How St. Francis expounded unto Friar Leo a fair vision which he had seen
ONCE, when St. Francis was exceeding sick, Friar Leo waited on him; and it befel that, while the said Friar Leo was praying beside St. Francis, he was rapt in ecstasy and was carried in the spirit to a very great river, wide and rapid. And, as he waited to see who crossed over it, he beheld certain friars enter the river laden with burdens, and straightway they were overthrown by the force of the stream and were drowned; certain others went a third of the way across; others reached the middle of the river, and some almost gained the opposite bank; but, at the last, by reason of the force of the stream and of the burdens which they bore, all of them fell and were drowned. Now, when he saw this, Friar Leo had very great compassion for them; and anon, while yet he stood [ p. 94 ] there, lo! a great multitude of friars drew nigh, all of them without any burden or load of any kind; resplendent with the light of holy Poverty. And they entered the river and crossed over it without any danger; and, when he had seen this, Friar Leo came to himself again. Then St. Francis, perceiving in spirit that Friar Leo had seen some vision, questioned him concerning that which he had seen: and, when Friar Leo had told him all his vision in order, St. Francis said: “That which thou hast seen is true. The great river is this world; the friars who were drowning in the river are those who follow not the Gospel profession and especially with regard to most high Poverty; but they who passed over without danger are those friars who neither seek nor possess in this world any earthly or carnal thing, but having food and raiment are therewith content, following Christ naked on the cross; and gladly and willingly do they bear the burden and sweet yoke of Christ and of most holy Obedience; whereby they pass without difficulty from the temporal life to the life eternal.”
How Jesus Christ the blessed, at the prayer of St. Francis, caused a rich man to be converted and to become a friar, the which had shown great honour and liberality unto St. Francis
ST. FRANCIS, the servant of Christ, arrived one evening at the house of a great and powerful gentleman and was by him received to lodge there, he and his companion, as angels of God, with very great courtesy and devotion; for the which thing St. Francis [ p. 95 ] loved him, considering how when he entered into his house he had embraced and kissed him as a friend, and had humbly washed his feet and wiped and kissed them; and afterward, a great fire having been lighted and a table spread with many excellent viands had waited on him continually, with joyful countenance, while he ate. Now, when St. Francis and his companion had eaten, this gentleman said: “Behold, my father, I offer you myself and my goods. As often as ye have need of habit or mantle or of any other thing, buy them and I will pay for them; and remember that I am ready to provide for you in all your needs, because by God’s grace I am able so to do, in that I abound in temporal goods; and therefore for love of God, who hath given them unto me, I willingly do good therewith to His poor.” Wherefore St. Francis, seeing in him such great courtesy and loving-kindness, and hearing the large offers which he made, conceived for him so great a love, that thereafter, departing thence, he spake unto his companion, as they went upon their way, and said: “Of a truth this gentleman, who is so grateful to God and so mindful of His benefits, and so loving and courteous to his neighbour and to the poor, would be good for our religion and company. Know, beloved friar, that courtesy is one of the attributes of God, who giveth His sun and His rain to the just and to the unjust, through courtesy; and Courtesy is own sister to Charity, the which extinguisheth hate and keepeth love alive. Now, because I have known so much Divine virtue in this good man, I would gladly have him for a companion; and therefore I am minded some day to return to him, if peradventure God should have touched his heart to desire to accompany us in the service of God, and meanwhile, we will pray God to put this desire in his [ p. 96 ] heart and to give him grace to bring the same to good effect.” O marvellous thing! a few days after St. Francis had made this prayer, God put this desire into the heart of that gentleman; and St. Francis said to his companion: “Brother mine, let us go to the house of the courteous man, for I have sure hope in God that he with the same courtesy which he hath shown in things temporal will give himself to us and will become our companion.” And they went. And when they drew nigh unto his house, St. Francis said to his companion: “Wait for me a little while, because I would first pray God that He may prosper our journey, and that it may please Jesus Christ, through the virtue of His most holy passion, to grant to us, though poor and weak, this noble prey which we think to snatch from the world”. And having thus spoken, he betook himself to prayer in a place where he could be seen of the said courteous man. Whereby, as it pleased God, while he was looking hither and thither, he saw St. Francis most devoutly praying before Christ, who, in great splendour, appeared unto him in the said prayer and stood before him; and therewith he saw St. Francis lifted bodily from the ground, for a good space. Through the which sight he was so touched of God and inspired to leave the world that, anon, he came forth from his palace and, in fervour of spirit, ran toward St. Francis; and coming unto him while he was yet praying, he kneeled down at his feet and, with great earnestness and devotion, besought him that he would be pleased to receive him and to do penance together with him. Then St. Francis, perceiving that God had heard his prayer, and that that gentleman was urgently begging for that which he himself desired, rose up and, in fervour and gladness of spirit, embraced and kissed him, very [ p. 97 ] devoutly thanking God who had added so gallant a knight to his company. And the gentleman said to St. Francis: “My father, what dost thou bid me do? Lo! I am ready to obey thy commandments and to give all I possess to the poor and to follow Christ with thee, having thus disburdened myself of every temporal thing.” And thus did he, according to the counsel of St. Francis; for he distributed all his possessions among the poor and entered the Order, and lived in great penitence and holiness of life and honest conversation.
How St. Francis knew in spirit that Friar Elias was damned and would die out of the Order; wherefore, at the entreaty of Friar Elias, he prayed to Christ for him, and was heard
ONCE when St. Francis and Friar Elias were sojourning in a Place together, it was revealed of God to St. Francis, that Friar Elias was damned, and would apostatise from the Order and finally die out of the Order. For which cause St. Francis conceived so great a distaste for Friar Elias that he never spake nor conversed with him; and, if it came to pass at any time that Friar Elias came towards him, he turned aside and went by another way so as not to meet him; whereby Friar Elias began to perceive and to understand that St. Francis was displeased with him. Wherefore, desiring to know the reason thereof, he one day drew nigh unto St. Francis to speak with him, and, when St. Francis avoided him, detained him by force but courteously, humbly beseeching him that he would be pleased to tell him the reason why he thus avoided [ p. 98 ] his company and would not speak with him. And St. Francis answered him: “The reason is this: that it hath been revealed to me of God that thou, through thy sins, wilt apostatise from the Order and wilt die out of the Order, and also God hath revealed unto me that thou art damned”. Now when he had heard this, Friar Elias spake thus: “My reverend father, I beseech thee for love of Jesus Christ that for this thou avoid me not, neither drive me away from thee; but like a good shepherd, after the example of Christ, seek and save the sheep which must perish if thou help it not; and pray God for me that, if it be possible, He may revoke the sentence of my damnation; for it is written that God will change His sentence if the sinner amend his fault: and so great faith have I in thy prayers that, if I were in the midst of hell and thou shouldst pray unto God for me, I should feel some relief. Wherefore again do I beseech thee that thou recommend me, a sinner, to the God who came to save sinners, that He may receive me to His mercy.” And this Friar Elias said with great devotion and with many tears. Thereupon St. Francis, as a pitiful father, promised him to pray God for him; and he did so. And, praying God most devoutly for him, he knew by revelation, that his prayer was heard by God, touching the revocation of the sentence of damnation against Friar Elias, and that his soul would not be finally damned; but that he would certainly leave the Order and die out of the Order. And so it came to pass; because, when Frederick, King of Sicily, rebelled against the Church and was excommunicated by the Pope (he and all who gave him aid or counsel), the said Friar Elias, who was reputed one of the wisest men in all the world, at the request of the said King Frederick, adhered unto him, and became a rebel [ p. 99 ] against the Church and an apostate from the Order, for the which thing he was excommunicated by the Pope and deprived of the habit of St. Francis. And, while he was thus excommunicate, he fell grievously sick; and one of his brethren hearing of his said sickness, the same being a lay-brother who had remained in the Order and was a man of good and honest life, went to visit him; and among other things he said unto him: “My dearest brother, much doth it grieve me that thou art excommunicate and out of thy Order and so must die; but if thou shouldst perceive any way or manner whereby I can deliver thee from this danger, I would willingly take any pains for thy sake”. Friar Elias made answer: “Brother mine, I see no other way but that thou go to the Pope, and beseech him, for the love of God and of St. Francis, his servant, through whose teachings I abandoned the world, that he absolve me from his excommunication and restore to me the habit of the Religion”. His brother told him that he would gladly labour for his salvation; and so, departing from him, he gat him to the feet of the holy Pope, humbly beseeching him to pardon his brother for the love of Christ and of St. Francis, his servant. And, as God willed it, the Pope granted his prayer that he should return, and if he found Friar Elias alive, should absolve him from the excommunication and should restore his habit to him: wherefore he departed full of joy, and, returning to Friar Elias with all speed, found him alive though almost at the point of death; and so he absolved him from the excommunication; and once more putting on him the habit, Friar Elias passed from this life and his soul was saved by the merits of St. Francis and by his prayer in which Friar Elias had had such great hope.
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Of the marvellous sermon which St. Antony of Padua, a minor friar, preached in the Consistory
THE marvellous vessel of the Holy Ghost, Messer St. Antony of Padua, one of the chosen disciples and companions of St. Francis, whom St. Francis called his vicar, preached upon a time in the Consistory before the Pope and the cardinals; in the which Consistory were men of divers nations, to wit, Greeks, Latins, French, Germans, Slavonians and English, and of other diverse languages of the world. And, being inflamed by the Holy Ghost, he set forth the word of God so efficaciously, so devoutly, so subtly, so sweetly, so clearly and so learnedly, that all those who were in the Consistory, albeit they spoke different languages, understood all his words as clearly and distinctly as if he had spoken in the dialect of each of them; and they were all amazed; and it seemed that the ancient miracle of the Apostles had been renewed, when, at the Feast of Pentecost, they spake in every language by the virtue of the Holy Ghost; and they marvelled and said one to another: “Is not this man who preacheth a Spaniard? How, then, do we all hear in his speech the language of our own countries?” The Pope likewise considering, and marvelling within himself at the deep wisdom of his words, said: “Of a truth this man is the Ark of the Covenant and a repository of Holy Writ”.
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Of the miracle which God wrought, when St. Antony, being at Rimini, preached to the fishes of the sea
CHRIST the blessed (willing to show forth the great sanctity of His most faithful servant Messer St. Antony, and to teach with what devotion men ought to give ear to His preaching and to His holy doctrine) one time among the rest, rebuked the folly of infidel heretics through the instrumentality of unreasoning animals, to wit of the fishes, even as, long ago, in the Old Testament, he had rebuked the ignorance of Balaam through the mouth of the ass. For St. Antony being once in Rimini, where was a great multitude of heretics, and wishing to bring them back to the light of the true faith and to the way of virtue, he preached unto them for many days and disputed with them of the faith of Christ and of the Holy Scriptures; but they, as men hard of heart and obstinate, would not even listen to him. Wherefore St. Antony gat himself one day by Divine inspiration to the bank of the river hard by the sea, and standing thus upon the shore between the sea and the river he began to speak unto the fishes, as a preacher sent unto them of God: “Hear the word of God, ye fishes of the sea and of the river, since the infidel heretics refuse to hear it”. And anon, when he had thus spoken, there came to him to the bank so vast a multitude of fishes, big, little and of middling size, that never in that sea or in that river had there been seen so great a multitude. And all of them held their heads out of the water, and all gazed attentively on the face of St. Antony, abiding there in very great peace and gentleness and order; for in the front rank and nearest to [ p. 102 ] the shore were the little tiny fish, behind them were the moderately large fish, and farther out, where was deeper water, the biggest fish. The fish, then, being arranged in this order and disposition, St. Antony commenced solemnly to preach unto them, and spake after this manner: “My brethren the fish, much are ye bounden, as far as in you lies, to give thanks to our Creator, who hath given you so noble an element for your dwelling-place, wherein according to your pleasure ye may have fresh water or salt; He hath given you many places of refuge to escape from the tempest; He hath also given you a clear and transparent element, and food whereby ye may live. God, your Creator, courteous and kind, when He made you, commanded you to increase and multiply and gave you His blessing. Thereafter, when, in the universal deluge, all other creatures died God preserved you alone uninjured. Moreover He hath given you fins wherewith ye may roam wheresoever ye will. To you it was granted, through the commandment of God, to preserve Jonah the prophet, and after the third day to cast him up upon dry land, safe and sound. Ye offered the tribute-money to our Lord Jesus Christ, which He, by reason of His poverty, could not pay. By a singular mystery, ye were the food of the Eternal King, Jesus Christ, both before and after His resurrection; for all which things much are ye bounden to praise and bless God who hath loaded you with so great benefits more than other creatures.” At these and other like words and admonishments of St. Antony, the fishes began to open their mouths and to bow their heads, and with these and other signs of reverence, on such wise as they were able, gave praise to God. Then St. Antony, seeing the great reverence of the fishes toward God, their Creator, rejoiced in spirit and cried with a loud [ p. 103 ] voice: “Blessed be the Eternal God because the fishes of the waters honour Him more than heretic men; and creatures which have not reason hear His word more willingly than unbelieving men”. And the longer St. Antony preached the more did the multitude of fish increase; and not one of them left the place which he had taken. To see this miracle the people of the city began to run thither, and among them came also the heretics aforesaid; who, beholding so marvellous and clear a miracle, were pricked in their hearts, and all cast themselves at the feet of St. Antony to hear his words. Then St. Antony began to preach of the Catholic faith; and so nobly did he preach it that he converted all those heretics and they turned to the true faith of Christ; and all the faithful were comforted thereby, being filled with very great joy, and stablished in the faith. And, when the preaching was over, St. Antony dismissed the fishes with the blessing of God, and they all departed with marvellous signs of joy, and likewise also the people. Thereafter, St. Antony abode in Rimini for many days, preaching and gathering much spiritual fruit of souls.