The mystical flights of Tommaso da Cori

Antonio Francesco Placidi, a peasant from Cori, south of Rome, joined the Franciscans at the end of the 1670s, after having had to postpone his vocation to provide for his two younger sisters after the death of their parents. Ordained a priest in Orvieto in 1683, he arrived the following year at the convent in Civitella, where he spent most of his life. On arriving there, he declared to the guardian father (the superior of the Friars Minor): "I am Brother Thomas of Cori and I have come to be a saint". He would indeed achieve his goal, but not always in ordinary ways.

Reasons to believe:

• In 1684, shortly after his arrival in Civitella, Tommaso celebrated Mass in the conventual church. As he raised the host, pronouncing the formula "Ecce Agnus Dei qui tollit peccata mundi" ("Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world") and was about to give communion, before the stunned eyes of his community, he suddenly flew up towards the ceiling and rose more than ten metres above the ground, "seized with rapture" by ecstasy. Much to the fear of his brothers, who admitted that they were afraid he would smash his skull against the ceiling! He remained suspended in mid-air for over 15 minutes.

• After he came down, Brother Tommaso had absolutely no recollection of what had just happened. It is clear that the friar was in a second state during his levitation. We can therefore rule out the explanation of a deliberately calculated act.

• What is surprising is that, during this spectacular take-off, Tommaso did not knock over the ciborium he was holding in his hand, nor did he drop the host he was presenting to the worshippers.

• These levitations recurred regularly throughout his life, right up to his death in January 1729, when the priest who came to bring him the viaticum saw him rise above his dying bed to approach the Eucharist.

• Brother Tommaso tried to give as little publicity as possible to these events, because they disturbed him and, in his great humility, did not correspond to the kind of holiness he was seeking.

• Levitation, or "mystical flight", is one of the most spectacular supernatural phenomena, but also the easiest to observe, and even the most frequent. Although it is not confined to Christianity, the Church counts more than a thousand such occurrences in the lives of the saints, perfectly observed and documented, and a hundred or so relatively recent ones, scientifically studied and impossible to doubt.

• Tommaso was the contemporary of another "flying saint", Joseph of Cupertino, also a Franciscan, and it is interesting to note that their levitations occurred at a time when incredulity was on the rise, so we must rule out an effect of superstition.

• Tommaso, who never removed his humble Franciscan habit, which was no doubt quite dirty, and who paid little attention to his grooming, was the subject of another mystical phenomenon. Those who were close to him testified that he emitted an extremely sweet perfume from his whole person, from his clothes and even, during his last illness, from his bandages, a perfume that surpassed that of the most delicate flowers. This scent lingered on the linen he wore. This is the "odour of sanctity" that would be found in the life of Padre Pio in the 20th century.

• After his death, many of those around him testified that he had appeared to them and sometimes revealed to them future events or secret facts.

• The whole life of Tommaso da Cori is a model of conformity to the Franciscan way of life, which justifies the miracles he received.