Life of St. Francis of Assisi | 11

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Chapter 11.

His knowledge of Holy Scripture and of his spirit of prophecy.

This incredible and unremitting exercise of prayer, together with the continual practice of all virtues, had already brought the holy man to such serenity of mind that,

although he had no knowledge of the Scriptures by human teaching, nevertheless, being illuminated by the splendour of the eternal light, he investigated with marvellous acuteness of mind all the most profound secrets of the sacred writings,

because his understanding, being purified from every stain, penetrated the most hidden things of the holy mysteries; and where theological science enters not, but remains without, thither entered the affection of the lover of God.

He read continually the sacred books, and what had once entered his mind he retained firmly in his memory. For, he received not in vain with the ear of mental attention that which he continually dwelt upon with tender devotion.

Being once asked by the brethren whether it was his pleasure that learned men who entered his Order should apply themselves to the study of the Holy Scriptures, he replied,

“Assuredly it pleases me that while they follow the example of Christ, of whom we read that He gave Himself more to prayer than to reading, they should not, on that account, neglect the study of prayer.

Nevertheless, I would not have them study in order to know how they ought to speak, but in order that they may do the things which they hear, and when they have done them, that they may set them before others.

I would,” said he, “have my friars to be disciples of the Gospel, and so to increase in the knowledge of the truth, that they may grow, at the same time, in purity and simplicity,

so that they may not separate from the wisdom of the serpent the simplicity of the dove, which our Divine Master joined together with His blessed mouth.”

When he was at Sienna, he was asked by a pious man, a doctor in theology, some questions of great difficulty; and he opened the secrets of the Divine wisdom with so much clearness, that this learned man marvelled greatly:

He afterwards said that truly the theology of that Holy Father rose like a soaring eagle upon the two wings of purity and contemplation, whereas, said he, “our science grovels like a serpent in the dust”

For although he was rude in speech, he was, nevertheless, so full of holy wisdom, that he could solve all doubtful questions, and disclose all hidden mysteries.

Nor is it surprising that the holy man had received from God the understanding of the Holy Scriptures, seeing that, imitating Christ in His life and His works, he bore engraved upon his heart the image of that Divine Teacher by whom they were dictated.

So fully did he possess the spirit of prophecy, that he foretold things to come, and beheld the secrets of hearts, and knew things absent as if they were present, and showed himself in a marvellous manner to those that were afar off.

For at the time that the Christian hosts were besieging the city of Damietta, the holy man was there, not armed with the armour of this world, but with the weapons of faith.

The day appointed for a battle having arrived, and the Christians preparing for the conflict, the servant of God, when he heard of it, began to weep bitterly, and said to his companion:

“If these fight today, the Lord has revealed to me that our Christians shall not prevail; but if I tell them so, I shall be accounted a fool, and if I keep silence, my conscience will reproach me. What thinkest thou that I ought to do?”

And his companion made answer:

“Brother, trouble not thyself because of the judgments of men, for it will not be the first time that thou hast been accounted a fool; discharge thy conscience, therefore, and fear God rather than men.”

When he had heard these words, the messenger of Christ went forth and spoke to the Christians a salutary admonition, forbidding them to fight, and foretelling their overthrow;

but when the soldiers heard his words they mocked at them, accounting them to be vain fables, and so hardened their hearts that they would in nowise desist from their purpose.

They engaged in a battle with the enemy, and after a severe conflict the whole Christian chivalry was put to flight, receiving shame and contempt instead of victory;

and so great was the slaughter and the overthrow, that the Christians lost about six thou-sand men, either made prisoners or slain.

Whereby, it plainly appeared that the wisdom of the poor Francis was not to be despised, inasmuch as the soul of the just man sees and declares the truth more plainly than seven watchmen set upon their tower.

At another time, after his return from beyond the sea, he went to Celano to preach, and a certain soldier besought him with great devotion that he would eat with him:

When the holy man came into the soldier’s house all the family rejoiced greatly to receive this poor one of the Lord.

And before he began to eat, according to his custom, the holy man offered his usual prayers and praises to God, with his eyes raised to heaven. When he had finished his prayer, he familiarly called his kind host aside, and said to him:

“Behold, my host and brother, in compliance with thy prayers I have come to eat in thy house. But now attend to that which I say to thee, for thou shalt no more eat here but elsewhere:

Therefore, confess thy sins with truly penitent contrition, let nothing remain in thee unrevealed by true confession, for the Lord will require thee today for the kindness with which thou hast received His poor servant.”

The good man believed these holy words, and disclosing all his sins in confession to the companion of St. Francis, he set all his house in order, making himself ready for death, and preparing himself for it to the best of his power.

Then they sat down to table, and the others began to eat, but the spirit of the host immediately departed, according to the words of the man of God, which foretold his sudden death.

And so it came to pass that by the merit of his hospitality, he who, in the words of truth, had received a prophet, received also a prophet’s reward:

for by the prophetical warning of the holy man this devout soldier was provided against sudden death, inasmuch as, fortified by the arms of penance, he escaped eternal damnation, and entered the kingdom of heaven.

When the holy man was lying sick at Rieti, a certain canon, named Gedeon, a vain and worldly man, was attacked by a grievous sickness;

and causing himself to be carried in his bed to the holy man, he and all those present besought him with tears to make the sign of the Cross over him.

But the holy man replied:

“Thou hast lived until now according to the desires of the flesh, nor hast thou ever feared the judgments of God, wherefore, then, wouldst thou have me sign thee with the sign of the Cross?

Nevertheless, because of the devout prayers of these who intercede for thee, I will sign thee with the Cross in the name of the Lord. But know this, that if, after thou shalt be delivered, thou return to thy evil ways, thou shalt suffer far greater torments than these.”

He signed him, therefore, with the Cross; and immediately he, whose limbs had been all contracted, arose in perfect health,

and breaking forth into the praises of God, he cried, “I am free;” and at the same instant his bones seemed to crack, as when dry wood is broken by the hand, and that sound was heard by all present.

But after a short time had passed, he forgot God, and returned again to his sins:

When supping one evening at the house of a certain Canon, where he was to sleep that night, the roof of the house suddenly fell in; and all the rest who were within it having escaped, that miserable man remained there alone, and was killed on the spot.

Thus, by the just judgment of God, a worse evil than the first befell that wicked man, by reason of his ingratitude and contempt of God; whence we may learn to be thankful for pardon once received, for the guilt is twofold of sin committed after a fresh benefit has been bestowed.

Another time, a certain noble lady, who was very devout to God, came to the holy man to lay before him a trouble under which she was suffering, and to ask him for a remedy:

She had a husband, who was exceedingly cruel, and who hindered her in the service of Christ; and therefore she besought the holy man to pray for her, that God, of His clemency, would soften her husband’s heart.

“Go in peace,” said the man of God; “for in a short time thou shalt receive consolation from thy husband.” And he added: “Tell him from God and from me that now is the time of mercy, soon it shall be the time of justice.”

The lady, having received his blessing, returned home, and gave his message to her husband.

Then the Holy Spirit fell upon him, and made him a new man, so that he answered her mildly: “Lady, let us serve the Lord, and save our souls.”

And so, by persuasion of his holy wife, they both led for many years a life of celibacy; and then, on the same day, they departed together to the Lord.

Marvellous, assuredly, was the prophetical power in the holy man, by which he restored strength to dry and withered limbs, and infused piety into the hardest hearts;

and no less marvellous was the illumination of his spirit, by which he foresaw future events, and penetrated the secrets of the conscience, having, like another Eliseus, received a double portion of the spirit of Elias.

For having predicted at Sienna, to a certain friend of his, things which were to happen to him hereafter,

that learned man, of whom we have spoken before, who often conferred with him concerning the Holy Scriptures, and who had heard of this prediction, asked the holy Father whether he had indeed foretold these things before they happened.

He not only affirmed that he had so spoken, but at the same time predicted the end of him who was now inquiring concerning what had happened to another;

and, to impress the prediction more deeply on his heart, he revealed to him a secret scruple of conscience of which that learned man had never spoken to any one, leading him to lay it fully open, and then explaining it and giving him loving counsel thereupon, to his great edification and amazement.

In confirmation of all these things aforesaid, we may add that this religious ended his life exactly as the servant of Christ had foretold.

At the time when he had just returned from beyond seas, having with him, as his companion, brother Leonard of Assisi, being overcome with weariness, he rode for a while on an ass;

and as his companion, who was also exceedingly weary, followed him, he began to say within himself (being overcome by human weakness): “His parents were no equals of mine, and behold he is riding, and I am leading his ass on foot.”

As this thought passed through the mind of B. Leonard, the holy man immediately dismounted from the ass and said: “It is not fitting, brother, that I should ride and thou shouldst walk, because thou wast nobler and mightier in the world than I.”

When the brother heard this, he was full of shame and wonder, and coming to himself, he threw himself at the feet of the holy man and plainly acknowledged his fault, asking pardon for it.

There was a certain friar, very devout to God and to Francis, the servant of Christ, who frequently thought within himself

how worthy of Divine favour was the holy man, by whom he was also affectionately and familiarly beloved, while he was possessed by the thought that he was himself a castaway, and excluded from the number of the elect.

Being frequently, therefore, assailed by this thought, he greatly desired the familiarity of the servant of God. Yet he revealed to none the secret of his heart, till the holy man, calling this friar to him one day, began thus sweetly to speak to him:

“My son, suffer not thyself to be troubled by such thoughts as these, for I hold thee most dear, and number thee among those I love best, and freely bestow upon thee my familiarity and friendship.”

The brother, in astonishment, became still more devout to the holy Father than he was before, and not only increased in his love to him, but was enriched by the grace of the Holy Spirit with many and wonderful gifts.

Being one day shut up in his cell on the mountain of Alvernia, one of the Holy Father’s companions greatly desired some short note on the word of God, written by his hand:

For he firmly believed that thereby he should be set free from a grievous temptation, not of the flesh, but of the spirit, under which he was now suffering severely, or at least be able more easily to endure it.

Being then molested with this desire, he was greatly troubled in mind, because he was ashamed to reveal his thoughts to the holy and reverend Father.

But although he would not tell it to him, it was revealed to him by the Spirit of God;

therefore he commanded the said friar to bring him ink and paper, and thereupon he wrote with his own hand certain praises of the Lord, according to his brother’s desire, and then gave it to him with his blessing, saying: “Take this paper and keep it diligently, even to the day of thy death.”

The brother took the desired gift, and immediately that temptation departed from him. He kept the writing, which remains until this day, and by it have many marvellous things been wrought in testimony of the power of St. Francis.

There was another friar who appeared outwardly to be a man of great sanctity and exemplary life, yet of great singularity. He spent all his time in prayer, and observed silence so strictly, that he would not even confess in words, but only by signs.

It happened that the Holy Father Francis came to see this brother, and to speak concerning him with the other friars.

When they all praised and extolled him, the man of God replied:

“Be silent, brethren, and praise not to me the diabolical delusion under which he labours. For know, in truth, that this is a diabolical temptation and a fraudulent deception.”

The brethren thought these words very severe, accounting it impossible that any fraud or delusion should be mixed with what they accounted so perfect.

But not many days passed before the said friar left the Order, when it plainly appeared with what clearness and interior penetration the man of God had pierced to the very secrets of his heart.

In the same way he foresaw the ruin of many who appeared likely to persevere; and, on the contrary, predicted with assured certainty the conversion of many sinners to Christ,

so that it appeared that he was very near to the contemplation of that clear mirror of Divine and eternal truth, whose marvellous splendour lighted up for him those things from which he was far distant in the body, so that he discerned them with his mental eye as if they were actually present.

His vicar, one day holding chapter in his place, while he was praying in his cell, he was, as it were, a mediator between his brethren and God:

For it happened that one of the brethren, making an idle excuse for some error which he had committed, would not submit to holy discipline, which the holy man beholding in spirit, he called one of the friars to him and said:

“I have seen the devil sitting on the shoulders of that disobedient friar, who, under the guidance of such a rider, thus holding him tight by the neck, turns hither and thither, whithersoever he guides him.

But I have prayed to God for the brother, and the devil departs in confusion. Go, therefore, and say to that friar that he submit his neck at once to the yoke of holy obedience.”

And the brother, being admonished by the messenger, immediately returned to God, and fell humbly at the feet of the vicar.

It happened, at another time, that two friars came from distant parts to the hermitage of Grecio, to see the man of God and receive his benediction, which they had long greatly desired.

They came, therefore, and found him not, for he had just returned from the monastery to his cell, so they were going desolate away.

And behold, as they were departing, the holy man, who had no human means of knowing either their coming or their departure,

contrary to his usual custom, came forth from his cell, and called after them and blessed them, according to their desire, in the name of Christ, with the sign of the Cross.

Another day, two brethren came together from a place called Lavora, the elder of whom gave some scandal to the younger.

And when they came to the holy man, he asked the younger how his companion had borne himself on the way. When he replied, “Very well,”—

“Take heed, brother,” said he, “lest thou tell a lie under the semblance of humility, for I know what I know; but wait awhile and thou shalt see.”

The brother was greatly astonished how he came thus to know absent things by the spirit.

But not many days afterwards, he who had given scandal to the other departed in contempt of religion, having neither asked pardon of the Father, nor submitted himself to the correction of due discipline.

So that in the ruin of this one man two things were made manifest—the Divine justice, and the prophetical spirit of St. Francis. And that, by the Divine power, he showed himself present to the absent, is manifest by what has been already said.

Be it remembered also, that when absent he appeared to the brethren transfigured in a fiery chariot, and at the Chapter of Arles presented himself in the form of a cross.

And this was done, we may believe, by the Divine disposal, in order that, by the marvellous apparition of his bodily presence, might be plainly manifested the presence of his spirit, with the light of Eternal Wisdom,

light being the swiftest of all things that move, and by its pureness and clearness infusing itself into holy souls in all nations of the world, thus making them the friends and the prophets of God.

The Heavenly Teacher is wont to manifest His mysteries to simple and humble men, as he showed in David, the most excellent of all the Prophets; and afterwards in Peter, the Prince of all the Apostles; and lastly in Francis, the poor little servant of Christ.

For they, being simple, and ignorant of human learning, were made by the Holy Spirit illustrious for their erudition:

The shepherd was taken from feeding his flock to lead the people of God out of Egypt; the fisherman was called to fill the net of the church with a multitude of believers; the merchant, to sell and scatter all things for Christ, that he might buy the pearl of evangelical perfection.