First reflection

Of the first reflection on the most holy Stigmata

As touching the first reflection, ye must needs know that S. Francis, being forty and three years of age, in the year 1224, being inspired of God, set out from the Vale of Spoleto for to go into Romagna with Brother Leo his companion; and as they went, they passed by the foot of the Castle of Montefeltro; in the which Castle there was at that time a great company of gentle folk, and much feasting, by reason of the knighting of one of the same Counts of Montefeltro. And S. Francis, hearing of the festivities that were holden there and how that many gentle folk of divers countries were there gathered together, spake unto Brother Leo: ” Let us go up unto this feast, for with the help of God we may win some good fruit of souls." Among the other gentle folk from that country, that were of that knightly company, was a great and eke a wealthy gentleman of Tuscany, by name Orlando da Chiusi, of Casentino; who by reason of the marvellous things that he had heard of the sanctity and the miracles of S. Francis, bore him great devotion, and felt an exceeding strong desire to see him and to hear him preach. Coming to the castle, S. Francis entered in, and came to the courtyard where all that great company of gentle folk was gathered together, and in fervour of spirit stood up upon a parapet, and began to preach, taking as the text of his sermon these words in the vulgar tongue: So great the joys I have in sight, That every sorrow brings delight and upon this text, as the Holy Spirit gave him utterance, he preached so devoutly and sublimely, citing as proof thereof the divers pains and martyrdoms of the holy Apostles and the holy Martyrs, and the hard penances of the holy Confessors, and the many tribulations and temptations of the holy Virgins and the other saints, that all the folk stood with their eyes and their minds turned towards him, and gave such heed as though it were an angel of God speaking: among the which the said Orlando, touched in the heart by God through the marvellous preaching of S. Francis, set it in his heart to confer and to have speech with S. Francis, after the sermon, touching the state of his soul. Therefore, when the preaching was done, he drew S. Francis aside, and said unto him: ” O father, I would confer with thee touching the salvation of my soul." Replied S. Francis: " It pleaseth me right well; but go this morning and do honour to thy friends, who have called thee to the feast, and dine with them; and after thou hast dined, we will speak together as much as thou wilt." So Orlando gat him to the dinner: and after that he had dined, he returned to S Francis, and conferred with him, and set forth unto him fully the state of his soul. And at the end, this Orlando said to S. Francis: " I have in Tuscany a mountain, most proper for devotion, the which is called the Mount of

Alvernia, and is very lonely and right well fitted for whoso may wish to do penance in a place remote from men, or whoso may desire to live a solitary life; if it should please thee, right willingly would I give it to thee and thy companions for the salvation of my soul." S. Francis hearing this liberal offer of the thing that he so much desired, rejoiced with exceeding great joy; and praising and giving thanks first to God and then to Orlando, he spake thus: " Orlando, when you have returned to your house, I will send unto you certain of my companions and you shall show them that mountain; and if it shall seem to them well fitted for prayer and penitence, I accept your loving offer even now." And this said, S. Francis departed: and when his journey was done, returned to S. Mary of the Angels: and likewise Orlando, when the festivities of that knightly company were over, returned to his castle, which was called Chiusi, the which was but a mile distant from Alvernia. Whenas S. Francis had returned to S. Mary of the Angels, he sent two of his companions to the said Orlando; who when they were come to him, were received of him with exceeding great joy and charity. And desiring to show them the mount of Alvernia, he sent with them full fifty men-at-arms to defend them from the wild beasts of the wood, and thus accompanied these brothers climbed up the mountain and searched diligently; and at last they came to a part of the mountain that was well fitted for devotion and contemplation; for in that part there was some level ground; and this place they chose out for them and for S. Francis to dwell therein; and with the help of the men-atarms that bore them company, they made a little cell of branches of trees: and so they accepted in the name of God, and took possession of the mount of Alvernia and of the dwelling-place of the brothers on the mountain, and departed, and returned to S. Francis. And when they were come unto him, they told him how and in what manner they had taken a place on the mount of Alvernia, most fitted for prayer and meditation. Hearing these tidings, S. Francis was right glad, and praising and giving thanks to God, he spake to those brothers with joyful countenance, and said: '* My sons, our forty days” fast of S. Michael the Archangel draweth near: I firmly believe that it is the will of God that we keep this fast on the mount of Alvernia, which by divine decree hath been made ready for us, to the end that to the honour and glory of God and of His Mother, the glorious Virgin Mary, and of the holy Angels, we may, through penance, merit at the hands of Christ the consolation of consecrating this blessed mountain.” And thus saying, S. Francis took with him Brother Masseo of Marignano by Assisi, the which was a man of great eloquence; and Brother Angelo Tancredi of Rieti, the which was a man of very gentle birth and in the world had been a knight; and Brother Leo, a man of exceeding great simplicity and purity, for the which cause S. Francis loved him much. And with these three brothers S. Francis set himself to pray, commended himself and his companions aforesaid to the prayers of the brothers that remained behind, and set out with those three in the name of Jesu Christ, the Crucified, for to go to the mount of Alvernia. And as he went, S. Francis called unto one of those three companions, to wit. Brother Masseo, and said unto him: ” Thou, Brother Masseo, shalt be our guardian and our superior in this journey, to wit, so long as we be going and staying together, and we will observe our rule, to wit, that we be either saying the office, or speaking of God, or keeping silence, and that we take no thought beforehand, either of eating or drinking or sleeping: but when it is time to seek a lodging, we will beg a little bread, and stay and rest in the place that God may make ready for us." Then the three companions bowed their heads, and making the sign of the cross, went on their way: and on the first night they came to a house of the brothers and lodged there. On the second night, by reason of the bad weather and because they were tired, not being able to reach any house of the brothers or any castle or village, the night overtaking them, and bad weather, they took refuge in a deserted and dismantled church, and there laid them down to rest. And while his companions slept, S. Francis threw himself on his knees to pray; and behold in the first watch of the night there came a great multitude of demons, exceeding fierce, with a great noise and tumult, and began to do him grievous battle and annoy; whereby the one plucked him this way and the other that; one dragged him up and another down; one threatened him with one thing, and the other accused him of another; and thus in divers manners they sought to distract him from his prayer; but they could not, for that God was with him. Therefore whenas S. Francis had enough endured these assaults of the demons, he began to cry in a loud voice: " O damned spirits, ye can do naught, save what the hand of God alloweth you: wherefore in the name of God Almighty I bid you do unto my body whatever is permitted you of God; for gladly shall I bear it, sith I have no greater enemy than my body: and therefore if you avenge me of mine enemy, ye will do me good service." Then the demons with great fury and violence took hold of him, and began to drag him through the church, and to do him greater trouble and annoy than at the first. Thereat S. Francis began to cry aloud, and said: " My Lord Jesu Christ, I give Thee thanks for the so great honour and charity that Thou showest me; for it is a token of great love when the Lord punishes His servant for all his faults in this world, so that he be not punished in the next. And I am ready gladly to endure every pain and adversity, that Thou, my God, dost will to send me for my sins." Then the demons, put to confusion and vanquished by his patience and endurance, were away. And S. Francis in fervour of spirit left the church and entered into a wood that was there hard by, and threw himself upon his knees in prayer; and with prayers and tears and beating of the breast he sought to find Jesu Christ, the spouse and the delight of his soul.

And at the last finding Him in the secret places of his soul, he now bespake him with reverence as his Lord: now made answer to Him as his judge; now besought Him as his father; now held con- verse with Him as with a friend. On that night within the wood, his companions, sith they were awake and were come to hear and mark what he did, saw and heard him, with tears and cries, devoutly beseeching God to have mercy upon sinners. Then was he seen and heard to weep with a loud voice over the Passion of Christ, as though he saw it with his own eyes. On that self same night they beheld him praying with his arms stretched out in the form of a cross, for a great space uplifted and floating above the earth, and surrounded by a cloud of glory. And so in such holy exercises he passed the whole night through without sleep. And thereafter in the morning, his companions, being ware that through the fatigues of the night, which he had passed without sleep, S. Francis was much weakened in body and could but ill go on his way afoot, went to a poor peasant of those parts, and begged him, for the love of God, to lend his ass for Brother Francis, their Father, that could not go afoot. Hearing them make mention of Brother Francis, he asked them: " Are ye of the brethren of that brother of Assisi, of whom so much good is spoken? " The brothers answered: " Yes," and that in very sooth it was for him that they asked for the sumpter beast. Then the good man, with great diligence and devotion, made ready the ass, and brought it to S. Francis, and with great reverence let mount him thereon, and they went on their way; and he with them, behind his ass. And when they had gone on a little way, the peasant said to S. Francis: “Tell me, art thou

Brother Francis of Assisi? " Replied S. Francis: "Yes." " Try then” said the peasant, “ to be as good as thou art of all folk held to be, seeing that many have great faith in thee; and therefore, I admonish thee that in thee there be naught save what men hope to find therein." Hearing these words, S. Francis thought no scorn to be admonished by a peasant, nor said within himself: ” What beast is this doth admonish me ì " as many proud folk that wear the cowl would say now-adays; but straightway he threw himself from off the ass upon the ground, and kneeled him down before him, and kissed his feet; and thus humbly thanked him for that he had deigned thus lovingly to admonish him. Then the peasant, together with the companions of S. Francis, with great devotion lifted him from the ground and set him on the ass again, and they went on their way. And when that they were come about half way up the mountain, as the heat was very great and the ascent was weary, the peasant became very thirsty, in such sort that he began to cry aloud behind S. Francis, saying: " Woe is me, for I die of thirst: if I find not something to drink, I shall choke outright." Wherefore S. Francis got down off the ass and fell on his knees in prayer; and remained so long kneeling with his hands lifted up to heaven, until he knew by revelation that God had heard his prayer. Then said S. Francis to the peasant: " Run quickly to that rock, and there shalt thou find the living water, which Jesu Christ in this hour, of His mercy, hath made to come forth from out that rock." So he ran to the place rHK lilRDS WKLCOMINO S. FRANCIS TO MONTE ALVKRNIA (/”ro>n Descrizione del Sacro Monte della Vernia. Plate CJ that S. Francis had shown him, and found a fair spring that had been brought out of the hard rock by virtue of the prayer of S. Francis: and he drank his fill thereof and was comforted. And it doth well appear that this spring was brought out by God in miraculous fashion at the prayers of S. Francis, seeing that neither before nor after was there ever seen in that place a spring of water, nor any living water near to that place for a great space round. This done, S. Francis with his companions and the peasant gave thanks unto God for the miracle shown forth to them, and then went they on their way. And as they drew near to the foot of the rock of Alvernia itself, it pleased S. Francis to rest a little under the oak that was by the way, and is there to this day; and as he stood under it, S. Francis began to take note of the situation of the place and of the country round. And as he was thus gazing, lo! there came a great multitude of birds from divers parts, the which, with singing and flapping of their wings, all showed joy and gladness exceeding great, and came about S. Francis in such fashion that some settled on his head, some on his shoulders, and some on his arms, some in his lap, and some round his feet. When his companions and the peasant marvelled, beholding this, S. Francis, all joyful in spirit, spake thus unto them: " I believe, brothers most dear, that it is pleasing unto our Lord Jesu Christ that we should dwell in this lonely mountain, seeing that our little sisters and brothers the birds show such joy at our coming” And said these words, they arose, and went on their way and came at last to the place that his companions had first chosen. And this is touching the first reflection, to wit, how S. Francis came to the holy mount of Alvernia.