Having spent over three days making a copy the 200 pages of the Rule himself, Eugene now had to submit his copy to an official for verification. He arrived with his two large manuscripts at the Vatican office where this was done, and was not getting much response to his persevering request. His narrative continues. with a sense of humor:<\/p>\n
\nI do not know if it was to oblige or rid themselves of me that they pointed to one of the secretaries who had his nose down as he wrote; he was the one, they said, who was given this kind of thing. I approach him politely, he shows me his desk laden with papers; I sympathize with him over his excessive work and propose to him forthwith that I come to his house in the evening. This does not suit him, he prefers to give me a rendezvous for his day off, that is to say Thursday at nine in the morning.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Nine o\u2019clock prompt, I am at his door; my instrument of suffering was ready by then and before executing me, the holy man had already taken the precaution of saying his Vespers. You can understand what I grasped from that. I had fallen on the most scrupulous priest in Christendom; to that I owed being expedited in one day but the delicacy of his conscience resulted in my paying “usque ad ultimum quadrantem” <\/strong>[ed. Matthew 5:26 In truth I tell you, you will not get out till you have paid the last penny].<\/em> He had been told to check the manuscript, he did not spare me a single iota. He took my copy while I read the original aloud; in vain I hastened, he dogged along after me with eyes and nose, for he did not really see beyond his nose, physically as well as morally. He interrupted my agony for a moment while he took his coffee; he forcefully wanted me to drink a cup with him but I held out so that I would not cost him more than a glass of water which had become indispensable to me; I drank it drop by drop during my long session which lasted more than four hours and during which my throat lost its elasticity twenty times, which a mouthful of water restored immediately it was taken. At last, at half past one, I got through and pronounced the last word of my manuscript which might nearly have been the last of my life. Anyway I was through at the cost of having my throat inflamed for the rest of the day. By evening, I could swallow again and things returned to normal.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Letter to Henri Tempier, 27 February 1826, EO VII n 227<\/em><\/p>\n
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\u201cSome people are making such thorough preparation for rainy days that they aren’t enjoying today’s sunshine.\u201d \u00a0 \u00a0William Feather<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Having spent over three days making a copy the 200 pages of the Rule himself, Eugene now had to submit his copy to an official for verification. He arrived with his two large manuscripts at the Vatican office where this … Continue reading