Life of St. Francis of Assisi | 5
Chapter 5.
The austerity of his life, and how all creatures gave him joy and consolation.
Now, when Francis, the servant of God, saw that many were excited and encouraged by his example to take up the cross of Christ, and to follow him as a brave leader of Christ’s army, he himself grew still more fervent in his endeavour to attain the palm of victory by the practice of every sublime virtue.
And, considering those words of the Apostle, “They who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its desires,” to clothe his body in the strong armour of the cross,
he began to exercise such severe discipline over all his sensual appetites, that he hardly took such food as was necessary for the support of nature. For, he said that it was hard to satisfy the necessities of the body without indulging the inclinations of the senses.
Therefore, he rarely ate any food which had been cooked with fire; and when he did so, he mixed so much water therewith as to render it insipid.
And what shall I say of his drinking?—for he would hardly allow himself cold water enough to slake the burning thirst with which he was oftentimes tormented.
He continually discovered new ways of exercising abstinence, increasing daily in its exercise; and even when he had attained the summit of perfection, he still endeavoured, as if only a beginner, to punish, by fresh macerations, the rebellion of the flesh.
Nevertheless, when he went abroad, he conformed himself (according to the words of the Gospel) to the manner of life of those with whom he abode, eating what was set before him; but when he returned home, he resumed the practice of his rule of rigid abstinence.
So that, being austere to himself, and gentle to his neighbour, and thus subject in all things to the Gospel of Christ, he gave edification in all things, whether by eating or abstaining.
The bare earth was the ordinary bed of his wearied body, and he often slept sitting, leaning his head against a stone, or a block of wood, and being covered only with one poor tunic. Thus he served the Lord in cold and nakedness.
Being once asked how, in that poor clothing, he could endure the severity of the winter’s cold, he made answer, in fervour of spirit: “If we burn within with a fervent desire for our heavenly country, easy it is to endure this exterior cold.”
He abhorred soft and delicate clothing, and loved that which was coarse and rough, saying that our Lord praised John the Baptist for wearing such.
If a tunic were given him somewhat softer than usual, he would make the inside rough with little cords; for he said that, according to the word of truth,
soft raiment is to be sought for in the palaces of princes; and that experience assuredly teaches that the devils are afraid of rough clothing, but are encouraged to tempt those who indulge in softness and delicacy.
One night, accordingly, when, on account of a pain in his head and eyes, a feather pillow had been placed under his head,
the devil entered into it, and troubled him in many ways, even till the hour of matins, hindering him from prayer, until he called his companion, and begged him to carry the pillow, and the devil with it, far from the cell.
No sooner had the brother gone out with the pillow, than he lost all the power and use of his limbs, until, at the prayer of the Holy Father, who saw it in spirit, his wonted strength of mind and body was fully restored to him.
Now, the holy man, Francis, watched most diligently over himself becoming ever more and more rigid in his care of the purity both of the interior and exterior man;
for which cause, in the beginning of his conversion, he would often plunge, in winter time, into a pit of ice and snow, that he might more perfectly subdue his domestic enemy, and preserve the white garment of his purity from the fire of temptation.
For, he said that it was beyond comparison easier for a spiritual man to endure the utmost extremity of cold in his body, than the slightest spark of sinful passion in his soul.
As he was one night praying in his cell, at the hermitage of Sartiano, the old enemy called him thrice, saying: “Francis, Francis, Francis.”
And when Francis asked him what he sought, he answered, deceitfully:
“There is no sinner in the world, who, if he be converted, shall not obtain pardon of God. But he who shall destroy himself by excessive penance shall obtain no mercy for all eternity.”
The man of God knew by revelation the deceit of the enemy, who thus sought to delude him into tepidity, as was proved by the event.
For, by the breath of that infernal enemy, which is wont to kindle the fire of desire, he was assailed by a violent temptation.
Then this holy lover of chastity, laying aside his habit, began to discipline himself severely with his cord, saying:
“Brother Ass, thus dost thou deserve to be treated, thus to be beaten. Thou art unworthy to wear the religious habit, the sign of purity. Go thy way, then, whither thou wilt, for thus shalt thou go.”
And then in marvellous fervour of spirit he left his cell, and went out into the garden, and plunged into a heap of snow which had just then fallen.
Having done this he gathered the snow in his hands, and made seven heaps, which, setting before him, he thus discoursed with his interior man:
“Behold,” said he, “this largest heap is thy wife; these four are thy two sons and thy two daughters; the other two are thy servant and thy handmaid; and for all these thou art bound to provide.
Make haste, then, and provide clothing for them, lest they perish with cold. But if the solicitude for so many troubles thee, then be thou solicitous to serve one Lord alone.”
Then the tempter, being vanquished, departed, and the holy man returned victorious to his cell;
and by the intensity of that external cold, to which he had subjected himself the interior fire of temptation was so perfectly extinguished that from that moment he never felt it in the slightest degree.
Now, a certain friar who was watching in prayer beheld all these things by the clear light of the moon.
And when the man of God knew what he had seen, he made known to him the temptation which he had endured, forbidding him, so long as he should live, to make known what he had seen to any living man.
And he not only taught the brethren thus to mortify the flesh, and to bridle its inclinations, but to keep a most careful watch over all the exterior senses, by which death finds an entrance to the soul.
He bade them carefully to avoid all needless intercourse and familiarity with women, which is an occasion of ruin to many; affirming that the weak are ruined thereby, and the strongest in spirit made weak.
And he was wont to say that, for any but a man of the most approved virtue, it was as easy (in the words of Holy Scripture) to walk in the midst of fire without being burnt, as thus to converse without receiving injury thereby.
So faithfully did he turn away his eyes, lest they should behold vanity that, as he once said to one of his companions, he hardly knew any woman by sight.
So dangerous did he account it to give admission to any images which might rekindle the quenched fire of temptation, or stain the purity of the soul.
He affirmed that it was a frivolous thing to converse with women, except in the confessional, or to give them some short instruction, profitable to their salvation, and suitable to religious modesty.
“For what,” said he “has a religious to do with women, unless it be when they piously ask him to give them counsel how to do penance, or to follow a life of greater perfection?
Where there is too great security, there is less watchfulness against the enemy; and if the devil can take hold of a man by a single hair, he will soon make it grow into a beam.”
He taught them above all things to avoid idleness, as the sink of all evil thoughts, showing by his own example how to tame the lazy and rebellious flesh by continual disciplines and useful labours.
Hence he called his body Brother Ass, saying that it was to be laden with heavy burthens, beaten with many stripes, and fed with poor and scanty food.
If he saw any one wandering about idle, and eating the fruit of other men’s labour, he called him Brother Fly, because, doing no good himself, he went about spoiling the good done by others, becoming thus vile and hateful to all.
Therefore, he often said: “I would have my brethren to labour and strive, and not to give place by idleness to unlawful thoughts or idle words.”
According to the Gospel precept, he would have the brethren to observe silence—that is, carefully to abstain at all times from idle words, seeing that they must give account thereof at the day of judgment;
and if he found some brother to be given to foolish talking, he severely reproved him, affirming that modest taciturnity is no slight virtue, but the guardian of purity of heart;
and that life and death are said to be in the power of the tongue, not so much with reference to the taste as to the speech.
But although he sought with all his power to lead the brethren to austerity of life, he was not pleased with an indiscreet austerity, devoid of the bowels of compassion, and of the salt of discretion.
For when, on a certain night, one of the brethren, from excessive abstinence, was so pinched with hunger that he could find no rest, the good shepherd, hearing of the imminent peril of his sheep, brought bread; and lest he should be ashamed to eat it, he began first to eat before him, thus sweetly inviting him to eat.
And the brother, overcoming his shame, took the bread, rejoicing that, by the wise consideration of his pastor, he was delivered from that bodily danger, and receiving at the same time no small edification from the holy man’s example.
The next morning, the man of God called the brethren together, and made known to them what had happened in the night, adding the following admonition:
“Take example, my brethren, not from the food eaten, but from the charity which caused it to be eaten.”
And he exhorted them to follow discretion, which is the charioteer of all the virtues;
not that discretion which is taught by the prudence of the flesh, but that which Christ has taught us in His most sacred Life, which is the example of all perfection.
And because it is impossible for a man still encompassed with the infirmities of the flesh so perfectly to follow that spotless and crucified Lamb as never to contract any pollution by the way,
therefore he strongly enforced upon them this truth, that whosoever would attain to a life of perfection must cleanse his conscience daily with abundance of tears.
And although he had attained a marvellous purity of mind and body, he ceased not—regardless of the danger to his bodily health—to purify his mental sight by continual tears.
Now, by this continual weeping he brought on a grievous malady in his eyes, and the physicians would have persuaded him to restrain his tears; but the holy man replied:
“It is not fitting, Brother Physician, that for the love of that light which we have here below, in common with the flies, we should shut out the least ray of the eternal light which visits us from above;
for the soul has not received the light for the sake of the body, but the body for the sake of the soul.
I would, therefore, choose rather to lose the light of the body than to repress those tears by which the interior eyes are purified, that so they may see God, lest I should thus quench the spirit of devotion.”
Having been often counselled by the physicians, and also earnestly besought by the brethren, to suffer the application of a cautery for the relief of his eyes, the man of God humbly assented, seeing that the remedy would be at once salutary and painful.
The surgeon was, therefore, sent for, who placed the iron instrument in the fire. The servant consoled his shuddering body, as if it had been a friend, saying to the fire:
“O, brother fire, the Most High has created thee glorious, mighty, beautiful, and useful above all other creatures. Be thou propitious and healthful to me at this hour. I beseech the great Lord, who created thee, so sweetly to temper thy heat, that I may be able to endure it.”
When he had finished his prayer he made the sign of the cross upon the red iron, and firmly awaited its application. Then was the seething iron driven deep into the tender flesh, making a deep gash from the ear even to the eyebrow.
When he was asked concerning the pain caused by the fire, the holy man made answer:
“Praise the Most High, my brethren, for I tell you truly that I have neither felt heat, nor suffered from the burning iron;” and, turning to the surgeon, he said: “If the flesh is not sufficiently burnt, burn it again.”
And the surgeon, when he beheld the might of the spirit in the weakness of the flesh, marvelled greatly, and extolled that Divine miracle, saying: “I tell you, brothers, I have seen wonders today.”
The man of God had attained to such a degree of purity that his flesh was subject to his spirit, and his spirit to God in a wonderful harmony and agreement, and all creatures were thus in marvellous subjection to his will and command, who was himself the faithful servant of the Creator.
Another time, when the servant of God was labouring under a grievous sickness, at the hermitage of St. Urban, feeling that nature was sinking,
he asked for a cup of wine, and when they told him that there was no wine there to give him, he commanded them to bring him water, which he blessed with the sign of the cross.
Then that which had been pure water was changed at once into excellent wine, and what the poverty of that desert place could not afford was obtained by the purity of the holy man.
No sooner had he tasted it as wine than his strength was suddenly restored;
so that the change of the water into wine, and the renovation of his lost strength thereby, bore two-fold testimony that he had perfectly laid aside the old man, and clothed himself with the new.
And not only did creatures obey the will of the servant of God, but the Providence of the Creator condescended also to his good pleasure.
For it happened once, that, being weak and worn in body by many infirmities, which came upon him at one time, he desired to excite himself to spiritual joy and consolation by hearing some instrument of music, which the decorum of religion would not permit him to ask for at the hand of man, and lo! a great company of angels surrounded him to fulfil his desire:
As he was watching one night, and meditating upon the Lord, he suddenly heard the sound of a harp, of wonderful harmony and most sweet melody.
He saw no one, but the sound seemed to come nearer, and then was heard again afar off, showing that the players were passing backwards and forwards.
His spirit being all absorbed in God was so filled with the sweetness of that harmony that he seemed to be already in another world.
This was not hidden from some of the friars who were most familiar with him, who often perceived, by most certain indications and manifest signs, that he was visited by the Lord with such frequent and exceeding consolations as could not be concealed.
Another time, as the holy man was preaching between Lombardy and the March of Treviso, he was overtaken by night, with a friar as his companion, on the banks of the river Po;
and the road being full of many and great dangers, as well from the darkness as from the river, and the waters which overflowed therefrom, his companion said to the holy man, “Father, pray that we may be delivered from the present danger.”
The man of God made answer with great confidence, “God is powerful; if it shall please His most sweet mercy, He will dispel the darkness, and bestow upon us the blessing of light.”
He had hardly said these words, when, behold, by the Divine power, so bright a light began to shine around them, that while to all others the night was dark as before, they not only saw the path before them, but a wide tract of country around!
Led, therefore, by this light, by which they were corporally directed and spiritually comforted, they travelled on for a long distance unto the hospice, whither they went, singing praises to God the while.
Consider what was the purity and virtue of this man, at whose command fire tempered its fierceness, water changed its taste, angels came to soothe him with their melody, and a light from heaven shone forth for his guidance! thus proving that the whole framework of the universe does homage and service to him who thus purifies and sanctifies his senses.