Legendsofmiracleshavethusgrownaboutthelivesofallgreatbenefactorsofhumanityinearlyages，andaboutsaintsanddevotees。Throughouthumanhistorythelivesofsuchpersonages，almostwithoutexception，havebeenaccompaniedorfollowedbyaliteratureinwhichlegendsofmiraculouspowersformaveryimportantpart——apartconstantlyincreasinguntiladifferentmodeoflookingatnatureandofweighingtestimonycausesmiraclestodisappear。Whilemodernthoughtholdsthetestimonytothevastmassofsuchlegendsinallagesasworthless，itisverywidelyacknowledgedthatgreatandgiftedbeingswhoendowtheearthwithhigherreligiousideas，gainingthedeepestholdupontheheartsandmindsofmultitudes，mayattimesexercisesuchinfluenceuponthoseaboutthemthatthesickinmindorbodyarehelpedorhealed。

　　Wehavewithinthemodernperiodverymanyexampleswhichenableustostudytheevolutionoflegendarymiracles。OutoftheseI

　　willselectbutone，whichischosenbecauseitisthelifeofoneofthemostnobleanddevotedmeninthehistoryofhumanity，onewhosebiographyisbeforetheworldwithitsmostminutedetails——inhisownletters，inthelettersofhisassociates，incontemporaryhistories，andinamultitudeofbiographies：thismanisSt。FrancisXavier。FromthesesourcesIdrawthefactsnowtobegiven，butnoneofthemareofProtestantorigin；

　　everysourcefromwhichIshalldrawisCatholicandRoman，andpublishedunderthesanctionoftheChurch。

　　BornaSpanishnoble，Xavieratanearlyagecastasideallordinaryaims，devotedhimselftostudy，wasrapidlyadvancedtoaprofessorshipatParis，andinthispositionwasrapidlywinningacommandinginfluence，whenhecameundertheswayofanotherSpaniardevengreater，thoughlessbrilliantlyendowed，thanhimself——IgnatiusLoyola，founderoftheSocietyofJesus。

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