that he resuscitated three dead
persons. After his death miracles were performed at his tomb. Why he
was not in favor with his superiors and his brother monks is unknown;
his friends say they were jealous; his enemies, that his cures were
not genuine.

St. Philip Neri (1551-1595), the founder of the Oratorians, was
renowned as a healer. He cured Clement VIII of gout by touching and
prayer, a woman of cancer of the breast by the mere touch and
assurance, a man of grievous symptoms such as loss of speech and
internal pain by simply laying on of hands, and many similar and
equally serious cases. The following case was counted nearly equal to
a resurrection: "In 1560 Pietro Vittrici of Parma, being in the
service of Cardinal Boncompagni, afterward Pope Gregory XIII, fell
dangerously ill. He was given up by the physicians, and was supposed
to be as good as dead. In this extremity he was visited by Philip who,
as soon as he entered the sick man's room, began, as was his wont, to
pray for him. He then put his hand on Pietro's forehead, and at the
touch he instantly revived. In two days' time he was out of the house
perfectly well and strong and went about telling people how h