TWO POPES CANONIZED, BUT NO HALO FOR CARDINAL CISNEROS IN 1653.

Two popes have been canonized.  John XXIII was a saintly man, but John Paul II? If standing up to communism is a miracle, maybe Cardinal Cisneros, Inquisitor General and Regent of Spain, should have qualified as well. He stood up to the Moors after all. He personally led an army against Algeria, or whatever it was called then.

AND he worked 450 miracles. Here’s the short-list:

• To begin with, Cisneros didn’t sail to North Africa on ordinary breezes. He had the wind in his sleeves.
• When he addressed his troops and prayed fervently on their behalf, he didn’t just work up an ordinary sweat. A supernatural sweat appeared on his brow.
• During the battle, he had a little help from heavenly crows pecking out the eyes of his Moorish enemies. The day wasn’t long enough to allow the Cardinal to win a decisive victory. Luckily he was able to stop the sun from setting. The sun stopped, the winds dropped, the clouds moved, birds descended – the Servant of God ruled them by divine dispensation.
• When he finally conquered Oran, a cross appeared in the sky.

Not enough to be canonized? Okay, folks, here is more:

• He produced bread from heaven and a sparkling stream of water in the desert.
• He levitated from time to time.

Nope, not good enough. The application for his canonization was rejected.
Maybe the applicants should have quoted the historian Jacques Marsollier:
Cisneros was a politician of integrity, an incorruptible man who loved the people.
Now that’s what I call a miracle!

(Source: Pedro de Quintanilla, Archetypo de Virtudes, Espexo de Prelados…1653. Image mgar.net)