Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-07-03
Principal Friend
of Saint Francis
Was from England
Brother William, the Most De-
voted Follower, Called to
Replace a Judas.

II one be well-advised he will 90 to
the Lives of the Saints for religious
instruction and information that, next
to the inspired Word. will elevate his
mind more than any other course Of
reading. And the life of no saint is
more full Of pregnant lessons for
humanity than that of Saint Francis
Of Assist. of whom we wrote in these
columns the other day
The Aberdeen University Press has
just published q volume Of the we'll
known Collecteana Franciscana Of
the British Society of Franciscan
studies. This society is notable and
has long been for the scholarship OF
it's members and the deep interest it
takes in bringing to light everything
connected with the life of Saint
Francis, the lives Of his companions,
those who attached themselves TO him
but short time after his conversion.
In this last issue of the Franciscan
collection there is some new and in
teresting matter; that is, it is new to
the generality OF readers. Few peo-
pie, even those who are most devoted
to the study of the legends of St.
Francis. are aware that one of the
most intimate and beloved friends
and followers of the saint was a
foreigner and that foreigner an Eng
lishman. This was Brother William,
born in or near London, but history
is silent about him. Nothing is tori
Of his occupation or his fortune por
where he met Saint Francis nor bow
long he remained his follower.
Years after the death Of Brother
William, when legends had grown
thickly about the life of thu saint
and had formulated a story that his
band was composed Of twsive COM
panions, like the twelve Apostles of
his Master, and that orr of them,
also, was a Judas. To tsske the place
Of this traitor, the legend said,
Brother William. the Englishman,
had been summoned. In the great
church In Assist there Is a marble
slab covering his ashes, and there
may be read this inscription:
Brother Elias, seeing that Brother
William, of England. 1ayman, who
had been perfect in religion, being
buried IN the basilica of St Francis
was consecrating with miracles,
moved by zeal for Saint Francis,
went to his sepulchre and command
ed the dead man with much conf
dence and faith not to darken the
glory of the holy Father Francis.
From that time he performed no more
Miracles"
Brother William was one of the
witnesses for the Indulgence Of the
Pontiuncula. He died IN 1892 and a
relic Of him was preserved and
shown to the faithful in Assist down
to the end of the fourteenth century
This mention of Brother William in
the Franciscan collection, reminds
one of the fact that even in that far
off age, when the world was smaller
than 1t IS today, and when means Of
communication we're nil as compared
with the present practical annihila-
ton of time and space, there were
strange ties between countries widely
separated and of different races and
languages.
Thus in this case there are strong
proofs that there was a close connec-
ton between such a city as Assist
and London In a chronicle ascribed
to Matthew Paris and written at
some date between 1886 and 1850, the
writer gives an account of the Rule
of the Friars Minor" as approved by
tAc Z oPCt AAOhoA4No LII III A--1- Al
the margin of the manuscript he
gives a drawing of a friar with the
label, .Frater Willelmus Nacione
Angus Socius Sancti Francisco
The drawing does not look like a
portrait, though it is valuable as in
dicating the style of costume worn by
the first friars.
Two other drawings Of great inter-
est are also reproduced in this
volume, the first of several (fve)
which go to make up an important
contribution to the history of the
early days of the Minorite Order.
There was sold in London recently,
as The Spectator says, an important
Franciscan manuscript which throws
an unusual flood of light on the Latin
text of the "Fioretti" and the "Specu-
lum Perfectionis."