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Title: The Life and Legends of Saint Francis of Assisi

Author: Father Candide Chalippe

Release Date: August, 2004 [EBook #6367]
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[This file was first posted on December 2, 2002]
[Date last updated: January 18, 2004]


Edition: 10

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRANCIS OF ASSISI ***




Produced by Scott Pfenninger, Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.



THE LIFE AND LEGENDS OF SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF FATHER CANDIDE CHALIPPE, O.F.M.

REVISED AND RE-EDITED BY FATHER HILARION DUERK, O.F.M.

Imprimatur FATHER SAMUEL MACKE O.F.M. _Min. Prov._ St. Louis
September 1, 1917

Nihil obstat ARTHUR J. SCANLAN, S.T.D. _Censur Librarum_

Imprimatur JOHN CARDINAL FARLEY _New York_

This Jubilee Edition of the Life and Legends of St. Francis of Assisi
is Respectfully Dedicated to all Members of the Third Order in the
City of Cleveland and Vicinity, above all, to the Nobel Patrons and
Zealous Workers of Our Tertiary Branches.





INTRODUCTORY NOTE

The Life and Legends of St. Francis of Assisi by Father Candide
Chalippe, O.F.M., need no apology. The work was first published at
Paris in 1727. It is not only well written and reliable withal, but
also instructive, elevating and inspiring. The facts and legends
mentioned are drawn from the oldest and most reliable sources. The
abundance of incidents and anecdotes not to be found elsewhere make
the volume eminently interesting, while the reflexions and applications
which the author now and then interweaves with the narrative are so
replete with practical hints on spiritual life, that they will
undoubtedly produce the best spiritual results in the reader. The style
though simple, at times graphic, is very pleasing; the narrative flows
on with equal ease and freedom.

In 1852 a priest from the Oratory of St. Philip Neri made a translation
into English from what was then the latest French edition. This French
edition came from the press in 1850. With the English translation the
original work appeared in an abridged form. The original work is divided
into six books, the English translation contains but half of these,
so rearranged for the sake of clearness that they form five books.
Most elucidations of the original work regarding characteristics of
St. Francis, events and dates that are doubtful, are omitted, likewise
most of the writings of St. Francis. The former were and still are
undergoing changes, owing to new historical researches and discoveries
made by students of Franciscan sources, while the latter were but
lately again newly translated into English and edited as completely
as possible with many critical notes and references of great value by
the scholarly Father Paschal Robinson, O.F.M.--The Writings of St.
Francis of Assisi by Father Paschal Robinson, O.F.M. The Dolphin Press,
1906.

The marvellous progress the Third Order of St. Francis is making in
this country causes the story of the life of St. Francis that is
herewith presented to the public in a newly revised edition to be
especially welcome. For all Tertiaries know that mere devotion to St.
Francis is of itself not sufficient to acquire the spirit of their
Seraphic Father; all are aware that membership in the Third Order does
not necessarily argue the possession of this spirit--and yet, every
real Tertiary desires nothing more than to acquire the poor, humble,
loving spirit of St. Francis. This spirit can scarcely be acquired,
unless the life of St. Francis be well known, meditated upon and
imitated as far as practicable. The Life and Legends of St. Francis
of Assisi by Father Candide Chalippe, O.F.M., is peculiarly adapted
to help Tertiaries to perform this task; the spirit of St. Francis
breathes in every page. Not once, but several times may Tertiaries
read this book to great advantage. With every reading new items of
interest will be discovered, new lessons will present themselves to
be learnt, new inspirations will be imparted to the soul from above.
The more this book is read, the more it will be loved; the more it is
studied, the more it will be admired. For Tertiaries a book of this
kind is a necessity; it is as necessary for them as a text-book is
for a scholar.

May this wonderful work spread in the future even more rapidly than
before, may it receive the hearty welcome it deserves among the
innumerable Tertiaries and clients of St. Francis of Assisi and be to
them a sure guide to God's abundant graces in this world and to life
everlasting in the next.




PREFACE BY THE AUTHOR

WHEREIN THE PREJUDICES OF CERTAIN PERSONS AGAINST MIRACLES WHICH ARE
RECORDED IN THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS ARE SHOWN TO BE BOTH UNREASONABLE
AND DANGEROUS, AND THAT THE MIRACLES ATTRIBUTED TO SAINT FRANCIS ARE
VERY WELL AUTHENTICATED.


A very common failing amongst men is to adopt one extreme in the
endeavor to avoid another, and sometimes not to perceive that the
extreme into which they fall is greater than that which they had sought
to flee from. To insure themselves against weak incredulity, some have
imbibed such prejudice against the miracles in the Lives of the Saints,
that they cannot endure to hear of them; the very ideas of miracles,
revelations, ecstasies, visions, apparitions, are hateful and disgusting
to them; all that is said on these subjects they look upon as fabulous
and incredible; they call in question the most undeniable evidence,
or attribute these wonders to natural and unknown causes. The wonders
which are recorded in the Life of St, Francis, afford an opportunity
of grappling with these prejudices.

In the first place, no man using his right reason will reject the
wonders recorded in the Lives of the Saints, because of their
impossibility. Miracles are extraordinary events, which break through
the laws of nature, and exceed the force of all natural causes; it is
only necessary to make use of our reason to be aware that God, whose
power is infinite, having freely established these laws, may, whenever
He thinks fit, break through them Himself by the ministry of His
creatures, whom He makes use of as He pleases; that these suspensions
may enter into the external designs of His wisdom and providence, and
that they occur by successive acts, without there having been any
change in Him, because it is an act of His will which causes them, as
it does every other thing. Now this proves that miracles are possible,
and that there is no impossibility in the wonders recorded in the Lives
of the Saints.

In the second place, these wonders ought not to cause an incredulous
surprise in any sensible person who pays due attention to the wonders
of nature. "Man," says St. Augustine, "sees extraordinary things happen,
and he admires them, while he himself, the admirer, is a great wonder,
and a much greater miracle than any things which are done by the
intervention of man. There is nothing more marvellous done in the
world, which is not less wonderful than the world itself. All nature
is full of what is miraculous; we seem unconscious of it, because we
see those things daily, and because this daily repetition lowers them
in our eyes. And this is one reason why God has reserved to Himself
other things out of the common course of nature, on which He shows His
power from time to time, in order that their novelty may strike us;
but when we consider attentively, and with reflection, the miracles
we constantly see, we find that they are far greater than others,
however surprising and uncommon these may be."

The holy doctor admits that the prodigies which are out of the common
course of nature, and which are properly called miracles, are to be
viewed with astonishment, since they are works of God, worthy of
admiration; he only requires that the surprise they cause shall be
qualified by a consideration of the wonders of nature, to which he
likewise gives the name of miracles, in a more extended sense: on the
same principle, and _a fortiori_, what there is surprising in them
should not make them appear to us incredible. An enlightened mind
does not believe in miracles which are communicated to him, unless due
proof of them is adduced; but it is not because what is wonderful in
them renders him incredulous, because he sees more marvellous things
in the universe and in himself. If men who apply themselves to the
study of nature, are pertinacious in refusing to believe in the miracles
of the saints, it is because they do not make use of the light they
have received, and do not reason deductively; they have only sought
to gratify their curiosity, or to gain credit for their discoveries;
and do not some of them lose themselves in their speculations, and
become impious, even so as to recognize no other God than nature itself?

In the third place, faith in the great mysteries of religion must
incline us to believe in the wonders we read in the Lives of the Saints.
Are we, then, not called upon to say to those whose prejudices we
oppose: "As you belong to the society of the faithful, you not only
believe that three Persons make only one God; that the Son of God was
made man; that the dead shall rise again; but also, that Jesus Christ
becomes every day present on our altars, under the species of bread
and wine, at the words of consecration; and you believe all the other
astonishing wonders that are proposed to you in our holy religion:
why, then, do you find such repugnance in believing those of the Lives
of the Saints, which are far inferior to the former"?

It is useless to say in answer, that these last are only based on human
testimony, which we are not obliged to receive; that the mysteries are
propounded to us by Divine authority, to which we are bound to submit;
for this is not the question before us. We only compare one wonder
with another, and we maintain that the belief in the one should
facilitate the belief in the other. In fact, if we believe with a firm
and unshaken faith what God, in His goodness, has been pleased to
effect for the salvation of all men, and what He continues daily to
effect in the Eucharist; may we not easily convince ourselves that He
may have given extraordinary marks of His affection for his most
faithful servants?

In the fourth place, similar wonders to those which are found in the
Lives of the Saints are also found in the Holy Scriptures. Raptures,
ecstasies, frequent visions and apparitions, continual revelations,
an infinity of miracles, miraculous fasts of forty days, are things
recorded in the Old and New Testaments. We believe all these wonderful
circumstances, and we are obliged to believe them, although they far
surpass our understanding; on what, then, shall we rely for maintaining
that the wonders recorded in the Lives of the Saints are improbable,
and that we may reasonably call them in question? Reason, on the
contrary, marks them as so much the more probable and worthy of credit,
as we know and believe similar ones which we may not doubt of.
Christians should be accustomed to what is marvellous, and require
nothing but proofs for the most unusual prodigies.

In the fifth place, the promise which Jesus made that the power of
working miracles should be given to true believers, gives authority
to the belief in miracles in the Lives of the Saints. "Amen, amen, I
say to you, he that believeth in me, the works that I do he shall do
also, and greater than these shall he do; because I go to the Father.
And whatsoever you ask the Father in my name, that will I do." "And
these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name they shall cast
out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up
serpents; and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt
them; they shall lay their hands upon the sick, and they shall recover."

Our Saviour, according to the doctrine of the Holy Fathers, has promised
the gift of miracles, not to each one of the faithful in particular,
but to the Church in general; and His promise is for all times, when
the good of religion requires its accomplishment. Heretics pretend
that it only related to the days of the apostles, and that miracles
were only required for the establishment of the faith. What right have
they to limit the words of the Son of God? Do they imagine that they
understand the Scriptures better than the holy doctors? How will they
prove that since the time of the apostles there have been no
combinations of circumstances in which the good of religion shall have
required that miracles should be performed? They were required for the
infidels, to whom the Gospel has been preached in different centuries,
as well as for the Greek and Roman idolaters, to whom it was first
announced. The Church has required them to silence the heretics who
have successively endeavored to impugn her dogmas, and to strengthen
the faith of her own children. They have been always useful for
manifesting the eminence of virtue, for the glory of God, for the
conversion of sinners, for reanimating piety, for nourishing and
strengthening the hopes of the good things of another life. We are,
therefore, justified in saying that the promise of Jesus Christ is for
all times, in certain occasions, and that the belief in the miracles
in the Lives of the Saints is authorized thereby.

In the sixth place, that there have been miracles in the Lives of the
Saints are facts, the proofs of which are unquestionable. The Acts of
the Martyrs, which have always been read in the Church, and the
genuineness of which has been admitted by the most talented critics,
contain recitals of the most wonderful events: the confessors of the
faith instantaneously cured, after having undergone the most cruel
tortures; wild beasts tamed and crouching at their feet; lights and
celestial voices, apparitions of Jesus Christ and His angels, and many
other wonderful circumstances.

In the first six centuries there are scarcely any ecclesiastical writers
and Holy Fathers who do not record miracles worked by the servants of
God, and by their relics; and they speak of them as of things which
they have either seen with their own eyes, or were of public notoriety.

Saint Justin Martyr, in the second century, speaking of the power of
Jesus Christ over the demons, in his Apology, addressed to the Emperors
Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, and to the Roman Senate, says: "You
have proofs of what passes before your eyes, and in your city, and in
all the rest of the world; for you know that many of those possessed,
not having been able to be delivered by your exorcists, enchanters,
and magicians, have been so by the Christians who have exorcised them
in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate."

Saint Ireneus assures us that in the same century some true disciples
of Jesus Christ had received supernatural gifts, which they made use
of advantageously for other men: "Some," says he, "drive away devils;
and this is certain, that often those who have been delivered embrace
the faith, and join the Church. To others it is given to know the
future, and to have prophetic visions. Others cure the sick by the
imposition of hands, and restore them to perfect health. Very often,
even in every place, and for some requisite cause, the brethren solicit,
by fasting and fervent prayers, the resurrection of a dead person, and
obtain it; these dead, thus revived, have lived with us for several
years afterwards. What shall I say further? It is not possible to
enumerate the extraordinary gifts which the Church receives from God,
and what she operates in every part of the world, in favor of the
nations, in the name of Jesus Christ crucified."

"We can," says Origen, writing against Celsus, "show an immense
multitude of Greeks and barbarians who believe in our Lord Jesus Christ;
there are some who prove their faith by the power of working miracles.
They cure the sick by invoking their God, the Creator and the Sovereign
Lord of all things; and the name of Jesus Christ, our Saviour, of whose
Gospel they recite a part. We ourselves have seen several sick persons
delivered from the most formidable maladies, and the cured are too
numerous to be counted."

Tertullian, in his Apology, and in another work, records plainly the
miraculous fall of rain which was obtained from heaven by the prayers
of the Christian soldiers, which saved the army of the Emperor Marcus
Aurelius, which was reduced to the last extremity. He proves the truth
of this fact by the very letter of the emperor. We have also authentic
proofs of this event in the authors and records of paganism itself.
Tertullian, likewise, tells us that the pagans received extraordinary
graces by means of the Christians, some of which he quotes, and he
adds: "How many persons of distinction, without mentioning other people,
have been thus delivered from the devil, and cured of their evils!"

St. Cyprian upbraided an idolater in the following terms, while refuting
him: "The gods whom you adore we exorcise in the name of the true God,
and they are compelled to leave the bodies which they possessed. Oh,
if you chose to see and hear them, when suffering under the power of
our words, as if they were spiritual scourges, and feeling the secret
operation of the Divine Mastery! They howl terrifically, entreat of
us to spare them, declare, in presence of their adorers, whence they
came, and confess a future judgment. Come and be convinced of the truth
of what we say; to be at least moved. Those whom you adore, fear us;
those to whom you pray, entreat of us to spare them; those whom you
revere as sovereigns, are as prisoners in our hands, and tremble as
so many slaves. We interrogate them, and in your presence they declare
what they are; they cannot dissemble the impostures which they make
use of to deceive you."

Such are the miracles which many of God's servants operated in the
second and third centuries, and which cannot be called in question.
How many different kinds are recorded in subsequent times by St. Basil,
and by St. Gregory of Nyssa, in the life of St. Gregory Thaumaturgus;
by St. Athanasius in the life of St. Anthony; by Sulpicius Severus,
in the life of St. Martin; by St. Chrysostom, St. Jerome, St. Ambrose,
St. Augustine, St. Paulinus, in many parts of their works; by Theodoret,
in his religious history; by Pope St. Gregory, in his dialogues; by
St. Hilary of Arles, St. Ouen, and very many others worthy of credit!

These saintly and learned Bishops, Avitus, Metropolitan of Vienne,
Stephen of Lyons, Eon of Arles, conferring with the Arians, in presence
of Gondebauld, King of the Burgundians, after having proved the
consubstantiality of the Word, by the testimony of the Scripture, and
by powerful arguments, offered to give additional proof thereof by
miracles, if the heretics would promise to acquiesce in consequence;
and quoted the example of St. Remigius, Apostle of the French, who was
then living, and setting up the faith on the ruins of idolatry by a
multitude of prodigies.

The miracles operated by means of relics are neither less well
authenticated, nor less celebrated; they were known to the whole world.
St. Augustine was an eyewitness of them; being at Milan when St. Ambrose
discovered, by means of a revelation, the spot where the bodies of SS.
Gervasius and Protasius reposed. He saw a great many miracles performed
in Africa by the relics of St. Stephen, of which he makes mention in
his book of the City of God, written for the confutation of the most
learned of the pagans, wherein he says that, to quote only those
operated in the Dioceses of Calame and Hippo, several books would not
suffice. Nicetius, Bishop of Treves, writing to Clodosvinda, or
Glotinda, Queen of the Lombards, to exhort her to solicit the conversion
of King Alboin, her husband, advised her to make use of the visible
miracles which were operated at the tomb of St Martin, and by the
invocation of St. Germanus, St. Hilary, St. Lupus, St. Remigius, and
St. Medardus. They were so evident, that the heretics dared not call
them in question, and could not deprive them of their splendor. God
made use of these for the conversion of kings, and of the entire
nations.

In all ages after the six first centuries, the prodigies of the Lives
of the Saints are noticed by numerous authors of all countries, whose
talents, learning, probity, holiness, and dignity, render them
respectable to the most searching critics. They are supported by
incontrovertible evidence, by juridical depositions, by authentic acts,
and by splendid monuments which have been erected to their memory by
bishops, princes, magistrates, cities and kingdoms to perpetuate the
recollections of these splendid achievements. We find that the saints
have made numerous predictions, which have been justified by the event;
and that, either moved by the Spirit of God, or compelled by obedience,
they have admitted the supernatural operations which they felt in their
souls. Finally, the prodigies which are found in the Lives of the
Saints have always been considered as indubitable facts amongst the
faithful; the Church recognizes them, and they form one of the objects
of their piety and devotion; no one is placed in the catalogue of
saints whose sanctity has not been attested from heaven, by means of
miracles; and she takes such rigorous precautions, and carries their
strictness so far, that, according to all human prudence, it is
impossible she should be deceived.

We now ask whether it can be permitted to think and to say that such
facts are absolutely false, and should only be looked upon as fables
unworthy of credence? In such case it would be necessary to abrogate
the rule judiciously and universally received in the world, that facts
which have nothing incredible in themselves are not to be controverted
when duly proved; it would be also necessary to refuse credence to all
that is related in sacred and profane history; to lay down as a maxim
to believe nothing but what we see, and to refuse to receive the
testimony of the honorable people with whom we live. Now, this is what
is requisite to prove and convince every man of good sense that the
prejudice against the miracles of the Lives of the Saints is quite
unreasonable; but this does not point out its quality sufficiently;
it is senseless and ridiculous, it is rash, and, what is more, it is
dangerous.

Whoever denies what the Fathers of the Church attest as having seen,
or having been authentically informed of, must conclude that they were
either very credulous, or deceived the people. To refuse to believe
the marvels which have reached us by an uniform and universal tradition,
is to call in question all tradition; to render all its channels
suspicious, and to cause it to be looked upon as a questionable
proposition. What can be thought of the saints, if the miraculous
graces, which they certify that they have received from God, are to
be treated as chimeras; if the accomplishment of what they have
foretold, is to be attributed to chance? What even can be thought of
their most heroic victims? What opinion will be formed of their acts?
Will they be deemed more trustworthy in other matters? When it is
asserted that there have been no miracles since the days of the
apostles, it must be said, by a necessary consequence, that the Church,
which grounds canonization on miracles, makes use of falsehood in that
most solemn and religious act, and that the public worship which the
Church directs is uncertain. Now this very much resembles heresy; for
the great principles of religion teach us that on these occasions the
Church receives peculiar enlightenment from the Holy Ghost, by which
she can neither be deceived herself, nor can she deceive others.

These miracles, it is said, are not articles of faith, and the Church
does not oblige us to believe them. As if nothing was believed in the
world but such things as are of faith; as if it was not dangerous
obstinately to reject those things which are sanctioned by the authority
of the Holy Fathers, by reason and by piety, by tradition and by the
Church, and which cannot be rejected without fatal consequences!

This incredulity attacks, moreover, one of the proofs of the divinity
of Jesus Christ, which the fathers adduced against the pagans. St.
Chrysostom having asserted, on the subject of the miracles of the
martyr, St. Babylas, that our Saviour, on the night of His Passion,
had promised to those who should believe in Him, the power of working
these miracles, adds: "It had been antecedently seen that many had
taken upon themselves the character of masters, who had disciples, and
who boast of performing wonders; nevertheless, we do not hear of any
who had ventured to promise their disciples the same power. The
insolence of their impostures did not go so far, because they knew
that no one would believe them; all the world being convinced that it
is only given to God to make a similar promise, and to fulfil it." On
this principle the holy doctor proves that Jesus Christ is God, since
He has given to those who believe in Him the power of working miracles,
which His disciples actually did, and which His servants now do. St.
Augustine makes use of the same proofs, in his book of the City of
God. Thus the miracles of the saints have in all ages been adduced as
proofs of the Divinity of our Saviour; and this is what those endeavor
to do away with, who, without reflection, consider them as fables.

Another danger is, that they speak of these marvels according to their
own prejudices. They openly say that they do not believe them, and
that persons ought not to have the weakness to believe them; they speak
contemptuously of the books in which they are recorded; they cannot
endure that they should form part of panegyrics of the saints. They
make use of impious derisions, and turn into ridicule the faithful who
credit them, and they censure the conduct of the Church which
consecrates them. Such discourse sanctions heresy and licentiousness;
worldlings and the indevout applaud it, the tepid seem to consent to
it, and the falsely devout approve it; it is a scandal to the weak,
and a dishonor to religion.

It is also to be feared that prejudices against what is wonderful in
the Lives of the Saints may spread to other subjects, if we only judge
from the principles which are the cause of them. For, in what do these
principles consist? They are not grounded on reason or religion; they
must, therefore, have a basis of incredulity for everything which they
do not understand: the foolish vanity of being thought singular;
ignorance, which boldly repudiates what it knows nothing of; keeping
company with libertines; a conformity of feeling with heretics, and
the spirit of the world, which is the enemy of all piety. Such
calamitous causes give room to fear the most fatal effects.

In general, the liberty only to believe those things which we choose,
on points in which religion is concerned, is very dangerous; it often
makes a destructive progress, for its first attempts embolden it.
Persons are easily persuaded that all miraculous narratives are false,
though the Church guarantees the truth of many; and when this same
Church pronounces on dogmatical facts, declaring: such and such
propositions to be heretical which are in such and such a book, and
exacts an interior submission of heart and mind, do these doubters
show more docility? Do they not cloak their disobedience by a respectful
silence, always ill kept and finally broken through by open rebellion?
Do we not see persons in the world speaking irreverently of relics,
purgatory, indulgences, and even of the holy mysteries, after having
treated contemptuously the marvels of the Lives of the Saints?

Certain critics admit these marvels, but have imbibed the idea that
falsehood is so mixed up with the truth, that they cannot be separated
but by using certain rules, which they take upon themselves to lay
down. This prejudice is not less dangerous, nor less unreasonable than
the other.

Because some inconsiderate writers, who cannot be too severely censured,
have given scope to their imagination in certain legends, and have
employed fiction for the embellishment of their narratives, the doubters
pretend that the whole history of the saints is full of impostures;
nevertheless, pure sources have been the basis of their authentic acts,
in the works of the Fathers, and in an infinity of authors well worthy
of credit, and in the Bulls of Canonization. An Asiatic priest, as
related by St. Jerome, who quotes Tertullian, composed false acts of
St. Thecla through an ill-understood sentiment of devotion:--does it
follow from that that the truth of many other acts which were there
read, and which we still possess, is to be set aside? Moreover, the
Church has remedied the evil; she has rejected the false prodigies;
she has expunged from the legends the indiscreet additions; a new
edition has been long since placed in the hands of the faithful, which
only contains the well-authenticated and certain miracles.

A learned man has demonstrated that the rules of these critics for the
elucidation of these miracles are not judicious; that they are
extravagant, and that it would be risking too much to follow them;
that they are contradictory, and not in unison with each other; that
it often happens that they reject or admit miracles against their own
principles. If they find splendid ones, and many of them in the same
legend, they hold them to be suppositions or altered, although, the
oldest and most authentic documents contain similar ones; they reject
them as false, without assigning any reason in proof of their having
been falsified; they pretend that the authors who have recorded them
were too credulous, though they received other articles on the testimony
of these same authors. In order to believe them, they require perfect
certainty, although they give credit to many circumstances in
ecclesiastical and profane history on mere probabilities. One of them
professes not to omit a single miracle which is vouched for by good
authority, nevertheless, he suppresses many of the most considerable;
and many of those which he feels compelled to bring forward, he does
so in terms which mark doubtfulness, to say nothing more.

Thus, the ultra-critics while admitting the wonders of the Lives of
the Saints, reduce them to nothing by rules, which they invent for
separating truth from falsehood, as those who profess to believe an
infallible authority in the Church make that infallibility to depend
on so many conditions, that they may always maintain that the Church,
dispersed or assembled, has never come to any decision in opposition
to their errors.

It is, they say, the love of truth which induces them to examine most
scrupulously the miracles of the saints; nothing should be believed,
or be proposed to belief, but what is true. But Bossuet said of bad
critics: "They are content, provided they can pass for more subtle
observers than others, and they find themselves sharper, in not giving
credit to so many wonders." The love of truth does not consist in
denying its existence, where so many persons of first-rate genius have
found it; it does not depend on rendering obscure the light it sheds,
nor in giving to the public Lives of Saints accompanied by a dry,
bitter, and licentious criticism, calculated to throw doubt on all
that is extraordinary in them, and thereby to give scandal. The learned
Jesuits, the continuators of Bollandus, show, by the precision of their
researches, that they are sincere lovers of truth, but we do not see
that they endeavor to diminish the number of miracles: "They have no
idea of taking them for fictions; nothing astonishes them in the lives
of the friends of God, provided it be well attested." Father Thomassen,
of the Oratory, in his treatise on the Celebration of Festivals, speaks
of a miraculous event which occurred in the sixth century, and which
is reported by Bollandus, and he adds: "These sorts of miracles are
by no means articles of faith, but nevertheless, they are not to be
rejected by sage and considerate persons. Upon reading the works of
St. Cyprian, St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, and St. Jerome, and those of
St. Gregory of Nyssa, of St. Basil, and St. Athanasius, we can have
no doubt that these fathers had no difficulty in believing similar
occurrences, similarly attested. St. Augustine, indeed, has related
several much more incredible; and it is greatly to be feared that to
set one's self above the Augustines, the Jeromes, the Gregories, and
the most learned Fathers of the Church, must be the effect of a most
dangerous pride."

It is objected that the multitude is credulous; that it likes the
marvellous, and should not be exposed to believe untruths. But credulity
is far less dangerous than incredulity; the one admits of cure much
easier than the other; the former, in proper limits, may be very useful,
the latter engenders nothing but evil. Some one has said, that the
love of the marvellous is the ancient malady of mankind; it would,
perhaps, be more accurate to say, that it is a remainder of their
original greatness; and that, being created to witness the marvels of
the Divinity, they are impelled, by an interior impulse, to believe
whatsoever seems to them to approach to them, until such, time as their
visions shall be fully gratified. This impulse only becomes a malady
when it receives wonderful things which are absurd, or without any
foundation. Aversion from the marvellous, which has its origin in the
weakness of a mind oppressed by sin, is a much greater malady, and may
have most dangerous consequences, in a wholly marvellous religion which
we must love. These marvels are displeasing in pious narratives, where
they are fully proved, and they are sought for in theatrical
compositions, where they are mere fictions: the distinction is
dishonorable to Christians. Finally, as to the falsehood: What risk
does the pious multitude run, in believing the miracles of the Lives
of the Saints? They find nothing in them which is not proved, or worthy
of belief; nothing but what may very prudently be believed; nothing
but what is edifying; and this, according to St. Augustine, is a
sufficient guarantee from falling into any dangerous credulity.

We should be very dangerously credulous, if we put our faith in false
and deceitful miracles, which only tend to seduce the mind, and corrupt
our belief. We are warned in the Gospel, that "there shall arise false
christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders,
insomuch as to deceive (if it be possible) even the elect;" and St.
Paul teaches us that Antichrist, "that man of perdition, will come
according to the working of Satan in all power, and signs, and lying
wonders." The father of lies has often inspired the heretics to produce
miracles, which they have asserted to have been performed by persons
of their party, living or dead, from whence they inferred that God
authorized the doctrines they taught. Ecclesiastical history furnishes
many examples of this, and there are some very recent ones.

But Jesus Christ has furnished us with a sure and infallible rule to
avoid the contagion: it is to hear the Church; it is to consider those
only as true miracles of which she approves, and of which she sanctions
the publication; it is to believe firmly that no one who is in revolt
against the Church will ever perform a miracle favorable to his sect,
whatever appearance of austerity, piety, charity, or sanctity, he may
put on; which St. Thomas bases mainly on this principle: that it is
impossible that God, who alone can give the power of working a true
miracle, shall ever communicate that power to confirm a false doctrine;
from whence it follows, that all the miracles produced by sectarians,
notwithstanding all their evidence, and all their pretended
attestations, must neither be examined nor listened to, and must only
be looked upon as purely natural effects, or as impostures, or as
delusions and diabolical operations. This is the way in which St.
Augustine expresses himself on the subject of the miracles which the
Donatists claimed to have performed, and claimed as evidence in favor
of their schism. Let Catholics, therefore, reject with horror the false
prodigies of sectarians, but let them piously give credit to the
miracles of the saints, without paying attention to the ultra-criticism
which strives to throw doubts upon them; and let them be intimately
persuaded that the Church, which approves of them, has founded that
approval on evidence irreproachable.

The marvels which are found in the Life of St. Francis are perfectly
well attested. That Life was first written by Thomas de Celano, one
of his companions, who was directed by Pope Gregory IX. to compile it,
and who afterwards added a second part on additional memoirs. John or
Thomas de Ceperano, Apostolic Notary, who was a staunch friend of the
Saint, published at the same time what he knew of his actions.
Crescentius de Jesi, General of the Order of the Friars Minors, gave
directions, by circular letters, to collect and transmit to him whatever
had been seen or learnt, relative to the sanctity and miracles of the
blessed Father. He addressed himself particularly to three of his
twelve first companions: Leo, his secretary and his confessor; Angelus
and Rufinus: all three joined in compiling what is called "The Legend
of the Three Companions." The others noted separately what they had
themselves seen, and the things which they had learnt from others.
Saint Bonaventure, being at the head of the Order, was urgently
entreated, by the general chapter, to write the life of their holy
Patriarch. With the intention of learning, with certainty, the truth
of the facts, he went expressly to Assisi, "There," he says, in the
preface to his work, "I had frequent and serious conferences with those
who had been in the confidence of the great man, and who were still
living; and principally with those who were most intimately consociated
with him, and who have become the most faithful imitators of his holy
life, to whose testimony we must undoubtedly give credit, because their
acknowledged sanctity assures us that they have spoken truth." Now,
what can the most exact and severe criticism wish more, in order to
give warranty to the marvels in the Life of St. Francis, than
contemporaries, ocular witnesses, holy persons, his own companions,
who lived with him and enjoyed his confidence?

The legend of Saint Bonaventure was spread everywhere, as soon as it
appeared, and was everywhere highly approved: there are many manuscripts
of it. Lipoman, Bishop of Verona, caused it to be printed in 1556. No
one ever attempted to call its accuracy in question. Octavian quoted
it, in his petition to Pope Sixtus IV. for the canonization of the
holy doctor, in 1482.

The first legends have been preserved in manuscript; the celebrated
annalist of the Order of Friars Minors, Luke Wading, saw them and made
use of them. He was one of the most learned men of his time, and all
other learned men have been loud in his praise, not only on account
of his profound erudition, but because he was so ardent a lover of
truth, which he sought for with great care, and having developed it,
nothing could hinder him from publishing it and committing it to
writing.

The uprightness of his heart was conspicuous on a certain occasion,
which is too honorable to him for us to pass it over in silence. He
had been one of the examiners nominated by Pope Innocent X. to inquire
into the writings of Jansenius, Bishop of Ypres, and he had convinced
himself that the five propositions which appeared to be censurable in
those writings might be tolerably explained in a certain theological
sense. Those who are themselves upright are not easily brought to think
ill of others, particularly in difficult affairs, and they sometimes
endeavor to justify them, through charitable feelings, which are
praiseworthy in principle, but which may have evil consequences, when
a doctrine is in question which has been widely spread, and which is
supported by a cabal. Wading, seeing that the five propositions were
censured by various constitutions of the Pope, made a report on the
whole affair, with the following beautiful declaration, worthy of a
truly Catholic Doctor: "If, before this decision, any one shall have
been of a different opinion (as to the five propositions) on whatever
reasonings, or whatsoever authority of doctrine, he is now obliged to
bend his mind to the yoke of faith, according to the advice of the
apostle. I declare it to be what I do with all my heart, condemning
and anathematizing all the aforesaid propositions, in all and every
sense in which His Holiness has proposed to condemn them, although,
before this decision, I thought they might have been maintained in a
certain sense, in the manner I have explained in the suffrage which
has been just seen."

We may feel assured that a man of this upright character, such a lover
of truth, and, moreover, one of such eminent talents, would not have
made use of the two Legends of Thomas de Celano and that of the Three
Companions, without having ascertained their correctness. Moreover,
the critics of his time, who were particular, and in great numbers,
had it in their power to examine them as those of our times have, also,
since they are still extant in the convent of St. Isidore at Rome.

The first, which was composed under the Pontificate of Gregory IX.,
was quoted by Luke, Bishop of Tuy, when he wrote against the Albigenses,
in 1231. It is to be found in the Abbey of Longpont, of the Order of
Citeaux, in the diocese of Soissons, and in the Abbey of Jouy, of the
same order, in the Diocese of Sens. The Legend of the Three Companions
is in the king's library, at the Recollets of Louvain, and in their
convent at Malines.

These are the principal sources which were consulted by Wading for
writing the Life of St. Francis, which forms part of the first tome
of his Annals. He also consulted the acts and public monuments, the
constant tradition, and some manuscripts of the thirteenth century,
which contain other testimonials from the companions of St. Francis,
and were published by contemporaries who lived with them, who collected
their very words, and who are worthy of credence. But the most
marvellous thing which he relates, relative to the actions of the
Saint, he has taken from the legends, as well as a great number of the
splendid miracles which were operated by his intercession after his
death, and of which Pope Gregory IX. was fully informed, as he declares
in the Bull of Canonization.

All modern authors who have given the Life of St. Francis in various
languages, have adhered mostly to Wading; in this work, also, we have
made a point of following him; and the learned, who have so much esteem
for that great man, will agree that we could not have taken a better
guide. Baillet admits that, among the writers of the Life of St.
Francis, Luke Wading is one of the most careful and most accurate; and
yet he taxes him with not having written methodically, when he adds:
"After all the labors of so many persons, who have been zealous for
his glory, we are still compelled to wish for a methodical history of
his life." Whoever may read the Annals of Wading, and his notes on the
works of St. Francis, will find in them as much method as research and
accuracy; but according to some ultra-critics, it is not considered
writing methodically, when marvels which they dislike are permitted
to find their way into history.

Baillet might have said that it has been long a subject of complaint
that we have not in our language a complete and methodical Life of St.
Francis. This complaint is the more just, as the saint had a particular
liking for France; he had learned the language with so much facility,
and spoke it so readily, that they gave him the name of Francis,
although he was baptized John. Paris was one of the first objects of
his zeal; he would even have gone thither, if a cardinal had not
detained him in Italy for reasons which related to his Order. Not
having it in his power to undertake this mission, which he had much
at heart, he destined for it some of his principal followers.

There are some who affect to think that, in the Lives of the Saints,
their example should alone be proposed to the public, imagining that
the miracles they have performed can nowise contribute to the
edification of souls; and two authors of this century have ventured
to suppress all miracles in the Lives of Saints which they have
published. The Church, nevertheless, causes them to be recited in the
Divine Office, and they are carefully related by the holy fathers;
neither does any author of repute, of the centuries preceding, fail
to bring them forward. In fact, no one can deny that they add great
resplendency to the merits of the saints, and, consequently, give great
weight to the example they afford us. They uphold and increase the
idea we have of the power of God, of His providence, His justice, His
bounty, and His mercy, by which they excite us to glorify, love, and
serve Him; and, in showing His special good-will to His servants, they
induce us to invoke their mediation with confidence. Moreover, miracles
strengthen the faithful in their faith, because, being performed in
the bosom of the Catholic Church, they confirm the truth she teaches.
Now, it is not of less consequence to strengthen faith, than to propose
that which tends to the correction of morals, particularly when
incredulity makes as much progress as licentiousness. Moreover, the
miraculous actions of the saints frequently contain most salutary
instructions, and are always accompanied by virtues which may be
imitated, which will be very apparent in the Life of St. Francis.

Some may, perhaps, think that his virtues are too transcendent for
imitation, and content themselves with admiring them, without gathering
any fruit from them. A celebrated heresiarch admired them in this
manner, in the last century. Bossuet remarks, in his excellent "History
of the Variations," that "Luther reckoned among the saints not only
St. Bernard, but also St. Francis, St. Bonaventure, and others of the
thirteenth century; and that St. Francis, amongst all the rest, appeared
to him to be an admirable character, animated with wonderful fervor
of mind." But the faithful in admiring his virtues, must not think
them not to be imitated, for they consisted in following the Gospel;
and they are all obliged to live according to the precepts of the
Gospel.

REV. CANDIDE CHALIPPE, O.F.M.





CONTENTS

BOOK I

His birth--Prediction of his future greatness--His studies--He applies
himself to commerce--His purity, and affection for the poor--He is
taken prisoner--He falls sick--His charity increases towards the
poor--He has a mysterious dream--He wishes to go to the war--Jesus
Christ dissuades him--He is rapt in spirit--His conversion--He kisses
a leper--Jesus Christ crucified appears to him--Salutary effects of
this apparition--He goes to Rome--Mingles with the poor--Is tempted
by the devil--A voice from heaven commands him to restore the Church
of S. Peter Damian--His devotion to the passion of Jesus Christ--He
takes some pieces of cloth from his father's house, and sells them,
to restore the Church of S. Damian--He escapes from the anger of his
father, and retires to a cave--He appears in Assisi, where he is
ill-treated--His father confines him--His mother delivers him, and he
returns to S. Damian--He manifests his intention to his father, who
appeals to justice, and cites him before the Bishop of Assisi--He
renounces his inheritance, and gives back his clothes to his father--The
poverty of his clothing--He is beaten by robbers--Retires to a
monastery--They give him a hermit's habit--He devotes himself to the
leprous--Receives the gift of healing, and returns to Assisi, where
he searches for stone to restore the Church of Assisi--He toils at
building as a laborer--He lives on alms--His father and brother exercise
his patience--The victories he gains over himself--People begin to
esteem and honor him--He predicts something which is fulfilled--He
restores the Church of S. Peter and that of S. Mary of the Angels, or
the Portiuncula--Dwells at S. Mary of the Angels, and is favored there
with heavenly apparitions--He is called to the apostolical
life--Renounces money and goes discalced--His poor and humble habit--God
inspires him to preach--He weeps bitterly over the sufferings of Jesus
Christ--Receives three disciples, and retires with them to a deserted
cottage--He goes on a mission, and his disciples accompany him--the
way they are treated--He receives three other disciples--He makes them
beg for alms--What he said to the Bishop of Assisi, on renouncing all
his possessions--He predicts to the Emperor Otho the short duration
of his glory--It is revealed to him that his sins are remitted--He is
rapt in ecstasy, and predicts the extension of his Order--He makes
several other predictions, and receives a seventh disciple--He proposes
a new mission to them--The address he makes them on their preparation
for, and conduct during, the mission--He returns near to Assisi, where
he receives four more disciples--He assembles all his
disciples--Composes a Rule, and goes to obtain the Pope's approval--He
makes a marvellous conversion--He knows miraculously what will happen
to him at Rome--He is at first repulsed by Pope Innocent III., but is
afterwards received favorably--Difficulties on the approbation of his
Rule--He overcomes them by an address he makes the Pope--The Pope
approves his Rule, and accumulates favors on it--He leaves Rome with
his friars for the valley of Spoleto--God provides for his
necessities--He stops at a deserted church--Consults God on his mission,
and returns to the cottage of Rivo-torto--His sufferings there--The
instructions he gives--God shows him to his brethren under a most
marvellous aspect--The church of S. Mary of the Angels is given to
him--He establishes himself there with his Friars



BOOK II


He receives many novices--Instructs and models them--Sends them to
different provinces of Italy--What he says on this occasion--He departs
for Tuscany, and passes by Perugia, where he makes a prediction which
is accomplished--Many young men enter his Order--They build a house
for him near Cortona--His miraculous fast during Lent--He commands the
devils, and they obey him--He cures many miraculously--He preaches at
Florence--Makes a prediction--Preaches in various places in
Tuscany--What his friars are doing in other places--He preaches the
Lent at Assisi, with great fruit--He consecrates, to Jesus Christ,
Clare, and, Agnes, her sister--Establishes Clare and Agnes in the
Church of S. Damian--He erects a monastery there, the first one of his
second Order, which he then instituted--He is troubled by a serious
doubt, on which he consults his brethren--His doubt is cleared up by
an oracle from heaven--He goes out to preach--Restores a blind girl
to sight, and converts many worldly people--He sighs for martyrdom--Asks
permission of the Pope to preach to the infidels--Makes conversions
at Rome, and establishes his Order there--Returns to Assisi and leaves
for the Levant--Embarks, but is obliged to put into a harbor in
Sclavonia--Goes by sea to Ancona--A miracle which God performs in his
favor--He converts a celebrated poet--Returns to Tuscany, and to S.
Mary of the Angels--He falls sick--Wonderfully humbles himself--Tries
a vocation--Falls sick again and writes to all Christians--Departs for
Spain and Africa, in search of martyrdom--His miracles and other
particulars of his journey--His profound humility--He raises the
dead--Count Orlando gives him Mount Alverna--God miraculously protects
him--He preaches in Piedmont and passes into Spain--Works a miraculous
cure there--The king, Alphonso IX, permits him to establish his Order
there--He receives houses there--A violent sickness prevents him going
to Morocco--His actions whilst he is delayed in Spain--He returns to
Italy--His route thither--He arrives at S. Mary of the Angels, and
disapproves a building there--He goes to Mount Alverna--Is beaten by
devils--Mortifies his sense, and taste--Makes water spring from a
rock--Visits the mountain--Converts there a celebrated brigand--Leaves
for Rome--Discovers some relics by revelation--Makes predictions, and
performs miracles and conversions--Arrives at Rome whilst the Council
of Lateran is sitting--The Pope declares to the Council that he has
approved the Rule--He appoints a general chapter at S. Mary of the
Angels, whither he returns--He holds the chapter and sends his friars
to various countries--He thinks of going to Paris--Reunites an
illustrious family that had been divided--Rejoices in his poverty and
asks of God a greater love of holy poverty--SS. Peter and Paul appear
to him at Rome--His alliance with S. Dominic--He goes to Florence,
where Cardinal Hugolin dissuades him from going to Paris--He returns
to the Valley of Spoleto, and sends three of his disciples to France--A
celestial vision induces him to ask of the Pope a cardinal protector
for his Order--What he says on this subject--He preaches before the
Pope--What happened to him in the pulpit--The Pope gives him Cardinal
Hugolin, as protector of the Order--He preaches in the Valley of
Rieti--Delivers the country from two plagues, and makes some conversions
there--The houses he builds there--He appoints a general chapter at
S. Mary of the Angels, for the year 1219--What he did during the year
1218--Efficacy of his prayers--He wishes to pull down a new house which
he found at S. Mary of the Angels



BOOK III


He goes to Perugia, to consult the cardinal protector--His opinion on
the promotion of his friars to ecclesiastical dignities--He returns
to S. Mary of the Angels--His thoughts on these dignities--More than
five thousand Friars Minors are present at the chapter he had
appointed--He addresses the assembly, and forbids them troubling
themselves about their food--Assistance comes to him from all sides--He
receives more than five hundred novices during this chapter--He forbids
indiscreet mortifications--The devils are incensed against him and his
Order--He cautions his friars, and upon that gives them some
instruction--He humbles them to preserve them from vainglory--He
confounds those who wish the Rule mitigated--He wishes not for
privileges which can engender disputes--He gives his friars instructions
about their conduct to ecclesiastics--He obtains from the Pope letters
apostolical confirming the approval of the Order--What he decrees in
the chapter--He sends his friars through the whole world--The travels
of his Friars in various parts of the world--In Greece--In Africa--In
Spain and Portugal--In France--In the Low Countries--He himself prepares
to go to the Levant--On the government of the monastery of S. Damian,
and other houses of the same order--He sends six of his friars to
Morocco--What he says to them--He starts on his voyage to Syria, with
twelve companions--He rejects a postulant too much attached to his
parents--A house at Ancona is given to him--He appoints, by means of
a child inspired by God, those who are to accompany him to Syria--He
embarks at Ancona and anchors at the isle of Cyprus--Arrives at
Acre--Distributes his companions in different parts of Syria, and comes
to the army before Damietta--He arrives at the camp before Damietta,
and predicts the ill-success of the battle the Crusaders are about to
give--His prediction is accomplished--He finds out the sultan of
Egypt--Announces to him the truths of the faith, and offers to throw
himself into the fire to prove them--He refuses the sultan's
presents--Is esteemed and respected--The good dispositions with which
he inspires the sultan--He obtains permission to preach in his
States--He receives some disciples from the army of the
Crusaders--Visits the holy places--Some whole monasteries of religious
embrace his Institute--He returns to Italy--Establishes his Order in
various places--Preaches at Bologna with great success--What he says
and does on seeing a house of his Order too much ornamented--He makes
a retreat at Camaldoli--Returns to S. Mary of the Angels--Reads the
thoughts of his companion--Confounds the vanity of Brother
Elias--Abolishes the novelties introduced into the Order by Brother
Elias--In a vision the fortunes of his Order are made known to him--He
holds the chapter in which he deposes Brother Elias, and in his place
substitutes Peter of Catania--He renounces the generalship--Will not
receive anything from novices entering his Order--He learns the news
of the martyrdom of the friars he had sent to Morocco--What he says
on the subject of their martyrdom--The martyrdom of these friars is
the cause of the vocation of S. Antony of Padua--His friars pass into
England--He visits some convents--Receives the Vicar General's
resignation, and re-appoints, by the command of God, Brother Elias to
his place--He holds a chapter, and sends missionaries to Germany



BOOK IV


S. Francis begins his Third Order of Penance--Draws up the rule for
it--What his idea was in founding this Order--He returns to S. Mary
of the Angels--Sends Agnes, the sister of Clare, to Florence, to be
Abbess there--He obtains from Jesus Christ the Indulgence of S. Mary
of the Angels or of the Portiuncula--Pope Honorius III. grants him the
same indulgence--Clare and others, hearing him talk of God, are ravished
in ecstasy--He cannot bear the distinction of persons which Brother
Elias made--Makes a terrible prediction--He gives his blessings to
seven of his brethren, to go and preach the faith to the Moors, and
they are martyred--He makes a journey, which is attended with
remarkable circumstances--Cures a cripple--Mixes with the poor, and
eats with them--Foretells of an infant, that he would one day be
Pope--He changes the bed of thorns into which S. Benedict had thrown
himself, into a rose-bush, and performs other great miracles--Goes to
honor the relics of S. Andrew, and those of S. Nicholas--Discovers a
trick of the devil--He visits Mount Garganus--His presence silences
a demoniac--He learns at S. Mary of the Angels the success of the
German mission--Bids Antony preach--Gives Antony permission to teach
theology to the brethren--Alexander Hales enters the Order--Jesus
Christ appoints the day for the Indulgence of the Portiuncula--He
obtains from the Pope a confirmation of the same day--Promulgates it,
with seven bishops--He has a revelation about his Rule--God makes
known to him that he must abridge it--The Holy Spirit dictates it to
him--Some entreat him to moderate it--Jesus Christ tells him it must
be kept to the very letter--His brethren receive it--He declares it
comes from Jesus Christ, and speaks in praise of it--He obtains a bull
from the Pope, in confirmation of the Rule--Is attacked by devils--
Celebrates the feast of Christmas with much fervor--Our Lord appears
to him as an infant--His sentiments on the celebration of
feasts--Discovers a stratagem of the devil--He commands one of his
dead brethren to cease working miracles--Draws up a rule for Clare and
her daughters--Appears with his arms stretched out in the form of a
cross while S. Antony was preaching--Foretells a conversion which
immediately came about--He goes into retreat on Mount Alvernus--His
contemplation and raptures--Jesus Christ promises him special favors--He
fasts rigorously--A piece of his writing delivers his companion from
a temptation--What he had to suffer from the devil--He prepares for
martyrdom--He receives extraordinary favors in prayer--His perfect
conformity to the will of God--Jesus Christ crucified appears to him
under the figure of a Seraphim--Receives the impression of the wounds
of Jesus Christ--He composes canticles full of the love of God--Tells
his brethren of the Stigmata--They are seen and touched--He leaves
Mount Alvernus, to return to S. Mary of the Angels--Cures a child of
dropsy--Other miracles which he performed on the way--He strengthens
himself with new fervor in the service of God--His patience in great
sufferings--His desires for the salvation of souls--His prayer in
suffering--God assures him of his salvation--He thanks Him in a
canticle--He learns the time of his death, and rejoices at it--He has
various illnesses, and suffers extreme pain--He multiplies the grapes
in a vineyard--God gives him sensible consolation--A heated iron is
applied to the temple, and he feels no pain from it--He weeps
incessantly, and says he does so to expiate for his sins--He prefers
the danger of losing his sight to restraining his tears--His gratitude
towards his physician--A miracle is worked by some of his hair, in
favor of this physician--He miraculously heals a canon--His sufferings
diminish--Goes to preach--Drives away a devil--Foretells a sudden
death, and it comes about--Cures St. Bonaventura in his infancy--All
his sufferings increase--Causes to be found for the love of God what
could not be found for money--They take him back to Assisi--They take
him to Sienna--He answers difficult questions, and foretells several
things--He causes the blessing which he gave to his brethren to be
written--They take him to Celles, and thence to Assisi--The bishop has
him taken to his palace--The state of his Order at the time of his
last illness



BOOK V


The violence of his illness does not prevent him from exhorting his
brethren--He is touched at the fatigue which his illness caused them--
Thanks God for the pains he suffered--Dictates a letter to Clare and
her daughters--Rejoices and thanks God for his approaching
death--Blesses his children--Has himself carried to S. Mary of the
Angels--Blesses the town of Assisi--Informs a pious widow of his
approaching death--Blesses his brethren a second time, and makes them
eat a bit of bread, blessed by his hand--Gives a special blessing to
Bernard, the eldest of his children--What we may presume were his
dispositions in receiving the last sacraments--He stretches himself
naked on the bare ground--Desires to be buried in the place of
execution--Exhorts his brethren--He has the praises of God sung when
at the point of death--He speaks to his children, and blesses them for
the last time--Has the passion of Jesus Christ read to him--He recites
the 141st psalm, and dies after the last verse--Miraculous proofs of
his beatitude--State of his body after death--The Stigmata are seen
and touched publicly--His obsequies--Clare and her daughters see and
kiss the Stigmata--He is buried at Assisi, in the church of S.
George--The circular written after his death--His canonization--The
Church of S. Francis at Assisi--He is buried there--Researches are
made to find the sacred body--The mission of St. Francis--The fruits
of his labor.

Devotion of S. Francis towards Jesus Christ crucified--To what a degree
he loved poverty--How great was the austerity of his life--His
humility--His obedience--His gift of prayer and contemplation--His
love of God--His sentiments of filial love on the mystery of the
Incarnation--On the fast of Jesus Christ in the desert--On the mystery
of the Eucharist--S. Francis, in his humility, would not be made
priest--His devotion towards the Mother of God--Towards the angels and
saints--His charity towards his neighbor--His zeal for the salvation
of souls--His affection for the poor--The affection of his heart for
all creatures--The pains he took to lead his brethren to perfection--His
tender charity towards his brethren--His discretion and wisdom in the
government of the Order--His supernatural and acquired knowledge--The
efficacy of his words--His supernatural and miraculous gifts--He drives
away devils--Brings the dead to life--Heals the sick--Has the gift of
prophecy and discernment of spirits--He commands animals, and is
obeyed--He performs many other miraculous actions--The great honors
which were paid to him--His character and appearance--In what sense
he was simple





THE LIFE AND LEGENDS OF SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI

BOOK I


We here offer, to the pious reflections of the faithful, the life of
a man who proposed to himself to practise literally the precepts of
the Gospel, to conform himself entirely to Jesus Christ crucified, and
to inspire the whole world with God's love.

Such a purpose must seem great to all those who can appreciate true
grandeur by the light of religion. In its contempt of the goods of the
world, it manifests an elevation of mind far above the ostentation of
the ancient philosophers; in its deep humiliations, an heroical courage;
in its extreme simplicity, the most exalted sentiments; in its weakness,
and in the apparent foolishness of the cross, the strength and wisdom
of God. The infidels themselves admired all this, and it will be not
less meet to revive the fervor of Christians, and to increase the
veneration they have always entertained for St. Francis.

He was born at Assisi, a town of Umbria, in Italy, in the year 1182,
under the Pontificate of Lucius III. Peter Bernardo, his father, was
a rich merchant, whose principal commercial transactions were with
France. His mother, whose name was Pica, had only two sons, Francis
and Angelo. The latter married at Assisi, and some of his descendants
were still at Assisi in 1534.

God, who has often condescended to usher in His saints by portents,
was pleased, at the birth of Francis, to give signs of what he would
be during his life. For some days Pica had suffered great pains, without
being able to give birth to her child, when a man, dressed as a pilgrim,
came to tell her that she would only be delivered of her infant in a
stable; he would be born on straw. Although this communication appeared
most strange, relatives, nevertheless, acted upon it. The patient was
removed to the nearest stable, where she was successfully delivered;
an event which may well be looked upon, as in the intention of
Providence, thereby to mark the conformity of the holy man to Jesus
Christ, poor and humble; as much, at least, as the creature can be in
conformity with the Creator, and the servant with the Master of the
universe.

This stable has been turned into a chapel, called in Italian, "_San
Francesco il piccolo_"--"St. Francis the Little." Over the door the
following words, in very old writing, are inscribed:

  "This chapel was the stable of the Ox and the Ass,
  Where Francis was born, the mirror of the world."

His mother had the name of John given to him at his baptism, his father
being then absent in France. A stranger presented himself as his
godfather, and he was accepted as such; whether it was that something
extraordinary was perceived in this person, or that they had been
struck with astonishment at the first event. The uniform tradition at
Assisi is, that this stranger disappeared after the ceremony, and that
he left the impression of his knees on a marble step of the altar,
which is shown in the cathedral church, with the baptismal font, on
which these words in Italian are engraved:--"This is the fountain in
which the Seraphic Father, St. Francis, was baptized."

At the return from the baptismal ceremony, a man, who seemed to have
been sent by God, as well as the other two, or rather an angel in human
form, came to beg that he might be allowed to see the child and hold
it. He took it in his arms, caressed it a good deal, and impressed
upon its right shoulder a well-formed cross, as a mark of his
consecration, recommending the nurse to take particular care of the
child, not to expose him to the snares of the devils, who had a
foresight that he would one day wage a severe war against them. One
of these evil spirits was obliged to confess by the mouth of one
possessed, whom they were exorcising, that the princes of darkness,
alarmed at the birth of Francis, had tried various ways to take away
his life; and it was the Saint himself who expelled this devil
afterwards. These portents, marvellous as they are, are less surprising,
when we consider the singular and marked favors which heaven destined
for him.

His parents brought him up with great care, and he was put to study
with the clergy of the Parish of St. George. After he had acquired
some knowledge of letters, he was initiated in commercial affairs, the
correspondence of which necessitated his learning the French language;
he acquired it with so much ease, that his father gave him the name
of Francis, a name which he bore ever after.

Bernardo and Francis pursued their avocation in a very different manner.
The first, with no other object than his worldly interest, thought of
nothing but his profits, and had no other care than that of
accumulating. Francis, who had not a particle of avarice, and had less
thought of his profit than of dealing with honor, traded with nobler
and more elevated feelings. But he loved the world, he frequented
society, and spent a good deal in dress, festivities, and parties of
pleasure. His father frequently reprimanded him on the subject of his
expenses, but his remonstrances had little effect, because he had no
consideration of the value of money, and he wished to be distinguished
amongst his young companions, who always considered him as their leader.
His mother, who was tender and generous, had more patience with him;
and she said to those who spoke to her of his profusion, that from
what she remarked in his conversation, in his actions, and even in his
amusements, she had reasons to hope something great when he should
come to maturer years.

Indeed, in all his demeanor, excellent prognostics for the future were
observable: his temper was exquisite, mild, and condescending, his
manners were agreeable and very polite; he was lively, and had great
good sense: he was brave, and had a strong inclination to be generous,
even to give beyond his means. Although he plunged into the vain
amusements of the world, there was nothing blamable in his moral
conduct. By the special protection of heaven, he avoided the rocks on
which youth is too often wrecked; he preserved the inestimable treasure
of purity; it was also remarked that he was distressed at any licentious
expressions, and never made any reply to them.

God had imprinted in his heart great feelings of compassion for the
poor, which increased from his infancy, and which induced him to afford
them liberal aid, so that, following the Gospel precept, "Give to every
one that asketh thee," he made a resolution to give to all who should
ask alms of him, and principally if they should solicit it for the
love of God. This feeling for the love of God had its effect upon him,
even then, notwithstanding his dissipation; he could seldom hear the
expression made use of, as he has since admitted, without being sensibly
affected. It having once happened to him, in the hurry of business,
to turn away a poor person who had asked a charity for the love of
God, his conscience smote him immediately, and he ran after the poor
man, relieved him amply, and made a promise to God that he would never
refuse a single individual as long as it was in his power, when an
alms should be asked for His love,--a promise which he faithfully kept
to his death, and which, as St. Bonaventure remarks, was of essential
service in increasing the grace and love of God in his heart. What is
there more likely to bring down the grace of conversion and
sanctification, and increase the love of God, than the practice of
works of mercy?

The amiable qualities of Francis rendered him a favorite throughout
the town, where he was looked up to as the flower of the youth, and
great hopes were entertained for the future in his regard. A man of
simple manners, but enlightened from above, caused a still greater
esteem to be entertained for him. When he met him in the streets, he
spread his cloak on the ground before him, and as a reason for showing
him so unusual a mark of respect, exclaimed:--"This young man will
soon do great things: he will deserve all sorts of honors, and will
be revered by the faithful." Francis, who was unconscious of the designs
of God, did not understand the meaning of this prediction. He knew not
that these honors were to be rendered him only after severe
humiliations, according to the words of the Gospel. Engrossed by the
affairs of the world, and attached to its vanities, he thought little
of this Divine truth, and he had less taste for it; nevertheless he
hoped that he should some day receive the honors which others foretold,
and which God permitted him likewise to predict of himself in an
affliction which came upon him.

The towns of Assisi and Perugia were at war with each other; he was
taken prisoner with some of his fellow-citizens: whether it was that
he had taken up arms in the service of his country, or that he was
beyond the limits of the town of his commercial affairs. His captivity,
however, did not affect his spirits, he preserved his cheerfulness and
good humor. His companions, who were dejected and cast down, were
offended at this, and upbraided him with it, saying that he might, at
least out of feeling for them, disguise them, disguise his satisfaction.
"I am very sorry for you" he replied, "but as to myself, my mind is
at ease and I am thankful that it is so. You see me now a prisoner,
but at a future period, you will see me honored by the whole world."
There was one among the prisoners whose quarrelsome temper and extreme
ill humor caused him to be shunned by the others. Francis entreated
them to draw a distinction between his person and his defects, and to
bear with him: not being able to induce them to do so, he had the
charity to keep him company himself, and by his good advice, he rendered
him more gentle. All were so delighted with his goodness of heart,
that they sought his friendship.

Liberated from captivity, he returned to Assisi, where God visited him
with a long and severe illness, which reduced him to a state of great
weakness. This was to prepare his soul for the influence of grace. As
soon as he could walk, he wished to enjoy the beauty and air of the
country; but he failed to be pleased therewith, and was even disgusted
with what he had previously liked the most; he felt contempt for what
he had before esteemed, and his own conduct appeared to him to be
senseless. This change surprised him much, but it did not as yet make
any alteration in his heart. The return of health renewed his attachment
to the world, his ambition and vanity revived; he entertained fresh
hopes of greatness, and paid once more great attention to his dress.
Thus it frequently happens that when God sends illness to worldly
persons with a view to their conversion, these have no other effect
than momentary reflections and promises, which are soon forgotten on
the return of strength.

However, Francis became more and more charitable, and gave to all the
poor either money or his clothes. Having met a poor and ill-clad officer
who was of a noble family, he saw in him the poverty of Jesus Christ,
the King of kings, and being moved to pity, he gave him the new suit
of clothes he had on.

The following night God showed him in his sleep a great and magnificent
palace, full of warlike arms, all marked with the sign of the cross,
to give him an idea of the reward his charity was to receive. He asked
whom all that belonged to; and he was answered, that the arms were for
his soldiers.

Not as yet understanding the meaning of mysterious dreams, he took
this as a token of the success he was to have in warlike achievements,
without suspecting that the crosses he had seen had a totally different
signification. At that time Walter, Count of Brienne, in Champagne,
was waging active war against the emperor, in the kingdom of Naples,
on the subject of the claims of his wife Alberia, the eldest daughter
of Tancred, King of Cicily, who had been some years dead. Francis
resolved to offer him his services, in the hope of gaining military
honors. He attached himself to an officer of distinction, who belonged
to the count's army, and he set out with a good retinue, after having
assured his friends that he was sure of acquiring great renown.

He first went to Spoleto, and there Jesus Christ addressed these
benevolent words to him during the night: "Francis, which of the two,
think you, can be of the greatest service to you: the master or the
servant, the rich or the poor?" "It is the master and the rich," he
answered without any hesitation. "Why then," continued our Lord, "do
you leave God who is the master and rich, to seek man, who is the
servant and poor?" "O Lord!" exclaimed Francis, "what is it your
pleasure I should do?" Jesus Christ then said to him: "Return to your
town; what you have seen signifies nothing but what is spiritual. It
is from God, and not from man, that you will receive their
accomplishment." The very next morning he retraced his steps towards
Assisi, to await the orders of the Lord, without troubling himself as
to what the world should say as to this precipitate return.

His friends came as usual to propose a party of pleasure. He received
them, as was his custom, with great politeness, and feasted them
magnificently to bid them, thus honorably, an eternal adieu. On parting
from them, he found himself suddenly struck with the vanity of all
terrestrial things, and with the grandeur of all that is heavenly, by
a communication from the Spirit of God, full of mildness, but so
internal, and so forcible, that his senses were brought into a state
of inaction, and he himself remained motionless. He afterwards told
his confessor, that, if he had been torn to pieces in this state of
rapture, he would not have felt it; that, in that moment, he could
only feel at the bottom of his soul. The company, quite alarmed, drew
near him; and when he had recovered his usual serenity, they enquired
of him, laughing, what had occasioned his extraordinary reserve; if,
perhaps, he was not thinking of taking a wife? "It is so," he replied:
"I shall take one, but one so noble and so beautiful, that such another
will not be found in the whole world." Evangelical poverty, which he
afterwards embraced, was the spouse to which the Holy Ghost inspired
him to allude.

After this divine favor he disembarrassed himself as much as possible
of his commercial affairs, to beg of God to know what He would have
him do; and he usually went to pray in a grotto with a confidential
friend, who left him there in entire liberty. The frequent recourse
to prayer excited in his heart so ardent a desire for the celestial
country, that he already looked upon everything that was earthly as
nothing. He felt that this happy disposition contained a treasure, but
he did not as yet know how to possess himself of the hidden prize. The
Spirit of God merely insinuated to him that the spiritual life, under
the idea of traffic, must begin by a contempt of the world,--and under
the idea of warfare, by a victory over self.--All spirituality not
based upon these two Divine lessons, will never have anything solid
in it.

Francis had soon occasion to put these lessons in practice. As he was
riding across the plains of Assisi, he perceived a leper coming straight
to him. At first he felt horror-stricken, but calling to mind that he
had formed a resolution to labor to attain perfection, and that, in
order to be a soldier of Jesus Christ, it was necessary to begin by
obtaining a victory over self, he dismounted, kissed the leper, and
gave him an alms. When he again mounted his horse, he no longer saw
any one, though he looked all round the plain. Filled with astonishment,
and transported with joy, he fell on his knees to thank God, and formed
a firm resolution to aim at still greater perfection. This is the
effect of generous and courageous efforts, they draw down fresh graces,
and reanimate our courage. He acquired also more inclination for
retirement, he had no longer any liking but for solitude, for those
places which were adapted to the holy sorrow of penance, where he
unceasingly addressed himself to God in fervent prayer, accompanied
by lamentations, which cannot be described: God at length favorably
heard him.

His fervor daily increasing, insomuch that he was wholly absorbed in
God, Jesus Christ appeared to him as if attached to the cross. His
soul, at this stupendous scene, was wholly penetrated, and, as it were,
dissolved, and the image of his crucified Saviour became from that
time so strongly and intimately imprinted on his heart, that every
time it recurred to his mind, he had a difficulty in restraining his
sobs and tears.

In this marvellous apparition he was made aware that these words of
the Gospel were personally addressed to him: "If any man will come
after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me."
He received from them that foretaste of poverty and humility which
became his characteristics, and so ardent a charity inflamed his heart,
that he had the courage to devote himself to the service of the lepers.
Before this day they were so much his horror, that, far from allowing
them to be in his presence, as soon as he saw them, at whatever
distance, he turned away from them, and if they were near he passed
on quickly, holding his nose. But for the love of Jesus crucified, who
was pleased to represent Himself to the Prophet Isaias under the
despised figure of a leper, he lowered himself to attending upon them
in their hospitals, where, having abundantly supplied them with alms,
he made their beds, dressed their sores, and performed for them the
most abject services; he often even kissed their hands and their faces
with great feelings of commiseration. The words which our Saviour one
day addressed to him while at prayer, stimulated him to continue this
charitable exercise, notwithstanding his natural repugnance: "Francis,
if thou desirest to know My will, thou must despise and hate all that
thou hast loved and wished for till now. Let not this new path alarm
thee, for, if the things which now please thee must become bitter and
distasteful, those which now displease thee, will become sweet and
agreeable." Shortly before his death he declared that what had seemed
to him most bitter in serving the lepers, had been changed into what
was pleasing both for soul and body; and all those who strive to
overcome themselves for the love of God feel, as he did, that the
severest practices are soon softened down by the unction of grace.

The sight of Jesus Christ fastened to the cross made him feel the
misery of the poor so intensely, that he would have wished to employ
all he had, and his own person, in their relief. Sometimes he did strip
himself to clothe them; and when he had not enough to satisfy them
all, he unsewed or tore his clothes to divide among them. In the absence
of his father he caused much more bread to be brought to table at their
meals than was necessary; and when his mother asked the reason, he
said, "that it was in order to give more quickly to those who came to
ask for food." This pious mother saw with pleasure the charity of her
son; and far from endeavoring to check it, she was not displeased at
his leaving her alone at table, while he took to the neighboring sick
the viands of which he stinted himself. An equally lively and respectful
zeal induced him to come to the aid of such priests as were in want;
he took particular care to provide for the decoration of the altars,
in order the better to assist at the divine service. He bought the
finest linen, and distributed it to the poor country churches to be
employed at the sacrifice of the mass; and when this august sacrifice
was about to be celebrated, if anything was wanting, or if the altar
was not properly found in everything requisite, he would offer himself
to the officers of the church, in order to supply what was required
either from his purse or by his personal assistance.

But all these good works did not come up to what he had figured to
himself as requisite for perfection. He could have wished to withdraw
into some distant country, there to practise voluntary poverty, which
had already inflamed his heart. At first he resolved to go to Rome,
to visit the tomb of St. Peter, moved by that grand devotion which God
has often inspired in His saints, and which has been so frequent since
the fourth century. He also proposed to himself to solicit from the
Almighty, by the intercession of the Prince of the Apostles, the grace
to carry out the resolution he had come to of leading an Apostolic
life. After having recited his prayer in this holy place, he noticed
that in the crowd of people some made but a slender offering, while
others made no donation whatever. "What then," said he, "is devotion
grown so cold? How is it that men do not offer all they have, and do
not even offer themselves on a spot where the ashes of the Prince of
the Apostles repose? How does it happen that they do not decorate with
all possible magnificence this Peter, on whom Jesus Christ has founded
His Church?" He contributed to the best of his power, leaving a
considerable sum for that purpose; and what he had wished was
subsequently executed. The Sovereign Pontiffs, and in particular Sixtus
V, who was a religious of his Order, have rendered the Basilica of St.
Peter so sumptuous and magnificent, that it is now the admiration of
the universe.

On going out of the church, he saw a multitude of poor, whom he
immediately joined, as much for the affection he had for them, as for
the love of poverty. He gave his clothes to him who appeared to be the
most necessitous. The following day, having dressed himself with
propriety, he set out on his return to Assisi, praying God to guide
him in the ways of holy poverty.

The devil, who was sensible that the young man would become confirmed
in his intention if he persevered in prayer, appeared to him under a
most terrific form, and threatened him, if he persisted, to render him
a dreadful deformity like unto an old woman of the town, who was so
hideous that he could not even look at her. But the newly-enlisted
soldier of Jesus Christ, who began to be inured to warfare, laughed
at the threats of the tempter, and was more urgent in his prayers, for
which purpose he chose underground places, where he could better defend
himself against the snares of his enemy. The fruit of these holy
exercises was a lively sorrow for the use he had made of the first
years of his youth, and a great perseverance in the mortification of
his senses, in order to bear the cross of Jesus Christ in his body,
as he bore it in his heart.

It was thus that Francis acted before having changed his habit, or
quitted the world. St. Bonaventure says that he had then no other
master from whom he received instructions than Jesus Christ;
nevertheless, an author quoted by Wading, assures us that he sometimes
consulted the Bishop of Assisi. We may here say, in order that there
may be no seeming contradiction between the two, that he received
instructions from Jesus Christ only because he was inspired by Him,
but that he communicated with the bishop on the points on which he had
been inspired; and we may be the more assured of this, as we shall see
hereafter that this prelate had his confidence, and that there is
reason to think that he was his spiritual Father.

The servant of God, walking and meditating one day out of Assisi, near
the church of St. Damian, which was very old and falling into ruin,
was moved by the Holy Spirit to enter it to pray. There, prostrated
before the crucifix, he repeated three times the following beautiful
words, which gave him great interior consolation, and which he
subsequently made frequent use of: "Great God, full of glory, and Thou,
my Lord Jesus Christ! I entreat you to enlighten me and to dispel the
darkness of my mind, to give me a pure faith, a firm hope, and an
ardent charity. Let me have a perfect knowledge of Thee, O God! so
that I may in all things by guided by Thy light, and act in conformity
to Thy will." He cast his eyes, filled with tears, upon the crucifix,
when a voice came forth from it, and he heard distinctly these words
repeated three times, not interiorly, but loudly pronounced: "Francis,
go and repair my house, which thou seest is falling into ruin." So
wonderful a voice, in a place where he was alone, alarmed him greatly,
but he felt immediately the salutary effects of it, and he was
transported with joy.

The sense of these words chiefly related to the state of the Church
which Jesus Christ had purchased at the price of His blood, which the
holy man was to repair in all its defects by his ministry and the
labors of his disciples, according to the explanation which the Holy
Spirit gave to him of them subsequently, which he communicated to his
brethren, as St. Bonaventure tells us.

Nevertheless, the powerful protection which he received from heaven
for the repair of the church of St. Damian, was an indication that the
same words were to be understood to relate to that building also: as
the sacred oracles had a twofold literal sense in the mouths of the
Prophets, one of which related to events which were at hand, and the
other to a distant time, and to mysteries wholly spiritual.

Francis came to himself; he left the church fully resolved to undertake
its repair, and left money in the hands of a priest named Peter, who
did the parochial duties of it, to keep a lamp burning before the
crucifix, promising to give more, and to employ all he had for the use
of this holy place.

The voice which had issued from the crucifix renewed in his mind and
heart the impression of the mystery of the Passion. He felt himself
interiorly wounded through the wounds of Jesus Christ, and he shed
such burning tears, that his eyes were quite inflamed, and, as it were,
full of blood, when he returned from prayer. To make his body
participate in the sufferings which penetrated his very soul, and to
punish himself for the levities of his youth, he imposed on himself
a very rigorous abstinence, with various other kinds of mortification.

The eagerness he felt to commence the repair of St. Damian's church,
suggested to him means by which the work might be begun. After having
fortified himself by the sign of the cross, he took from his father's
stores several pieces of cloth, which he sold at Foligno, together
with his horse. He came back on foot, and offered the money respectfully
to the priest of St. Damian for the repair of the church, and in aid
of the poor; humbly entreating him to allow him to remain some time
with him. The priest consented to receive Francis, but refused the
money, fearing the displeasure of his father; and Francis, who had
utter contempt for money, not valuing it more than so much dust, when
it was of no use for good works, threw it upon one of the windows of
the church.

The heretics of the last century, who calumniated the Saint for many
things, have deemed it criminal in him to have taken these pieces of
cloth from his father's stores. St. Bonaventure is of a different way
of thinking; he has not thought that this action required justification;
on the contrary, he calls the sale of the cloth and of the horse a
fortunate bargain. And, indeed, without going into the right which the
son may have had in the commercial affairs of his father, in consequence
of their partnership, and of his age of twenty-five, had he not reason
to think that, having received orders from heaven to repair a church,
God, who is the Master and Dispenser of all goods, permitted him to
employ a portion of the goods which were under his paternal roof, since
he had no other means of obeying the injunction? But it is an
extraordinary case, which must not be drawn into precedent. The general
rule of Christian morality is, that children may not dispose of anything
without the permission of their parents even under the pretext of
piety.

Bernardo on his return from a journey, having heard what his son had
done, came in great wrath to St. Damian's with several members of his
family; and Francis, who had not yet sufficient strength of mind to
encounter the storm, and wished to avoid the first ebullition, went
and hid himself in the priest's room. Three contemporary authors assure
us that, having placed himself behind the door, and pressing himself
against the wall, when the door was opened he was miraculously let
into the wall, so that he was not seen by those who were looking for
him.

When his father was gone, he retired secretly into a cavern, which was
known only to one servant, from whom he received what was necessary
for his immediate sustenance, and where he occupied himself in continual
prayer, shedding abundance of tears, in order that he might be delivered
from those who pursued him, and be able to accomplish the work which
God had inspired him to undertake.

After having passed a month in this place, he considered that it was
in God alone that he ought to hope, without putting any confidence in
his own exertions, and this thought filled him with interior joy, and
raised his depressed spirits. Reproaching himself, therefore, with his
pusillanimity, he left his cavern and went straight to the town, as
a soldier, who, feeling ashamed of having fled, returns intrepidly to
the charge. Of what is not he capable, who is fully persuaded that he
can do nothing of himself towards his salvation, but that he can do
all through God who imparts strength to him? On these two principles
the saints have undertaken, and carried into execution, the greatest
things.

The inhabitants of Assisi, who saw his face all pale and wan, and who
remarked how changed were his conversation and opinions, thought that
his mind was disturbed. He was called a madman, they threw mud and
stones at him, and followed him, hooting and calling after him. But,
without paying attention to these insults, and being on the contrary
well pleased to bear these marks of the holy folly of the cross, the
servant of God continued his way as if he had been deaf and insensible.

Bernardo being told that his son had returned, and was made the object
of public derision, went immediately in pursuit of him, reproached him
bitterly with his conduct, seized him and dragged him to his house,
where he beat him severely, and confined him in a hole under the
staircase. This severity had no effect in shaking the resolution of
the holy prisoner; he even acquired more firmness, and encouraged
himself to suffer by the words of the Gospel: "Blessed are they that
suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven."

A short time after, when his father was on a journey, his mother, who
did not approve of the severity with which he was treated, and who
moreover had no hope of overcoming his constancy, set him at liberty.
He gave thanks to God for it, and made use of it, to return to the
church of St. Damian. Bernardo, not finding him in his confinement at
his return, was not content with upbraiding his wife in the severest
terms, but went off to St. Damian's to drive him out of the country
if he should not succeed in bringing him back. Francis, to whom God
had given strength, presented himself boldly to his father, and told
him decidedly that he cared not for his blows, nor for his
shackles--that he was prepared willingly to suffer all sorts of evils
for the name of Jesus Christ. His father, seeing that there was nothing
more to hope in his case, thought of nothing further than to get back
the money for the cloth and the horse. He found it in the window where
Francis had thrown it, when the priest refused its acceptance, and
then his wrath was somewhat appeased.

Avarice, which is never satisfied, induced Bernardo to believe that
his son had other money, and he had him summoned before the city
magistrates, to account for it. Francis appeared before their tribunal
and told them that he had changed his state of life, that God had
delivered him from the slavery of the world, and that he had nothing
more to do with its affairs. The magistrates, who knew his conversion
and his perseverance, saw something grand in his demeanor, and told
his father, who urged them to put interrogatories to his son, that
this affair ought to be carried into the bishop's court. Bernard
addressed himself to that authority, not only to compel his son to
give up what money he had, but to force him to renounce his claims to
any paternal inheritance. Francis, who was a sincere lover of poverty,
cheerfully consented to all that was required of him, and said that
he would willingly appear before the bishop, who was the pastor and
father of his soul. As soon as he was there, without waiting for his
father to make his demand, and without saying anything himself, he
gave up what money he still had, and then stripped off his clothes,
even to his shirt, under which it was seen that he wore a hair-shirt,
and gave them up to his father, addressing him in the following
beautiful words: "Until this time I have called thee father on earth;
but from henceforward I may boldly say, Our Father who art in Heaven,
in whom I have placed all my treasure, and all my confidence."

The prelate, who was a man of great worth, admiring this excess of
fervor, and moved even to tears, rose up, and embracing the servant
of God, covered him with his cloak, and ordered his servants to bring
such clothing as was necessary for him. It was no doubt by a
dispensation of Divine Providence that a bishop pressed to his bosom
him who was to combat so strenuously for the service of the Church.
They brought an old cloak belonging to a laborer, who was in the employ
of the bishop, which Francis received with great satisfaction, and
with which he clothed himself, making on it a cross with some mortar
which he met with accidentally; thus manifesting what he wished to he,
a half-naked poor one, and a crucified man. This occurred in the year
1206, when he was in his twenty-fifth year. St. Bonaventure, who gives
the name of spiritual intoxication to the admirable fervor with which
he stripped himself in order to be able to follow Jesus Christ nailed
on the cross, says that, moreover, in order to avoid the shipwrecks
of the world, he fortified himself with the representation of the wood
which was the instrument of our salvation.

Emancipated from the ties of worldly desires, as he had wished to be,
he now sought for some sequestered spot, where alone and in silence
he might listen to the voice of God. In a wood, through which he was
passing, singing the praises of God in the French language, some thieves
surrounded him and asked him who he was. "I am the herald of the great
King," he replied, in a prophetical sense, with perfect confidence in
God. On receiving this answer, they beat him cruelly, threw him into
a hole that was full of snow, and ridiculed the title he gave himself.
When they had left him, he again began to sing the praises of God in
a louder voice than before, delighted to have had an opportunity of
suffering. At a neighboring monastery, where he implored alms, which
he received as a contemptible beggar, they employed him for some days
in the vilest affairs of the scullery. But seeing that this interfered
too much with his spiritual exercises, he came to Gubbio, where one
of his friends, having recognized him, gave him, in order that he might
be more decently clad, a hermit's dress, a short tunic, a leathern
girdle, shoes, and a staff.

In this penitential habit, he subjected his body to additional
austerities; and in order to fulfil all the functions of humility, to
which he was much attached, he devoted himself to the service of the
lepers. He was constantly seen in their hospitals, moving about in all
directions to aid them, preventing all their wants, showing the greatest
compassion for them, washing their feet, cleansing their sores, removing
the matter, and, by a wonderful effort of charity, kissing their
disgusting ulcers. He received from God in reward the gift of healing;
and this was a figure of the Evangelical cures, which he was soon to
apply to the diseases of the soul.

Among many proofs which St. Bonaventure adduces of his having the gift
of healing miraculously, he mentions that of a man of the Duchy of
Spoleto, whose mouth and cheeks were eaten away by a dreadful cancer,
and for whom all sorts of remedies had been fruitlessly employed. This
man met Francis returning from Rome (whither he had been to implore
the assistance of the blessed Apostles), who, out of great respect,
wished to kiss his feet; this the humble Francis prevented, but kissed
the cancerous face, which was instantaneously cured. The same saint
remarks: "I know not which is most to be admired, such a kiss, or such
a cure!"

The servant of God, who now acknowledged no other country than heaven,
and who was fearful of being the cause of some of his father's
violences, proposed to himself to take up his abode in Gubbio and
devote himself to the exercises of charity, without returning to Assisi;
but calling to mind the order which had been given him by the voice
which came from the crucifix, to repair the Church of St. Damian, he
thought himself bound to obey it, at least by "questing" for what was
requisite for working at it. The profound humility which he had acquired
by the degradations he had subjected himself to, gave him the courage
he required for begging in his native town, where he had been known
to have possessed everything in plenty. Having cast aside all
bashfulness for the love of Jesus Christ poor and crucified, he went
through the centre of Assisi as one inspired, publishing the glories
of God, and soliciting stones for the repair of the church; addressing
his fellow-citizens with simplicity, thus: "Whosoever will give me a
stone, shall have a reward; whoever will give two shall have a double
reward; and he who gives three shall be rewarded threefold."

Many treated him with contempt, and turned him into ridicule. Others
could not understand how a young man of a good and opulent family,
with excellent prospects, hitherto considered as the model of the young
men of the place, could demean himself to such a degree as to beg in
his native town. Some thought that such a change could only come from
God, and were greatly moved by it. But the new-made pauper, having no
respect for the opinions of men, and receiving cheerfully the insults
put upon him, after the example of Jesus Christ, thought of nothing
but the church of St. Damian, for which he quested so successfully,
that many persons, moved by his exhortations, furnished sufficient for
its repair. He himself worked at it daily, and carried the materials
on his shoulders as a common laborer, without any regard for his body,
which was emaciated by the rigors of penance and fasting.

The priest of St. Damian took compassion on the pious workman, and
took care to provide him with a substantial meal when he came in from
work. Francis having received this charitable succor for some days
running, reflected on his situation, and said to himself as he
afterwards told his disciples: "Will you find everywhere a priest who
has so much consideration for you? This is not the sort of life you
have chosen: go, then, henceforward from door to door, as a poor man,
and solicit food for the love of God, with an empty plate, on which
you will put whatever may be given you. For it is thus you must live
for the love of Him who was born poor, who lived poorly, whom they
affixed naked to the cross, and who was put after His death into another
man's tomb." One must be very dead to self, have great contempt of the
world, and a sincere love of God, to entertain such feelings and carry
them out.

The following day he took a plate, and went begging from door to door,
and sat down in the street to eat. At the first mouthful he took of
this disgusting mess, he felt a nausea in his stomach, which made him
recoil. Animated at the same instant by the love of poverty, he became
ashamed of his weakness, and reproached himself for the feeling; after
which, he ate the remainder without reluctance, and with so much relish,
that he thought he had never eaten a better meal. He also felt an
interior joy and strength in his body, which enabled him to bear with
pleasure, for God's sake, whatever might be most severe or bitter.
After having returned fervent thanks to the Father of the poor, who
had given him so wonderful a taste, he went to the priest and entreated
him to take no further trouble with respect to his nourishment,
"because," he said, "I have found an excellent purveyor, and a very
able cook, who can season his dishes in a superior way." He often used
such jocose expressions, which were as much the effect of the spiritual
joy he felt, as of his natural lively and joyous turn of mind.

Bernardo, vexed in the greatest degree at seeing his son begging and
exposed to the jeers of the public, was inflamed with anger, and either
turned from him when he met him, or cursed him. Francis admitted that
these curses affected him more than any other suffering he endured,
and he hit upon a method of protecting himself. It was to take another
poor and miserable man with him, who should be as a father to him. He
was engaged to bless Francis, making the sign of the cross on him
whenever his father cursed him. Francis then said to Bernardo: "Believe
me, my father, that God can give me, and indeed has given me, another
father, from whom I receive blessings for your curses."

His brother Angelo, a young man full of the love of the world, also
mocked him, and turned him into ridicule. Seeing him one day in church
shivering with cold in his poor hermit's dress, and praying devoutly,
he said to one of his friends: "Go and ask him to sell you a little
of his sweat!" Francis replied, "I do not choose to sell my sweat to
men; I can sell it at a better price to God." If all Christians thought
thus, they would not suffer much pain for the world, which pays so
ill, and they would do much for God, who rewards so magnificently.

The pauper of Jesus Christ gained many other victories over himself
in the quest he had taken upon himself for the building of St. Damian.
He suffered with admirable patience the persecution of some worldly
persons, who treated him as a fool, and insulted him in a thousand
ways. Every time that it happened to him to blush when he met any of
his acquaintances or friends, he reprimanded himself as if he had
committed some great fault; he humbled himself the more, and begged
for alms more submissively, to take down all influence of pride. One
day when he was begging for oil for two lamps which he wished to keep
constantly burning before the crucifix, from which the miraculous voice
had been heard, he went into a house where some persons of his
acquaintance were collected together for gaming. Their sight struck
him, and gave him a feeling of shame which induced him to retire. He
had scarcely left the door, when, thinking on what he had done, he
considered himself guilty of a great want of firmness, and he
immediately returned to the place where they were at play, he
acknowledged his fault before all present, and begged boldly for the
lamps of the church in the French language, which set the company into
an immoderate fit of laughter. Such efforts show the truth of the
remark of St. Ambrose: that the saints were no less liable than
ourselves to fall into faults; but that they had greater care to
practise virtue, and to correct the faults into which they fell.

Pious and well-thinking persons remarked that the conduct of Francis
was maintained with an equality of fervor, and they found a high degree
of wisdom in what appeared to the generality of the world to be
littleness of mind and folly. These opinions gradually spread and
brought over many to esteem and venerate him; even those who had
despised and insulted him, came forward to solicit his forgiveness.
The prior of the monastery where he had served in the kitchen, who was
then at Assisi, and who there became acquainted with his rare virtues,
showed him great respect, begged him to pardon the treatment he had
received, and excused himself, by saying, that he could not then be
known under the miserable disguise under which he had hid himself. The
man who had foretold that he would do great things, added to this
prediction, while applauding himself: "You know what I before said to
you of this young man; you only see the beginning of his holiness, but
you will see the continuation: Jesus Christ will do wonders through
him, which all the world will admire."

The dispositions which were now entertained in his regard, procured
for him the means of completing the repairs of St. Damian towards the
close of the year 1206. In the course of this work, it was remarked
that he said to those who passed by, "Assist me in finishing this
building; there will be a monastery here some day of poor females of
holy life, whose reputation will tend to glorify our Heavenly Father
throughout His Holy Church." This was a real prophecy, the
accomplishment of which was witnessed five years afterwards, when he
placed there the holy virgin Clare and her companions, whom he had
consecrated to Jesus Christ. This prophecy was so well known, that
Saint Clare inserted its very words in the will she made in the year
1253.

At the beginning of the year 1207, Francis, not to remain idle,
undertook a new work. He proposed to restore the church of St. Peter,
which was at a little distance from the town, in consequence of the
devotion with which the purity of his faith inspired him towards the
Prince of the Apostles; and this intention was soon put in force,
because, it having been seen how carefully he had made use of the
donations he had received for his first work, he was now furnished
with what he required, more readily and more abundantly. He now was
desirous of effecting some essential repairs to a third church or
chapel, about a mile from Assisi, which was very ancient, but so
deserted and in such a state of ruin, that it only served as a refuge
for herdsmen in bad weather: its name was St. Mary of the Angels, and
Ottavio, Bishop of Assisi, thus describes its foundation:

"In the year of 352, a year after the appearance in the heavens of a
luminous cross on the 7th of May, in broad daylight, over the City of
Jerusalem, which extended from Mount Calvary to the Mountain of Olives,
a cross which was more brilliant than the sun, as St. Cyril, then
bishop of that city, and one of the eye-witnesses of the phenomenon,
relates in his letter to the Emperor Constantius,--four holy hermits
came from Palestine into Italy, and obtained from Pope Liberius leave
to remain in the Valley of Spoleto, and settled themselves in the
vicinity of Assisi, with the permission of the authorities of the town.
There they built a chapel which was called St. Mary of Josaphat, because
they placed in it a relic of the sepulchre of the Blessed Virgin, and
because the altar was consecrated by the title of her glorious
Assumption. In the sixth century it was given to the Religious of the
Order of St. Benedict, who enlarged and strengthened it; and it was
afterwards called St. Mary of the Angels." We shall soon explain the
reason of this. It was also called Portiuncula, because of some portions
of ground which the Benedictines of Mount Saubazo possessed in the
vicinity.

We can easily understand that a man without any property, who was poor
and a beggar, could not have accomplished these works without assistance
from above; but St. Bonaventure finds in it a still further mystery.
He says that Divine Providence, who guided Francis in all his actions,
preordained things in such manner, that he repaired three churches
previous to instituting there his orders, in order that the material
temples should be the types of the three spiritual edifices which he
was to raise up; and that passing from what is perceptible to the
senses, to what is only apparent to the mind, and rising gradually to
what is still more elevated, he was enabled to give to the Church of
Jesus Christ three descriptions of soldiery able to combat for the
reformation of morals, and worthy to triumph gloriously in heaven. We
may add, that the austerities, labors, and humiliations of the servant
of God had been for the two previous years as so many strokes of the
hammer, which rendered him a chosen and living foundation-stone on
which these sacred edifices might be based. Such is the method which
is adopted by our Lord. He prepares all things, and brings them
successively to perfection; instead of which, men are always hurried,
and often endeavor in the way to perfection to advance faster than the
grace which directs them.

Of the three churches which Francis had repaired, he chose that of St.
Mary of the Angels for his residence, in order to honor the Mother of
God and the Celestial Intelligences. St. Bonaventure says that he was
often favored by visits from Angels, on account of the frequent
apparitions of these blessed spirits there. The man of God passed days
and nights there in fervent prayer, when he entreated the Blessed
Virgin, that as she had conceived and brought forth the Word of the
Father, full of grace and truth, she would have the goodness to obtain
for him a participation therein; it was there also, that, by the merits
of this powerful advocate, he had the happiness to conceive and bring
forth, if it may be so expressed, his evangelical life; the precious
fruit of grace and truth, which the Son of God had come to bring upon
earth.

One day when he was assisting in this church at a mass of the Apostles,
which he had requested the priest of St. Damian to say, he listened
attentively to the Gospel where this form of life is prescribed by our
Saviour for the mission of His Apostles: "Do not possess gold, nor
silver, nor money in your purses; nor scrip for your journey, nor two
coats, nor shoes, nor a staff." After mass, he asked the priest to
explain these words to him; he understood the sense of them well, and
impressed them well on his heart, finding in them the image of that
poverty which he loved: "This is what I seek for," he exclaimed, quite
overjoyed, "this is what I desire with my whole heart." At the same
instant he threw away his purse with a feeling of horror for money,
he took off his shoes, he replaced his leather girdle by a cord, and
devoted his thoughts to putting in practice what he had just heard,
and to conforming himself in all things to the Evangelical rule. It
is a vocation similar to that of St. Anthony, of whom St. Athanasius
relates, that having heard in the church these words of Jesus Christ,
"If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give it to the
poor," he went immediately to put this counsel in practice, in order
to attain perfection.

The hermit's tunic, which Francis still retained, appeared to him too
delicate; he therefore got one coarse and rough, of an ash gray, which
came down to the feet, and the sleeves of which reached to the fingers;
to this he added a hood, which covered sufficiently the head and face.
This description of dress he continued to wear during the remainder
of his life, except that the tunic and hood had sometimes more or less
length or breadth, as is seen in his habits which are preserved with
great veneration at Assisi, at Mount Alvernia, and at Florence. Seeking
nothing but poverty and humility, he chose the dress that was the
plainest, the most despicable, and the most likely to make himself
despised by the world, whose vanities he held in utter contempt; it
was also the dress most like to that of the shepherds, and other country
peasants, who chose it to protect them from the weather; or rather he
imitated the prophets, who only covered themselves with a sack, to
which he afterwards added a short cloak.

All the events just narrated happened in the year 1208, which is
reckoned the first year of the Order of St. Francis, because it is the
one in which he took the habit, which he gave in the following year
to such as chose to imitate him, and in which the first stone was laid
which served as a foundation for this spiritual edifice.

Then God inspired him to preach, to exhort sinners to repentance, and
to cause evangelical perfection to be loved in the world. Although he
expressed himself in a very plain manner, his discourses had nothing
in them that was low; they were solid and animated with the Spirit of
God, and so effectually penetrated the hearts of his hearers, that
every one was surprised at it. He always began them by the following
salutation, which he afterwards declared had been revealed to him by
God; "May the Lord grant you His peace." It was noticed that a very
pious man, who was in the habit of addressing the two following words
to all whom he met, "Peace and weal,--Peace and weal!" was not seen
in Assisi after Francis began to preach; as if he wished it to be
understood that his mission had ended by the presence of him whose
precursor he was. In fact, this new preacher was in truth an angel of
peace sent from heaven to reconcile a great number of sinners with
Jesus Christ, and to draw down on them all sorts of benefits.

He joined to the ministry of the word the exercise of every sort of
virtue, and applied himself particularly to prayer, where the sufferings
of our Blessed Saviour made such impression on his soul that he groaned
and sobbed aloud, when he found himself at liberty. One of his friends,
passing by the church of St. Mary of the Angels, having heard him,
went in, and seeing him bathed in tears, reproached him with it as of
a weakness unbecoming in a man. "I weep for the Passion of my Lord
Jesus Christ," answered Francis, "and I ought not to be ashamed of
weeping openly before the whole world." This enviable emotion was in
the heart of St. Augustin, when he said to his people: "The Passion
of Jesus Christ, which the Church puts every year before us, moves and
affects us as if we saw Him personally stretched on the cross; there
are none but the impious who can be insensible to it.--As for me, I
wish to lament with you in considering this affecting spectacle. This
is the time in which to weep, to acknowledge ourselves criminals, and
to pray for mercy. Which of us would have it in his power to shed a
sufficiency of tears to equal the merit of so great and so worthy a
subject of grief?" Every Christian ought to blush, if he is wanting
in these sentiments of gratitude and love.

The words and actions of Francis soon became noised abroad. Some became
converted, and embraced the penitential course he preached. Others
formed the resolution of leaving all and joining him. The first was
Bernard de Quintavalle, a rich and discreet man, of one of the best
families of Assisi, who had great influence in the town, and guided
it by his advice. This respectable man, as St. Bonaventure called him,
considering the contempt with which Francis viewed all the things of
this world, was desirous of ascertaining whether it was in truth an
effect of sanctity, or of littleness of mind. He invited him, therefore,
to supper and to sleep at his house, and had a bed prepared for him
in his room. While he feigned to sleep soundly, he saw by the light
of a lamp Francis get up, fall on his knees, melt into tears, his eyes
raised to heaven, his arms crossed, pronounce slowly these words:
_"Deus meus et omnia,"_--"My God, and my all," which he repeated
during the whole night. So ardent and so tender an expression is quite
convincing that he was then in an exalted state of contemplation, where
interior communications made him sensible that the Lord was especially
his God, and filled the whole soul. Happy he who can with truth say,
_Deus meus et omnia_. For this it is requisite that he should belong
wholly to God, and that the world should be nothing to him.

Bernard did not interrupt Francis in his holy exercise, but, filled
with devotional feelings, he said to himself, "Truly this is a man of
God." After having put him to other proofs, he resolved to give all
his goods to the poor and follow him, and he put this question to him:
"If a man had received from his master a certain portion for several
years, and then wished no longer to make use of it, what do you think
it would be best for him to do?" Francis said in answer, that he ought
to return it to the master from whom he had received it. "It is I,"
replied Bernard, "who have received a great deal from God, and much
more than I have deserved; I return it willingly into His hands, and
place it at your disposal; for I mean to attach myself to you." At
these words, Francis, delighted to find that God began the
accomplishment of his works by so worthy a personage: "Your intention,"
he said, "is one of great importance; you must consult God upon it,
to learn from Him how you are to put it in execution. Early to-morrow
morning we will ask the Curate of St. Nicholas, who is known to be a
most worthy man, to say a mass for us, and after having heard it, we
will continue in prayer till the hour of Tierce." We see in this the
mode of acting of one who has the spirit of God; he hurries nothing,
he has recourse to prayer, and he makes use of the ordinary practices
of the Church.

The following day they did what they had proposed; after which, Francis,
who had great devotion to the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity,
opened three times in their honor the book of the Gospels, entreating
the Almighty to confirm, by the testimony of their texts, Bernard's
holy resolution. At the first opening they found the following: "If
thou wilt be perfect, go sell all thou hast, and give it to the poor."
At the second: "Take nothing for the journey." At the third: "If any
man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up the cross,
and follow Me." Then Francis, addressing himself to Bernard, said:
"There is the life we must lead, the rule we must follow, you and I,
and all those who shall desire to join us. Go thou and put in execution
what thou hast just heard."

The new disciple, intimately convinced that his design came from God,
sold, as fast as he could, all his effects, from which he got a
considerable sum, which he had carried to the Square of St. George,
and distributed it entirely among the poor whom he could collect.
Francis then gave him a habit similar to his own; he called him his
eldest son, and was always tenderly attached to him: he was indeed a
most holy man.

Peter of Catania, Canon of the Church of St. Ruffinus, the Cathedral
of Assisi, edified by the self-denial and charity of Bernard, was
disposed to become a disciple of the same master, and received the
penitential habit on the same day, which was the 16th of April. All
three retired to a hut which had been deserted, near to a rivulet
called _Rivo Torto_, on account of its winding so very much.

Seven days after that, a very pious man called Giles, who was greatly
looked up to in Assisi, on his return from the country learnt what his
two fellow-citizens had done, which had excited the admiration of the
whole town, and felt an ardent wish to imitate them, and thus carry
out an intention he had entertained of devoting himself to the service
of God. He passed the following night in prayer, when he was inspired
to offer himself to Francis, for whom he had already great esteem, on
account of the extreme contempt of the world and of himself, which was
remarked in the whole of his conduct. In the morning he went to the
Church of St. George, whose festival it was, there to implore the
saint's intercession, that he might find him whom he was seeking, of
whose abode he was ignorant. Seeing out of the town three roads, without
knowing which to take, he addressed the following prayer to God: "O
Lord, most holy Father, I entreat Thee by Thy mercy, if I am to
persevere in this holy vocation, so to guide my steps that I may arrive
at the place where Thy servant lives whom I am seeking." He took one
of the three roads as God inspired him; and as he walked full of his
holy project, Francis, who was at prayer in a neighboring wood, came
out to meet him.

As soon as Giles saw him, he went to him, and threw himself at his
feet, and begged the favor of being received into his society. The
holy man, who was at once satisfied of the faith and piety of the
postulant, replied: "My brother, your request is that God would receive
you as His servant and soldier. This is no small favor. It is as if
the emperor were to come to Assisi, and wish to make choice of a
favorite; each one would say, 'I wish to God it may be myself.' It is
thus God has made choice of you." He assured him that his vocation
came from heaven and exhorted him to persevere. Then presenting him
to Bertrand and Peter, he said: "Here is a good brother, whom God has
sent us." And when he was alone with them, he told them that Giles
would one day excel in sublime virtue.

After a slender meal, and a spiritual conference, Francis set out with
his new postulant for Assisi, to procure what was requisite for
clothing. On the way, a woman having asked charity of them, the Saint
turned to Giles, and with an angelic countenance, said: "My dear
brother, let us give this poor woman the cloak you have on for the
love of God." Giles gave it immediately, and it seemed to him that
this alms ascended to heaven, which filled him with great joy. They
begged at Assisi for some very coarse cloth, with which Francis clothed
his third disciple, in the small hut where he instructed him in the
religious exercises of a religious life.

Francis did not permit his disciples long to enjoy the sweetness of
a life of retirement. Having informed them that they were bound to go
forth to instruct their neighbors by unstudied words and an edifying
life, he sent Bernard and Peter into Emilia, and set out himself with
Giles for the March of Ancona.

These apostolic men preached everywhere the grandeur and goodness of
God, the obligation of each one to love Him, to obey His love, and to
do penance. When they wanted the necessaries of life, they rejoiced,
as if it were a treasure that they had purchased at the price of all
they had possessed. Some persons received them obligingly, and did
them good offices; but the singularity of their dress, and the rigor
of their mode of life, shocked most of those who saw them. They were
even frequently insulted, covered with mud, dragged by their hood, and
severely beaten: this they joyfully bore, judging from the interior
profit which they derived from it, that it was greatly to their
advantage.

Their virtue, nevertheless, caused them to be treated at times with
respect, and honors were even rendered to them. This mortified them,
Giles in particular, who only gloried in the mortifications which he
suffered for Jesus Christ's sake, and could not bear to be so honored.
He said to his father: "When men honor us, we lose our glory." He also
expressed to him his dissatisfaction that the mode of greeting which
he had taught them, "May the Lord grant you His peace," was ill received
by the men of the world. "Pardon them," replied Francis, "for they
know not what they do. I verily assure you that hereafter there will
be many nobles and princes who will respect you and your brethren,
when you shall address those words to them." He foretold to him likewise
that his Institute would spread, and that it might aptly be compared
to a net which a fisherman casts into the river, with which he catches
a multitude of fish.

The pious missionaries having gone through several towns, and given
great satisfaction, returned to the hut at Rivo Torto, when a fourth
disciple offered himself: his name was Sabbatin.

Morique, a religious of the Order of Crosiers, or cross-bearers, was
the fifth. Being sick, and in extremity, given over and abandoned by
the medical men of the hospital of St. Saviour of Assisi, where all
strangers were received, he got himself recommended to the prayers of
Francis, who willingly prayed for him, and mixed a little crumb of
bread with the oil of the lamp which burnt before the altar of St.
Mary of the Angels. This he sent him by two of his brethren, saying
to them: "Take this to our dear Brother Morique. The power of Jesus
Christ will not only restore him to perfect health, but will cause him
to become a generous soldier, who will enter into our militia, and
will persevere in it." The sick man had hardly swallowed the remedy
when he was quite cured, and he soon after entered the Institute of
his charitable physician, in which he lived in prodigious austerity
during a long life, and enjoyed perfect health.

A sixth disciple, called John, and surnamed De Capella, began well,
but finished ill. He was employed to distribute to his brethren what
was given to them in alms, and he took willingly the trouble of
procuring for them what was wanted. But by little and little he got
attached to temporal things, went too much abroad, and was very much
relaxed from the regular discipline. The holy founder having frequently
reprimanded him severely, and without effect, he threatened him for
his contumacy with a severe illness and a miserable death. In fact,
this unworthy religious was stricken with a horrible leprosy, which
he had not patience to endure. He forsook the poor of Jesus Christ,
his companions, and, letting himself fall into despair, he hanged
himself, as Judas had done.

St. Antonius remarks that the life of St. Francis was in conformity
with that of Jesus Christ, even in the circumstance of having had an
unworthy disciple. He only became such by his depraved wi