Life of St. Francis of Assisi | 3

Chapter 3.

The institution of the order, and the approbation of the rule of St. Francis.

Francis, the servant of God, abode thus for some time in the Church of the Virgin Mother of God, pouring forth continual prayers to her who had conceived the Word, full of grace and truth, that she would vouchsafe to be his advocate; and now, by the merits of that Mother of Mercy, he conceived and brought forth the spirit of evangelical truth.

For, as he was one day devoutly hearing the Mass of the Apostles, the Gospel was read wherein is contained the Mission of Christ to His Apostles, and the rule of evangelical life which He gave them when He sent them out to preach;

bidding them take neither gold nor silver, nor money in their purse; nor to carry a scrip; nor to have two tunics, nor shoes, nor staff.

Now when this true lover of apostolic poverty heard these words, he was filled with inconceivable joy: “This,” he said within himself, “is what I above all things desire. This is what my whole heart craves.”

And so saying, he cast off the shoes from his feet, laid aside the staff which he bore, and throwing away his purse and all that he possessed, he clad himself in a single tunic,

and, instead of the belt which he wore, he girded himself with a cord, casting away all worldly cares, and giving his whole heart to carry out the command which he had heard, and to shape his life in all things according to the strict rule of Apostolic poverty.

From this day forward the man of God began, by Divine inspiration, to strive after evangelical perfection, and to invite all men to holy penance.

And because there was no vanity or levity in his words, but they were grave and efficacious, and full of the power of the Holy Ghost, they pierced even to the depths of men’s hearts, filling all that heard him with great amazement.

And in all his discourses he proclaimed peace, saluting the people at the beginning of all his sermons with these words: “God give you His peace,” having learned this salutation (as he afterwards declared) by Divine revelation.

And so, according to his prophetic words (being filled also with the prophetical spirit), he proclaimed peace, he preached peace, and by his salutary admonitions he reconciled to Him, who is the true Peace, many who, being at enmity with Christ, were far from the way of salvation.

Many having become thus acquainted with the truth and simplicity of the holy man’s teaching, and with the sanctity of his life, began, after his example, to follow after penance, and, forsaking all earthly things, they assumed his habit, and became companions of his life.

The first of these was a holy man named Bernard, who, having been made a partaker of the Divine vocation, deserves to be called the first-born son of this holy father, by priority of time, and no less by pre-eminence of sanctity.

This man, then, having heard of the sanctity of Francis, the servant of Christ, and desiring, after his example, perfectly to despise the world, asked counsel of him how he should carry his purpose into effect,

which, when the servant of God had heard, he was filled with spiritual consolation at the words of this his first-born son. “This counsel,” said he “must be asked of God.”

Therefore, early in the morning, they entered the Church of St. Nicolas, and having prayed to God, Francis, who was most devout to the Most Holy Trinity, thrice opened the book of the Gospels, beseeching Lord that, by three several testimonies, He would be pleased to confirm the holy purpose of Bernard.

The first time he opened the book they came upon this passage: “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell all that thou hast and give to the poor.”

The second time they read: “Take nothing for your journey.”

And the third time: “He who will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”

“This,” said the holy man, “is our life and our rule, and the life and the rule of all those who would join our company; if, then, thou wilt be perfect, go and do what thou hast heard.”

Not long afterwards, five others, having been called by the same Spirit, the number of the sons of St. Francis amounted to six,

amongst whom he who held the third place was the holy Father Giles, a man assuredly full of God, and worthy of all remembrance; for he became afterwards illustrious by the exercise of many sublime virtues, even as the servant of God had foretold of him;

so that, although he was simple and unlearned, he was, nevertheless, exalted to a sublime degree of heavenly contemplation;

for, being for a long space of time continually intent upon heavenly things, he was by frequent ecstasies so rapt in God (as I have often seen with my own eyes) that he might be rather said to live amongst men the life of an angel than of a man.

About the same time, the Lord vouchsafed a very remarkable vision to a certain priest named Sylvester, of the city of Assisi, a man of pious, holy life:

When he beheld the manner of life led by Francis and his friars, viewing it only with the eyes of human prudence, he felt an abhorrence of it; and, lest he should be led astray by rash judgment, the following vision was vouchsafed to him by Our Lord:

He saw, in a dream, the whole city of Assisi encompassed by a great and terrible dragon, which threatened the whole place with destruction.

Then, from the mouth of Francis, there seemed to issue a great cross of gold, the top of which touched Heaven, and the two arms of which stretched to the extremities of the world. Before its brightness the terrible dragon fled away.

Having seen this vision three times, he judged it to be a divine oracle, and related it in order to the holy man and his friars;

and not long afterwards he left the world, and followed the footsteps of Christ so closely as to prove by his life, in religion, the truth of this vision which he had seen in the world

When Francis, the man of God, heard of this vision, he was not lifted up with pride or vain-glory, but, acknowledging the goodness of God in all His benefits, he was filled with fresh courage to withstand the arts of the old serpent, and to preach the glory of the cross of Christ

Now, having withdrawn one day to a certain solitary place, to mourn over his past life in bitterness of heart, he was filled by the Holy Ghost with extraordinary gladness, being assured of the full remission of all his sins.

Being thus rapt in ecstasy, and, as it were, absorbed in a marvellous light of contemplation, his mind was opened to see what should befall him and his sons in days to come.

Then, returning to his brethren, he said:—

“Be comforted, my dearest children, and rejoice in the Lord, and be not troubled because you are so few, nor affrighted by reason of your simplicity,

for the Lord has truly shown me that God will make us increase to a great multitude, and will pour forth the grace of His benediction upon us.”

At the same time another good man entered the religion of Francis, so that his blessed family now numbered seven.

Then the Holy Father called all his sons to him, and having spoken many things to them concerning the kingdom of God, the denial of their own will, and the mortification of the flesh,

he made known to them his purpose of sending them into the four quarters of the world; for now the poor and barren simplicity of the holy Father having brought forth these seven sons, he desired that, with the voice of penance, they should bring forth the whole company of the faithful to Christ his Lord.

“Go,” said our sweet Father to his children, “proclaim peace to men, preach penance for the remission of sins.

Be patient in tribulation, watchful in prayer, strong in labour, moderate in speech, grave in conversation, thankful for benefits; for if you shall observe all these things, an eternal kingdom is prepared for you.”

And when they heard these words, they prostrated themselves humbly before the servant of God, receiving with gladness of heart the command of holy obedience.

And after this he said singly to each, “Cast thy care upon the Lord, and He will nourish thee.” And these words he was accustomed to say to every brother to whom he gave an obedience.

Then, knowing that he was given as an example to others, and that he should first do that which he taught them to do, he went with one companion towards one part of the world, sending the other six, two and two, into the three other parts; thus dividing the world after the manner of a cross.

After a little time, this loving Father desired to have his children with him again, and being unable to assemble them himself he prayed to Him who gathers together the dispersed of Israel, to bring them all together in one place.

And so it came to pass that, without human vocation, the Divine clemency brought them marvellously, in an incredibly short space of time, into the place where he was, and now four other good and holy men were added to their number, which thus amounted to twelve.

The servant of Christ seeing that the number of his friars was gradually increasing, wrote for himself and for them a rule and form of life,

laying, as its immovable foundation, the observance of the Holy Gospel, and adding a few other things which he thought necessary for uniformity of life.

Desiring that the things which he had written should be approved by the supreme Pontiff, he determined (depending only on the Divine direction) to go with his simple company to the Throne of the Apostle.

God beheld from Heaven the desire of His servant, and lest the souls of his companions should be affrighted by the consideration of their own simplicity, He strengthened the heart of the holy man by the following vision:

It seemed to him that he was travelling along a certain road, by the side of which there grew a lofty tree, to which he drew near,

and as he stood under its shadow, marvelling at its height, he was suddenly lifted up by the Divine power, until he touched the top of the tree, which bowed itself towards him.

Now the man of God understood, by the Divine Spirit who dwelt in him, that this vision signified the condescension of the sublime dignity of the Apostolic See to his desire; and so, being full of spiritual joy, he comforted his brethren in the Lord, and set forth with them on his journey.

When they were come to the Roman Court, and brought into the presence of the Sovereign Pontiff the Vicar of Christ was walking on a terrace of the Lateran, in deep and serious meditation, and seeing the servant of Christ to be an unknown stranger, he indignantly repulsed him.

Francis retired with all humility, and on the following night the Sovereign Pontiff received a revelation from God:

He saw a palm-tree gradually grow up at his feet until it reached a goodly stature, and as he gazed upon it, wondering what the vision might mean,

a Divine illumination impressed on the mind of the Vicar of Christ that this palm-tree signified the poor man whom he had driven that day from his presence.

The next morning, therefore, he sent his servant through the city to seek for this poor man, whom they found in the hospital of St. Antony, hard by the Lateran Palace.

When he was brought into the presence of the Sovereign Pontiff, Francis made known his desire, praying humbly and earnestly for the approbation of his rule.

Our Lord, Innocent III., who was then the Vicar of Christ, and a man illustrious for his wisdom, admiring the purity and simplicity of heart which he beheld in the man of God, his great constancy of purpose, and the exceeding fervour of his holy will, lovingly embraced Christ’s poor man, being ready, with all willingness, to grant his pious petition.

Yet he delayed to do so for a while, because it seemed to some of the cardinals that the rule was a novelty, and beyond human strength to observe.

Now there was among the cardinals a venerable man named John of St. Paul, Bishop of Sabina, a lover of all sanctity, and the benefactor of the poor of Christ:

He, being enlightened by the Holy Ghost, spoke thus to the Sovereign Pontiff and to his brethren:

“If we refuse this poor man’s petition, as a novelty too hard to be observed, whereas he only begs for the confirmation of the evangelical way of life, let us take heed lest we offend against the Gospel of Christ:

For, if any man shall say that the observance and the vow of evangelical perfection contain anything irrational or impossible to be observed, he is convicted of blasphemy against Christ, the Author of the Gospel.”

When the successor of the Apostle Peter had heard these words, he said:

“My son, pray to Christ our Lord that He would make known His will to us by thy mouth, for, when we shall have more certain knowledge, we shall be able with greater security to fulfil thy pious desires.”

The servant of Almighty God betook himself, therefore, to devout prayer, that he might be directed what to say to the Holy Father, and that the Holy Father might be moved favourably to receive his words.

He came, then, again to the Vicar of Christ, and spoke to him the following parable:

“There was,” said Francis, “ a rich and mighty king, who took to wife a poor but very beautiful woman, in whom he greatly delighted, and by whom he had children who bore the image of their father, and whom, by God's command; the king brought up in his own palace, and fed at his royal table;”

and he added this interpretation:

“There is no fear,” said he, “ that the children and heirs of the Eternal King should perish with hunger, who by the power of the Holy Ghost have been born of a poor mother, and bear the image of Christ the King, being born by the spirit of poverty, in a religion of poverty.

If, therefore, the King of Heaven has promised His followers an eternal kingdom, how much rather will He provide them with those things which He is wont to impart indifferently to the evil and the good?”

Now, when the Vicar of Christ had diligently attended to this parable and its interpretation, he marvelled greatly, and acknowledged that, without doubt, Christ had spoken by the mouth of that man.

Another vision, which was vouchsafed to him about this time, concerning the things which St. Francis was to accomplish, confirmed the revelation which he had now received from the Holy Ghost:

He saw in a dream the Lateran Basilica, now falling into ruin, supported by the shoulders of a poor, despised, and feeble man. “Truly,” said he, “this is he who, by his works and his teaching, shall sustain the Church of Christ.”

Hence, he was filled with a great and special devotion and love for the servant of God. He granted all his petitions, and promised to grant him still greater things.

He approved the rule, gave him a mission to preach penance, and granted to all the lay brothers in the company of the servant of God, to wear a tonsure smaller than that worn by priests, and freely to preach the Word of God.