Major and Minor Life of St. Francis
with excerpts from other works
by St. Bonaventure
MAJOR LIFE OF ST. FRANCIS
By St. Bonaventure
Translated from the Latin by Benen Fahy O.F.M. with Introduction by Damien Vorreux O.F.M.(translated from the Franch by Paul Oligny O.F.M.)
PREFACE
1. In
these last times the grace of God our Savior has dawned in his servant Francis
on all who are truly humble and love poverty. In him we can contemplate the
excess of God’s mercy and his example urges us to forego completely irreverent
thoughts and worldly appetites and live like Christ, looking forward eagerly to
the happiness that is our hope. He was despised and humbled, but the Most High
looked upon him with such condescension and kindness that he was not content
merely to raise him from the dust and choose him out from the world, but he
inspired him to profess the life of Gospel perfection and made him a leader and
an apostle. He was to be a light for those who believe that, by bearing witness
of the light, he might prepare a way for the Lord to the hearts of his
faithful, a way of light and peace. By the glorious splendor of his life and
teaching Francis shone like the day-star amid the clouds, and by the brilliance
which radiated from him he guided those who live in darkness, in the shadow of
death, to the light. Like the rainbow that lights up the clouds with sudden
glory (Sir 50,8), he bore in his own body the pledge of God’s covenant,
bringing the good news of peace and salvation to men, like a true Angel of
peace. Like
God
forestalled him by the gift of his divine grace, so that he won the praise of
heroic virtue. Then he was filled with the spirit of prophecy and charged with
the ministry of Angels, as he burned with the flames of a love worthy of the Seraphim.
Like a man who has joined the ranks of the Angels, he was taken up in a chariot
of fire, so that there can be no doubt whatever that he came “in the spirit and
power of an Elias” ( Lk 1,17), as we shall see in the course of his life.
Therefore there is every reason to believe that it is he who is referred to
under the image of an Angel coming up from the east, with the seal of the
living God, in the prophecy made by another friend of Christ the Bridegroom,
2. If we consider the perfection of his extraordinary sanctity, we can see beyond all shadow of doubt that this messenger of God was his servant Francis who was found worthy to be loved by Christ, imitated by us, and admired by the whole world. Even while he lived on earth among human beings, he shared the sinlessness of the Angels, so that he became an example to those who followed Christ perfectly. We have plenty of reason to be firmly convinced of this. First of all, there is the mission which he had received “to summon all men to mourn and lament, to shave their heads and were sackcloth” (Is 22,12) “and mark the brows of those that weep and wail with a cross” (Ez 9,4), signing them with the cross of penance and clothing them in his own habit which was shaped like a cross. But besides that, we have an unimpeachable testimony, the seal of truth itself which was impressed on his body and which made him like the living God, Christ crucified. This was not the work of nature’s powers or of any human agent, it was accomplished by the miraculous power of the Spirit of the living God alone.
3. I know that I am unworthy and incapable of writing the life of a man so deserving of our imitation and all our veneration, and I would never have attempted it, were it not for the eager desire of the friars and the unanimous request of the general chapter, Besides, I am under an obligation to him and so I felt compelled to do it. When I was a young boy, as I can still remember clearly. I was at death’s door and I was saved only by his intercession. If I refused to sing his praises now, I might be accused of being ungrateful. I realize that God saved by life through him and I have felt the power of his intercession in my own case, and so the principal reason why I have written his life now was in order to gather together the different accounts of his virtues and of all that he said and did which were scattered about and partly forgotten. Otherwise they would all be lost, when the friars who lived with him are dead.
4. I wanted to be perfectly sure of the truth about his life and have a clear grasp of it before setting it down for posterity, and so I went to his birthplace and visited the country where he lived and died. There I was able to speak with some of his close friends who were still alive and to interview them carefully, especially those who had firsthand experience of his holiness and had tried to imitate it themselves. The honesty of these witnesses and the obvious fact that they are telling the truth means that we can trust their testimony implicitly. In recording what God in his goodness accomplished by means of his servant, I decided deliberately to avoid using a literary style. A straightforward account will do the reader more good than any attempt at any elaborate literary style. The story does not always follow chronological order. Instead, in order to avoid confusion, I chose to be more systematic and group together events which happened at different times but concerned similar subjects while separating others which occurred at the same time but concerned different subjects.
5. Francis’ life from beginning to end is described in the following fifteen chapters which treat of: his life in the world – his complete self-surrender to God and his work on the tree churches – the foundation of the Order under his guidance, and the confirmation of the Rule – the austerity of his life and the comfort which creatures gave him – him humility and obedience, and God’s condescension to his slightest wish – his love for poverty and the miraculous fulfillment of his needs – his loving compassion and the love which creatures had for him – his passionate love and longing for martyrdom – his devotion to prayer – his grasp of Sacred Scripture and his spirit of prophecy – the efficacy of his preaching and his power of healing – the stigmata – his patient endurance and his death – his canonization and the transferal of his remains.
The last section describes the miracles which took place after his death.
[PART 1]
CHAPTER 1
Saint Francis’ Life in the World
1. There lived in the town of Assisi a man whose name was Francis and on his memory a blessing rests because God in his goodness and mercy met him on his way with the abundance of his grace and saved him form the dangers of this life, showering his heavenly favors upon him. As a young boy Francis lived among worldly people and he was brought up like them. once he had got a slight knowledge of reading and writing, he was given a job in a lucrative trading business. Yet with the help of God’s grace, even when he was with his gay companions, although always ready to enjoy himself, he never followed the lure of his passions. The people he lived with were hard-headed business-people and he himself was quite anxious to make money, but he put no trust in his store of riches.
Even as a young man Francis had an open-handed sympathy for the poor which God had inspired in his heart. This bore him company as he grew up and filled his heart. This bore him company as he grew up and filled his heart with such generosity that he refused to turn a deaf ear to the Gospel and resolved to give alms to everyone who approached him, especially if it was for the love of God. one time he was caught in a rush of business and, contrary to his custom, he sent away a beggar who had begged an alms for love of God without giving him anything. Then he realized what he had done and he ran after him immediately and gave him a generous alms. There and then he promised God that he would never again refuse anyone who asked for love of him, as long as he had anything to give. He kept this resolution with unwearying fidelity until the day he died and he was rewarded with a wonderful increase of grace and love for God. Afterwards when he had put on the person of Christ Jesus to perfection, he used to say that even when he was in the world, he could scarcely ever hear anyone mention the love of God without being deeply affected.
His
good life, his gentleness and patience, his almost superhuman readiness to
oblige, together with his generosity which exceeded his means, and his pleasant
manner were so many indications which marked him out as a young man. They
seemed to be almost a foretaste of things of come, indicating that the
abundance of God’s blessings would be heaped upon him more plentifully than
ever in the future. Indeed, one citizen of the town, a very simple man who
appears to have been inspired by God, took off his cloak when he met Francis in
2. As yet, however, Francis had no idea of God’s plan for him. He was completely taken up with the affairs of his father’s business and his mind was intent on the things of earth because of the corruption of human nature, so that he had never learned to raise his mind to heaven, or acquired a taste for the things of God. Adversity is one of the best means of sharpening a person’s spiritual perception and so “the power of the Lord reached out to him and the Most High relented in His dealings with him” (Ez 1, 3; Ps 76,11). God brought him low with a prolonged illness, in order to prepare his soul to receive the Holy Spirit. When he recovered and was going about dressed as usual in keeping with his position, he met a knight who was of noble birth but very poor, so that he was not properly clad. Francis felt sorry for him and immediately took off his own clothes and gave them to him. At one and the same time he fulfilled the twofold duty of relieving the poverty of the poor and saving a nobleman from embarrassment.
3. That
night as he lay asleep, God in his goodness showed him a vision of a
magnificent palace full of armor, bearing Christ’s cross as its coat-of arms.
He would let him see that the kindness he had done a poor knight for love of
the supreme King would be repaid with an incomparable reward. And so when
Francis asked to whom all this belonged, he was told from heaven that it was
all for him and his knights. He had no experience of interpreting God’s secret
revelations and he could not penetrate beyond the appearance of what he saw to
the truth which he could not see, and so when he awoke in the morning, he took
his extraordinary vision to mean that he was going to achieve great success. He
was still ignorant of God’s plan for him and he prepared to enlist with a
high-ranking knight in
He set
out shortly afterwards but when he reached the next town, he heard God calling
him by his first name as he lay asleep, and saying, “Francis, who can do more
for you, a lord or his servant, a rich man or a beggar?” When he replied that a
lord or a rich man could do more, he was asked, “Then why are you abandoning
the Lord to devote yourself to a servant? Why are you choosing a beggar instead
of God who is infinitely rich?” “Lord,” replied Francis, “what will you have me
do?” And God told him, “Go back to your own town. The vision which you saw
foretold a spiritual achievement which will be accomplished in you by God’s
will, not man’s.” In the morning Francis went back to
4. He withdrew from the busy life of his trade and begged God in his goodness to show him what he should do. He prayed constantly until he was consumed with a passionate longing for God and was ready to give up the whole world in his desire for his heavenly home and think nothing of it. He realized that he had discovered the treasure hidden in the field and like the wise trader in the Gospel he could think of nothing but how he might sell all that he had and buy the pearl he had found. He still did not know how to go about it, but at the same time he was forced to conclude that a spiritual venture could only begin by rejecting the world and that victory over himself would mark the beginning of his service of Christ.
5. one
day as he was riding on the plain below
After that he began to frequent secluded spots where he could mourn for his sins, and there as he poured out his whole soul with groans beyond all utterance, he was eventually found worthy to be heard by God after long and importunate prayer. one day he prayed in one of his usual haunts, he became completely absorbed in God in the excess of his fervor. Then Jesus Christ appeared to him, hanging on his cross. His soul melted at the sight and the memory of Christ’s passion was impressed on the depths of his heart so vividly that whenever he thought of it, he could scarcely restrain his sighs and tears, as he afterwards confessed towards the end of his life. He realized immediately that the words of the Gospel were addressed to him, “If you have mind to come my way, renounce yourself, and take up your cross and follow me” (cf. Mt 16,24).
6 Francis now developed a spirit of poverty, with a deep sense of humility, and an attitude of profound compassion. He had never been able to stand the sight of lepers, even at a distance, and he always avoided meeting them, but now in order to arrive at perfect self-contempt he served them devotedly with all humility and kindness, because the prophet Isaias tells us that Christ crucified was regarded as a leper and despised. He visited their houses frequently and distributed alms among them generously, kissing their hands and lips with deep compassion.
When he was approached by beggars, he was not content merely to give what he had – he wanted to give his whole self to them. At times he took off his clothes and gave them away, or ripped or tore pieces from them, if he had nothing else at hand. He came to the aid of priests who were in need, respectfully and devoutly, especially when it concerned the upkeep of the altar. In this way he earned a share in the homage offered to God, while relieving the needs of those who pay homage to him. During this period, too, he made a pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Peter. When he saw the crowds of beggars gathered in front of the church, he was moved partly by the attraction he felt in his devotion and partly by love of poverty to give his clothes to one of the poorest among them. Then he dressed in the beggar’s rags and spent the whole day among the crowd there, filled with an unaccustomed joy of spirit. In this way he would learn to make light of what the world esteems and arrive gradually at the perfect observance of the Gospel. He paid great attention to external mortification, so that his whole life might be ruled by the cross of Christ which was imprinted on his heart.
All this took place when Francis still lived and dressed as a layman in the world.
CHAPTER II
Francis
Gives Himself Completely to God and
1. Christ himself was Francis’ only guide during all this time and now in his goodness he intervened once more with the sweet influence of his grace. Francis left the town one day to meditate out-of-doors and as he was passing by the church of San Damiano which was threatening to collapse with age, he felt urged to go in and pray. There as he knelt in prayer before a painted image of the Crucified, he felt greatly comforted in spirit and his eyes were full of tears as he gazed at the cross. Then, all of a sudden, he heard a voice coming form the cross and telling him three times, “Francis, go and repair my house. You see it is all falling down.” Francis was alone in the church and he was terrified at the sound of the voice, but the power of its message penetrated his heart and he went into an ecstasy. Eventually, he came back to himself and prepared to obey the command he had received. He was quite willing to devote himself entirely to repairing the ruined church of San Damiano, although the message really referred to the universal Church which Christ “won for himself at the price of is own blood” (Acts 20,28), as the Holy Spirit afterwards made him realize and he himself explained to the friars.
Making
the sign of the cross, he laid his plans immediately. He took some bales of
cloth for the market and went straight to Foligneo where he sold them, together
with the horse he was riding. Then he made his way back to
2. When
his father heard that Francis was living with the priest, he was very upset and
he hurried to the church without delay. When he heard the treats of those who
were looking for him and realized that they were drawing near, Francis hid in a
secret cave; he was new to the service of Christ and he wished to avoid his
father’s anger. He remained in hiding for a number of days, imploring God
continuously in a flood of teas to deliver him from the hands of his
persecutors and enable him, in his goodness, to fulfill the desires he himself
had inspired. Eventually he was filled with overflowing joy and fell to
reproaching himself as a coward, lacking in determination. At that, he laid
aside his fear and left his hiding place, taking the road towards
3. Shortly afterwards his father had to go away and his mother, who had never approved of her husband’s action, loosed Francis’ bonds and let him go free. She saw that there was no hope of breaking his inflexible determination. Francis gave thanks to God and went back where he had been before. When his father came home and failed to find him, he heaped abuse on his wife and then went after Francis in a storm of rage; if he could not bring him home, at least he could drive him from the country. But God gave Francis courage and he went out to met his father on his own accord and told him plainly that he was not afraid of ill-treatment or imprisonment, adding that for Christ’s sake he would gladly endure any suffering. When his father realized that he could not hope to make him turn back, he concentrated on trying to recover his money, and when he eventually found it on the window-sill, his greed was satisfied and he calmed down a little.
4. Now that he had recovered his money, he arranged to have Francis brought before the bishop of the diocese, where he should renounce all his claims and return everything he had. In his genuine love for poverty, Francis was more than ready to comply and he willingly appeared before the bishop. There he made no delay – without hesitation, without hearing or saying a word – he immediately took off his clothes and gave them back to his father. Then it was discovered that he wore a hair-shirt under his fine clothes next to his skin. He even took off his trousers in his fervor and enthusiasm and stood there naked before them all. Then he said to his father, “Until now I called you my father, but from now on I can say without reserve, ‘Our Father who art in heaven.’ He is all my wealth and I place all my confidence in him.” When the bishop heard this, he was amazed at his passionate fervor. He jumped to his feet and too Francis into his embrace, covering him with the cloak he was wearing, like the good man that he was. Then he told his servants to bring some clothes for him and they gave him an old tunic which belonged to one of the bishop’s farmhands. Francis took it gratefully and drew a cross on it with his own hand with a piece of chalk, making it a worthy garment for a man who was crucified and a beggar. And so the servant of the most high King was left stripped of all that belonged to him, that he might follow the Lord whom he loved, who hung naked on the cross. He was armed with the cross, the means of salvation which would enable him to escape from a shipwrecked world.
5. Now that he was free from the bonds of all earthly desires in his disregard for the world, Francis left the town and sought out a place where he could be alone, without a care in the world. There in solitude and silence he would be able to hear God’s secret revelations.
Then as he was walking through the forest joyfully singing in French and praising God, he was suddenly set upon by robbers. They threatened him and asked him who he was but he replied intrepidly with the prophetic words, “I am the herald of the great King.” Then they beat him and threw him into a ditch full of snow, telling him, “Lie there, rustic herald of God.” With that they made off and Francis jumped from the ditch, full of joy, and made the woods re-echo with his praise to the Creator of all.
6.
Eventually he reached a neighboring monastery where he begged an alms and
received it without anyone recognizing him or paying any attention to him. Then
he went on to Gubbio where he was recognized by an old friend and made welcome
and there he got an old coat, which he accepted like one of Christ’s poor.
After that, in his love for true humility, he devoted himself to the lepers and
lived with the, waiting on them all, for love of God. He washed their feet and
bound up their sores, drawing off the puss and wiping them clean. He was
extraordinarily devoted to them and he kissed their wounds, he who was soon to
play a part worthy of the Good Samaritan in the Gospel. As a reward, God endowed
him with such power to heal that his influence over ills of soul or body was
miraculous. For example – to mention only one of the many instances which
occurred as him name became better known – there was a man from the
neighborhood of Spoleto who suffered from a disease which had eaten away his
lips and his cheek. The doctors could do nothing for him and he made a
pilgrimage to
7. Now
that he was firmly established in the lowliness of Christ, Francis remembered
the command he had received from the cross to repair the
8 When he had finished there, he came to a place called the Portiuncula where there was an old church dedicated to the Virgin Mother of God which was now abandoned with no one to look after it. Francis had great devotion to the Queen of the world and when he saw that the church was deserted, he began to live there constantly in order to repair it. He heard that the angels often visited it, so that it used to be called St. Mary of the Angels, and he decided to stay there permanently out of reverence for the angels and love for the Mother of Christ. He loved this spot more than any other in the world. It was here that he began his religious life in a very small way; it was here that he made such extraordinary progress, and it was here that he came to a happy end. When he was dying, he commended this spot above all others to the friars, because it was most dear to the Blessed Virgin.
Before entering the Order, one of the friars had a vision about the Portiuncula. He saw a huge crowd of blind folk kneeling in a circle about the church and looking up to heaven. With tearful voices and outstretched hands, they cried out to God, begging him to have pity on them and give them sight. Then a brilliant light descended from heaven and enveloped them all, giving them back their sight and the health the longed for.
This was the place where St. Francis founded the Order of Friars Minor by divine inspiration and it was Divine Providence which led him to repair three churches before he founded the Order and began to preach the Gospel. This meant that he progressed from material things to more spiritual achievements, from lesser to greater, in due order, and it gave a prophetic indication of what he would accomplish later. Like the three buildings he repaired, Christ’s church was to be renewed in three different ways under Francis’ guidance and according to his Rule and teaching, and the three-fold army of those who are to be saved was to win victory. We can now see that this prophecy has come true.
CHAPTER III
The Foundation of the Order – the Rule is Approved
1 As he
was living there by the
2. By divine inspiration he now began to strive after Gospel perfection, inviting others also to lead a life of penance. His words were full of the power of the Holy Spirit, never empty or ridiculous, and they went straight to the heart, so that his hearers were amazed. In all his sermons he began by wishing his hearers peace, saying to them, “God give you peace,” a form of greeting which he had learned by a revelation, as he afterwards asserted. He was moved by the spirit of the prophets and he proclaimed peace and salvation. By his salutary warnings he united in the bond of true peace great numbers of people who had been at enmity with Christ and far from salvation.
3. As
the force of his teaching and the sincerity of his life became known, others
were moved by his example to live a life of penance. They renounced everything
they had and came to share his life and dress. First among them was Bernard, a
worthy man who was called by God and became Francis’ first son, both in time
and holiness. When he had discovered Francis’ holiness for himself, he decided
to renounce the world completely after his example, and he asked his advice
about the best way to do it. Francis was filled with the encouragement of the
Holy Spirit, when he realized he was being joined by his first follower, and he
said, “We shall have to ask God’s advice about this.” In the morning they went
to the
4. Within a short while afterwards five others felt the call of the same spirit and the number of Francis’ followers grew to six. Third among those to join him was Brother Giles, a man who was full of God and in every way worthy of the great name he left behind him. He was a very ordinary, uneducated person, but he distinguished himself by the practice of heroic virtue, as St. Francis had prophesied, and he was raised to sublime contemplation. For years he never ceased to raise his heart continually to God and he used to be so often rapt in ecstasy that he seemed to live a life worthy of the Angles even when he was on earth, as I have seen with my own eyes.
5 At
this time, too, Father Silvester, a priest fro
6. St. Francis refused to be carried away with worldly pride when he heard about the vision. He acknowledged God’s goodness in the gifts he bestows and became more eager than ever to put the enemy of the human race to fight with all his cunning, and proclaim the glory of Christ’s cross. one day when he was in a lonely place by himself, weeping for his misspent years in the bitterness of his heart, the joy of the Holy Spirit was infused into him and he was assured that all his sins had been forgiven. He was rapt in ecstasy and completely absorbed in a wonderful light, so that the depths of his soul were enlightened and he saw what the future held in store for himself and his sons. Then he returned to the friars once again and told them, “Have courage, my dearly beloved, and rejoice in God. There is no need to be upset because there are only a few of us, nor any need to be afraid because we have no experience. God has shown me beyond all shadow of doubt that he will make us grow into a great multitude and that the Order will spread far and wide, by the favor of his blessing.”
7
Another good man came to the Order about this time, bringing the number of
Francis’ sons to seven. Then like a good father he gathered all his sons about
him and spoke to them at length about the
Francis
knew that it was up to him to set an example for the friars and he was anxious
to practice what he preached; and so, when he had sent the other six in
different directions in the form of a cross, he took one of his companions and
set out himself in a fourth direction. After a short while, however, he was
anxious to see them all again and, as he had no means of summoning them
himself, he prayed to God “who called the banished sons of
8 When he saw that the number of friars was slowly increasing, Francis wrote a short, simple, rule of life for himself and his companions. This was based on an unshakeable foundation, the following of the Gospel, and to this he added a limited number of other prescriptions, such as seemed necessary for their life in common. He was anxious to have what he had written approved by the pope, and so, placing all his trust in God’s guidance, he decided to present himself with his companions before the Apostolic See. God looked with favor upon his desire and comforted the friars who were frightened at the thought of their inexperience by showing Francis the following vision. It seemed to him that he was walking along a road beside which grew a tall tree and as he drew near he stopped to admire its height. All of a sudden, he felt himself lifted up into the air by God’s power, so that he was able to grasp the top of the tree and bend it down to the ground without the slightest difficulty. Full of God as he was, Francis immediately realized that the vision was a prophecy of the way the pope would condescend to his will and he was overjoyed. He spoke to the friars encouragingly and then set out with them on the journey.
9 When they had arrived at the papal court, Francis was brought before the pope. The Vicar of Christ was in the Lateran palace at the time; and when Francis was announced, he was walking in a hall known as the Mirror Hall, lost in deep thought. He knew nothing about the saint, and so he sent him away indignantly. Francis took his leave with al humility, and the flowing night God showed the pope a vision in which he saw a palm-tree sprouting between his feet and growing until it was a fine tree. As he wondered what the vision meant, the divine light made it clear to him that the palm-tree was the beggar he had turned away the previous day. The next morning he gave his servants orders to search the city for Francis; and when they found him in St. Anthony’s hospice, he told them to bring him before him without delay. When he appeared before the Supreme Pontiff, Francis told him of his plans, imploring him humbly and insistently to approve the rule for him. The pope, Innocent III, was famous for is learning; and when he saw Francis’ wonderful purity of heart, together with his determination, and the fiery eagerness of his will, he felt inclined to give his approval. However, the whole idea seemed so new to some of the cardinals, who thought that the rule was too difficult for any human being, that he hesitated to do what Francis asked. one of the cardinals was His Eminence John of St. Paul, Bishop of Santa Sabina, a man who loved holiness and was dedicated to pope and his confreres saying, “We must be careful. If we refuse this beggarman’s request because it is new or too difficult, we may be sinning against Christ’s Gospel, because he is only asking us to approve a form of Gospel life. Anyone who says that a vow to live according to the perfection of the Gospel contains something new or unreasonable or too difficult to be observed, is guilty of blasphemy against Christ, the Author of the Gospel.” At that, the successor of St. Peter turned to St. Francis and told him, “My son, pray to Christ that the may show us his will through you. When we are sure of that, we can grant your request without fear.”
10 Francis immediately gave himself up completely to prayer; and as a reward for his fervor it was made known to him what he should say, and simultaneously it was revealed to the pope what he should think. Francis told the pope a story which he had learned from God about a wealthy monarch who voluntarily married a poor but very beautiful woman and a had a number of children by her. These resembled him closely, so that they had the right to eat at his table. Then Francis added, by way of explanation, King will die of hunger. They have been born of a poor mother by the power of the Holy Spirit in the image of Christ the King and they will be followed by others who will be brought to birth in our Order by the spirit of poverty. If the King of heaven promises his followers an eternal kingdom, he certainly will not let them go short of the material goods he bestows on good and bad without distinction.” When the pope heard this story and its explanation, he was amazed and he realized without the slightest doubt that Christ had spoken through Francis. only a short time before, he had seen a vision from heaven and by divine inspiration he now testified that it would be fulfilled in Francis. As he himself described it, he had a dream in which he saw the Lateran basilica which was threatening to fall being held up by a poor beggarman who put his back to it. “This is certainly the man,” he added. “By his work and teaching, he will uphold Christ’s Church.” As a result of his vision the pope was filled with reverence for Francis and granted his request unconditionally. He always had a special regard for him and, while granting what he asked, he promised to give the friars greater powers in the future. He approved the rule and gave them a mission to preach repentance, conferring the clerical tonsure on the laymen among Francis’ companions, so that they could preach the word of God without interference.
CHAPTER IV
The Progress of the Order under Francis’ Guidance and the Confirmation of the Rule
1. With
God’s grace and the pope’s approval to support him Francis now felt completely
confident and he took the road towards the
2.
Eventually, they arrived at the
3. With
his companions Francis now went to live in an abandoned hut near
He also taught them to join with all creation and praise God in his creatures, while venerating priests with special reverence and holding fast to the true faith which is professed and taught by the Catholic Church. This they were to believe firmly and profess with all simplicity. The friars obeyed his teaching to perfection, and whenever they saw a church or a crucifix, even from a distance, they knelt down humbly and prayed the way he had taught them.
4.
While they were still living in the hut already mentioned, St. Francis went
into
When Francis rejoined his companions, he began to probe the depths of their consciences, exhorting them to take courage from the wonderful vision they had seen. He made a number of predictions about the future growth of the Order and, as he continued to reveal secrets beyond the grasp of human understanding, the friars realized that the Spirit of God dwelt in his servant Francis so abundantly that they need have no hesitation in following his life and teaching.
5. After this, at God’s prompting, Francis brought his little flock of twelve friars to St. Mary of the Portiuncula. It was there that the Order of Friars Minor had been founded by the merits of the Mother of God, and it was there, too, that it would grow to maturity by her intercession.
From
the Portiuncula, Francis set out as a herald of the Gospel to preach the
6. Carried away by the force of his preaching, great numbers of people adopted the new rule of penance according to the form instituted by St. Francis which he called the “Order of the Brothers of Penance.” The way of penance is common to all those who are on the road to heaven and so this way of life includes members of both sexes, clerics and lay-folk, married or single. How meritorious it is in the eyes of God is clear from the numerous miracles worked by some of those who followed it. Unmarried women were inspired to profess a life of perpetual virginity, among whom St. Clare was especially dear to God. She was the first flower in Francis’ garden, and she shone like a radiant star, fragrant as a flower blossoming white and pure in springtime. She was his daughter in Christ and foundress of the Poor Clares. Now she has been glorified in heaven and on earth the church pays her the honor which is her due.
7 It was not just that the masses were stirred by the fervor of the moment; great numbers were seized with the desire to imitate the perfection of Christ and these followed Francis’ footsteps, making light of the fleeting attractions of the world. Their number grew daily, so that the Order was spread all over the world in a very short time. Poverty, which was all they had to meet their expenses, made them ready to undertake any task, while giving them strength for any kind of toil and leaving them free to travel without difficulty. They possessed nothing that belonged to this world; they loved nothing, and so they feared to lose nothing. They were free from care, with no anxiety to disturb them or worry to distract them. Their hearts were at peace as they lived from day to day, looking forward to the morrow without a thought as to where they would find shelter for the night. In those parts of the world where they were unknown and despised they were often insulted, but they were so meek in their devotion to Christ’s Gospel that they preferred to remain where they had to endure physical persecution, rather than return where their holiness was recognized and they might become proud of the honor shown them. Their very poverty seemed to them overflowing abundance as, in the words of the prophet, they “made much of the little they had” (cf, Sir 29, 30).
A moslem took pity on some of the friars who had arrived in a pagan country and offered them money for the food they needed, but they refused to accept it. He was amazed, because he could see they were destitute. Then he realized that it was for love of God that they had become beggars and refused to take money, and he felt so attracted to them that he offered to supply all their needs, as long as he had anything left. What a priceless treasure poverty is! Its extraordinary charm could move even the savage heart of a barbarian to pity and kindness. And what a crime, what an unspeakable crime, that any Christian should trample underfoot the Gospel pearl for which a pagan showed such reverence.
8. At
this time, too, a religious of the Order of the Crucigeir who was called
Moricus was lying ill in a hospital near
9 As
Christ’s servants increased in merit and virtue, the high esteem in which they
were held became known all over the country, so that people came to see St.
Francis from all parts of the world. Among them was a successful songwriter who
had been crowned by the emperor and was known as the King of Verse. He made up
his mind to approach Francis who was known for his disregard of all that
belongs to the world and when he met him in a monastery at San Severino where
the saint had come to preach, the power of God came upon him. There he saw
Francis, the Apostle of Christ’s Cross, signed with the sign of the Cross in
the form of two swords of fire, one of which reached fro his head to his feet,
while the other crossed his chest from hand to hand. He did not know Francis by
sight but he realized that the person pointed out to him by such a miracle
could be no other. He was dumbfounded at the vision and immediately began to
make good resolutions for the future; the saint’s words moved him to
compunction, as if a spiritual sword coming from his mouth had pierced him, There
and then he said good-bye to popular renown and joined Francis by professing
his rule. When Francis saw that he had abandoned the world with its troubles
and chosen Christ’s peace, he called him brother Pacificus. Pacificus
afterwards became very holy; and before he left for
10 As the number of friars increased with the passing of the years, Francis used to summon them all like a good shepherd to a general chapter at St. Mary of the Portiuncula. There, according to the measure of God’s judgment, he would assign to each one the mission given him by obedience in this life of poverty. At these meetings no provision whatever was made for what they needed, and sometimes more than five thousand friars turned up. God cared for them in his providence, so that they had enough to eat and enjoyed good health, while they overflowed with spiritual contentment.
Francis
could not preside personally at the chapter of the different provinces, but by
his unremitting prayer and the power of his blessing he was always there in
spirit in his anxious care for his subjects. on one occasion he even appeared
visibly at such a chapter by God’s power. It was at the chapter of
11 When the Order was already well established and Francis was thinking of having the rule which had been approved by Pope Innocent confirmed for all time by his successor Pope Honorius, God granted him the following vision. He saw himself picking up some tiny crumbs of bread from the ground, with which he had to feed a large number o friars who were standing about. The crumbs were so small that he was afraid to distribute them lest they slip through his fingers. Then he heard a voice from heaven telling him, “Francis, make one piece out of all those crumbs and give it to those who are willing to eat it.” He did so, and the friars who failed to accept it with due reverence, or despised it when they had taken it, were soon seen to be suffering from leprosy. In the morning Francis told his companions all about it. He was upset because he could not understand the meaning of his vision; but the following day, while he was watching in prayer, he heard a voice telling him, “Francis, those crumbs, the other night, are the words of the Gospel. The single piece is the rule and the leprosy is wickedness.”
And so Francis decided to shorten the rule which he wanted to have confirmed, because it had become too long by the addition of numerous texts from the Gospel, as his vision indicated. Then he was led by the Holy Spirit into the mountains with two companions, where he fasted on bread and water; and there he dictated the rule as the Holy Spirit inspired him in his prayer. When he came down from the mountain, he gave the rule to the vicar of the Order; but a few days later the vicar claimed that he had accidentally mislaid it, and so the saint went into solitude once more and rewrote the rule just as before, as if he heard the words from God’s own lips. Afterwards he obtained papal confirmation for it from his holiness Pope Honorius, who was then in the eighth year of his pontificate.
Francis used to exhort the friars fervently to be faithful to the rule, saying that he had dictated everything as it was revealed to him by God and that nothing he had prescribed came from himself. This was proved by God’s own testimony only a short time afterwards when Francis received the stigmata of our Lord Jesus Christ. This was the seal of Christ, the supreme High Priest, with which he gave the rule and its author his divine approval, as we shall explain later when we have finished describing Francis’ virtues.
CHAPTER V
The Austerity of Francis’ Life and the Comfort Which Creatures Gave Him
1 When Francis saw that great numbers of lay people were being inspired by his example to embrace Christ’s Cross fervently, he took heart and like a brave leader in Christ’s army he determined to carry off prize of victory by practicing virtue to a heroic degree. Recalling the words of St. Paul, “those who belong to Christ have crucified nature, with all its passions, all its impulses” (Gal 5, 24), he mortified his lower appetites so strictly that he scarcely took enough food or drink to stay alive. In this way he would cloth himself with the armor of the Cross. He used to say that it was hard to satisfy one’s material needs without giving in to the inclinations of sensuality. As long as he enjoyed good health, he scarcely ever ate cooked food. When he did, he mixed it with ashes or destroyed its taste, usually by adding water. He never drank enough water, even when he was burning with thirst – not to mention taking wine – and he devised ways of practicing even greater self-denial, becoming better at it day by day. He was already perfect in every way, but still he was always beginning afresh, just as if he were only starting, and he castigated his natural desires by punishing his body.
However, on his missionary journeys, in preaching the Gospel, he always took whatever food was put before him by those who gave him hospitality. But when he returned home, he kept strictly to the rule of fasting. He was hard on himself but accommodating towards his neighbor. In this way he obeyed Christ’s Gospel in everything and did people as much good by eating as by fasting More often than not, his weary body had only the bare earth for a bed and he usually slept in an upright position with a piece of wood or a stone at his head. He was content with one worn habit, as he served God in cold and nakedness.
2 Someone asked him once how he could protect himself from the piercing cold of winter such poor clothing and he replied with a fervent spirit, “If we are on fire with longing for our heavenly home in our hearts, we will have no difficulty in enduring this exterior cold.” He had a horror of expensive clothes and used to be delighted with coarse garments, adding that John the Baptist was praised by our Lord for being roughly clad. If the habit he was given felt too soft, he used to sew pieces of cord on the inside because, as he used to say, it is in the palaces of the rich that we must look for men who go clad in soft garments, not in the hovels of the poor. He knew from his own experience that the devils were afraid when they saw a person wearing rough clothes, whereas soft or luxurious garments gave them courage to attack more fiercely.
One night he used a pillow of feathers, contrary to his custom, because he had a headache and was suffering from pain in his eyes; but a devil got into it and gave him no rest until morning. He prevented him from devoting himself to prayer, until finally he called his companion and told him to take the pillow out of his cell. The moment he left the cell with the pillow, the friar lost the use of his limbs. Then Francis, who knew in spirit what was happening, called out to him and immediately all his strength of soul and body was completely restored to him.
3 Francis watched over himself with rigid self-discipline and was especially careful to preserve perfect purity of soul and body. In the early years of his religious life he often jumped into a snow-filled ditch in wintertime, in order to preserve the white robe of purity from the flames of passion and subdue completely the enemy which was part of his own nature. He used to say that a religious should infinitely prefer to have his body suffer biting cold rather than allow the slightest taint of evil desire to enter his heart.
4 one night when he was praying in his cell at the hermitage of Sarteano, the Devil called him three times, “Francis, Francis, Francis.” When Francis replied, asking him what he wanted, the Devil went on, “There is not a sinner in the whole world whom God will not forgive, if he repents. But if a man kills himself by doing too much penance, he will never find forgiveness.” By God’s inspiration the saint saw his treachery at once and realized that Satan was trying to reduce him to half-heatedness. This was proved by what followed, because he immediately felt a grave temptation of the flesh, provoked by him whose “very breath will set coals aflame” (Jb 41, 12). The moment he felt it coming, Francis tore off his habit in his love for chastity and began to scourge himself with a cord. “There, brother ass,” he exclaimed, “that is your place, to be scourged like that. The habit is a sign of the religious state and an indication of a good life; a lustful person has no right to it. If you want to go another road, off with you!” Then in an excess of fervor he opened the door and went out into garden where he rolled naked in the deep snow. After that he gathered up some of it with both hands and made seven heaps with it and stood before them, saying to his body, “Look, the big one here is your wife and those four are your children, two boys and two girls. The other two are the servants you need to look after them, a man and a woman. And now hurry up and find clothes for them – they are dying of cold. But if all the trouble it takes to look after them is too much for you, then keep your services for God alone.” At that the tempter took his leave defeated, and the saint returned triumphantly to his cell. The cold had pierced him to the bone but the frame of passion within him had been utterly quenched, so that he never felt anything like it again. A friar who had been busy praying at the time saw what happened in the clear moonlight. When Francis discovered that he had been seen, he told him all about the temptation which he had felt and commanded him never to tell anyone what he had seen during his lifetime.
5 Besides teaching the friars to mortify the passions of the flesh with its impulses, Francis insisted that they should watch over their exterior senses by which death enters the soul with the greatest vigilance. He warned them to beware of the sight of women and avoid close friendships or conversation with them which can often lead to a fall. Indiscretion in this matter, he affirmed, could crush the weak and weaken the strong, adding that it was as hard for anyone who had much to do with them to avoid being ensnared as it was to “walk on hot coals without burning one’s feet” (cf. Prv 6, 27). He avoided the sight of women so carefully himself that he scarcely knew any woman by sight, as he once confessed to his companion. He was convinced that it was dangerous to allow any representation of them to enter one’s mind because the flames of passion could easily be rekindled or the purity of a clean heart be stained. He often remarked that nay conversation with women was pointless except on the occasion of confession or a brief instruction. Such contact could be of benefit to their spiritual progress and did not exceed the limits of religious behavior. “What,” he asked, “has a religious got to do with women anyway, unless they are looking for confession or ask women anyway, unless they are looking for confession or ask for spiritual direction? When a man is too sure of himself, he becomes less wary of the enemy, and if the Devil can call his own even one hair of a man’s head, he will lose on time in making a rope of it.”
6 He taught the friars especially to avoid idleness, the root of all evil desires, and he set them an example by curbing his lower nature, when it was given to revolt or laziness, by practicing continual self-discipline or devoting himself to useful work. He used to call his body “Brother Ass,” as if it were fit for nothing more than hard labor and frequent ill-treatment with a whip, while having only the poorest type of food to live on. If he saw that a friar was given to standing about idle, waiting to be fed by the labor of others, he called him “Brother Fly.” Because he detracted from the good done by others and did no good himself, so that he lost the respect and esteem of all. With reference to such friars, the saint once remarked, “I want my friars to work and to be kept busy. If they are idle, their hearts or their tongues will soon be occupied with unlawful subjects.” He was anxious to see the friars observe the silence which is recommended in the Gospel, being careful at all times to avoid every thoughtless word for which they might be brought to account on the day of judgment (cf. Mt 12,36). He used to be quite sharp in correcting any friar who indulged habitually in gossip, declaring that a prudent reserve helped to maintain purity of heart and was an important virtue. Sacred Scripture tells us, “Of life and death, tongue holds the keys” (Prv 18,21), more because of its power of speech than because it can taste.
7 Francis did his utmost to encourage the friars to lead austere lives, but he had no time for exaggerated self-denial which excluded tender compassion or was not tempered with discretion. one night a friar who had fasted too long was tormented with hunger and could get no rest. Like a good shepherd, Francis realized how badly he was faring and called him. Then he put some bread before him and advised him gently to eat it, and began to eat himself first, to avoid embarrassing him. The friar overjoyed at seeing the saint’s exquisite tact which enabled him to relieve his material needs and gave him such a wonderful example. In the morning Francis called the whole community together and told them what had happened, taking the opportunity to tell them, “You should take an example from the charity involved, not from the fact that we indulged in food.” He also taught them to practice prudence, not the prudence recommended by our fallen nature, but that practiced by Christ whose life is the model of all perfection.
8 In his present state of weakness man is incapable of imitating the crucified Lamb of God perfectly and avoiding all the stains of sin. And so Francis taught his friars by his own example that those who are trying to be perfect must cleanse themselves daily with tears of contrition. He had attained extraordinary purity of soul and body, yet he never ceased from purifying his spiritual vision with floods of tears and thought nothing of the fact that it was costing him his sight. As a result of his continual weeping, he developed serious eye-trouble, but when the doctor advised him to restrain his tears if he wanted to avoid losing his sight, he replied, “Brother doctor, we share this world’s light in common with the flies; we must not refuse to enjoy the presence of everlasting light merely to save it. Our bodies were given the power of sight for the sake of our souls; the sight which our souls enjoy was not given us for the sake of our bodies.” He preferred rather to lose his sight than to check the fervor of his spirit and restrain the tears which sharpened his spiritual vision and enabled him to see Good.
9 on one occasion the doctors were anxious to perform a cauterization and the friars insisted that he should have it done. Francis agreed humbly because he realized it would be good for him, as well as being extremely painful. They sent for a surgeon and when he came, he put a searing-iron in the fire in preparation for the operation. Francis trembled with fear, but then he began to encourage his body, addressing the fire like a friend, “My brother fire, your splendor is the envy of all creation. The Most High made you strong, beautiful, and useful. Be gentle to me now, be kind. I beg the great God who created you to temper your heat, so that you will burn gently and I may endure it.” When he had finished his prayer, he made the sigh of the cross over the red-hot instrument and waited unafraid. The sizzling iron was plunged into the soft flesh and drawn from his ear to his eye-brow. We can gather how much pain the burn caused him from his own words, as he told his friars, “Give thanks to the Most High, for I can say truthfully that I never felt the slightest burn or any pain.” Then he turned to the doctor and added. “If that was not enough, you can do it again.” When the doctor saw the extraordinary strength of his spirit which was revealed in his frail body, he hailed it as a miracle, telling the friars, My brothers, I assure you I have seen a miracle with my own eyes.” Such was his pure love of God that Francis had arrived at a point where his body was in perfect harmony with his spirit, and his spirit with God. As a reward, God disposed that all creation, which must spend itself in the service of its Maker, should be subject to his will and obey his command.
10 another time when he was very ill at the hermitage of Saint’ Urbno, Francis felt the need of something to give him strength and he asked for a glass of wine. They told him there was not a drop in the place they could give him, so he told them to bring some water. When it was brought, he blessed it with the sign of the cross and immediately it was changed into excellent wine. The provide it, and so his sanctity procured it. At the taste of the wine, he immediately felt much better, so that it was clear that both the liquid and the one who drank it were supernaturally renewed. The changing of the water and the improvement in his health were so many indications of the extent to which he was “quit of the old self, and clothed in the new self” (cf. Col 3, 9-10).
11 Not only did all creation obey his slightest wish; by his providence God himself condescended to his will. on one occasion he was afflicted with a number of different ailments simultaneously and he longed to hear some music to keep up his spirits. The fear of giving scandal made it impossible to get anyone to play for him, but then an angel came in answer to his prayer. one night as he lay awake thinking about God, he suddenly heard the sound of a lyre playing a melody of incredible beauty. He could see no one, but the rise and fall of the music showed that the musician was walking back and forth. With his spirit all intent on God, Francis felt such pleasure at the wonderful melody that he thought he had left this world and the friars who were closest to him were well aware that something had happened. They knew from various indications that he was often visited by God who comforted him beyond measure, so that he could not hide it from them completely.
12 At
another time when he was walking near
We should try to realize the purity of conscience and the degree of virtue which Francis had attained. Fire lost its burn and water its taste at his wish; an angel come to cheer him by his light, showing that the whole of creation waited upon his material needs, so holy had he become.
CHAPTER VI
Francis’ Humility and Obedience – God’s Condescension to His Slightest Wish
1 Francis had humility in abundance, the guardian and the crowning glory of all virtue. He was a mirror and a shining example of Christian perfection but in his own eyes he was only a sinner, and it was on this that he based his spiritual progress, laying the foundation he had learned from Christ, as a careful architect should (cf. 1 Cor 3, 10). The Son of God, he used to say, descended from the sublimity of the Father’s bosom to share our misery and become our Lord and Teacher, in order to teach us humility by word and example. Therefore, as Christ’s true disciple, he was careful to preserve a low opinion of himself and appear worthless in the eyes of others, keeping in mind the words of the supreme Teacher, “What is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in God’s sight” (Lk 16, 15). He often used to remark, “What a man is before God, that he is and no more.” Consequently he was convinced that it was foolish to be elated when people showed him marks of respect; he was upset by praise, but overjoyed when he was insulted. He liked to have people scorn him – that spurred him on to do better – and hated to be praised, which could lead to a fall. When people praised the height of his sanctity, he used to command one of the friars to do the opposite and heap insults upon him. Then, as the friar obeyed reluctantly and called him a boor and a time-server, worthless and good for nothing, he would listen cheerfully and say with a smile, “God bless you, my son. What you say is true. That is the kind of thing the son of Peter Bernardone should have to listen to.”
2 He
would not hesitate to confess his faults even when preaching in public, in
order to appear contemptible in the eyes of others. one time when he was very
ill, he departed from the rigor of his usual abstinence and took a little meat
to regain his strength. Then, when he had only barely recovered, he felt urged
to humiliate himself for his weakness in genuine self-contempt. “It is not
right,” he declared, “that everyone should think that I never eat meat, when I
really did eat it unknown to them.” Inspired with a true spirit of humility, he
set out there and then and made his way to the town square in
3 Francis often behaved like this, so that others might regard him as something worthless, fit only to be cast aside, and he might preserve true holiness of heart. He was careful to conceal the gifts which God showered upon him as closely guarded secrets and refused to expose them to the praise of others, which might lead to a fall. When he was acclaimed as a saint by the crowds, he would say, “I might have sons and daughters yet. Don’t praise me as if I were safe. You should never praise anyone until you see how he turned out in the end.” That was what he said to others and then, addressing himself, he would add, “If almighty God had done so much for a criminal, he would be more thankful than you, Francis.” He used to often tell the friars, “No one should flatter himself for anything a sinner is capable of doing. A sinner can fast, pray, weep, and do physical penance. The one thing he cannot do is to remain faithful to God. Anyone who gives back to God the praise which belongs to him really has something to boast about, if he serves him faithfully and attributes to him the gifts he bestows.”
4 Like the wise trader in the Gospel, Francis was anxious to profit by every possible occasion and use all his time to gain merit, and so he wished to live in obedience to another rather than be a superior, and obey rather than command. He resigned his position as general of the Order and asked for a guardian whom he could obey constantly. He was convinced that the fruits of obedience are so abundant that anyone who submits to it can never spend a moment without drawing some profit from it. He always used to promise to obey the friar who happened to be with him on his journeys, and he once remarked to his companions, “Among the many graces which God has given me in his goodness is this: I would obey a novice only one hour in the Order, if he were made my guardian, just friar in the Order. A subject should never look upon his superior as a man; he should remember God for love of whom he is subject. The more contemptible the superior, the more valuable is the humility of him who obeys.”
He was asked on one occasion who was a truly obedient person and he gave the example of a dead body. “Take a corpse,” he said, “and put it wherever you like. You will see that it does not object to being transferred, does not complain about where it is put, and does not protest when cast aside. If you set it on a throne it will look down, not up; if you dress it in royal robes, it will only seem paler than ever. A person like that is truly obedient; he does not mind where he is put, and he makes no effort to be sent elsewhere. If he is promoted to office, he preserves his humility, and the more he is honored, the more unworthy he thinks himself.”
5 Another time he told his companion, “I should not regard myself as a Friar Minor unless I was prepared to behave like this. Suppose I was a superior and I went to a chapter where I addressed the friars and gave them some advice. But then, when I have finished, they all say, ‘You are not the right superior for us. You have no education and you are not a good speaker. Besides, you are illiterate and inexperienced.’ Then I am thrown out ignominiously and despised by them all. I tell you, if I were not prepared to take all that without being disturbed or without losing my peace of mind, with a firm determination to use it all for my own sanctification, I should not be a Friar Minor.” And he continued, “The office of superior may lead to a fall, and praise is a dangerous precipice, but the lowly position of a subject contains great benefit for the soul. Why are we more anxious to run risks than to gain soul. Why are we more anxious to run risks than to gain merit? Time has been given us only so that we can gain merit.”
It was
for this reason that Francis who was a model of humility wanted his follower to
be known as Friars Minor and their superiors as ministers. In this way he kept
to the language of the Gospel (cf. Mt 25, 45) which he had promised to observe,
and impressed upon his friars that it was to learn humility that they had come
to the
When the bishop of Ostia, the protector and foremost champion of the Order, who was afterwards to become pope with the name of Gregory IX as Francis prophesied, asked him if he would allow his friars to be promoted to various offices in the Church, the saint replied, “My lord, my friars are called Minors so that they will never think of becoming superiors. If you want them to bear fruit in the Church, keep them strictly to their vocation and never let them take any office in the Church.”
6 Because Francis preferred humility in himself and in his friars to any earthly honor, God who loves the humble judged him worthy of the highest honor. This was revealed to one of the friars, a virtuous and holy man, in a vision which he had from heaven. He was traveling with St. Francis when they went into an abandoned church, where they prayed fervently. There this friar was in an ecstasy and saw a vision of a multitude of thrones in heaven, one of which was radiant with glory and adorned with precious stones and ranked higher than the rest. He marveled at its splendor and fell to wondering whose it was going to be. Then he heard a voice telling him, “That throne belonged to one of the fallen angels. Now it is being kept for the humble Francis.” When the friar came bake to himself, he followed the saint out of the church as usual. As they continued on their journey conversing together about God, the friar remembered his vision and discreetly asked the saint what he thought of himself. “It seems to me,” Francis replied, “that I must be the greatest of all sinners.” When his companion reproached him, declaring that he could not possibly say that with a good conscience, or really believe it, Francis continued, “If Christ had shown such mercy towards the greatest criminal in the world, I am convinced that he would be much more grateful to God than I am.” At the sight of such extraordinary humility, his companion was convinced of the truth of his vision; he knew from the testimony of the Gospel that the truly humble person is exalted to the height of glory from which the proud man is excluded.
7 on
another occasion, while he was praying in an abandoned church near Monte Casale
in the
We should never let ourselves forget the care which God in his providence has even for our mortal remains; and the regard which he has for Francis’ incomparable holiness. When human beings failed to carry out his command, God himself condescended to do his wish.
8 one day St. Francis arrived at Imola where he went to the bishop and humbly asked him for permission to summon the people and preach to them. “It is enough, brother, that I should preach to my own flock,” the bishop replied abruptly. Francis bowed his head in genuine humility and took hi leave. Less than an hour later, however, he returned once more. The bishop was annoyed and he asked him what he was looking for this time. Then Francis replied respectfully and without the slightest arrogance, “My lord, when a father throws hi son out one door, he must come in by another.” The bishop was disarmed by his humility; he smiled and put hi arm around him and said, “Henceforth you and all your friars have general permission to preach in my diocese. Holy humility deserves that.”
9 on
another occasion St. Francis arrived at
10 In
their pride the demon take flight at the sight of the sublime virtue practiced
by those who are truly humble. However, God in hi goodness occasionally allows
them to distress us, as St. Paul tells us of himself (cf. 2 Cor 12, 7) and St.
Francis learned by his own experience. He had been invited by his Eminence
Cardinal Leo, titular of the
11 The saint had a horror of pride, which is the cause of all evil, and of disobedience, which is its worst offspring. on the other hand, he always had a worm welcome for humble repentance. A friar was brought before him one time who had sinned against obedience and merited just punishment. Looking at him, Francis could see sure signs that he was genuinely sorry and he was so pleased with his humble contrition that he decided to be easy on him. At the same time, he was anxious to avoid encouraging others to revolt by letting him off too lightly and so he ordered his capuche to be taken off and thrown into the fire. That would show all the friars the kind of punishment which disobedience deserved. Then, when the capuche had been in the flames for a while, Francis ordered it to be taken out and given back to the penitent. It was taken out and there was not the slightest trace of a burn on it. With one and the same miracle God approved Francis’ holiness and the humble contrition of the delinquent.
Francis’
humility, therefore, is worth imitation; it was honored even on earth, so that
God inclined to his slightest wish and the citizens of
CHAPTER VII
Francis’ Love for Poverty – His Needs Are Supplied Miraculously
1 Among the supernatural gifts which Francis received from God, the Generous Giver, his love for absolute poverty constituted a special privilege which enabled him to grow rich in spiritual wealth. He saw that it had been the constant companion of the Son of God, but that now it was scorned by the whole world, and so he espoused it in undying live. For poverty’s sake he abandoned his father and mother and divested himself of everything he had. No one was so greedy for gold as he was for poverty; no treasure was guarded as jealously as he guarded this Gospel pearl. He used to be particularly offended if ever he saw anything contrary to poverty among the friars. From the first moment of his religious life until his death, his sole wealth consisted in a habit, a cord, and a pair of trousers, and he was content with that.
The memory of the poverty felt by Christ and his Mother often reduced him to tears and he called poverty the Queen of the Virtues because it was so evident in the life of the King of Kings and of the Queen, his Mother. When the friars asked him privately what virtue made one dearest to Christ, he replied as if revealing his closest secret, “Believe me, my brothers, poverty is the special way of salvation. It is the source of humility and the root of all perfection and its fruit is manifold, though unseen. This is the treasure hidden in the field in the Gospel to buy which we must sell all – and anything that cannot be sold should be abandoned for love of it.”
2 “Anyone who wants to practice perfect poverty,” he said, “must renounce all worldly wisdom and even secular leaning, to a certain extent. Divested of these possessions, he will be able to make the great acts of God his theme (cf. Ps 73, 15-16) and offer himself naked to the embrace of the Crucified. Anyone who clings to his own opinions in the depths of the heart has not renounced the world perfectly.”
When speaking about poverty to the friars, Francis often quoted the words of the Gospel, “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air their resting-places; the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Mt 8, 20), and he gave orders that the houses they built should be small, like those of the poor. There the friars should live not as if the house belonged to them, but as strangers and pilgrims in a house which was not their own. It was part of a pilgrim’s life, he said, to shelter under another’s roof and pass on peacefully longing for home. on a number of occasions, he ordered the friars to leave a house, or even had it pulled down, if he thought that it offended against Gospel poverty, either because the friars claimed the building as their own or because it was to sumptuous. He used to say that poverty was the basis of the whole Order; the whole structure of their life was founded on it, so that if it were solid, the Order would stand firm, but that if it were undermined, the whole fabric would be completely demolished.
3 He had been taught by a revelation that anyone entering the Order should begin by fulfilling the precept of the Gospel, “If you have a mind to be perfect, go home and sell all that belongs to you, and give it to the poor” (Mt 19, 21). In obedience to the Gospel and in order to avoid scandal, such as might arise if a friar retained his property, he never received anyone into the Order unless he had renounced everything and kept nothing for himself. When a man asked to be received to the Order in the Marches of Ancona, he told him, “If you want to join Christ’s poor, give what you have to the poor in the world.” At that the candidate went off, but he was influenced by human affection to give his belongings to his relatives, not to the poor. When he came back and told the saint what he had done, Francis reproached him bitterly and said, “On your way, Brother Fly. You never left your home or your family. You gave what you had to your relatives and cheated the poor. You are not worthy of Christ’s poor. You tried to begin your religious life by yielding to an earthly attachment and laid a worthless foundation for a spiritual building.” The poor fellow immediately returned to his family and demanded his property; he had refused to give it to the poor and so he quickly abandoned the idea of embracing the religious life.
4 At another time the community at St. Mary of the Portiuncula was so much in need that they had nothing to offer the friars who came there visiting. Francis’ vicar approached him and told him how badly off they were and asked him to allow them to keep some of the property which those entering the Order brought with them; then the friars could fall back on this when the need arose. Francis, who was not without his own share of divine guidance, replied, “My dear brother, God forbid that we should sin against the rule for anyone. I should prefer to see you strip our Lady’s altar bare rather than have you commit the slightest sin against our vow of poverty or the observance of the Gospel. The Blessed Virgin will be better pleased to see her altar laid bare and the Gospel counsel observed perfectly, rather than to have the altar properly decorated and her Son’s counsel violated, which we have promised to observe.”
5 When
the saint was journeying with a companion near
6 Some
time afterwards St. Francis had an unusual experience while on his way to
Francis was overcome with joy at the words in his love for true poverty. There was nothing he was more pleased to see people acclaim in him than the virtue they had singled out for praise. The three women disappeared from view all at once and the friars who accompanied the saint, when they reflected on their extraordinary similarity, their strange greeting, and their sudden disappearance, could only conclude that the whole episode held some mystical significance for the saint.
It seems that the three poor women, who were so alike and greeted him so strangely and disappeared so suddenly, represented the crowning beauty of Gospel perfection. Their sudden appearance indicated that Francis observed Gospel perfection equally in his poverty, chastity, and obedience, although he had chosen the privilege of poverty for his special boast, calling it his mother, his bride, and his lady fair. It was in poverty that he chose to surpass others, because it had shown him how to regard himself as the last of all. Whenever he saw anyone who was more poorly dressed than he, he immediately reproached himself and roused himself to imitate him. H was jealous of his poverty and he was afraid of being outdone, as he fought to deserve it. one day he met a beggar on the road and when he saw how poorly dressed he was, his heart was touched and he exclaimed sorrowfully to his companion, “His poverty puts us to shame. We have chosen poverty as our wealth and look, it is more resplendent in him.”
7 For
love of poverty Francis much preferred to use alms which had been begged from
door to door, rather than those which had been given spontaneously. Whenever he
was invited to a banquet in his honor by the nobility, he would always beg some
bread at the neighboring houses first. Then he would take his place at the
table, rich in his poverty. He did this once when he was the guest of the
bishop of
8 When he encouraged the friars to quest for alms, Francis used to say, “Go, because in these last days the Friars Minor have been given to the world for its benefit, so that the elect may behave towards them in such a way as to deserve the praise of the Judge on the day of judgment and hear the words, ‘When you did it to one of the least of my brethren here, you did it to me’” (Mt 25, 40). Therefore, he said that it was wonderful to be able to beg with the title of Friar Minor because our Lord himself had used it so clearly in the Gospel, when describing the reward given to the elect. Whenever he had the opportunity, he went begging on the principal feasts of the year; as he remarked, the words of the Psalmist, “Man should eat the food of angels” (Ps 77, 25) are fulfilled in God’s poor, because the bread of angels is that which has been begged for love of God and given at the inspiration of the angels, and gathered from door to door by holy poverty.
9 one Easter Sunday he was staying at a hermitage which was so far from the nearest house that he could not go begging. Then he remembered our Lord who had appeared to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus that very day in the guise of a pilgrim, and he begged an alms from the friars themselves, like a pilgrim or a beggar. When he had received it humbly, he spoke to them, telling them how they should pass through this world like strangers and pilgrims and celebrate the Lord’s Pasch continually in poverty of spirit, like the Hebrews in the desert, the Pasch that s his passage from this world to the Father.
When Francis went for alms, he was moved by true liberty of spirit, not by greed, and so God the Father of the poor had special care for him.
10 St.
Francis became very ill at Nocera one time and he was brought back to
11 When he was lying ill at a hermitage near Rieti, Francis was attended by a doctor who did what he could for him. The saint had no means of recompensing him in his poverty, but God repaid his devoted efforts, so that he would not be without a reward here in this life. The doctor had just spent all his money building a new house, when one of the walls cracked from top to bottom, so that the whole building threatened to collapse and it seemed humanly impossible to do anything about it. However, he placed all his trust in St. Francis and with complete faith he asked the friars to give him something which the saint had touched. After repeated requests he eventually got a small amount of hair and he put this in the crack one evening. When he got up in the morning, he found the opening closed so tightly that there was no trace of the crack and he could not pull out the hairs. He had ministered conscientiously to the failing body of God’s saint and so he escaped the danger of having his home collapse.
12 Another time, while traveling to a hermitage where he planned to devote himself to prayer, St. Francis rode an ass belonging to a poor laborer because he was weak. It was summertime and, as the owner of the animal followed the saint into the mountains, he was exhausted by the long and grueling journey. Fainting with thirst, he suddenly cried out after the saint. “I’ll die of thirst, if I don’t get a drink immediately.” Francis dismounted there and then and knelt on the ground with his hands stretched out to heaven, and there he prayed until he knew that ha had been heard. When he had finished, he told his benefactor, “Go to that rock and you will find running water. Christ in his mercy has made if flow there for you just now.” By God’s wonderful condescension which bows so easily to his servants a thirsty human being was able to drink from a rock, quenching his thirst from solid stone, by the power of one man’s prayer. Water had never been found at that spot before and none could ever be found there afterwards, although a careful search was made.
13 In a later chapter we shall describe how Christ multiplied the food on board ship at the intercession of his servant Francis. Here it is sufficient to say that for a number of days the saint saved the whole crew from the danger of starvation with the small quantity of food he had received as alms. Just as he drew water from a rock in imitation of Moses, on this occasion he imitated Eliseus by multiplying their provisions.
Christ’s poor, therefore, have nothing to fear, Francis’ poverty was so well supplied that it provided miraculously for the needs of those who came to his aid, procuring food and drink and a house, when money or any other means could not be found. Poverty such as that will certainly never be left short of the necessities which God gives to everybody in the ordinary course of divine providence. If a solid rock gave drink in plenty to a poor man who was thirsty at the request of a beggar, nothing in the whole world will refuse its service to those who have left all for the Creator of all.
CHAPTER VIII
Francis’ Loving Compassion and the Love Which Creatures Had for Him
1
Compassion, as
Loving compassion made him regard everything with affection but especially the souls which Jesus Christ redeemed with his precious blood. If he saw one of them being stained with sin, he grieved with such heartfelt pity that he seemed to be in travail over then continually, like a mother in Christ. This was the principal reason why he had such respect for those who preach God’s word – by their labor and zeal for the conversion of sinners and their pastoral anxiety they beget children in the name of Christ, our dear Brother who was crucified for sinners. He was convinced that such a work of mercy was more acceptable to the merciful Father than any sacrifice, particularly if it was done in a spirit of perfect charity, more by example than by preaching, more by fervent prayer than by longwinded sermons.
2
3 Francis was ablaze with fervid eagerness and he longed for the salvation of souls with heartfelt compassion. He used to say that it was like a sweet-smelling perfume to him or a soothing balm, when he heard that people were being converted to the way of truth as a result of the good name holy friars had won for themselves all over the world. When he was told of such incidents, he was overjoyed and he heaped his most welcome blessings on the friars who were responsible for bringing sinners to Christ’s love.
On the other hand, those who harmed the Order by their evil deeds incurred the frightful penalty of his curse, as he said, “May God and all the saints of heaven curse those who obstruct and bring to ruin by their bad example what he has achieved in the past and continues to achieve by the holy friars of this Order, as I, too, curse them.”
He was so upset when he saw inexperienced members of the Order being given scandal that he felt it would have been too much for him, if God had not upheld him in his mercy. As he prayed anxiously for his sons to God, the merciful Father, after he had been disturbed at the sight of some bad example, he heard the following answer, “Poor fellow, what are you worried about? When I made you shepherd of my Order, do you think that I ceased to be its principal protector myself? The very reason I chose you was because you had nothing to boast of, and so what I did in you would be attributed to divine grace, not to human effort. It is I who have called the friars; I will keep them and be their Shepherd. If some fall by the wayside, I will raise up others in their place. If they are not born, I will have them born. No matter how badly this Order is shaken, it will remain steadfast, through my gift.”
4 In Francis’ eyes the vice of detraction in particular seemed to be the antitheses of the religious spirit and an enemy of grace. He had a horror of it, like a snake-bite or a deadly pest, and he declared that it was an abomination in God’s sight because the detractor feeds on the blood of the souls which he kills with his tongue. once when he heard a friar taking away another’s good name, he turned to his vicar saying, “Quick, quick! Look into it carefully. If the friar accused is innocent, make an example of his accuser for all the others by correcting him severely.” He sometimes sentenced a friar guilty of hurting another’s good name to be deprived of his habit, adding that he should not raise his eyes to God until he had done his best to restore what he had taken. “A detractor,” he used to say, “is guilty of greater wickedness than a robber, because Christ’s law which reaches its perfection in love obliges us to desire the good of our neighbor’s soul more than of his body.”
5
Francis sympathized lovingly and compassionately with those stricken with any
physical affliction and he immediately referred to Christ the poverty or
deprivation he saw in anyone. He was kind and gentle by nature and the love of
Christ merely intensified this. His soul melted at the sight of the poor or
infirm and where he could not offer material assistance he lavished his
affection. A friar once brusquely refused a beggar who had asked for an alms at
an awkward moment. When Francis heard about it, he made the friar take off his
habit in his love for the poor, and cast himself at the feet of the beggar,
confessing his fault and begging his prayers and forgiveness. The friar obeyed
humbly and Francis remarked gently, “My dear brother, when you see a beggar,
you are looking at an image of our Lord and his poor Mother. When you see a
sick person, remember the infirmities he bore for us.” Francis saw Christ’s
image in every poor person he met and he was prepared to give them everything
he had, even if he himself had urgent need of it. He even believed that they
had a right to such alms, as if they belonged to them. When he was returning
from
6 The realization the everything comes from the same source filled Francis with greater affection than ever and he called even the most insignificant creatures his brothers and sisters, because he knew they had the same origin as himself. However, he reserved his most tender compassion for those creatures which are a natural reflection of Christ’s gentleness and are used in Sacred Scripture as figures of him. He often rescued lams, which were being led off to be slaughtered, in memory of the Lamb of God who willed to be put to death to save sinners.
While he was staying at the monastery of San Verecundo in the diocese of Gubbio one time, a lamb was born there during the night. It was attacked immediately by a vicious sow which had no mercy on the innocent creature and killed it with one hungry bit. When he heard about it, the saint was deeply moved as he remembered the immaculate Lamb of God and he mourned for the death of the lamb before them all saying, “Brother lamb, innocent creature, you represented Christ in the eyes of men. A curse on the wicked beast which killed you. May no human being or any animal ever eat of it.” There and then the vicious sow fell sick and after suffering for three days it eventually expiated its crime by death. The carcass was thrown into the monastery moat where it lay for a long time and became as hard as a board, so that even the hungriest animal refused to eat it.
If cruelty in an animal led to such a terrible end, what will be the lot of evil men when the time of punishment comes eventually. In this incident the faithful, too, can see the power of Francis’ tender love and how abundantly it filled him, so that it was acclaimed in their own way even by the animals.
7 When
he was traveling near
Another time he was offered a present of a sheep at the Portiuncula and he accepted it gladly in his love of innocence and simplicity, two virtues which the image of a sheep naturally recalls. He exhorted the animal to give God praise and avoid offending the friars, and the sheep was careful to follow his instructions, just as if it realized the affection he had for it. If it was entering the church and heard the friars singing in the choir, it would go down on one knee spontaneously and bleat before the altar of our Lady, the Mother of the Lamb, as if it were trying to greet her. At the elevation during Mass, it would bow profoundly on bended knees and reproach those who were not so devout by its very reverence, while giving the faithful an example of respect for the Blessed Sacrament.
On
another occasion while in
8 Another time St. Francis was offered a live hare at Greccio. He put it on the ground and left it free to go where it pleased, but the moment he called it, it jumped into his arms. He held it affectionately and seemed to pity it like a mother. Then, warning it gently not to let itself be caught again, he allowed it to go free. But every time he put it on the ground to let it off, the hare immediately jumped into his arms, as if in some mysterious way it realized the love he had for it. Eventually Francis had the friars bring it off to a safer place in the woods.
In the
same way a rabbit which was caught on an island in
9 one time when Francis was walking with another friar in the Venetian marshes, they came upon a huge flock of birds, singing among the reeds. When he saw them, the saint said to his companion, “Our sisters the birds are praising their Creator. We will go in among them and sing God’s praise, chanting the divine office.” They went in among the birds which remained where they were, so that the friars could not hear themselves saying the office, they were making so much noise. Eventually the saint turned to them and said, “My sisters, stop singing until we have given God the praise to which he has a right.” The birds were silent immediately and remained that way until Francis gave them permission to sing again, after they had taken plenty of them to say the office and had finished their praises. Then the birds began again, as usual.
A cicada used to perch on a fig-tree beside St. Francis’ cell at the Portiuncula and sing there, inspiring the saint to praise God for its song, because he could admire the glory of the Creator in the most insignificant creature. Then one day he called it and when it hopped on to his hand as if it had been taught by God, he told it, “Sing, my sister cicada. Sing a song of praise to God your Creator.” Immediately the cicada started to chirp and never stooped until the saint told it to go back to its came and went every day, singing at his command. Finally the saint remarked to his companions, “We must give our sister cicada permission to go away. She has given us enough pleasure by her singing and inspired us to praise God for a whole week.” Immediately he gave it leave, the cicada disappeared and was never seen there again, as if it did not transgress his command in the slightest way.
10 When
Francis was ill at
When
Francis arrived at the hermitage on Mount La Verna to keep the fast in honor of
St. Michael the
The joy shown by the varied flock of birds and the falcon’s song certainly seem to have been a diving portent, indicating that Francis who was dedicated to the praise and worship of God was about to be praised aloft on the wings of contemplation and honored with the vision of the Seraph.
11 When
We should have the greatest reverence, therefore, for St. Francis’ loving compassion which had such wonderful charm that it could bring savage animals into subjection and tame the beasts of the forest, training those which were tame already and claiming obedience from those which had rebelled against fallen mankind. This is that virtue which subjects all creation to itself and “is all-availing, since it promises well both for this life and for the next”(1Tm 4,8)
CHAPTER IX
Francis’ Passionate Love –His longing for Martyrdom
1 No human tongue could describe the passionate love with which Francis burned for Christ, his Spouse; he seemed to be completely absorbed by the fire of divine love like a glowing coal. The moment he heard the love of God being mentioned, he was aroused immediately and so deeply moved and inflamed that it seemed as if the deepest chord in his heart had been plucked by the words. He used to say that to offer the love of God in exchange for alms was generosity worthy of a nobleman and that anyone who thought less of it than money was a fool. The incalculable worth of divine love was the only thing that could win the kingdom of heaven. He used to say, “Greatly to be loved is His love, who loved us to greatly.”
Francis sought occasion to love God in everything. He delighted in all the works of God’s hands and from the vision of joy on earth his mind soared aloft to the life-giving source and cause of all. In everything beautiful, he saw him who is beauty itself, and he followed his Beloved everywhere by his likeness imprinted on creation; of all creation he made a ladder by which he might mount up and embrace Him who is all-desirable. By the power of his extraordinary faith he tasted the Goodness which is the source of all in each and every crated thing, as in so many rivulets. He seemed to perceive a divine harmony in the interplay of powers and faculties given by God to his creatures and like the prophet David he exhorted them all to praise God.
2 The memory of Christ Jesus crucified was ever present in the depths of his heart like a bundle of myrrh, and he longed to be wholly transformed into him by the fire of love. In his extraordinary devotion to Christ, he fasted every year for forty days, beginning at the Epiphany, the time when Christ himself lived in the desert. Then he would go to some lonely place and remain there shut up in his cell, taking as little food and drink as possible, as he spent all his time praying and praising God. He loved Christ so fervently and Christ returned his love so intimately that he seemed to have his Savior before his eyes continually, as he once privately admitted to his companions. He burned with love for the Sacrament of our Lord’s Body with all his heart, and was lost in wonder at the thought of such condescending love, such loving condescension. He received Holy Communion often and so devoutly that he roused others to devotion too. The presence of the Immaculate Lamb used to take him out of himself, so that he was often lost in ecstasy.
3 He
embraced the Mother of our Lord Jesus with indescribable love because, as he
said, it was she who made the Lord of majesty our brother, and through her we
found mercy. After Christ, he put all his trust in her and took her as his
patroness for himself and his friars. In her honor he fasted every year from
the feast of Saints Peter and Paul until the Assumption. He had an unshakeable
love for the Angels who burn with a marvelous fire, so that they are taken out
of themselves to God and long to inflame the souls of the elect. Each year he
fasted and prayed in their honor for forty days from the feast of the
Assumption. In his ardent zeal for the salvation of souls he was particularly
devoted to St. Michael the
The mercy of all the saints, who are like blazing coals in God’s temple, enkindled in Francis a divine fire, so that he embraced all the Apostle with the greatest affection, and especially Saints Peter and Paul because of their passionate love of Christ. In his reverence and love for them, he used to keep a special forty-day fast in their honor. Christ’s beggar, Francis had only two mites of which he could dispose in generous charity, his body and his soul. But in his love for Christ he spent them so uninterruptedly that he seemed to be always immolating his body by rigorous fasting or his soul by its ardent desire. In this way he offered a visible holocaust like the priests in the court of the temple, while burning sweet-smelling herbs on the altar of his heart.
4 The fervor of Francis’ love united him so closely to God that his heartfelt compassion was enlarged so as to embrace all those who shared the same gifts of nature and of grace as he. His tender love made him the brother of all creatures, and so it is no wonder that the love of Christ should unite him even more closely with those who bear the image of their Maker and are redeemed by the blood of their Creator. He would not think himself Christ’s lover, if he did not compassionate the souls whom he redeemed. He used to say that nothing should take precedence over the salvation of souls, because it was for souls that the only-begotten Son of God hung upon the Cross. It was for souls that he wrestled in prayer, for souls that he was so active in preaching, and it was for them that he went beyond all limits in giving good example. When he was reproached for his excessive authority, he would reply that he was intended to be an example for others; his innocent body, which had voluntarily become subject to the spirit, needed no punishment for sin, yet for the sake of good example, he inflicted frequent penances on it. It was solely for the sake of others that “he kept to the paths that are hard to follow”(Ps 16,4). He used to say, “I may speak with every tongue that men and angels use; yet, if I lack charity (1 Cor 13, 1-3) and fail to set others an example of virtue, I am of little use to them and none to myself.”
5 IN
the fervor of his love he felt inspired to imitate the glorious victory of the
martyrs in whom the fire of love could not be extinguished or their courage
broken. Inflamed with that perfect love “which drives out fear” (1 Jn 4, 18),
he longed to offer himself as a living victim to God by the sword of martyrdom;
in this way he would repay Christ for his love in dying for us and inspire
others to love God. In the sixth year of his religious life he decided to go to
6 When
he left the coast, Francis went on a missionary journey about the countryside,
sowing everywhere the seed of salvation and reaping an abundant harvest.
However, the prize of martyrdom still attracted him so strongly that the
thought of dying for Christ meant more to him than any merit he might earn by
the practice of virtue. Therefore, he took the road towards
7 Still
his passionate love urged him on, and a third time he set out to preach faith
in the Trinity among the pagans by shedding his blood. In the thirteenth year
of his religious life he made his way to
8 He took with him as his companion a friar named Illuminatus who was an enlightened man of great virtue, and as they set out on their way they met two lambs. The saint was overjoyed at the sight of them and he told his companion, “Place all your trust in God, because the words of the Gospel will be fulfilled in us, ‘Remember, I am sending you out to be like sheep among wolves’ (Mt 10, 16).” When they had gone farther, they were met by men of the sultan’s army who fell upon them like wolves upon sheep and seized them fiercely. They ill-treated them savagely and insulted them, beating them and putting them in chains. Then exhausted as they were by the ill-treatment they had received, they were dragged before the sultan by God’s providence, just as Francis wished. The sultan asked them by whom and why and in what capacity they had been sent, and how they got there; but Francis replied intrepidly that they had been sent by God, not by man, to show him and his subjects the way of salvation and proclaim the truth of the Gospel message. He proclaimed the triune God and Jesus Christ, the Savior of all, with such steadfastness, with such courage and spirit, that it was clear the promise of the Gospel had been fulfilled in him, “I will give you such eloquence and such wisdom as all your adversaries shall not be able to withstand, or to confute: (Lk 21, 15).
When the sultan saw his enthusiasm and courage, he listened to him willingly and pressed him to stay with him. Francis, however, was inspired by God to reply, “If you are willing to become converts to Christ, you and your people, I shall be only too glad to stay with you for love of him. But if you are afraid to abandon the law of Mahomet for Christ’s sake, then light a big fire and I will go into it with your priests. That will show you which faith is more sure and more holy.” To that the sultan replied, “I do not think that any of my priests would be willing to expose himself to the flames just to defend his faith, or suffer any kind of torture” (he had just caught a glimpse of one of his priests, an old and highly esteemed man, who slipped away the moment he heard Francis’ proposal). Then Francis continued, “If you are prepared to promise me that you and your people will embrace the Christian religion, if I come out of the fire unharmed, I will enter it alone. But if I am burned, you must attribute it to my sins; on the other hand, if God saves me by his power, you must acknowledge ‘Christ the power of God, Christ the wisdom of God’ (cf. 1 Gor 1,24) as true God, the Lord and Savior of all.” The sultan replied that he would not dare to accept a choice like that, for fear of a revolt among his people.
Then he offered Francis a number of valuable presents, but the saint was anxious only for the salvation of souls; he had no interest in the things of this earth and so he scorned them all as if they were so much dust. The sultan was lost in admiration at the sight of such perfect disregard for worldly wealth and he felt greater respect than ever for the saint. He refused, or perhaps did not dare, to become a Christian, but at the same time he implored the saint to take the gifts and give them to the Christian poor or to churches, for his salvation. Francis, however, did not want to be bothered with money and besides he could see no sign of a genuinely religious spirit in the sultan, and so he absolutely refused to agree.
9 Francis now realized that there was no hope of converting the Moslems and that he could not win the crown of martyrdom, and so by divine inspiration he made his way back to the Christian camp. So it was that by the disposition of God’s merciful providence and by the merits of his holiness, Christ’s lover longed to die for him with all his heart, but never succeeded; he was saved from death to be afterwards decorated with an extraordinary privilege, and yet he had the merit of martyrdom of which he longed. The fire of divine love burned the more perfectly in his heart for all that it only became clearly visible in his flesh later on in his life. It was well for him – his body never fell by the tyrant’s sword, yet it was marked with the likeness of the Lamb that was slain; he was doubly happy – “he did not lose his life in persecution, but he was not deprived of the martyr’s palm” (cf. Breviary, Office of St. Martin of Tours, ant. at Vespers).
CHAPTER X
Francis’ Devotion to Prayer
1 Saint Francis realized that he was an exile from the Lord’s presence as long as he was at home in the body (cf. 2 Cor 5, 6, 8), and his love of Christ had left him with no desire for the things of this earth. Therefore, he tried to keep his spirit always in the presence of God, by praying to him without intermission, so that he might not be without some comfort from his Beloved. Prayer was his chief comfort in this life of contemplation in which he became a fellow-citizen of the angels, as he penetrated the dwelling places of heaven in his eager search for his Beloved, fome whom he was separated only by a partition of flesh. Prayer was his sure refuge in everything he did; he never relied on his own efforts, but put his trust in God’s loving providence and cast the burden of his cares on him in insistent prayer. He was convinced that the grace of prayer was something a religious should long for above all else. No one, he declared, could make progress in God’s service without it, and he used every means he could to make the friars concentrate on it. Whether he was walking or sitting, at home or abroad, whether he was working or resting, he was so fervently devoted to prayer that he seemed to have dedicated to it not only heart and his soul, but all his efforts and all his time.
2 Francis would never let any call of the Spirit go unanswered; when he experienced it, he would make the most of it and enjoy the consolation afforded him in this way for as long as God permitted it. If he was on a journey, and felt the near approach of God’s Spirit, he would stop and let his companions go on, while he drank in the joy of this new inspiration; he refused to offer God’s grace an ineffectual welcome (cf. 2 Cor 6, 1). He was often taken right out of himself in a rapture of contemplation, so that he was lost in ecstasy and had no idea what was going on about him, while he experienced things which were beyond all human understanding.
As he
was passing through the crowded
3 Francis learned in his prayer that the presence of the Holy Spirit for which he longed was granted more intimately, when he was far from the rush of worldly affairs. Therefore, he used to seek out lonely places in the wilderness and go into abandoned churches to pray at night. There he often had to endure frightful attacks from the Devil who fought hand-to-hand with him and tried to withdraw him from prayer. But Francis was armed with supernatural weapons and the more violently they attacked him, the more courageous he was in practicing virtue and the more fervent in prayer. Then he would say with all confidence to Christ. “Hide me under the shelter of your wings, safe from the evildoers who wrong me’ ‘(Ps 16, 8), and to the demons, “Do what you can to me, wicked and deceitful spirits. You can do nothing beyond what God allows you and I will be more than happy to suffer everything that God had decided I should endure.” The devils in their pride could not stand such steadfast courage, and they retreated in confusion.
4 Then when he was alone and at peace, Francis would make the groves re-echo with his sighs and bedew the ground with his tears, as he beat his breast and conversed intimately with his Lord in hidden secrecy. Here he defended himself before his Judge; here he spoke with his Lover. Here, too, the friars who were watching occasionally heard him cry aloud, imploring God’s mercy for sinners, and weeping for the passion of Christ, as if he saw it before his eyes.
He was occasionally seen raised up from the ground and surrounded with a shining cloud, as he prayed at night with his hands stretched out in the form of a cross. The brilliance which enveloped his body was a sign of the miraculous light which flooded his soul. There is good proof, too, that on such occasions the hidden depths of God’s wisdom were revealed to him, although he never said anything about it except when love of Christ or the good of his neighbor demanded ti. He was accustomed to say, “It often happens that an invaluable treasure is lost for the sake of a worthless reward, and God who bestowed his gift once will not be prevailed upon to give again so esily.”
When he rejoined the friars after spending some time praying alone during which he was almost completely transformed, he used to be more careful than ever to appear just like the rest; any progress he had made interiorly might be robbed of its reward by the marks of esteem he would receive if it were visible. If he was among others when he was suddenly visited by his lord, he would always try to hide it from them, so that no one might perceive the near approach of his Spouse. If he was praying with the friars, he completely avoided all deep breathing and sighing, or any outward display, either because he loved to keep things to himself or because he had descended into the depths of his heart and was lost in God. He often said to his companions, “If a religious is visited by God in his prayer, he should say, ‘Lord, you have sent this comfort from heaven even though I am a sinner and unworthy, and I entrust it to your keeping because I know that I only steal your treasures.’ When he leaves his prayer, such a person should seem as much a sinner and worthy of contempt as if he had received no new favor.”
5 one
time when Francis was praying at the Portiuncula, the bishop of
On
another occasion the abbot of the monastery of San Giustino in the diocese of
6 St. Francis was accustomed to recite the divine office with great reverence and devotion. Although he suffered in his eyes, his stomach, his spleen, and his liver, he never leaned against the wall or partition for support while saying the psalms; he stood upright with his head uncovered and his eyes closely guarded, as he said the hours without shortening them. If he was traveling, he would stop, and he never abandoned this practice if it happened to be raining. He was want to say, “If our bodies must take their food in peace – our bodies which will one day be the food of worms, just like the food we eat – what peace and quiet should not our souls enjoy to receive their food, which is the food of life?”
He regarded it as a serious fault if his mind wandered or was full of empty imaginings, when he was trying to pray. Whenever it happened, he confessed it without delay and atoned for his fault immediately. This careful attention had become a habit with him, so that he very seldom suffered troublesome distractions of this kind.
During Lent one year he carved out a dish to occupy his spare moments and prevent them from being completely lost. Then when he was reciting Tierce, it came into his mind and distracted him a little. At that he was seized with fervor and he threw the dish into the fire, saying, “I will make a sacrifice of it to God, because it interfered with his sacrifice.” He said the psalms with as much attention and fervor as if he could see God there before his eyes and when God’s name occurred in them he seemed to lick his lips, it gave him such pleasure.
He was anxious to honor God’s name with special reverence, whether it merely came into his mind, or he saw it written down or heard it pronounced. He once told the friars that they should pick up any pieces of paper they found lying around and put them aside carefully, for fear that God’s holy name might be trodden underfoot, f it happened to be written on them. When he pronounced the word “Jesus” or heard someone say it, he was filled with joy and he seemed to be completely transformed, as if he had suddenly tasted something marvelous or caught the strain of a beautiful harmony.
7 Three years before he died St. Francis decided to celebrate the memory of the birth of the Child Jesus at Greccio, with the greatest possible solemnity. He asked and obtained the permission of the pope for the ceremony, so that he could not be accused of being an innovator, and then he had a crib prepared, with hay and an ox and an ass. The friars were all invited and the people came in crowds. The forest re-echoed with their voices and the night was lit up with a multitude of bright lights, while the beautiful music of God’s praises added to the solemnity. The saint stood before the crib and his heart overflowed with tender compassion; he was bathed in tears but overcome with joy. The Mass was sung there and Francis, who was a deacon, sang the Gospel. Then he preached to the people about the birth of the poor King, whom he called the Babe of Bethlehem in his tender love.
A knight called John from Greccio, a pious and truthful man who had abandoned his profession in the world for love of Christ and was a great friend of St. Francis, claimed that he saw a beautiful child asleep in the crib, and that St. Francis took it in his arms and seemed to wake it up.
The integrity of this witness and the miracles which afterwards took place, as well as the truth indicated by the vision itself, all go to prove its reality. The example which Francis put before the world was calculated to rouse the hearts of those who are weak in the faith, and the hay from the crib, which was kept by the people, afterwards cured sick animals and drove off various pestilences. Thus God wished to give glory to his servant Francis and prove the efficacy of his prayer by clear signs.
CHAPTER XI
Francis’ Grasp of Sacred Scripture and His Spirit of Prophecy
1
When the friars asked him if he would allow the learned men who were entering the Order to continue the study of Sacred Scripture, he replied, “I do not mind, provided that they do not neglect prayer, after the example of Christ of whom we are told that he prayed more than he studied. They should not study merely in order to have something to say; they should study so as to practice what they have learned and then encourage others to do likewise. I want my friars to be true disciples of the Gospel and to progress in knowledge of truth in such a way as to grow in simplicity, without separating the simplicity of the dove from the cunning of the serpent, because our Lord himself joined them in one phrase.”
2
Francis was not an experienced teacher, but he had no lack of knowledge, so that he was able to resolve doubtful questions and bring all their implications to light. There is nothing strange in the fact that he should have been enlightened by God to understand the Scriptures; by his perfect conformity with Christ he practiced the truths which are contained in them and carried their Author in his heart by the abundant infusion of the Holy Spirit.
3 St.
Francis possessed the spirit of prophecy to such a degree that he could
foretell the future and read the secrets of men’s hearts; he saw what went on
in his absence as if it were present, and he often appeared to those who were
far away. He was present when the Christian army was besieging
4 Another time, after his return from overseas, St. Francis went to preach at Celano and a knight begged him to come and have dinner with him. So he came to the house and whole family was there to celebrate his arrival with his companions. However, before they sat down St Francis offered praise to God, as was his custom, and stood there praying, with his eyes raised to heaven. When he had finished, he beckoned his generous host aside and told him, “Brother host, you persuaded me to come and dine with you, and I came. But now do what I tell you immediately, because you are going to eat in another world, not here on this earth. Confess all your sins with genuine sorrow and leave nothing untold. God means to reward you today for having given his poor such a warm welcome.” The knight took his advice and confessed all his sins to Francis’ companion, and put his affairs on order, doing everything he could to prepare for death. Eventually they took their places at table and just as they were beginning to eat, their host suddenly dropped dead, as the saint had foretold. So it was that as a reward for his kindness in showing hospitality, he received the reward given to prophets, because he had given a prophet the welcome due to a prophet, as we read in the Gospel (cf. Mt 10, 41). Warned by the saint’s prophecy, the knight had prepared for immediate death and clad in the armor of repentance he escaped eternal damnation and was received into the eternal dwelling-places.
5 When the saint was lying sick at Rieti, a loose-living and worldly cleric named Gedeon fell seriously ill and took to his bed. He had himself brought before the saint and, together with those who were present, he begged him tearfully to bless him with the sign of the cross. But the saint replied, “How could I make the sign of the cross over you. You have indulged your passions for years without a thought for God’s judgment. However, I shall make the sign of the cross over you, in the name of God, because your friends are pleading with me. But remember that you will have worse to suffer in future, if you go back to your old ways once you have been cured. The sin of ingratitude always leaves people worse off than ever.” The moment he made the sign of the cross, the sick man recovered and got up from his bed, praising God with the words, “I am saved.” The bystanders heard his bones cracking like dry weed being broken. A short time afterwards, however he forgot God once more and gave his body over to impurity again. Then one night after he had dined in the house of a fellow cannon and had gone to bed, the roof of the house fell in on them all. The others escaped, but he was trapped and killed, so that the last state of that man was worse than the first, by God’s just retribution. He had shown himself ungrateful and turned his back on God when he should have been thankful for being forgiven. A crime which is repeated is doubly offensive.
6 A noble lady who was a very religious person, once came to St. Francis to tell him her troubles and ask for help. She had a husband who behaved cruelly towards her and tried to prevent her from serving Christ, and she begged the saint to pray for him that God in his goodness might touch his heart. When Francis heard her story, he told her, “Go in peace and you can be sure you husband will be a comfort to you in the near future.” And he added, “Tell him form God and from me that this is the time of mercy, but that the day of retribution must follow.” He gave her his blessing and the woman went off and gave her husband the message. There and then the Holy Spirit came upon him and he became a new man, so that he answered gently, “Let us serve God together and save our souls.” At his wife’s suggestion they lived a life of continence for years and they both died the same day.
St. Francis’ supernatural gifts were certainly extraordinary; they enabled him to give back life to aging limbs and move stubborn hearts to repentance, while the amazing clarity of his spirit allowed him to see into the future and read the secrets of consciences. Like a second Eliseus, he had received a double share of the spirit of the prophet Elias.
7 St.
Francis once told a friend of his in
8 When
9 Another friar who was a good religious and very devoted to St. Francis had the idea that anyone who enjoyed the saint’s intimate affection would enjoy God’s favor and that the person to whom he refused his friendship would be rejected by God. He was obsessed with this idea and it disturbed him; he longed to be on close terms with the saint, but he never told his secret to anyone. Then one day Francis invited him to com to him with every sign of affection and told him, “Do not let these ideas disturb you, my son. You are most dear to me, among all my special friends, and I am only too glad to show you all the love and friendship I can.” The friar was amazed and he became more attached to the saint than ever. As he grew in the love of Francis, he was showered with still greater gifts by the grace of the Holy Spirit.
When
10 There was another friar who was a very holy man to all appearances and lived an exemplary life, though he was a law unto himself in many ways. He spent all his time praying and he observed silence so carefully that he always made his confession by signs, not by words. St. Francis happened to come to the friary one time and he saw this friar and spoke to the others about him. They had nothing but praise for him, but the saint told them, “My dear brothers, please do not praise him like that. It is a trick of the Devil. You will soon see for sure that it is a temptation of Satan, a devilish trick.” The friars did not take him words seriously; they were convinced that so many clear indications of holiness could never mask a treacherous fraud. A few days later, however, the friar abandoned the Order and the penetrating insight which the saint had into the secrets of his heart became clear.
In the same way Francis often foretold accurately the fall of those who seemed to stand firm, and the conversion of others who seemed confirmed in evil. He seemed to have had access to the source of eternal light, in the miraculous splendor of which he saw what went on at a distance, as if it were before his eyes.
11 St. Francis was praying in his cell and interceding before God for the friars one day, when his vicar was presiding at a Chapter. There one of the friars, under some pretext or other, refused to submit to obedience and Francis became aware of it in spirit. He called a member of the community and told him, “Brother, I saw the Devil on that friar’s back, holding him tightly by the neck. With a wicked spirit like that in control, it is no wonder that he refused to be guided by obedience and gave rein to him own inclination. But the moment I prayed to God for him, the Devil went off in confusion. Now go and tell that friar to submit to obedience immediately.” When the friar heard the message, he repented immediately and humbly cast himself at the vicar’s feet.
12 Another time two friars made a long journey to Greccio to see the saint and get his blessing, which they had wanted for years. When they arrived, he could not be found; he had already left the friary and gone off to his private cell. They were very disappointed, as they took their leave; but then as they went down the path, the saint came out of his cell unexpectedly and called after them. He could not possibly have heard of their arrival or departure by any human means, but he blessed them in Christ’s name with the sign of the cross, just as they desired.
13 Two friars from Terra di Lavoro once came to see St. Francis. The elder of the two had given his companion a bad example; and when they met the saint, he asked the younger friar how his companion had behaved on the way. The friar replied saying that he had behaved, “well enough,” but Francis told him, “Be careful, brother, not to tell lies under the pretext of obedience. I know well enough how he behaved, but just wait and see.” The friar was amazed that he should know in spirit what went on a such a distance. A few days later the friar who had misbehaved abandoned the Order and left; he neglected to ask the saint’s forgiveness and refused to submit to correction. This single incident demonstrated two things clearly: the justice of God’s judgments, and the penetrating power of the spirit of prophecy.
14 That Francis appeared in person, by God’s power, to those who were absent, is proved beyond all doubt from what we have written in an earlier chapter; it is sufficient to recall how he appeared to the friars in a chariot of fire, and to the Chapter of Arles in the form of a cross. There can be no doubt that this was due to a special disposition of Divine Providence; his miraculous appearance in person was intended to show how close and responsive his spirit was to the light of eternal wisdom. As we read in the Book of Wisdom, “There is nothing so agile that it can match wisdom for agility age after age, she finds her way into holy man’s hearts, turning them into friends and spokesmen of God” (Wis. 7, 24 and 27). God, the supreme Teacher, usually reveals his mysteries to the simple, to those who are poor and despised. We can see this first of all in the case of David, the greatest of the prophets, and then in St. Peter, the Price of the Apostles, and now we see it once more in the case of Francis, Christ’s poor beggar. They were simple men with on claim to learning, but they won renown under the guidance of the Holy Spirit; David was a shepherd and he was chosen to become a leader of the Synagogue, to lead the flock God saved from Egypt; Peter was a fisherman and he was chose to fill a net, which is the Church, with a multitude of faithful. Francis, however, was a trader and he was appointed to buy the pearl which is the Gospel life, selling everything he had for Christ’s sake.
CHAPTER XII
The Efficacy of Francis’ Preaching – His Powers of Healing
1 Francis, Christ’s faithful servant and minister, was anxious to behave always with perfect loyalty to him, and so he concentrated especially on practicing those virtues in which, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he knew Good too the greatest pleasure.
On one occasion he fell victim to a serious doubt; and some time afterwards, when he returned from where he had been praying, he put it before the friars who were closest to him, to have it resolved. “What do you think of this, Brothers?” he said. “Which do you think is better? That I should devote all my time to prayer, or that I should go about preaching. I am a poor and worthless religious. I have no education and I am inexperienced in speaking; I have received the gift of prayer rather than that of preaching. Besides, prayer earns merit and a multitude of special favors, while preaching seems to be only a way of sharing the gifts which have been received from heaven. Prayer helps to purify the desires of the heart and unites a person to the one, true, and supreme Good, while giving an increase of virtue. The labor of preaching allows dust to enter into the soul and involves a lot of distraction and relaxation of religious discipline. In prayer we talk to God and listen to him and live a life worthy of the angels, with the angels for our companions. When preaching, we have to descend to the level of human beings and live among them as one of them, thinking and seeing and hearing and speaking about human affairs. But, on the other hand, there is one argument which seems to count more than all the rest in God’s eyes and it is this: the only-begotten Son of God, who is Wisdom itself, came down from the Father’s embrace to save souls. He wanted to teach the world by his own example and bring a message of salvation to the men whom he had redeemed at the price of his Precious Blood, washing them clean in it and upholding them by its taste. He kept nothing for himself, but generously surrendered all for our salvation. We are bound to act always according to the model which has been set before us in him as on some high mountain, and so it seems that it is more in accordance with God’s will that I should renounce the peace of contemplation and go out to work.” He discussed this problem with the friars over a number of days, but he could not make up his mind which course of action he should choose as being more pleasing to Christ. The spirit of prophecy had enabled him to penetrate the deepest secrets, but he was unable to solve his own difficulty satisfactorily. That was the way God wanted it, so that Francis might remain humble and the value of preaching might be proved by a revelation from heaven.
2 Francis had learned deep secrets from the Teacher of all, but he was a true Friar Minor and he was not ashamed to ask advice from those who were not as advanced as he. He was always anxious to discover how or in what way he could serve God more perfectly according to his will. As long as he lived this was his greatest desire, the sum total of his philosophy, to inquire from everybody, leaned or unlearned, perfect or imperfect, young or old, what was the most heroic way to reach the summit of perfection.
He now
chose two of the friars and sent them to Brother Silvester. Siverster was the
man who had seen a cross coming from his mouth, and he spent all his time in
prayer as God to solve his doubts and send him the answer in God’s name. He
sent the same message to St. Clare, telling her to pray with her sisters and
find out God’s will by means of the holiest and most simple of the sisters who
lived under her. By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Brothers Silvester and
When the friars returned and told the saint God’s will as they had learned it, he refused to delay ad set out immediately. He left with such eagerness to obey God’s command and he traveled so quickly that the hand of God seemed to be upon him, giving him new strength from heaven.
3 When he was near Bevagna, he came to a spot where there was a huge flock of birds of various kinds. The moment he saw them, he ran to them and greeted them as if they understood, and they all turned towards him and waited for him. Those that had perched on the bushes bent their heads, when he came near, and looked at him in an extraordinary way. He went straight up to them and appealed to them al to hear the word of God saying, “My brothers, you have a great obligation to praise your Creator. He clothed you with feathers and gave you wings to fly, appointing the clear air as your home, and he looks after you without any effort on your part.” As he continued speaking to them like this, the birds showed their pleasure in a wonderful fashion; they stretched out their beaks open. In his spiritual enthusiasm Francis walked among them, brushing them with his habit, and not one of them moved until he made the sign of the cross and gave them permission to go. Then they all flew away together with his blessing. His companions who were waiting on the road saw everything and when the saint rejoined them, in the purity and simplicity of his heart, he began to reproach himself for his negligence in never preaching to the birds before.
4 Continuing his journey, Francis preached in the neighboring villages, and eventually he came to Alviano. Here he summoned the whole population and called for silence, but he could scarcely be heard above the cries of the swallows which were nesting there and making a lot of noise. He spoke to them, while the whole crowd listened, and said, “My sisters, it is my turn to speak now. You have said enough already. Listen to God’s word and be quiet until the sermon is over.” Immediately they all became silent, just as if they understood, and they never moved until the whole sermon was finished. The onlookers were amazed and gave glory to God. The story of this miracle was told far and wide, so that people had great reverence for the saint and were moved to greater faith.
5 In
6 Another
time when St. Francis was preaching on the seashore at
A person would certainly have to be really perverse and obstinate to refuse to listen to St. Francis’ preaching. Even dumb creatures submitted to his miraculous powers and inanimate objects came to his aid when he preached, as if they had life.
7 Christ, the power of God, Christ the wisdom of God (1 Cor 1, 24), whom the Spirit of God had anointed, was with his servant Francis in everything he did, lending him eloquence in preaching sound doctrine and glorifying him by the extraordinary power of his miracles. Francis’ words were like a blazing fire which penetrated the depths of the heart and filled the minds of his hearers with wonder. They had no claim to any literary style, but gave every sign of being the result of divine inspiration.
He was
due to preach before the pope and the cardinals on one occasion and t the suggestion
of the bishop of
8 Francis had first convinced himself of the truth of what he preached to others by practicing it in his own life and so he proclaimed the truth confidently, without fear of reproof. He denounced evil wherever he found it, and made no effort to palliate it; from him a life of sin met with outspoken rebuke, not support. He spoke with equal candor to great and small and he was just as happy addressing a handful of listeners as a large gathering. Men and women of every age flocked to see and hear this new preacher who had been given to the world by God, ad Francis moved from place to place preaching fervently, “the Lord aiding him, and attesting his word by the miracles that went with him” (Mk 16, 20). Francis, the herald of truth, cast out devils by the power of God’s name and healed the sick. By the efficacy of his preaching he moved hearts which had become hardened to repentance – Which is grater still – and restored health to bodies and souls. We can see this from some of the miracles which he worked and which we shall now describe by way of illustration.
9 In
At the request of the Bishop of Narni, Francis made the sign of the cross from his head to his feet over a paralytic who had lost the use of his limbs, and restored him to perfect health.
In the diocese of Rieti there was a boy who was so bloated that he had not been able to see his feet for four years, His mother brought him tearfully to St. francis and the moment he laid his hands upon him, the boy was cured.
At Orte there was a boy who was crippled, so that his head was bent down to his feet and some of his bones were broken. When Francis made the sign of the cross over him at his parents’ request, he was cured instantly and was able to stand upright.
10 A woman in Gubbio whose hands were withered and bent, so that she could do nothing with them, was cured instantly when Francis made the sign of the cross over her in God’s name. There and then she returned home and prepared some food for him and for the poor with her own hands, like St. Peter’s mother-in-law in the Gospel.
In the
A woman in Narni recovered her sight, when he made the sign of the cross over her.
There
was a boy in
At San Gemini St. Francis was given hospitality by a man whose wife was troubled by an evil spirit. The saint prayed and then commanded the Devil in virtue of obedience to go out of here. By God’s power he was driven out so quickly that it proved beyond all doubt that the Devil’s obstinate pride cannot resist the power of obedience.
In Citta di Castello an evil spirit which had taken violent possession of a woman went off in a rage, when he had been commanded under obedience by St. Francis, and left the woman who had been possessed free in body and soul.
11 one of the friars was suffering from such a terrible affliction that many were convinced it was a case of diabolical possession, not a physical disorder. It often seized him with such force that he rolled about, foaming at the mouth, while his limbs contracted or stretched out and were twisted and turned, or sometimes rigid and inflexible. At times he was stretched at full length and raised from the ground until his feet were on a level with his head. Then he would suddenly fall to the earth again. Francis was full of pity for him in his incurable affliction and he sent him a mouthful of the bread he was eating. The sick friar improved so much at the taste of it that he never suffered from his affliction again.
In the
A man from Citta della Piever who was a good and sincere person had a cord which St. Francis had worn. There were some people suffering from various illnesses in the town, and he visited their homes and gave the patients a drink of water in which he had dipped the cord. Many were cured in this way.
Sick people who ate bread which Francis had touched often made a quick recovery, by God’s power.
12 Because of the extraordinary miracles which highlighted his preaching, the people listed to St. Francis’ words as if an angel from God were speaking. The extraordinary degree of virtue he had attained, and his spirit of prophecy; the power of his miracles, together with his divine appointment to preach, and the obedience irrational creatures paid him; the profound change of heart in those who heard him, and the fact that he had been taught by the Holy Spirit without the aid of man, and commissioned to preach by the Supreme Pontiff as the result of a revelation, in addition to the rule in which the approach to preaching is laid down, and which was approved by Christ’s Vicar, together with the mark of the Great King which was impressed on his body like a seal – these were all so many testimonies which proclaimed before the whole world that Christ’s Francis deserved to be respected because of his office, to be believed because of his teaching, and to be admired for his sanctity, and that therefore he preached Christ’s Gospel as a spokesman from God himself.
CHAPTER XIII
The Stigmata of St. Francis
1 St. Francis never failed to keep himself occupied doing good; like the angles Jacob saw on the ladder (cf Gn 28,12), he was always busy, either raising his heart to God in prayer, or descending to his neighbor. He had learned how to distribute the time in which he could gain merit wisely, devoting part of it to his neighbor by doing good, and part to the restful ecstasy of contemplation. According to the demands of time or circumstances he would devote himself wholly to the salvation of his neighbor, but when he was finished, he would escape from the distracting crowds and go into solitude in search of peace. There he was free to attend exclusively to God and he would cleanse any stain he had contracted while living in the midst of the world.
Two years before his death, after a period of intense activity, he was led by Divine Providence to a high mountain called La Verna, where he could be alone. There he began a forty-day fast in honor of St. Michael the Archangel, as was his custom, and he soon experienced an extraordinary in-pouring of divine contemplation. He was all on fire with heavenly desires and he realized that the gifts of divine grace were being poured out over him in greater abundance than ever. He was borne aloft not as one who would search curiously into the divine majesty and be crushed by its glory (cf. Prv 25,27), but as a faithful and wise servant anxious only to discover God’s will, which he wanted to obey with all his heart and soul.
2 By divine inspiration he learned that if he opened the Gospels, Christ would reveal to him what was God’s will for him and what God wished to see realized in him. And so Francis prayed fervently and took the Gospel book from the altar, telling his companion, a devout and holy friar, to open it in the name of the Blessed Trinity. He opened the Gospel three times, and each time it opened at the passion, and so Francis understood that he must become like Christ in the distress and the agony of his passion before he left the world, just as he had been like him in all that he did during his life. His body had already been weakened by the austerity of his past life and the fact that he had carried our Lord’s Cross without interruption, but he was not afraid and he felt more eager than ever to endure any martyrdom. The unquenchable fire of love for Jesus in his goodness had become a blazing light of flame, so that his charity could not succumb even before the floodwaters of affliction (cf. Ct 8, 6-7).
3 The fervor of his seraphic longing raised Francis up to God and, in an ecstasy of compassion, made him like Christ who allowed himself to be crucified in the excess of his love. Then one morning about the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, while he was praying on the mountainside, Francis saw a Seraph with six fiery wings coming down from the highest point in the heavens. The vision descended swiftly and came to rest in the air near him. Then he saw the image of a Man crucified in the midst of the wings, with his hands and feet stretched out and nailed to a cross. Two of the wings were raised above his head and two shielded his body. Francis was dumbfounded at the sight and his heart was flooded with a mixture of joy and sorrow. He was overjoyed at the way Christ regarded him so graciously under the appearance of a Seraph, but the fact that he was nailed to a cross pierced his soul with a sword of compassionate sorrow.
He was lost in wonder at the sight of this mysterious vision; he knew that the agony of Christ’s passion was not in keeping with the state of a seraphic spirit which is immortal. Eventually he realized by divine inspiration that God had shown him this vision in his providence, in order to let him see that, as Christ’s lover, he would resemble Christ crucified perfectly not by physical martyrdom, but by the fervor of his spirit. As the vision disappeared, it left his heart ablaze with eagerness and impressed upon his body a miraculous likeness. There and then the marks of nails began to appear in his hands and feet, just as he had seen them in his vision of the Man nailed to the Cross. Hid hands and feet appeared pierced through the center with nails, the heads of which were in the palms of his hands and on the instep of each foot, while the points struck out on the opposite side. The heads were black and round, but the points were long and bent back, as if they had been struck with a hammer; they rose above the surrounding flesh and stood out from it. His right side seemed as if it had been pierced with a lance and was marked with a livid scar which often bled, so that his habit and trousers were stained.
4 When he realized that he could not conceal the stigmata which had been imprinted so plainly on his body from his intimate companions, he was thrown into an agony of doubt; he was afraid to make God’s secret publicly known, and he did not know whether he should say what he had seen, or keep it quiet. He called some of the friars and asked them in general terms what he should do. one of them, who was called Illuminatus, was enlightened by God and he realized that some miracle had taken place because the saint was still completely dazed. He said to him, “Brother, remember that when God reveals his secrets to you, it is not for yourself alone; they are intended for others too. If you hide something which was intended to do good to many others, then you have every reason to fear that you will be condemned for burying the talent given to you.” Francis often said, “It is for me to keep my secret to myself,” but when he heard these words, he described the vision he had just seen apprehensively, adding that the Person who had appeared to him had told him a number of secrets which he would never reveal to anyone as long as he lived.
We can only conclude from this that the message given him by the Seraph who appeared to him on the Cross was so secret that it could not be communicated to any human being.
5 True love of Christ had now transformed his lover into his image, and when the forty days which he had intended spending in solitude were over and the feast of St. Michael had come, St. Francis came down from the mountain. With him he bore a representation of Christ crucified which was not the work of an artist in wood or stone, but had been reproduced in the members of his body by the hand of the living God. “Kings have their counsel that must be kept secret” (Tob 12, 7), and so Francis who realized that he shared a royal secret did his best to conceal the sacred stigmata. However, it is for God to reveal his wonders for his own glory; he had impressed the stigmata on St. Francis in secret, but he publicly worked a number of miracles by them, so that their miraculous, though hidden, power might become clearly known.
6 In
the
7 before St. Francis went to stay on La Verna it often happened that clouds would form over the mountain and violent hailstorms would devastate the crops. After his vision, however, the hail stopped, much to the amazement of the local people. The unusually clear skies proclaimed the extraordinary nature of his vision and the power of the stigmata which he received there.
One winter-time, because he was weak and the road was bad, the saint was riding an ass belonging to a poor man. It was snowing and the approach of darkness made it impossible for them to reach shelter, so that they had to spend the night under the lee of an overhanging cliff. Francis heard his benefactor grumbling to himself and turning this way and that; he was wearing only a few clothes and he could not fall asleep in the biting cold. He himself was ablaze with the fervor of divine love and he stretched out his hand and touched him. At the touch of his hand, which was warm with the heat of the coal used to purify the lips of the prophet Isaias, the cold disappeared and the man felt as warm as if he had been hit with a blast of hot air from an oven. He immediately felt better in body and soul and he slept more soundly in the rocks and the blizzard until morning than he had ever slept in his own bed, as he used to say afterwards.
It is certain, therefore, that the stigmata were impressed upon St. Francis by God’s power, because it is God who purifies, illuminates, and inflames by the intervention of the Seraphim. These sacred wounds purified animals of disease and granted clear skies, as well as physical warmth. This was proved more clearly than ever after Francis’ death by the miracles which we shall describe in their own place.
8 Francis was very careful to try and hide the treasure he had found in the field (cf. Mt 13, 44), but he could not prevent everybody from seeing the stigmata in his hands and feet, although he always kept his hands covered and wore shoes. A number of the friars saw them during his lifetime, and to put the matter beyond all doubt they testified to this under oath, although they were good religious and deserved to be believed. Some of the cardinals who were close friends of the saint also saw them and celebrated their praise in various hymns and antiphons which they composed in his honor, thus bearing witness to the truth in their words and writings. In a sermon which he preached in public and at which I was present with a number of other friars, His Holiness Pope Alexander asserted that he had seen the stigmata with his own eyes during the saint’s lifetime. More than fifty friars with St. Clare and her nuns and innumerable lay people saw them after his death. Many of them kissed the stigmata and felt them with their own hands, to prove the truth, as we shall describe later.
However, Francis succeeded in covering the wound in his side so carefully that no one could get more than a glimpse of it during his lifetime. A friar who used to wait on him carefully gently prevailed upon him to take off his habit and have it shaken out, and as he watched closely he saw the wound. He put three of his fingers on it immediately, so that he was able to feel as well as see how big it was. The friar who was Francis’ vicar at that time managed to see the wound by a similar subterfuge. Another of his companions, a man of extraordinary simplicity, put his hand in under his capuche to massage his chest because he was not feeling well, and accidentally touched the wound, causing the saint great pain. As a result, Francis always wore trousers which reached up to his arm-pits, in order to cover the scar on his side. The friars who washed his trousers or shook out his habit found them stained with blood. This clear proof left them with no doubt of the existence of the wound which they afterwards contemplated and venerated with others on his death.
9 O valiant knight of Christ! You are armed with the weapons of your invulnerable Leader. They will mark you out and enable you to overcome all your enemies. It is for you to bear aloft the standard of the High King, at the sight of which the rank and file of God’s army take heart. And you bear, nonetheless, the seal of the supreme High Priest Christ, so that your words and example must be regarded by everyone as genuine and sound beyond all cavil. You bear the scars of the Lord Jesus in your body, so that no one should dare oppose you. on the contrary, all Christ’s disciples are bound to hold you in devout affection. God’s witness in your favor is beyond all doubt; the sacred stigmata were witnessed not just by two or three, which would have been enough, but by a whole multitude, which is more than enough, and they leave those who are unbelieving without excuse. The faithful, on the other hand, are confirmed in their faith and raised up by confident hope and inflamed with the fire of divine love.
10 The
very first vision you saw has now been fulfilled; it was revealed to you then
that you were to be a captain in Christ’s army and that you should bear arms
which were emblazoned with the sign of the cross. At the beginning of your
religious life the sight of the Crucified pierced your soul with a sword of
compassionate sorrow. There can be no doubt that you heard Christ’s voice from
the cross, which seemed to come from his throne in his sanctuary on high,
because we have your own word for it. Later on, Brother Silvester saw two
swords piercing you in the form of a cross. When
Finally,
towards the end of your life, you had a sublime vision of a Seraph, in which
you saw the lowly form of the Crucified. This inflamed your heart and marked
your body, so that you bear the seal of the living God, like the “second” angel
coming up from the east” mentioned by
Seven visions of Christ’s Cross were miraculously seen in you or concerning you, and these appeared like so many portents at different stages in your life. The first six led like so many steps to the seventh which you have now attained and in which all is finally consummated. At the outset of your religious life Christ’s Cross was put before you and you took it up and carried it always by living blamelessly, giving others and example to follow. The Cross proves so clearly that you attained the height of Gospel perfection that o sincere person could spurn the example of Christian holiness which you gave in your poor person. No true Christian could oppose it, and no one with any humility could make little of it, because it comes from God and deserves to be welcomed.
CHAPTER XIV
Francis’ Patient Endurance and His Death
1 Francis now hung, body and soul, upon the Cross with Christ; he burned with love for God worthy of a seraph and, like Christ, he thirsted for the salvation of the greatest possible number of human beings. He could no longer walk because of the nails protruding from his feet, and so he had himself carried, half-dead as he was, through the towns and villages, to encourage others to bear Christ’s Cross. To the friars he used to say, “My brothers, we must begin to serve our Lord and God. Until now we have done very little.” He longed with all his heart to return to the humble beginning he had made at first and to nurse the lepers once more, as he had done before, making his body which was already worn out with toil serve him once again as it had served him before. With Christ for his leader, he proposed to achieve great victories and, even as his limbs bordered on collapse, he hoped to triumph over his enemy the Devil once again, because he was fervent and courageous in spirit. The goad of love never ceases to urge a person on to greater efforts and leaves no room for discouragement or sloth. In Francis, however, spirit and flesh were so much in harmony and so prompt to obey that, as his spirit strained after the height of sanctity, his body – far from being an obstacle – tried to surpass its desires.
1 Merit, as we know, is crowned by patient endurance, and so Francis began to suffer all kinds of illnesses, so that his treasure might be augmented. There was scarcely a singly part of his body which did not have some pain to suffer. The prolonged agony he endured eventually reduced him to a state where he had no flesh left and his skin clung to his bones. He was hemmed in with agonizing pain, but he called his trials his sisters, not his pains.
When he was suffering greater than usual on time, a friar who was a very simple man said to him, “Brother, you should pray to God and ask him to be easier on you. He seems to be treating you too roughly.” The saint groaned aloud at the words and exclaimed, “If I did not know your complete simplicity, I would never let you come near me again, because you dared to find fault with God for the way he is treating me.” Then he threw himself on the ground, shaking every bone in his body with the fall, although he was worn out from his long illness, and kissing the earth, he added, “I thank you, my Lord and God, for all the pains I suffer and I beg you to make them a hundred times worse, if you want to. Nothing would make me more happy than to have you afflict me with pain and not spare me. Doing your will is consolation enough, and more than enough, for me.” To the friars he seemed like a second job; the vigor of his mind increased as his body became weaker. He knew the day of his death a long time beforehand and, as it approached, he told the friars that he must soon fold his tent (cf. 2 Pt 1, 14), as Christ had revealed to him.
3 For two years after he had received the stigmata – that is twenty years after the beginning of his religious life – Francis endured the purifying blows of various illnesses which formed him like a stone ready to be fitted into the heavenly Jerusalem and raised him to the height of perfection, like ductile metal under the blows of a hammer. Then he asked to be brought to St. Mary of the Portiuncula, so that he might yield up his spirit where he had first received the spirit of grace. When he arrived there, he was anxious to show that he had no longer anything in common with the world, after the example of Eternal Truth. In his last serious illness, which was destined to put an end to all his suffering, he had himself laid naked on the bare earth, so that with all the fervor of his spirit he might struggle naked with his naked enemy in that last hour which is given him to vent his wrath. As he lay there on the ground, stripped of his poor habit, he raised his eyes to heaven, as his custom was, and was lost in the contemplation of its glory. He covered the wound in his right side with his left hand, to prevent it being seen, and he said to the friars, “I have done what was mine to do. May Christ teach you what is yours.”
4 His companions were overcome with sorrow and wept bitterly; one of them whom the saint called his guardian was inspired by God and took a habit with a cord and trousers, and offered them to Christ’s beggar, as he realized this was what he wanted. “I am giving you the loan of these,” he said, “as a beggar, and you are to take them in virtue of obedience.” The saint was delighted and his heart overflowed with happiness; this proved that he had kept his faith with Lady Poverty to the end. Raising his hands to heaven, he gave praise to Christ for freeing him from all his burdens and allowing him to go freely to meet him. He had acted as he did in his anxiety for poverty, and he was unwilling even to keep a habit unless it was on loan. Christ hung upon his Cross, poor and naked and in great pain, and Francis wanted to be like him in everything. That was why at the beginning of his religious life he stood naked before the bishop, and at the end he wished to leave the world naked. In obedience and love he begged the friars who were standing by him to let him lie naked on the ground, when they saw he was dead, for as long as it takes to walk a mile unhurriedly.
Surely he was the most Christ-like of men! His only desire was to be like Christ and imitate him perfectly, and he was found worthy to be adorned with the marks of his likeness; in his life he imitated the life of Christ and in his death he imitated his death, and he wished to be like him still when he was dead.
5 as the moment of his death drew near, the saint had all the friars who were there called to his side; he spoke to them gently with fatherly affection, consoling them for his death and exhorting them to love God. He mentioned especially poverty and patient endurance and the necessity of holding to the faith of the holy Roman Church, and gave the Gospel preeminence over any other rule of life. The friars were grouped about him and he stretched out his arms over them in the form of a cross, because he loved that sign, and blessed all the friars, both present and absent, in the power and in the name of the Crucified. Then he added, “I bid you good-bye, all you my sons, in the fear of God. Remain in him always. There will be trials and temptations in the future, and it is well for those who persevere in the life they have undertaken. I am on my way to God, and I commend you all to his favor.”
When he
had finished his inspiring admonition, he told them to bring a book of the
Gospels and asked to have the passage of
6 At last, when all God’s mysteries had been accomplished in him, his holy soul was freed from his body and assumed into the abyss of God’s glory, and Francis fell asleep in God. one of the friars, a disciple of his, saw his soul being borne on a white cloud over many waters to heaven, under the appearance of the radiant star. It shone with the brightness of sublime sanctity, full of the abundance of divine wisdom and grace which had earned for him the right to enter the home of light and peace, where he rests with Christ for ever.
The provincial minister of the friars in the Terra id Lavoroo, Brother Augustine, a holy and upright man, was at death’s door at that time. He had been unable to speak for some time, but now those who were with him suddenly heard him crying out, “Wait for me, father. Wait! I am coming with you.” The friars were amazed and asked him to whom he was speaking. He replied, “Can’t you see our father Francis. He is going to heaven.” There and then his holy soul left his body and followed his father.
The
bishop of
At the time of St. Francis’ death, when it was already dusk, a great flock of larks gathered over the building, although they normally prefer the light of day and avoid the shades of night. There they remained, flying about and singing with unusual joy, clearly testifying by the sweetness of their song to the glory of the saint who had so often called upon them to praise God.
CHAPTER XV
The Canonization of St. Francis and the Solemn Transferal of His Remains
1 From the time when he was first influenced by race and took the earliest steps in his spiritual ascent, Francis the servant and friend of the Most High, the founder and leader of the Order of Friars Minor, made steady progress and eventually he attained the height of sanctity. He was a model of penance, a herald of truth, a mirror of holiness, and an example of Gospel perfection, but poverty was his profession. He was rich in his poverty and exalted in his lowliness; he was full of life in the midst of mortification, and his simplicity led him to supernatural prudence, so that he was marked out by the practice of all the virtues. God had brought him renown in a wonderful fashion during his life, but he made him more renowned than ever in death. As he left the world and his holy soul entered the dwelling places of eternity, where it was glorified by a full draught from the fountain of life, there remained on his body the clear signs of future glory. His flesh, which had been crucified along with its passions and had become a new creature, bore the image of Christ’s passion by a singular privilege and gave some inkling of the resurrection to come by this unheard-of miracle.
2 In his holy hands and feet could be seen the nails which had been miraculously formed out of his flesh by God; they were so much part of his flesh that, when they were pressed on one side, they immediately jutted out further on the other side, as if they were made of solid material which reached right through. The wound in his side which was not the result of any human action could be seen clearly, just like the wound in our Savior’s side, which gave birth to the mystery of redemption and human rebirth. The nails were black like iron, but the side wound was red, and the flesh was contracted into a sort of circle, so that it looked like a beautiful rose. The rest of his skin which was naturally inclined to be dark and had become more so in his illness, became shining white, giving us some idea of the beauty which will belong to the bodies of the saints in heaven.
3 His limbs were relaxed, and soft of touch; they seemed to have regained the tenderness of childhood, bearing clear marks of his childlike innocence. The nails showed up black against his shining skin and the wound in his side looked like a rose in full flower, so that it is no wonder the onlookers were amazed and overjoyed at the varied beauty of the miracle. His sons mourned the loss of such a loving father, but they were filled with gladness when they kissed the marks of the supreme King in his body. The extraordinary miracle turned their sorrow to joy and the realization of what it meant turned their curiosity into amazement. The sight was so unusual and so sublime that those who saw it were confirmed in their faith and inspired to greater love, while those who heard about it were lost in amazement and longed to see for themselves.
4 When
the townspeople heard that the saint was dead and learned about the stigmata,
they came in crowds to the place, all anxious to see with their own eyes; that
would banish all doubt from their minds and add joy to the affection they felt
for the saint. A large number of people from
One of those who was allowed to see the body of St. Francis was a knight called Jerome who was an educated and prudent man. He was a very well known person, but he was unbelieving like the Apostle St. Thomas and he doubted the reality of the stigmata. In his eagerness he did not hesitate to move the nails in full sight of the friars and all the people, and he felt the saint’s hands and feet and side with his fingers. As he felt the marks of Christ’s wounds under his touch, the doubt vanished from his heart and from the hearts of others. As a result he and many others afterwards bore witness to the truth which he had verified so carefully, and swore to it on the Gospel.
5
Fraincis’ faiars and sons who had been summoned to his deathbed spent the night
on which he died singing God’s praises with all the people, so that it seemed
as if angels were keeping watch and no one would think obsequies were being
celebrated for the dead. In the morning the crowd which had gathered took
branches from the trees and brought his body to
6 Our holy father left this would on Saturday evening, October 3, in the year of our Lord 1226, and he was buried the following day. He immediately became famous for the numerous and extraordinary miracles which were worked through his intercession, because God looked with favor upon him. In his lifetime his sublime holiness was made known to the world in order to show people how they should live by the example of his perfect uprightness. Now that he was reigning with Christ, his sanctity was to be proclaimed from heaven through the miracles worked by God’s power, to strengthen the faith of the whole world. All over the world the glorious miracles and the wonderful favors which were obtained through his intercession inspired countless numbers to serve Christ faithfully and venerate his saint. Word of what was taking place, as well as the facts themselves, came to the ears of the pope, Gregory IX, so that he was aware of the miracles God was working through his servant Francis.
7 The
pope was fully convinced of his extraordinary sanctity, not only by the
miracles which he heard about after his death, but also by what he knew from
his own experience during the saint’s lifetime, what he had seen with his own
eyes and touched with his own hands. He had no doubt whatever that Francis had
already been glorified by God in heaven and in his anxiety to act in harmony
with Christ whose Vicar he was, he was disposed to glorify him on earth, as
being worthy of all veneration. He had the various miracles worked by the saint
recorded in writing and approved by witnesses, in order to convince the whole
world that Francis had been glorified in heaven. Then he submitted them to be
examined by the cardinals who seemed to be least favorable to the process and
when they had checked them carefully and agreed unanimously, he decreed that
Francis should be canonized, with the advice and consent of the cardinals and
of all the prelates who were then in the papal court. on Sunday, July 16, in the
year of our Lord 1228, the pope himself came to
8 In
1230 a general chapter of the Order which was attended by great numbers of the
friars was held at
9 St. Francis had been famous during his life for the miracles which he worked, and from the time of his death until the present day, he had been glorified all over the world by the extraordinary prodigies which God performs in his honor. The blind, the deaf, the dumb, and the crippled; those suffering from dropsy or paralysis; the possessed and the lepers, the castaways and the captives, - all have found help through his merits. For every disease, every need and danger, there is a remedy. And the dead who were raised to life through his intercession proclaimed the power of the Most High before all the faithful, as God glorified his saint, he to whom be honor and glory through endless ages. Amen.
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