384 BuoniCattolici
At the death of the righteous, they were pregnant with power. God himself
directed them. The semiliterate Franciscan Giovanni of Alverna made many
mistakes speaking Latin, but when he uttered words of consolation to the
brethren from his deathbed, he spoke with flawless grammar.^13 At death, the
believer could, like Saint Petronio, call down a blessing on the good or
prophesy divine punishment on evil livers. Pietro Pettinaio, the combmaker
of Siena, died surrounded by family and admirers, who sang ‘‘the holy offices
instituted by the Church’’ for the dying. His vita, in rather formulaic words,
reports that Pietro had properly confessed and received both viaticum and
(unusually) extreme unction. He died with dire words on his lips: ‘‘Woe to
you Pistoia; woe to you, Florence; and woe also to you, Siena!’’^14 His biogra-
pher, Pietro of Monterone, explained that these utterances foretold the de-
struction of Pistoia, and Florence’s defeats at Altopasso and Montecatini. He
gave thanks that Siena was still safe, thanks to the patronage of the Virgin.
Perhaps Siena’s security was wishful thinking; Florence would soon be on
the rebound.
Lives of holiness, like those of Petronio, Giovanni, and Pietro, might seem
beyond the reach of most in communes, but the Church stood ready to aid
the less perfect with her rites and sacraments. Excluding the excommuni-
cated (and even their cause was not hopeless), anyone could convert, confess,
and make a good end. But death might come at any time and place. Confes-
sion began the process of dying. Without it, all else was worthless. Preachers
recommended practices to ensure that believers not face death without con-
fession. A man fell mortally wounded in a battle between Bologna and Mo-
dena, we are told. Fortunately, he had fasted, eating only bread and water,
on the vigils of all feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary for seven years, trusting
she would save him from unprepared death. The man died on the battlefield,
but not before a priest had arrived to hear his sins.^15 Ordinary people imi-
tated the patron of Bologna and availed themselves of the Virgin’s help in
their last hour. In a story dated about 1300 , one dying woman sent for her
priest to bring viaticum. He arrived to find that the Blessed Virgin was there
and had just helped the woman make a peaceful death. The Virgin adored
her son, Jesus, present in the Host brought by the priest. The priest, some-
what frightened, asked why the Queen of Heaven would assist at an ordinary
laywoman’s death. ‘‘The woman had said the Ave one hundred times a day
and had done many other things in the Virgin’s honor; thus it was fitting
that she deserve it.’’^16 Preachers held up fasting in honor of Mary and ex-
13 .Acta [B. Joannis Firmani sive Alvernae], 5. 49 ,p. 469. On the numinous quality of the deathbed, see
Arie`s,Western Attitudes, 7 – 8.
14. Pietro of Monterone,Vita del beato Pietro Pettinajo, 10 ,p. 115 : ‘‘Guai a te Pistoia, guai a te Fiorenza;
e guai ancora a te Siena!’’
15. Pisa, Biblioteca Cateriniana del Seminario Arcivescovile,ms 139(xivcent.), fol. 139 v.
16. Ibid., fol. 145 r. Other miracles in this collection focus on the power of recited Aves as a devotion;
see, e.g., fol. 145 v. But devotions claiming to protect the user from death in mortal sin, such as those