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How St. Francis blessed the holy Friar Bernard, and left him as his vicar, when he came to pass from this life
FRIAR BERNARD was of such great sanctity that St. Francis held him in great reverence, and ofttimes praised him. On a day St. Francis, being and continuing devoutly in prayer, it was revealed unto him of God that Friar Bernard, by the Divine permission, must bear many and bitter assaults of the fiends; wherefore St. Francis, having great compassion for the said Friar Bernard, whom he loved as his own son, prayed many days with tears, beseeching God for him, and committing him to Jesus Christ that He might give him victory over the demon. And while St. Francis was thus devoutly praying, on a day God answered him: “Francis, fear not; because all the temptations wherewith Friar Bernard must be assailed are permitted him by God for proof of virtue and for a crown of reward; and finally he shall have the victory over all his enemies, because he is one of the Commissaries of the Kingdom of Heaven”. Of this answer St. Francis had very great joy and gave thanks to God, and from that hour he bore him ever increasing love and reverence. And well was the same made manifest, not only in his life but also in his death. For when St Francis came to his death, after the manner of the holy patriarch Jacob, his loving sons standing about him, grieved and tearful for the departure of so sweet a father, he asked: “Where is my firstborn? Come unto me my son that my soul may bless thee before I die.” Then Friar Bernard said to Friar Elias in secret, the which was vicar of the Order: “Father, go thou to the right [ p. 18 ] hand of the saint that he may bless thee”. And when Friar Elias had set himself upon his right hand, St. Francis, who had lost his sight by reason of excessive weeping, laid his hand upon the head of Friar Elias and said: “This is not the head of my firstborn son Bernard”. Then Friar Bernard went unto him upon his left hand, and St. Francis thereupon set his arms in the form of a cross and so laid his right hand on the head of Friar Bernard and his left on the head of Friar Elias, and said unto Friar Bernard: “God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ bless thee with every spiritual and heavenly blessing in Christ; in that thou art the firstborn, chosen in this holy Order to give an evangelical example and to follow Christ in evangelic poverty; because not only didst thou give thy possessions to be distributed wholly and freely among the poor for the love of Christ; but also thou didst offer thyself unto God in this Order for a sacrifice of a sweet savour. Be thou therefore blessed by our Lord Jesus Christ and by me his mendicant servant with eternal benedictions; going, abiding, waking, sleeping, living and dying. May he who shall bless thee be fulfilled with benedictions; may he who shall curse thee not remain unpunished. Be thou the chief among thy brethren, and let all the friars be obedient unto thy commandment. Have thou licence to receive into this Order whomsoever thou wilt, and let no friar have dominion over thee; and be it lawful unto thee to go and to abide wheresoever thou shalt please.” And after the death of St. Francis the friars loved and reverenced Friar Bernard as a venerable father; and when he drew nigh unto death, many friars came unto him from divers parts of the world, among whom came that hierarchical divine Friar Giles, the which beholding Friar Bernard, with great joy, said: "Sursum
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corda, Friar Bernard, sursum corda“. And Friar Bernard secretly bade a friar prepare for Friar Giles a place fit for contemplation; and so was it done. And Friar Bernard, being at the last hour of death, caused himself to be lifted up, and spake unto the friars that were before him saying: ”Most dear brethren, I desire not to speak many words unto you; but ye ought to consider that the state of Religion which I have had ye have, and this which I now have ye too shall have, and I find this in my soul that for a thousand worlds equal to this, I would not have served any other Lord than our Lord Jesus Christ; and of every wrong that I have committed I accuse myself and confess myself guilty to Jesus my Saviour and to you. I beseech you, my dearest brethren, that ye love one another." And after these words, and other admonitions, he laid him down again upon his bed, and his face became splendid and beyond measure glad, so that all the friars marvelled greatly, and in that gladness his most saintly soul, crowned with glory, passed from this present life to the blessed life of the angels.
How St. Francis passed a Lent in an island of the lake of Perugia, where he fasted forty days and forty nights, and ate no more than one half loaf
INASMUCH as the faithful servant of Christ, St. Francis, was in certain things well-nigh another Christ, given to the world for the salvation of mankind, God the Father willed to make him in many actions conformed and like unto His Son Jesus Christ; as is made manifest in the venerable College of the [ p. 20 ] Twelve Companions, and in the admirable mystery of the sacred stigmata, and in the unbroken fast of the holy Lent which he made on this wise. On a time, St Francis being, on the day of Carnival, hard by the lake of Perugia, in the house of one of his disciples, with whom he had lodged during the night, he was inspired by God to go and keep that Lent in an island of the lake; wherefore St. Francis besought this disciple of his that, for the love of Christ, he would carry him in his skiff to an island of the lake, whereon no man dwelt, and that he, would do this on the night of Ash Wednesday to the end that none might know thereof; and he, for the love of the great devotion which he bare St. Francis, diligently fulfilled his request and carried him to the said island; and St. Francis took with him nothing save two small loaves. And, when he had landed upon the island, and his friend was about to depart and to return to his house, St. Francis besought him lovingly that he would not reveal to any man that he was there, and that he would not come for him until Holy Thursday; and so he departed. And St. Francis remained alone, and, in that there was no dwelling there, wherein he might find shelter, he entered into a very dense thicket, which many brambles and bushes had made like unto a cave or little but; and in this place he set himself in prayer to contemplate celestial things. And there he abode all Lent without eating and without drinking anything save only half of one of those little loaves, according to that which his disciples found on Holy Thursday when he returned to him; for he found of the two little loaves one whole and half of the other. It is believed that St. Francis ate for reverence of the fast of Christ the blessed, who fasted forty days and forty nights without taking any earthly food; and on this [ p. 21 ] wise, with that half loaf, he cast forth from himself the poison of vainglory, and after the ensample of Christ fasted forty days and forty nights. Thereafter, in that place where St. Francis had shown such marvellous abstinence, God did many miracles through his merits; for which cause men began to build houses there and to dwell there; and, in a little while, a walled village, fair and great, was made there, and withal the Place of the friars, which is called the Place of the Island, and the men and women of that village still have kept great reverence and devotion for that place where St. Francis kept the said Lent.
How while St. Francis and Friar Leo were on a journey, he expounded unto him those things which are perfect joy
ONCE when St. Francis was coming from Perugia to Santa Maria degli Angeli with Friar Leo in the winter, and the very great cold vexed him sore, he called Friar Leo, who was going before, and spake after this manner: “Friar Leo, albeit the minor friars in every land set a great example of holiness and of good edification, nevertheless, write and note diligently that therein is not perfect joy”. And when St. Francis had gone farther, he called unto him the second time: “O Friar Leo, although the minor friar should give sight to the blind, make straight the crooked, cast out devils, make the deaf to hear, the lame to walk, and the dumb to speak, and, what is a greater thing, should raise those who have been dead four days; write that therein is not perfect joy”. Going a little farther, he shouted loudly: “O Friar [ p. 22 ] Leo, if the minor friar knew all tongues, and all sciences, and all the Scriptures, so that he was able to prophesy and to reveal not only things to come but also the secrets of consciences and souls; write that therein is not perfect joy”. Going a little farther, St. Francis yet again shouted loudly: “O Friar Leo, little sheep of God, albeit the minor friar should speak with the tongue of angels, and knew the courses of the stars and the virtues of herbs, and albeit all the treasures of the earth were revealed to him and he knew the virtues of birds and of fishes and of all animals and of men, of trees, of stones and of roots and of waters; write that therein is not perfect joy”. And going yet farther a certain space, St. Francis shouted loudly: “O Friar Leo, although the minor friar should know to preach so well that he should convert all the infidels to the faith of Christ; write that therein is not perfect joy”. And this manner of speech continuing for full two miles, Friar Leo, with great wonder, asked and said: Father, I pray thee in the name of God to tell me wherein is perfect joy“. And St. Francis answered him: ”When we shall be at Santa Maria degli Angeli, thus soaked by the rain, and frozen by the cold, and befouled with mud, and afflicted with hunger, and shall knock at the door of the Place, and the doorkeeper shall come in anger and shall say: ‘Who are ye?’ and we shall say: ‘We are two of your friars,’ and he shall say: ‘Ye speak not truth; rather are ye two lewd fellows who go about deceiving the world and robbing the alms of the poor: get you hence’; and shall not open unto us, but shall make us stay outside in the snow and rain, cold and hungry, even until night; then, if we shall bear such great wrong and such cruelty and such rebuffs patiently, without disquieting ourselves and without murmuring [ p. 23 ] against him; and shall think humbly and charitably that that door-keeper really believes us to be that which he has called us, and that God makes him speak against us; O Friar Leo, write that here is perfect joy. And if we persevere in knocking, and he shall come forth enraged and shall drive us away with insults and with buffetings, as importunate rascals, saying, ‘Get you hence, vilest of petty thieves, go to the hospice. Here ye shall neither eat nor lodge.’ If we shall bear this patiently and with joy and love; O Friar Leo write that herein is perfect joy. And if, constrained by hunger and by cold and by the night, we shall continue to knock and shall call and beseech for the love of God, with great weeping, that he open unto us and let us in, and he, greatly offended thereat, shall say: ‘These be importunate rascals; I will pay them well as they deserve,’ and shall come forth with a knotty club and take us by the cowl, and shall throw us on the ground and roll us in the snow and shall cudgel us pitilessly with that club; if we shall bear all these things patiently and with cheerfulness, thinking on the sufferings of Christ the blessed, the which we ought to bear patiently for His love; O Friar Leo, write that here and in this is perfect joy; and therefore hear the conclusion, Friar Leo; above all the graces and gifts of the Holy Spirit, which Christ grants to His friends, is that of self-conquest and of willingly bearing sufferings, injuries and reproaches and discomforts for the love of Christ; because in all the other gifts of God we cannot glory, inasmuch as they are not ours, but of God; whence the Apostle saith: What hast thou that thou didst not receive from God! and if thou didst receive it from Him, wherefore dost thou glory therein as if thou hadst it of thyself! But in the cross of tribulation and of affliction [ p. 24 ] we may glory, because this is our own; and therefore the Apostle saith: I would not glory save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
How St. Francis taught Friar Leo to make answer; and how he was never able to speak save the contrary to that which St. Francis desired
ON a time in the beginning of the Order, St. Francis being with Friar Leo in a Place where they had not books for the saying of the divine office, when the hour of matins came, St. Francis said to Friar Leo: “Most dear companion, we have no breviary wherewith we can say matins; but to the end that we may spend the time to the praise of God, I will speak and thou shalt answer as I will teach thee: and look to it that thou changest not the words otherwise than I shall teach thee. I will say thus: ‘O Friar Francis, thou hast done so many evils and so many sins in the world that thou art worthy of hell’; and thou shalt make answer: ‘It is a true thing that thou meritest the lowest hell’.” And Friar Leo with dove-like simplicity replied: “Willingly, father. Begin in the name of God.” Then St. Francis began to say: “O Friar Francis, thou hast done so many evils and so many sins in the world, that thou art worthy of hell”. And Friar Leo answered: “God shall do through thee so much good that by reason thereof thou shalt go to paradise”. Said St. Francis: “Say not so, Friar Leo, but when I shall say, ‘Friar Francis, thou hast done so many wicked things against God, that thou art worthy to be accursed from God,’ [ p. 25 ] answer thou thus: ‘Verily thou art worthy to be set among the accursed’”. And Friar Leo answered: “Willingly father”. Then St. Francis, with many tears and sighs and beatings of the breast, said with a loud voice: “O my Lord of heaven and earth, I have committed so many wickednesses and so many sins against Thee that I am altogether worthy to be accursed from Thee”; and Friar Leo answered: “O Friar Francis, God will make thee such an one that among the blessed thou shalt be singularly blessed”. And St. Francis, marvelling that Friar Leo answered contrary to that which he had bidden him, rebuked him saying: “Wherefore dost thou not answer as I teach thee! I command thee by holy obedience to answer as I shall teach thee. I will speak thus: ‘O Friar Francis, miserable sinner, thinkest thou that God will have mercy upon thee, seeing that thou hast committed so many sins against the Father of mercy and God of every consolation that thou art not worthy to find mercy?’ And thou, Friar Leo, little sheep, shalt answer: ‘On no wise art thou worthy to find mercy’.” But afterward when St. Francis said: “O Friar Francis, miserable sinner,” etc., Friar Leo answered: “God the Father, whose mercy is infinitely greater than thy sin, will show thee great mercy, and thereabove will add unto thee much grace”. At this reply, St. Francis, sweetly angered and patiently disquieted, said to Friar Leo: “And wherefore hast thou had the presumption to do against obedience, and already so many times hast replied contrary to that which I have commanded thee?” Friar Leo answered very humbly and reverently: “God knoweth, my father, that every time I have resolved in my heart to answer as thou hast bidden me; but God maketh me to speak as it pleaseth Him, and not according to [ p. 26 ] that which pleaseth me”. Thereat St. Francis marvelled and said to Friar Leo: “I beseech thee very lovingly that this time thou answer me as I have told thee”. Friar Leo answered: “Speak in the name of God, because of a surety this time I will answer as thou wouldst have me”. And St. Francis weeping said: “O Friar Francis, miserable sinner, thinkest thou that God will have mercy upon thee?” Friar Leo answered: “Yea, and not only so, but great grace shalt thou receive from God, and He shall exalt thee and glorify thee for ever, because whosoever humbleth himself shall be exalted, and I cannot speak otherwise in that God speaketh through my mouth”. And on this wise, in that humble strife, with many tears and much spiritual consolation, they watched even until day.
How Friar Masseo, as if in raillery, said to St. Francis that all the world followed after him; and he replied that that was to the confusion of the world and grace of God
ONCE while St. Francis dwelt in the Place of Porziuncula with Friar Masseo of Marignano, a man of great sanctity, discretion and grace in speaking of God; wherefore St. Francis loved him much; it came to pass that, one day, when St. Francis was returning from the wood and from prayer, and was already come to the place of egress from the wood, the said Friar Masseo desired to prove how great was his humility and drew nigh unto him and, as if in raillery, said: “Why after thee? why after thee? why after thee?” St. Francis answered: “What is this that [ p. 27 ] thou wouldst say?” Said Friar Masseo: “I say, why doth all the world follow after thee, and why doth every man seem to desire to see thee and to hear thee and to obey thee? Thou art not a man beautiful of body, thou art not greatly learned, thou art not noble: wherefore then should all the world follow after thee?” Hearing this St. Francis rejoiced greatly in spirit, and raising his face to heaven, stood for a long time with his mind uplifted in God, and thereafter, returning to himself, kneeled down and gave praise and thanks to God, and then with great fervour of spirit turned to Friar Masseo and said: “Wouldst know why after me? wouldst know why after me? why all the world follows after me? This have I from those eyes of the most high God, which in every place behold the good and the wicked: because those most holy eyes have not seen among sinners any more vile, or more insufficient, or a greater sinner than I am; and since to do that marvellous work which He meaneth to do, He hath not found a viler creature upon earth; therefore hath He chosen me to confound the nobility and the pride and the strength and the beauty and wisdom of the world, to the end that it may know that every virtue and every good thing is of Him and not of the creature, and that no one may be able to glory in His sight; but whosoever shall glory, let him glory in the Lord, to whom is all honour and glory for ever.” Then Friar Masseo, at so lowly an answer, spoken with so much fervour, was afraid and knew of a surety that St. Francis was stablished in humility.