The Life And Legends Of Saint Francis Of Assisi
By: Translated from the French of Father Candide Chalippe, O. F. M. Revised and re-edited by Father Hilarion Duerk, O. F. M.
Contributors: Duerk, Hilarion, b. 1883 tr.
Publisher: P. J. Kenedy & sons
Published: 1918
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 405
Subjects: Francis, -- of Assisi, Saint, -- 1182-1226; Miracles -- Early works to 1800
Genres: Early works to 1800.
Table of contents: title: CONTENTS; title: BOOK I; title: His birth — Prediction of his future greatness — His studies — He applies himself to commerce — His purity, and affection for the poor — He is taken prisoner — He falls sick — His charity increases towards the poor — He has a mysterious dream — He wishes to go to the war — Jesus Christ dissuades him — He is rapt in spirit — His conversion — He kisses a leper — Jesus Christ crucified appears to him — Salutary effects of this apparition — He goes to Borne — Mingles with the poor — Is tempted by the devil — A voice from heaven commands him to restore the Church of S. Peter Damian — His devotion to the passion of Jesus Christ — He takes some pieces of cloth from his father 's house, and sells them, to restore the Church of S. Damian — He escapes from the anger of his father, and retires to a cave — He appears in Assisi, where he is ill-treated — His father confines him — His mother delivers him, and he returns to S. Damian — He manifests his intention to his father, who appeals to justice, and cites him before the Bishop of Assisi — He renounces his inheritance, and gives back his clothes to his father — The poverty of his clothing — He is beaten by robbers — Retires to a monastery — They give him a hermit's habit — He devotes himself to the leprous — Receives the gift of healing, and returns to Assisi, where he searches for stone to restore the Church of Assisi — He toils at building as a laborer — He lives on alms — His father and brother exercise his patience — The victories he gains over himself — People begin to esteem and honor him — He predicts something which is fullfilled — He restores the Church of S. Peter and that of S. Mary of the Angels, or the Portiuncula — Dwells at S. Mary of the Angels, and is favored there with heavenly apparitions — He is called to the apostolical life — Renounces money and goes discalced — His poor and humble habit — God inspires him to preach — He weeps bitterly over the sufferings of Jesus Christ — Receives three disciples, and retires with them to a deserted cottage — He goes on a mission, and ids disciples accompany him — the way they are treated — He receives three other disciples — He makes them beg for alms — What he said to the Bishop of Assisi, ©a renouncing all his possessions — He predicts to the Emperor Otho the short duration of his glory — It is revealed to him that his sins are remitted — He is rapt in ecstasy, and predicts the extension of his Order — He makes several other predictions, and receives a seventh disciple — He proposes a new mission to them — The address he makes them on their preparation for, and conduct during, the mission — He returns near to Assisi, where he receives four more disciples — He assembles all his disciples — Composes a Buie, and goes to obtain the Pope's approval — He makes a marvellous conversion — He knows miraculously what will happen to him at Borne — He is at first repulsed by Pope Innocent III., but is afterwards received favorably — Difficulties on the approbation of his Buie — He overcomes them by an address he makes the Pope — The Pope approves his Buie, and accumulates favors on it — He leaves Borne with his friars for the valley of Spoleto — God provides for his necessities — He stops at a deserted church — Consults God on his mission, and returns to the cottage of Bivo-torto — His sufferings there — The instructions he gives — God shows him ' to his brethren under a most marvellous aspect — The church of S. Mary of the Angels is given to him — He establishes himself there with his Friars 1; title: BOOK II; title: He receives many novices — Instructs and models them — Sends them to different provinces of Italy — What he says on this occasion — He departs for Tuscany, and passes by Perugia, where he makes a prediction which is accomplished — Many young men enter his Order — They build a house for him near Cortona — His miraculous fast during Lent — He commands the devils, and they obey him — He cures many miraculously — He preaches at Florence — Makes a prediction — Preaches in various places in Tuscany — What his friars are doing in other places — He preaches the Lent at Assisi, with great fruit — He consecrates, to Jesus Christ, Clare, and, Agnes, her sister — Establishes Clare and Agnes in the Church of S. Damian — He erects a monastery there, the first one of his second Order, which he then instituted — He is troubled by a serious doubt, on which he consults his brethren — His doubt is cleared up by an oracle from heaven — He goes out to preach — Restores a blind girl to sight, and converts many worldly people — He sighs for martyrdom — Asks permission of the Pope to preach to the infidels — Makes conversions at Borne, and establishes his Order there — Returns to Assisi, and leaves for the Levant — Embarks, but is obliged to put into a harbor in Sclavonia — Goes by sea to Ancona — A miracle which God performs in his favor — He converts a celebrated poet — Returns to Tuscany, and to S. Mary of the Angels — He falls sick — Wonderfully humbles himself — Tries a vocation — Falls sick again and writes to all Christians — Departs for Spain and Africa, in search of martyrdom — His miracles and other particulars of his journey — His profound humility — He raises the dead — Count Orlando gives him Mount Alverna — God miraculously protects him — He preaches in Piedmont and passes' into Spain — Works a miraculous cure there — The king, Alphonso IX, permits him to establish his Order there — He receives houses there — A violent sickness prevents him going to Morocco — His actions whilst he is delayed in Spain — He returns to Italy — His route thither — He arrives at S. Mary of the Angels, and disapproves a building there — He goes to Mount Alverna — Is beaten by devils — Mortifies his sense, and taste — Makes water spring from a rock — Visits the mountain — Converts there a celebrated brigand — Leaves for Rome — Discovers some relics by revelation — Makes predictions, and performs miracles and conversions — Arrives at Rome whilst the Council of Lateran is sitting — The Pope declares to the Council that he has approved the Rule — He appoints a general chapter at S. Mary of the Angels, whither he returns — He holds the chapter and sends his friars to various countries — He thinks of going to Paris — Reunites an illustrious family that had been divided — Rejoices in his poverty and asks of God a greater love of holy poverty — 88. Peter and Paul appear to him at Rome — His alliance with S. Dominic — He goes to Florence, where Cardinal Hugolin dissuades him from going to Paris — He returns to the Valley of Spoleto, and sends three of his disciples to France — A celestial vision induces him to ask of the Pope a cardinal protector for his Order — What he says on this subject — He preaches before the Pope — What happened to him in the pulpit — The Pope gives him Cardinal Hugolin, as protector of the Order — He preaches in the Valley of Rieti — Delivers the country from two plagues, and makes some conversions there — The houses he builds there — He appoints a general chapter at S. Mary of the Angels, for the year 1219 — What he did during the year 1218 — Efficacy of his prayers — He wishes to pull down a new house which he found at S. Mary of the Angels 57; title: BOOK III; title: He goes to Perugia, to consult the cardinal protector — His opinion on the promotion of his friars to ecclesiastical dignities — He returns to S. Mary of the Angels — His thoughts on these dignities — More than five thousand Friars Minors are present at the chapter he had appointed — He addresses the assembly, and forbids them troubling themselves about their food — Assistance comes to him from all sides — He receives more than five hundred novices during this chapter — He forbids indiscreet mortifications — The devils are incensed against him and his Order — He cautions his friars, and upon that gives them some instructions — He humbles them to preserve them from vainglory — He confounds those who wish the Rule mitigated — He wishes not for privileges which can engender disputes — He gives his friars instructions about their conduct to ecclesiastics — He obtains from the Pope letters apostolical confirming the approval of the Order — What he decrees in the chapter — He sends his friars through the whole world — The travels of his Friars in various parts of the world — In Greece — In Africa — In Spain and Portugal — In France — In the Low Countries — He himself prepares to go to the Levant — On the government of the monastery of S. Damian, and other houses of the same order — He sends six of his friars to Morocco — What he says to them — He starts on his voyage to Syria, with twelve companions — He rejects a postulant too much attached to his parents — A house at Ancona is given to him — He appoints, by means of a child inspired by God, those who are to accompany him to Syria — He embarks at Ancona and anchors at the isle of Cyprus — Arrives at Acre — Distributes his companions in different parts of Syria, and comes to the army before Damietta — He arrives at the camp before Damietta, and predicts the ill-success of the battle the Crusaders are about to give — His prediction is accomplished — He finds out the sultan of Egypt — Announces to him the truths of the faith, and offers to throw himself into the fire to prove them — He refuses the sultan's presents — Is esteemed and respected — The good dispositions with which he inspires the sultan — He obtains permission to preach in his States — He receives some disciples from the army of the Crusaders — Visits the holy places — Some whole monasteries of religious embrace his Institute — He returns to Italy — Establishes his Order in various places — Preaches at Bologna with great success — What he says and does on seeing a house of his Order too much ornamented — He makes a retreat at Camaldoli — Returns to S. Mary of the Angels — Reads the thoughts of his companion — Confounds the vanity of Brother Elias — Abolishes the novelties introduced into the Order by Brother Elias — In a vision the fortunes of his Order are made known to him — He holds the chapter in which he deposes Brother Elias, and in his place substitutes Peter of Catania — He renounces the generalship — Will not receive anything from novices entering his Order — He learns the news of the martyrdom of the friars he had sent to Morocco — What he says on the subject of their martyrdom — The martyrdom of these friars is the cause of the vocation of S. Antony of Padua — His friars pass into England — He visits some convents — Receives the Vicar General's resignation, and re-appoints, by the command of God, Brother Elias to his place — - He holds a chapter, and sends missionaries to Germany 135; title: BOOK IV; title: S. Francis begins his Third Order of Penance — Draws up the rule for it — What his idea was in founding this Order — He returns to S. Mary of the Angels — Sends Agnes, the sister of Clare, to Florence, to be Abbess there — He obtains from Jesus Christ the Indulgence of S. Mary of the Angels or of the Portiuncula — Pope Honorius III. grants him the same indulgence — Clare and others, hearing him talk of God, are ravished in ecstasy — He cannot bear the distinction of persons which Brother Elias made — Makes a terrible prediction — He gives his blessings to seven of his brethren, to go and preach the faith to the Moors, and they are martyred — He makes a journey, which is attended with remarkable circumstances — Cures a cripple — Mixes with the poor, and eats with them — Foretells of an infant, that he would one day be Pope — He changes the bed of thorns into which S. Benedict had thrown himself, into a rose-bush, and performs other great miracles — Goes to honor the relics of S. Andrew, and those of S. Nicholas — Discovers a trick of the devil — He visits Mount Garganue — His presence silences a demoniac — He learns at S. Mary of the Angels the success of the German mission — Bids Antony preach — Gives Antony permission to teach theology to the brethren — Alexander Hales enters the Order — Jesus Christ appoints the day for the Indulgence of the Portiuncula — He obtains from the Pope a confirmation of the same day — Promulgates it, with seven bishops — He has a revelation about his Rule — God makes known to him that he must abridge it — The Holy Spirit dictates it to him — Some entreat him to moderate it — Jesus Christ tells him it must be kept to the very letter — His brethren receive it — He declares it comes from Jesus Christ, and speaks in praise of it — He obtains a bull from the Pope, in confirmation of the Rule — Is attacked by devils — Celebrates the feast of Christmas with much fervor — Our Lord appears to him as an infant — His sentiments on the celebration of feasts — Discovers a stratagem of the devil — He commands one of his dead brethren to cease working miracles — Draws up a rule for Clare and her daughters — Appears with his arms stretched out in the form of a cross while S. Antony was preaching — Foretells a conversion which immediately came about — He goes into retreat on Mount Alvernus — His contemplation and raptures — Jesus Christ promises him special favors — He fasts rigorously — A piece of his writing delivers his companion from a temptation — What he had to suffer from the devil — He prepares for martyrdom — He receives extraordinary favors in prayer — His perfect conformity to the will of God — Jesus Christ crucified appears to him under the figure of a Seraphim — Receives the impression of the wounds of Jesus Christ — He composes canticles full of the love of God — Tells his brethren of the Stigmata — They are seen and touched — He leaves Mount Alvernus, to return to S. Mary of the Angels — Cures a child of dropsy — Other miracles which he performed on the way — He strengthens himself with new fervor in the service of God — His patience in great sufferings — His desires for the salvation of souls — His prayer in suffering — God assures him of his salvation — He thanks Him in a canticle — He learns the time of his death, and rejoices at it — He has various illnesses, and suffers extreme pain — He multiplies the grapes in a vineyard — God gives him sensible consolation — A heated iron is applied to the temple, and he feels no pain from it — He weeps incessantly, and says he does so to expiate for his sins — He prefers the danger of losing his sight to restraining his tears — His gratitude towards his physician — A miracle is worked by some of his hair, in favor of this physician — He miraculously heals a canon — His sufferings diminish — Goes to preach — Drives away a devil — Foretells a sudden death, and it comes about — Cures St. Bonaventura in his infancy — All his sufferings increase — Causes to be found for the love of God what could not be found for money — They take him back to Assisi — They take him to Sienna — He answers difficult questions, and foretells several things — He causes the blessing which he gave to his brethren to be written — They take him to Celles, and thence to Assisi — The bishop has him taken to his palace — The state of his Order at the time of his last illness 267; title: BOOK V; title: The violence of his illness does not prevent him from exhorting his brethren — He is touched at the fatigue which his illness caused them — Thanks God for the pains he suffered — Dictates a letter to Clare and her daughters — Rejoices and thanks God for his approaching death — Blesses his children — Has himself carried to S. Mary of the Angels — Blesses the town of Assisi — Informs a pious widow of his approaching death — Blesses his brethren a second time, and makes them eat a bit of bread, blessed by his hand — Gives a special blessing to Bernard, the eldest of his children — What we may presume were his dispositions in receiving the last sacraments — He stretches himself naked on the bare ground — Desires to be buried in the place of execution — Exhorts his brethren — He has the praises of God sung when at the point of death — He speaks to his children, and blesses them for the last time — Has the passion of Jesus Christ read to him — He recites the 141st psalm, and dies after the last verse — Miraculous proofs of his beatitude — State of his body after death — The Stigmata are seen and touched publicly — His obsequies — Clare and her daughters see and kiss the Stigmata — He is buried at Assisi, in the church of S. George — The circular written after his death — His canonization — The Church of S. Francis at Assisi — He is buried there — Researches are made to find the sacred body — The mission of St. Francis — The fruits of his labor.; title: Devotion of S. Francis towards Jesus Christ crucified — To what a degree he loved poverty — How great was the austerity of his life — His humility — His obedience — His gift of prayer and contemplation — His love of God — His sentiments of filial love on the mystery of the Incarnation — On the fast of Jesus Christ in the desert — On the mystery of the Eucharist — S. Francis, in his humility, would not be made priest — His devotion towards the Mother of God — Towards Che angels and saints — His charity towards his neighbor — His zeal for the salvation of souls — His affection for the poor — The affection of his heart for all creatures — The pains he took to lead his brethren to perfection — His tender charity towards his brethren — His discretion and wisdom in the government of the Order — His supernatural and acquired knowledge — The efficacy of his words — His supernatural and miraculous gifts — He drives away devils — Brings the dead to life — Heals the sick — Has the gift of prophecy and discernment of spirits — He commands animals, and is obeyed — He performs many other miraculous actions — The great honors which were paid to him — His character and appearance — In what sense he was simple 299