DEMORALIZATION OF THE CHURCH. G35 the salvation of thy soul, and reproaching thy recklessness. How then dost thou repay my many favors ? Why in thy court dost thou suffer unchecked the foulest pride, insatiable avarice, wantonness execrable to me, and all-devoiuin" simony ? Moreover, thou dost seize and carry away from me innumerable souls, for well-nigh all who go to thy court thou plungest into the fire of hell Gird up thy loins, then, and tear not. Arise and bravely seek to reform the Church which I have purchased with my blood, and it will be restored to its former state, though now a brothel is more respected than it is. II* thou dost not obey my command, know verily that thou wilt be condemned, and every devil of hell will have a morsel of thy soul, immortal and inconsumable." In another vision St. Birgitta was ordered to represent to the pope the deplorable state of all orders of the clergy. Priests were rather pimps of the devil than clerks of God. The monasteries were well-nigh abandoned, mass was only celebrated in them in- termittently, while the monks resided in their houses and had no shame in acknowledging their offspring, or wandered around, fre- quently clad in armor under their frocks. The doors of the nun- neries were open night and day, and they were rather brothels than holy retreats. Such is the burden of St. Birgitta's repeated revelations, and nothing that Wickliff or Huss could say of the depravity of the clergy could exceed the bitterness of her denun- ciation.* The inspiration of St. Catharine of Siena was equally outspoken. In her letters to Gregory XI., Urban VL, and the dignitaries who listened respectfully to her enunciations of the voice of God, her constant theme is the corruption of every rank in the hierarchy and the immediate necessity for reform. To Gregory she an- nounces that God will sharply rebuke him if he does not cleanse the Church of its impurities ; God demands of him to cast aside lukewarmness and fear, and to become another man, that he may eradicate the abundance of its iniquity. To Urban shG says that it is not possible for him to put an end to the evil everywhere committed throughout Christendom, and especially by the clergy, but at least he can do what lies within his power. The prelates she describes as caring for nothing but pleasure and ambition ; they
- Revelat. S. Brigittae Lib. i. c. 41 ; Lib. iv. c. 33, 37, 142.
St. Birgitta was canonized in 1391 by Boniface IX., and after the Schism was healed this was confirmed in 1419 by Martin IV. Both popes ascribe her reve- lations to the Holy Ghost.
