The morning times., 1896-12-18
Prof. Egan on St. Francis at
Catholic University.
LIFE HISTORY OF THE BARD
Reared In OpuIence, But Gave Up
All for His Religion-Called by
God-Saved Italian Literature
From Extinction on-Christmas His
Fayorite Feast.


versity, yesterday afternoon delivered his
lecture on ''St. Francis, of Assist, the
Poet in the chief lecture han of the
school of philosophy building. The re-
peated references to matters in connection
with the Christmas season made the lecture
an opportune one, and a large audience was
in attendance to listen to it.
Prof. EgaD said in part
In the year 203, there was no Italy, in
the sense that means nation or united
country. There We're many independent
| states, citles, and towns, each defiant,
proud local. There was no real patriotism
in the broad sense OF the word-for the
Inhabitants of that land had no nationality,
| no general language, no poetry, no litera-
| ture.
The dialects of Italy were the dialects
OF the vulgar. They Were beneath the
notice of the scholar or the singer
YOUTH OF ST. FRANCIS. =
City warred against city, town against
| town. Local pride made each little place
| sufficient for its citizens. The Filren-
| tines knew no country but Florence.
Assist, the quaint little town n the valley
| of Umbria, was ready 10 fly at the throat
| of Perugia. Fe .
While this intensely local feeling led the
| citizens to do all in their-power to make
their small towns beautiful, as the great
| towns of Florence and Siena and Milan
were made beautiful from similar motives,
| IL excited unchristian bitterness among
| Christians, and made the Italian burgher
! the most narrow minded and belligerent
OF human beings.
The merriest of all the youth of Assist
| in 1908 was our Francesca Bernardone
| He was the son of rich merchant Of the
! beautiful little town and Of his wife,
| Madonna Plea. Messer Pietro Bcrpar-
hn ion in ,ap
the rich velvet, silk, and cloth of gold
with which mobiles, ladies, and citizens be
decked themselves.
Francis spent a happy boyhood and ga y
| youth between the shadowing mountains,
! above whose SUBMITS blew the fresh winds
| from tile two seas His father sent him
| to the priests Of the Church OF st. George.
and from them he learned those rudimcnts
| which helped To make both the poet apd
| the saint They taught him a little Latin
and much French, for his father loved
| that language, and all over the peninsula
the speech of Provence was regarded as
| the most delightful of expressions.
Francis learned, too, what ar his country
| men learncd-muslc. Poetry.sin its fiist
| blossomng, was part OF music. After
wards the sonnets OF Dante2cnf Petrarca
| were sung-for sonnet is only little
| Tyre with fourteen strings. But in Francis
| youth, Dante and Petrarca and Tasso had
| not yet appeared, for he was to be their
| precursor. to make them possible.
HE LOVED GAY CLOTHES.
| Until he reached his wenty-fourth wear,
| Francis Bernardone lived the life OF a cheer
ful and Innocent young. man of his day.
| His father, parsimonious IN many ways,
| was proud to see his handsome and cheerful
| son hold up his head with the gayest
! youths in Assist To his father and ruo other
he was as swan among ducks. He
| was the first to adopt all the FreIch
| fashions; he loved gay clothes, spriGhtly
| music and, above all, the poetry OF the
| trouveres and tFoubadours. * !,
When the Count de Bnenne made war
for the recovery of the fSioilies from the
German emperor, Francis Joined him. This
| was after long sickness, Which had cast
him down, and from which he arose a
| changed man.
Restless and depressed for the first
time, he threw himself into the train of
the Count de Brienne. About this time, he
met poor cavalier, badly dressed and
| shi vering with cold. AT once Francis
took Off his splendid outer suit and forced
| the soldier TO exchange with him. That
same night, at Spoleto, he had dream
| He thought that the Divine voice spoke to
him.
| Francis obeyed the voice; he left the
| army of the count and went back TO
| Assist, needless that his friends and
neighbors might call him a. COW ard. But
they did not; the youth hailed his return
| with joy, and again Francis became a
leader of the splendid feats and process
slons; he was about twenty five years of
age at this time. He was not the Francis
of old. He walked about as one in a
| dream.
TOOK THE VOW OF POVERTY.
God gave Francis great comfort in those
days: he found peace; he gave his will to
| God, and lOnged above all things 10 par
take OF the sufferings OF the Lord. But
how unlike the gay leader Of the Corti he
was nowl Pale and worn, with unshoIn
hair and beard, the Flower of Assist was
greeted as mailman in his native town.
The son of the opulent merchant-and in
those days merchant OF Pietro Bernar-
done's position was more powerful than
many nohle-the most brilliant of the
gilded youth, had given up all to be poor
and humble. This went beyond the under
standing Of all Assist.
1t goes beyond the understanding Of most
Of us today, when a woman or man gives
up the world and takes the VOW OF pow
ETY.. All A ssisi said that the once splendid
Francis was mailman. He was snecred
and jeered at. His father, maddened by
the taunts of the townspeople, and the dis
grace brought upon him by his son, beat
him with his own hands, dragged him tC
but Francis rejoiced in this.
After mass, on the 1th of June, 1908,
struck by the words of the Gospel of the
day-the feast of st. Barnabas-he tied a
rope around his waist and began his mission
OF preaching the message Of the angels
'peace to men of good WILL He wore
the brown robe, the garb Of the poorest
laborer of Umbria. This and the rope
were all he possessed in this world
His neighbors saw it with amaZement
pity, contempt; but, by and by, the awfu
lesson of his sacrifice touched their hearts
After time seventeen years later-he
passed away with the seals of our Lord s
approval on his hands, feet and side The
five wounds were stamped upon the body
of the servant, and he suffered with his
Master.
MIRACLES OF ST. FRANCIS.
St Francis loved poetry and sang poetry
Miracles sprang up after him like flowers
| When he touched the ulcerouS and livit
sores of the lepers they were cured. Bur
!, what moves US most is not the miracles
but the constant joy that shone from tht
eyes and the heart of the little brothe
of the poor, and the singing of all created
things for him.
We of the modern world have not ye
sufficiently acknowledged our debt to st
Francis. 1t was he who saved literatur
from extinction among the people.
There were great poets among the friar
of Minor; he did not stipulate that his fol
lowers should be. learned, but he taugh
them by example to respect letters. II
would never destroy or tread on WRITER
page. If it were Christian writing,
might contain the name of God; even i
it were the work of a pagan, it containe
the letters that made up the sacred name
"And yetthese friars, whose head showed
such reverence for the written word, hav
been accused of fostering ignorance! LIE
us remember that the heaviest debt ou
literature owes is to the Italians, an