Bilocation is the phenomenon in which a Servant of God is in one place at a given time, and at the same moment, by a mysterious presence, is in another place a distance away, where impartial witnesses hear him speak and see him move in a normal fashion. One writer explains: “That bilocation is physically impossible, that is, contrary to all the conditions of matter at present known to us, is the practically unanimous teaching of Catholic philosophers in accordance with universal experience and natural science.” It is also noted that some of these great thinkers believe that “the instances of bilocation narrated in the lives of the Saints can be explained by phantasmal replications or by aerial materializations.” No matter how it is explained, or whether or not it is believed, the subject of bilocation has been mentioned in the lives of numerous Saints—their instances of bilocation have been witnessed by trustworthy persons at both the places where they appeared, even at times being acknowledged by the Saint who performed such a wonder through the grace of God. Additionally, numerous instances of bilocation have been so well-documented, witnessed and investigated that they are accepted facts in the history of the Church and in hagiography. It is understood that the mystical gift is not given for the convenience of the recipient, but to aid him in helping his fellow man or in performing a function some distance away that had been forgotten. Often the recipient of this gift employs it to attend the dying, to comfort, to instruct and for many other reasons which we will now explore.
The most extraordinary incident of this Saint’s ability to bilocate took place when Pope Clement XIV was dying. The Rev. Tannoia, a companion of the Saint, relates: During the morning of September 21, 1774, Alphonsus, after saying Mass, threw himself in his armchair, as he was not wont to do. He appeared prostrate and absorbed in thought, making no movement, speaking no word and asking no one for anything. He remained in that state for all that day and the night that followed, and all the while took no food and made no sign that he would undress. The servants who saw him in this position, wondering what was to happen, stood by the door of his room, unwilling to go in. On the morning of the 22nd he had not changed his attitude and the household did not know what to think. The fact is that he was in a prolonged ecstasy. Later on in the morning, however, he rang the bell to announce that he wished to say Mass. At that signal, it was not only Brother Romito who came as usual, but everybody in the house ran to the bishop’s room. On seeing so many people, the Saint asked in surprised tones what was the matter. “What is the matter?” they answered, “this is the second day that you have not spoken, eaten, nor given any sign of life.” “You are right,” said Alphonsus, “but you do not know that I have been assisting the Pope, who has just died.” Shortly afterwards it became known that Clement XIV had died on September 22 at seven o’clock in the morning, at the very time that the ecstasy of St. Alphonsus came to an end.
📝 ST. GERARD MAJELLA (d. 1755), a member of the Redemptorist Order, which was
founded by St. Alphonsus, also experienced the phenomenon of bilocation on a number of occasions. One day when he had received no answer from Muro about a pressing affair, he said to his companion, “I must go there.” The next day he was seen at Muro while, on the other hand, his companions declared that he had not left the monastery. Another time, Fr. Margotta revealed to Dr. Santorelli that St. Gerard, although in his room, had nevertheless spent the night in ecstasy before the Most Blessed Sacrament in the choir of the Franciscans. The Rev. Nicholo Fiore of Teora, impressed by the Saint’s reputation, spoke to Dr. Santorelli about his desire to meet him. Dr. Santorelli replied that he would arrange a meeting. A few days later the Rev. Nicholo arrived at the monastery to conduct business and informed Dr. Santorelli that an introduction was unnecessary since Gerard had visited with him at his home some days earlier. Dr. Santorelli, who knew that the Saint had not left the monastery, took the Rev. Nicholo to a place where Gerard and the community had gathered and asked the Rev. Nicholo to identify him. Rev. Nicholo pointed him out without hesitation.
📝After conducting a mission at Piombino, ST. PAUL OF THE CROSS (d. 1775) was accompanied to his ship by a great number of people. Among them was Dr. Gherardini, who remained on the pier until the ship was out of sight. On returning to the city and going into a friend’s house, Dr. Gherardini saw St. Paul of the Cross coming out of a room. Not believing his own eyes, he went to the Saint and said, “How now, Fr. Paul, are you here? I have been with you down to the pier, I have watched you to a distance out at sea, and now I find you here?” The Saint replied, “Be still. I came here for an act of charity.” He then disappeared.
📝There lived at Cupertino an elderly gentleman, Octavius Piccinno, who was affectionately called “Father.” He had asked ST. JOSEPH OF CUPERTINO (d. 1663) if he would kindly assist him at the hour of death. The Saint promised to do so and added, “I shall assist you, even though I should be in Rome.” This proved to be a prophecy, since the Saint was in Rome when the old gentleman became sick. When the last hour of the man’s life approached, those who were tending him saw St. Joseph of Cupertino speaking with him. Among the many witnesses was Sr. Teresa Fatali of the Third Order, who spoke to the Saint and in amazement asked, “Fr. Joseph, how did you come?” He replied, “I came to assist the soul of ‘Father,’ ” and then suddenly disappeared.
During the time that the Saint lived at Assisi, he was seen at Cupertino assisting his mother during her last hour of life. Realizing that she would be denied her son’s presence, she cried out, “Alas, my dear Joseph, I shall not see you again.” To the amazement of all who were in the room, a bright light filled the place. Presently St. Joseph was standing beside the dying woman, who exclaimed, “O Father Joseph! O my son!” At that same moment Fr. Custos at Assisi met the Saint, who was crying as he entered the church. When Fr. Custos inquired about his sadness, Joseph replied, “My poor mother has just died.” A letter, arriving a few days later, verified the Saint’s statement, as did several persons who lived with the Saint’s mother. They solemnly testified that the Saint had assisted his mother on her deathbed.
📝ST. LYDWINE OF SCHIEDAM (d. 1433), a victim soul who endured numerous afflictions that kept her perpetually bedridden, was once visited by the prior of the monastery of St. Elizabeth, which is situated near Brielle on the Island of Doorne. The Saint gave him a description so detailed of the cells, the chapel, the chapter house, the refectory and the porters’ lodge that the prior was astounded. “But how can you know all this?” he asked in amazement, knowing that she could not leave her bed. “My Father,” she replied with a smile, “I have been there frequently when I was in ecstasy . . .”
📝It is a certainty that ST. MARTIN DE PORRES (d. 1639) spent all his religious life at the Monastery of the Holy Rosary in Lima, Peru; yet, according to reliable witnesses, he was seen at different times in Mexico, China, Japan, Africa, the Philippine Islands and perhaps even in France. The accounts of these bilocations are well authenticated, especially that which took place in Mexico City. A merchant who had resided in Lima and was a good friend of the Saint went on business to Mexico City, but before leaving he visited his friend to implore his prayers for a safe journey and success in his business undertakings. Upon his arrival in Mexico he became desperately ill. At the height of his sufferings he asked, “O my God! Why isn’t my good friend Brother Martin here to take care of me when I am so desperately ill?” Immediately the Saint was beside him. The sick man, full of questions about the Saint’s providential arrival, was told, “I just arrived.” After ministering to the merchant, setting the room in order and prescribing a medicinal draught, the Saint reassured the merchant that he would soon recover. The saintly Dominican then disappeared as mysteriously as he had arrived. The merchant promptly returned to health, and hoping to thank his benefactor, whom he thought was visiting Mexico City, he tried to locate him. He first visited the Dominican friars at their monastery, but learned that they had not been visited by anyone from Lima. He went to the residence of the Archbishop of Mexico, but without success. After inquiring at hostels and inns he learned that no one could give him information about his friend. It was not until the merchant returned to Lima that he understood what had taken place. After telling his story to the priests of the Saint’s monastery, he learned that Br. Martin had never left Peru. The merchant then understood that Martin had not only prayed for the success of his Mexican trip, but had also extended his promise by supernaturally ministering to his needs.
A native of Peru returned to Peru after spending many years in China and listened with astonishment as St. Martin conversed with him on the customs of the Chinese Empire. The Saint also gave him a minute and accurate description of a holy Dominican lay brother of extraordinary virtue who resided in Manila, whom St. Martin had met in the Philippines in some mysterious way. The Saint himself alluded to his gift of bilocation when he was tending to a patient who was suffering agonies from erysipelas. The Saint advised that the blood of a fowl be applied, but the patient objected, expressing a repugnance to the treatment. The Saint persisted, saying, “I do assure you it is an efficacious means of relieving your sufferings—for I saw it used successfully in the hospital at Bayonne, in France.” What is regarded as the most substantiated case of St. Martin de Porres’ bilocations was vouched for under oath by a man named Francisco de Vega Montoya and concerns the Saint’s miraculous visits to northern Africa. A man whom Francisco knew well had been held captive in Barbary. Many times he saw the Saint carrying out his mission of mercy among the captives: caring for the sick, comforting the afflicted, clothing the naked and encouraging the prisoners to remain steadfast in their faith. After regaining his liberty the man travelled to Spain, and after a time journeyed to the city of Lima. One day, while visiting the monastery of the Dominican friars, he spied Brother Martin. Rushing up to him, he thanked the Saint for all his acts of kindness in Africa, but the Saint merely motioned for him to be quiet. When they were alone, the Saint begged the man not to mention his presence in Africa to anyone. The man later learned from one of the Saint’s companions the supernatural nature of the Saint’s visits. With enthusiasm he went about telling everyone of the supernatural grace afforded the humble lay brother.
📝ST. CATHERINE DEI RICCI (d. 1590) was born of a distinguished Florentine family. She became prioress of St. Vincent’s convent at Prato and was outstanding among mystics for the intensity of her gifts and ecstasies. A stigmatic who suffered the agony of the Passion twenty-eight hours every week beginning at midday on Thursday and ending at four o’clock on Friday, Catherine also had the gift of bilocation. She is known to have had frequent conversations with St. Philip Neri while he was in Rome and she in her convent at Prato. Although they had exchanged a number of letters, they never met, except through their mystical visits, which St. Philip Neri readily admitted had occurred and which five reputable persons swore they had witnessed.
📝Perhaps the most extraordinary case of bilocation is that recorded in the life of VEN. MARY OF AGREDA (d. 1665), a humble nun who spent forty-six years in the Convent of the Conception in Agreda, Spain. Not only did the Venerable travel mystically across Spain and Portugal, but she also crossed an ocean to visit another continent that was known as America. Her final destination was New Mexico and the Indians of an isolated tribe. The event took place in the following manner. One day in the year 1620, while rapt in ecstasy, Maria was transported to New Mexico, where she was commanded by Jesus to teach the Indians. She spoke in her native Spanish, but was nevertheless understood; she, in turn, understood the language of the Indians. Because they did not know her name, the Indians called her the “Lady in Blue” because of the blue mantle she wore over her habit. When she awoke from her ecstasy she found herself in the convent in Agreda. Two reports of a nun teaching the Indians reached Don Francisco Manzo y Zuniga, Archbishop of Mexico. One report was from Mary of Agreda’s own confessor, Fray Sebastian Marcilla, who contacted the Archbishop to learn if Mary of Agreda’s report to him that she had bilocated to the Indian territory was correct. The other report came from missionaries who related how the Indians sought them out under the direction of a Lady in Blue. To determine the truth of these reports the Archbishop assigned Fray Alonzo de Benavides of the Franciscan Order to investigate. Fray Benavides was then the director of the missionaries who labored from Texas to the Pacific. One day in the year 1629 Fray Benavides was sitting outside the Isleta Mission when a group of fifty Indians from an unknown tribe approached him and asked that he send missionaries to their territory. In his letters to both Pope Urban VIII and King Philip IV of Spain, Fray Benavides revealed that the Indians had travelled a great distance from a place called Titlas, or Texas, and that they knew where to find the friars from the directions given them by a Lady in Blue who had taught them the religion of Jesus Christ. Two missionaries were sent back with the Indians. These holy men found the Indians well instructed in the Faith and baptized the entire tribe. After searching for eleven years, Fray Benavides finally found the mysterious nun, not in America, but in Spain. On his return to Spain in 1630, he visited the Superior General of his order, Fr. Bernardine of Siena. It was he who told Fray Benavides that the Lady in Blue was Sr. Maria of the convent in Agreda. Realizing that the nun, out of humility, would not reveal her secret to him, the holy nun was placed under obedience to tell all she knew about the visits to America. In the presence of her confessor, Fray Benavides questioned her in regard to the various peculiarities of the province in New Mexico. She described the customs of the different tribes of Indians, the nature of the climate and other details. Fray Benavides later wrote that “she convinced me absolutely by describing to me all the things in New Mexico as I have seen them myself, as well as by other details which I shall keep within my soul.” Fray Benavides was later installed as the Auxiliary Bishop of Goa, India. He was ordered by His Holiness Pope Urban VIII in 1634 to write an account of his personal investigations. Of Sr. Mary of Agreda, Fray Benavides once wrote, “I call God to witness that my esteem for her holiness has been increased more by the noble qualities which I discern in her than by all the miracles which she has wrought in America.”
The Provincial of Burgos, Fr. Anthony da Villacre, submitted Mary of Agreda to a rigorous ecclesiastical examination. In the end he declared her mystical favors to be authentic. Abbe J. A. Boullan, a Doctor in Theology, wrote of Sr. Mary, “In the highest rank among the mystics of past ages, who have been endowed with signal graces and singular privileges . . . must be placed, without hesitation, the Venerable Mary of Jesus, called of Agreda . . .” Ven. Mary of Agreda bilocated to America during an eleven-year period from 1620 to 1631. She experienced more than five hundred “flights,” sometimes making as many as four visits in one day. Mary of Agreda is also the author, with the help of the Blessed Virgin, of The Mystical City of God, which is regarded as the autobiography of the Mother of Jesus.
. . . people who wanted to see him approached the chapel and found him so deep in prayer that they decided not to disturb him. When they returned to the street, they were surprised to see him talking to some people. They hurried back into the chapel and saw him still lost in prayer.
📝Before ST. DROGO (d. 1186) was born, his father died and at his birth his mother also died, leaving him an orphan. When he was old enough to understand, he learned that his mother’s life had been sacrificed for his own, a revelation that distressed him greatly. Around the age of eighteen he decided to follow Our Lord in strict poverty and embarked on a penitential life as a pilgrim, visiting churches and shrines in several lands. After a time he settled at Sebourg, near Valenciennes, where he was hired as a shepherd by Elizabeth de la Haire. In this humble position he grew even deeper in prayer and virtue and was regarded as a Saint by the people of the district. It is known that he tended the sheep every day, yet he was often seen assisting at the offering of the Holy Sacrifice in distant churches. So many of these bilocations were noted that a local saying became widely known: “Not being St. Drogo, I cannot be in two places at the same time.” After six years the holy man resumed his pilgrimages. St. Drogo died at the age of eighty-four after suffering for many years from a repulsive and painful hernia, which could not be hidden. He is the patron of shepherds.
📝The Spanish Franciscan ST. PETER REGALADO (d. 1456) entered the Order at the age of thirteen and practiced all the austerities and virtues of a perfect religious. After his ordination he was made superior, and then, soon afterwards, was appointed head of all the monasteries of the reformed movement in Spain. He is known to have kept an almost continuous silence and to have spent the greater part of the night in prayer. God rewarded his faithful service with extraordinary graces: he was often seen raised above the ground with flames radiating from his body and he possessed an agility and ease which our glorified bodies will one day experience. Strangest of all, it was also established that he was often found at the same hour at monasteries far distant from one another, transacting business for the Order.
I had gone in by the kitchen door which faces the street . . . I went up the first staircase and came down the other . . . there are apple trees. I saw a big row of apple trees. I saw the old clock tower and the press house with its big screw press. I devoted myself to the garden and went across country, cutting across the walk which runs diagonally . . .
After a few minutes he turned to his guest and solemnly warned, “Say nothing of this to anyone.”
In the first instance, during the night of January 28-29, Fr. Branda was sound asleep when he heard the voice of Don Bosco calling him by name and instructing him to get up and follow him. Fr. Branda went back to sleep after he decided it must have been a dream, since he knew Don Bosco was in Italy. A week later, during the night of February 5-6, he again heard the voice of Don Bosco and saw him standing at the foot of his bed. Fr. Branda got up quickly, dressed, approached the Saint and kissed his hand as a sign of respect. The Saint then said, “Your house is going on well. I am pleased with you, but there is one dark spot.” Suddenly Fr. Branda saw an apparition of four young men, two of whom he recognized as boarders of the house and two as pupils. With a look of anger and severity, Don Bosco pointed at one of the apparitions and said, “Tell this one to be more prudent. As for the others, they must be expelled. Show them no pity, and do it as soon as possible.”
After this, Don Bosco and Fr. Branda walked through two dormitories. Fr. Branda recorded, “I did not see Don Bosco use any key to unlock the rooms, the doors opened of themselves before him and a luminous halo appeared to surround him on his way, lighting up everything on his path.” When they returned to Fr. Branda’s room, Don Bosco again repeated the order of expulsion and disappeared. It was four o’clock. Fr. Branda, now plunged into darkness by the absence of the apparition, wondered about the vision and the order to expel three boys when there was no proof of their guilt. He decided to wait, but within a few days he received a letter from Turin written by Fr. Rua which stated: “As I was walking with Don Bosco today under the porticoes of the Oratory he bade me ask you whether you had carried out the order he had himself intimated to you a short time ago.” In spite of this, Fr. Branda decided to wait a day or two, but then one morning, when he was about to start Holy Mass, he reported: “While I was reciting the Introibo at the foot of the altar, I felt in my innermost being an imperious voice murmuring: ‘If you fail to carry out the order, this is your last Mass.’ ” After Holy Mass, Fr. Branda called for the boys. “Strange to say during the interrogation, each of them unwittingly assumed the attitude in which he had appeared as an apparition on the night of February 6.” The three were summarily expelled.
The dying man was Giovanni Battista Rizzani, a fervent Mason who refused to be baptized. At the same time that his wife, Leonilde Rizzani, was praying at his bedside, Padre Pio was having “the extraordinary experience” at San’ Elia a Pianisi. Leonilde looked up and saw a young man wearing a Capuchin habit. As soon as she saw him, the young monk turned and left the room, but when she went to look for him he was nowhere to be found. She soon went into labor pains, gave birth to a baby girl and later returned to her husband’s bedside. A priest soon arrived, and over the objections of his Masonic friends who did not want a priest to minister to him, the dying man looked at the priest and said, “My God, my God. Forgive me!” and died within a few hours. This took place in 1905. After her husband’s death, Leonilde moved to Rome with her children. Seventeen years later, Giovanna, who was named for her father and was born the night of her father’s death, was in St. Peter’s Basilica with a friend when they encountered a young Capuchin who agreed to hear Giovanna’s confession. After confessing, Giovanna and her friend stood close by to speak again with the Capuchin priest, but a guard insisted they leave since the basilica was closed. He also added that no priest was in the basilica to hear confessions. An examination of the confessional by the guard left the two young women confused, since the Capuchin was not there and they had stood there waiting for him to leave and had not seen him.
Later that year Giovanna was shown a picture of Padre Pio, whom she promptly recognized as the priest who had heard her confession. This prompted her to visit San Giovanni Rotondo to see Padre Pio, and she did so with an aunt and several friends. When the Padre saw Giovanna, he smiled and exclaimed, “Why, Giovanna, I know you. You were born the night your father died.” He then revealed that her father had been saved because of her mother’s prayers and his intercession, that he was the priest who had heard her confession in St. Peter’s Basilica, and then told her about his strange experience when he had visited the room of her dying father. He also told her about the vision of Our Lady, who placed her in his charge. Padre Pio then invited her to come often to see him for spiritual direction. Giovanna told her mother all that had taken place, and by comparing Giovanna’s experience to those of her mother, both were convinced that Padre Pio had bilocated twice on their account, once to the death chamber and another time to the confessional. Padre Pio had told Giovanna that it was not in God’s plan for her to enter religious life. She later married and became the Marchioness Boschi of Cesena. She remained a devoted disciple of the holy Padre and gave a detailed deposition before the Archiepiscopal Curia of Manfredonia for the cause of beatification. The Curia compared her document to that written by Padre Pio in 1905 and noted the similarities. The document of Padre Pio was never read by Giovanna and the priest’s bilocations were known up to that time only by his superiors. But there were many other times when Padre Pio was seen at two places during the same time period, sometimes speaking, sometimes not. There were other times when only his presence was detected, or at other times there was the perfume of his stigmata which indicated his presence. A number of these bilocations are mentioned in the many biographies of this holy priest, which prove to be of great wonder and edification to those who study them.
Taken from Mysteries Marvels Miracles by TAN Books & Publishers, Inc.
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