Brother Jacoba
"When St. Francis died, his friend Lady Jacoba, whom he always affectionately called Brother Jacoba, was led to him. Francis's vicar placed the body of Francis in her arms and said, 'Here, hold now in death him whom you loved in life!' But she, her hot tears falling upon his body, cried aloud and sighed, embracing and kissing him and brushing aside her veil so that she could see him unimpeded. She looked upon that precious vessel in which was hidden an even more precious treasure, the five pearls of the wounds of Christ. In awe she contemplated Francis's body upon which God had sculpted his own wounds into a masterpiece, the wonder of the whole world. And Lady Jacoba, filled with extraordinary joy, drew new life from looking upon her dead friend." --Celano, Treatise on the Miracles, 39
For us who grieve over a lost one, we can take comfort in knowing they are with the Lord. Even if we do not know whether they believed before they died, we can cling to the hope that in their heart they did.
"When St. Francis died, his friend Lady Jacoba, whom he always affectionately called Brother Jacoba, was led to him. Francis's vicar placed the body of Francis in her arms and said, 'Here, hold now in death him whom you loved in life!' But she, her hot tears falling upon his body, cried aloud and sighed, embracing and kissing him and brushing aside her veil so that she could see him unimpeded. She looked upon that precious vessel in which was hidden an even more precious treasure, the five pearls of the wounds of Christ. In awe she contemplated Francis's body upon which God had sculpted his own wounds into a masterpiece, the wonder of the whole world. And Lady Jacoba, filled with extraordinary joy, drew new life from looking upon her dead friend." --Celano, Treatise on the Miracles, 39
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