Life of St. Francis of Assisi | 9

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Chapter 9.

The fervour of his charity, and of his desire of martyrdom.

Who can express the fervent charity which burnt in the heart of Francis, the friend of the Bridegroom? For, he seemed to be absorbed, as a live coal in the furnace, in the flame of divine love.

As soon as he heard the love of the Lord spoken of, he was moved, excited, and inflamed, as if the chords of his heart within vibrated to the sound without.

And he was wont to say that to offer this love of our heart as an alms was a noble prodigality, and that they were to be accounted most foolish who valued it less than money;

for that the priceless worth of Divine love was a sufficient purchase-money for the Kingdom of Heaven, and that He who has so greatly loved us is greatly to be loved in return.

Therefore, to excite himself by all things to Divine love, he rejoiced in all the works of the Lord’s hands, and, by the glory and beauty of that mirror, he arose to the principle and cause of them all.

In all things fair he beheld Him who is most fair, and by His footsteps in created things he found the way to his Beloved, making a ladder of all things by which to ascend to Him who is to be desired above them all.

With unspeakable devotion he enjoyed that fountain of goodness, flowing forth through all creatures, as in so many streams; and perceiving a celestial harmony in the virtuous deeds offered in concert with them to God, after the manner of the prophet David, he sweetly exhorted them all to praise the Lord.

He desired, for the exceeding ardour of his love, to be wholly transformed into Christ Jesus, whom he laid, as a bundle of myrrh, on his heart.

Out of special devotion to Him, he was accustomed to retire into a solitary and deserted place, and there to abide, from the feast of the Epiphany through the forty days which Christ spent in the desert.

There he remained shut up in his cell, praising God without intermission, in continual prayer and the utmost severity of abstinence.

And as his love of Christ was so fervent, so graciously was it returned by his Beloved that, as the servant of God once revealed to his familiar companion, his Saviour seemed to be almost continually present before his eyes.

His burning love for the Sacrament of Our Lord’s Body seemed to consume the very marrow of his bones, as he wondered within himself which most to admire—the condescension of that charity, or the charity of that condescension of our Lord.

He communicated often, and so devoutly as to move others to devotion; and, by the sweetness of that immaculate Lamb, he was, as it were, spiritually inebriated, and frequently rapt in ecstasy.

He bore unspeakable love to the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, because by her the Lord of Majesty became our Brother, and through her we have obtained mercy.

In her, next to Christ, he placed his confidence; he took her for his advocate, and in her honour he was accustomed to fast devoutly, from the feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul until the festival of the Assumption.

He was likewise bound to the Angelical Spirits by an inseparable bond of affection, because by them the souls of the Elect are enkindled and raised to God by a marvellous fire of love;

and therefore, in devotion to them, he fasted forty days, from the feast of the Assumption of the glorious Virgin, giving himself, for that time, wholly to prayer.

To the Blessed Michael, the Archangel, he had a more special devotion; and he honoured him with peculiar love, because to him was committed the office of presenting souls to God. And this devotion came from his fervent zeal for the salvation of all the elect.

When he remembered all the saints, whom he was wont to call stones enkindled through and through with the fire of Divine love, he was all inflamed with heavenly charity;

and he honoured with the highest degree of reverence and love the holy Apostles, and chiefly St. Peter and St. Paul, because of the love and reverence which they bore to Christ, and he dedicated a special Lent to the Lord in their honour.

Now this poor man of Christ had but two pieces of money — to wit, his body and his soul —  which in his liberal charity he could bestow upon others, and of these he made a continual offering for the love of Christ;

for by his rigorous fasting, during almost the whole course of his life, he sacrificed his body to God; and likewise his spirit, by the ardour of its desires; offering the holocaust in the outer court, and at the same time burning incense and most sweet odours on the altar within.

And while the excessive devotion of his charity raised him to high and sublime things, so in his loving benignity he communicated himself to all those who were partakers of the same grace and nature with himself;

for it is no marvel that he who, in the natural piety of his heart, accounted himself to be the fellow and the brother of all creatures, was drawn, by the charity of Christ, to a still closer union and brotherhood with them, when adorned with the likeness of his Creator and Redeemer.

He would not have accounted himself to be the friend of Christ if he had been wanting in care for those souls who had been redeemed by His blood.

He was wont to say that nothing was to be preferred to the salvation of souls; and this he proved chiefly by the fact that the only begotten Son of God had vouchsafed to die upon the Cross for their redemption.

This, therefore, was ever the object of his most fervent prayers; of this he continually discoursed in his sermons, and commended it by the force of his example.

When he was sometimes reproved for his excessive austerity of life, he would reply that he was set forth as an example to others; and, indeed, his innocent flesh, which was ever willingly subject to the spirit, needed not the scourge for any offence of its own;

yet, as an example to others, he loaded it with the burden of penance, leading a hard and austere life for their sake; for, he said:

“Though I should speak with the tongue of men and of angels, and have not charity, nor show to my neighbour an example of virtue, I should be of little service to him and none to myself.”

And with this burning fire of charity he sought to imitate the glorious triumph of the martyrs in the inextinguishable flame of their love, and the invincible courage of their spirit;

so that, in the perfect charity which casts out fear, he offered himself to the Lord as a living sacrifice in the fire of martyrdom, thus to requite Him who died for us, and to excite others to His Divine love.

In the sixth year after his conversion, being thus all on fire with the desire of martyrdom, he determined to pass into Syria, to preach the Christian faith and penance to the Saracens and other infidels there.

Having entered a ship in order to accomplish his desire, he was forced by contrary winds to land in the country of Sclavonia:

Having remained there for some time, unable to find any ship to carry him whither he desired to go, be besought certain mariners who were bound for Ancona to carry him thither for the love of God,

which they refusing, because he had not wherewithal to support himself during the voyage,

the holy man, trusting fully in the goodness of God, secretly entered the ship with his companion, and hid himself there.

Forthwith there came a messenger from God to the aid of His poor servant, bringing him the necessary food for his voyage; and calling one of the sailors, who greatly feared God, he said to him:

“Keep these things faithfully for the two poor friars who are hidden in this ship, and, when the time of need shall come, supply them charitably therewith.”

When the ship had left the harbour, the sailors being prevented by contrary winds from touching at any port, their provisions were exhausted, and nothing remained but that which had been given in alms to the poor friars;

and that which was very small in quantity increased in such measure by the power of God, that it sufficed for the necessities of the whole crew, who were kept at sea by stress of weather, and tempest-tossed for many days before they arrived at the harbour of Ancona.

Then the sailors, seeing that by the merits of the servant of God they had passed through so many perils of death, having felt the terror of the tempest, and seeing the wonderful works of the saint in the depths of the sea, gave thanks to Almighty God, who shows Himself ever wonderful and loving in His servants and His friends.

Having disembarked, he began to traverse the country, sowing the seed of salvation and gathering an abundant harvest.

But, because his heart yearned after the fruit of martyrdom, desiring above all things a precious death for Christ, he took the road to Morocco,

that he might preach the Gospel of Christ to the Miramolin and all his people, thinking thus to attain the palm for which he so fervently longed;

and so was he carried forward by that desire, that, weak as he was in body, he far out-stripped his companion in speed; and thus in haste and, as it were, in ecstasy of spirit, he seemed to fly rather than walk.

But no sooner had he arrived in Spain than by the Divine disposal, which reserved him for greater things, there fell upon him so grievous a sickness that he was unable to proceed according to his desire.

The man of God knowing, therefore, that his life in the flesh was necessary to the children whom he had brought forth in the spirit, although he accounted death to be a gain to himself, returned to feed the flock committed to his care.

But being urged in the spirit to martyrdom by the intense ardour of his charity, he sought a third time to spread the faith in the Holy Trinity by the shedding of his blood, and endeavoured again to make his way to the land of the infidels:

In the thirteenth year after his conversion he went into Syria, and boldly exposed himself to many dangers to gain admittance to the Sultan of Babylon.

At that time so implacable warfare was raging between the Christians and the Saracens, the armies of both nations being encamped over against each other, that it was impossible to pass from one to the other without peril of death.

For the Sultan had made a cruel decree, that whoever should bring him the head of a Christian should receive a gold bezant as his, reward.

But Francis, the valiant soldier of Christ, hoping shortly to attain the end which he had set before him, determined to undertake the adventure, not terrified by the fear, but rather excited by the desire of death.

Having, then, prayed to the Lord, and being strengthened by Him, he sang with great confidence those words of the prophet: “Though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.”

He took with him, therefore, as his companion, a brother named Illuminatus — a man, indeed, of virtue and illumination—and on their way they met two sheep, which, when the holy man saw, he said to his companion:

“My brother, trust in the Lord, for in us is fulfilled those words of the Gospel: “Behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves.”

When they had gone a little farther, they met with a band of Saracens, who, quickly falling upon them, like wolves upon a flock of sheep, cruelly seized and bound the servants of God,

dealing fiercely and contemptuously with them, and with many vile words and hard blows carried them along in cruel bonds.

Lastly, having in many ways afflicted and oppressed them, they were by the Divine disposal, and according to the holy man’s desire, brought into the presence of the Sultan.

And being questioned by that prince whence and for what purpose they had come, by whom they had been sent, and by what means they had come thither,

Francis, the servant of God, made answer with a heart void of fear, that they had been sent, not by man, but by the Most High God, to show to him and his people the way of salvation, and make known to them the truth of the Gospel.

And truly with such constancy of mind; such fortitude of soul, and such fervour of spirit did he preach to that Sultan One God in Three Persons, and Jesus Christ the Saviour of all men, that in him was gloriously fulfilled that promise of the Gospel: “I will give to you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries shall be able to resist or contradict.”

The Sultan, therefore, admiring the courage and fervour of spirit which he beheld in the man of God, listened to him willingly, and earnestly besought him to remain with him.

But the servant of Christ, being enlightened from on High, answered him thus:

“If thou and thy people will be converted to Christ, for His love I will willingly abide with thee.

But if thou art doubtful whether or not to forsake the law of Mahomed for the faith of Christ, command a great fire to be lighted, and I will go into it with thy priests, that it may be known which faith should be held to be the most certain and the most holy.”

To whom the Sultan made answer:

“I do not believe that any of my priests would be willing to expose himself to the fire, or to endure any manner of torment in defence of his faith.”

For he had just seen one of the most aged among his priests, and of greatest credit and authority, depart from his presence at the words which Francis had spoken.

Then said the holy man, “ If thou wilt promise me for thyself and thy people that thou wilt embrace the worship of Christ if I come forth unharmed, I will enter the fire alone.

And if I shall be burnt, let it be imputed to my sins. But if the Divine Power shall protect me, then let all of you acknowledge Christ to be the Power and Wisdom of God, the true God and the Lord and Saviour of all men.”

But the Sultan answered that he dared not accept this challenge, because he feared a sedition of the people.

Nevertheless, he offered him many precious gifts, which the man of God, who coveted not worldly things, but sought only the salvation of souls, despised as so much dust.

The Sultan, beholding in this holy man so perfect a contempt of all worldly things, was moved to admiration, and conceived a still greater veneration for him.

And although he would not, or perhaps dared not, embrace the Christian faith, yet he devoutly besought the servant of Christ that he would receive the aforesaid gifts for his salvation, and either distribute them amongst the poor of Christ, or employ them in the building of churches.

But he who ever avoided the burden of money, and saw no root of true piety in the Sultan’s soul, would by no means consent to his desire.

Seeing, also, that he made no progress in the conversion of this people, nor could attain his desire of martyrdom, being admonished by Divine revelation, he returned into the region of the faithful;

the clemency of God thus ordaining most mercifully and marvellously, to the greater advance of the holy man in virtue, that this friend of Christ should seek death with all his power, and yet be unable to find it;

that he should not want the merit of the martyrdom of the will, and yet should be preserved hereafter to receive the singular privilege of the Stigmata.

And so it was that the fire of Divine love was kindled more and more perfectly in his heart, till it was mightily manifested in his flesh.

Oh, truly blessed man, who, if his flesh felt not the tyrant’s steel, wanted not the likeness of the Lamb that was slain! Oh, truly and fully blessed, I say, who, if his life perished not under the sword of persecution, yet missed not the palm of martyrdom!