Second reflection

Of the second reflection on the most holy Stigmata

The second reflection is on the sojourning of S. Francis with his companions on the said mount of Alvernia. And as to this, ye must know that Orlando, hearing that S. Francis with three companions had climbed up the mount of Alvernia, for to dwell there, rejoiced with exceeding great joy, and on the following day set out with many of the folk of his castle, and came to visit S. Francis, bringing with him bread and wine and other victuals, for him and his companions; and being come there, he found them at prayer; and drawing near unto them, saluted them. Then S. Francis arose, and with great love and gladness gave welcome to Orlando and his company; and this done, they sat them down to have speech of each other. And after they had somewhat spoken together, and S. Francis had returned him thanks for the holy mountain that he had given him, and for his coming thither, he besought him that he would let build a poor little cell at the foot of a fair beech tree, the which was a stone's throw from the place where the brothers lived, for that place seemed to him very fit and hallowed for prayer. And straightway Orlando let build it; and this done, as it was drawing near unto evening and it was time for them to depart, S. Francis preached unto them a little, before they took leave of him; and when he had preached unto them and given them his blessing, Orlando, finding he must needs depart, called S. Francis and his companions aside, and said unto them: "My brothers most dear, I would not have you suffer any bodily want in this wild mountain, whereby you may be the less able to give heed to spiritual things: and therefore I desire, and this I say to you for once, for all, that ye securely send to my house for whatsoe'er ye need, and if ye do otherwise, I shall take it ill of you." And this said, he departed with his company and returned to his castle. Then S. Francis made his companions to sit down and taught them what manner of life they ought to lead, both they and whoso desireth to live the religious life in a hermitage. And among other things, he straitly laid on them the observance of holy poverty, saying: " Take not such heed unto the charitable offer of Orlando, lest ye in any thing offend our Lady and Madonna, holy poverty. Be ye sure that the more we despise poverty, the more will the world despise us, and the more shall we suffer want; but if we cling to holy poverty with a close embrace, the whole world will follow after us and will abundantly provide for us. God hath called us into this holy Order for the salvation of the world, and hath made this pact between us and the world, that we give unto the world a good example and the world make provision for our needs. Let us then persevere in holy poverty, seeing that this is the way of perfectness and is an earnest and pledge of eternal riches." And after many beautiful and lyo THE LITTLE FLOWERS OF holy words and admonishments on this matter, he ended by saying: " This is the manner of life that I lay upon myself and upon you; and sith I see that I draw near unto death, I am minded to be solitary, and to take refuge with God, and to bewail my sins before Him; and Brother Leo, when it seemeth to him good, shall bring to me a little bread and a little water; and do ye in no wise suffer any that be of the world to come nigh me, but do ye answer them for me/* And said these words, he gave them his blessing and went to his cell under the beech tree, and his companions remained in their own place, with firm purpose to do the bidding of S. Francis. A few days thereafter, as S. Francis was standing hard by the said cell, pondering on the form of the mountain, and marvelling at the huge clefts and openings in the mighty rocks, he set himself to pray: and then it was revealed to him of God that those marvellous clefts had been miraculously made in the hour of the Passion of Christ, when, as saith the Evangelist, the rocks were rent asunder. And it was the will of God that this should in especial manner be made manifest upon that mount of Alvernia, for that there the Passion of our Lord Jesu Christ should be renewed in his soul through love and pity, and in his body through the imprinting of the most holy Stigmata. So soon as he had received this revelation, straightway S. Francis shut himself up in his cell and was wholly wrapped within himself, and set himself to pay heed unto the mystery of that revelation. And from that time forth S. Francis, through unceasing prayer, began more oft to taste the sweetness of divine contemplation, whereby he oftentimes was rapt in God, so that he was seen by his companions to be lifted bodily from off the ground, and altogether taken out of himself. In these raptures of contemplation, there were revealed to him of God not only things present and to come, but also the secret thoughts and desires of the brothers, even as Brother Leo, his companion, had proof thereof in himself that day. The which Brother Leo being assailed by the devil with a grievous temptation, not of the flesh but of the spirit, there came to him a great desire to have some devout sentence written by the hand of S. Francis, for he thought that if he had it, that temptation would leave him, or wholly, or in part. Having this desire, yet for shame and reverence sake he dared not tell it to S. Francis: but what Brother Leo told him not, that did the Holy Spirit reveal. Wherefore S. Francis called him unto him, and made him bring ink-pot and pen and paper: and with his own hand wrote the praises of Christ, even as the brother had desired; and at the end he made the sign Tau, and gave it to him, saying: '* Take this paper, dear brother, and keep it diligently until thy death. May God bless thee and guard thee against all temptation. Be not downcast, because thou hast temptations; for at such time I deem thee a friend and a better servant of God, and the more thou art assailed by temptations, the more do I love thee. Verily I say unto thee that no man should deem himself a true friend of God, save in so far as he hath passed through many temptations and tribula- tions." When Brother Leo took this writing with great devotion and faith, straightway all his temptation left him; and returning to his own place, he told his companions, with great joy, what grace God had shown unto him when he took the writing from S. Francis; and putting it aside and taking diligent care thereof, the brothers afterwards worked many miracles by its means. And from that hour forth, the said Brother Leo with great purity and with good intention began to keep watch upon and to observe the life of S. Francis: and for his purity's sake, he merited to see S. Francis full many and many a time rapt in God and uplifted from the earth, at one time to the height of three cubits, at another to that of four, at another to the height of the beech tree: and at another time he beheld him lifted up in the air so high, and surrounded with such splendour, that he scarce could see him. And what did this simple brother do, when S. Francis was uplifted from the earth but a little way, so that he could reach him ì He went softly to him and embraced his feet and kissed them, and spake with tears: " My God, have mercy on me a sinner, and through the merits of this holy man grant me to find Thy grace.” And one time among others, as thus he stood beneath the feet of S. Francis when he was lifted up so far that he could not touch him, he saw a scroll written in letters of gold come down from heaven, and rest on the head of S. Francis, and on the scroll were written these words: " Here is the grace of God; " and after that he had read it, he saw it return to heaven. Through the gift of that ancda durfo frate TfttnoneWiZ

'l'HK VIRGIN MARY APFKARINCI UNTO A SICK IJKOTHKR MINOR {A/ter Codex Laurenziatio Gaddiano exit: cj Pte/ace, p. vii) grace of God that was in him, S. Francis was not only rapt in God in ecstatic contemplation, but also at sundry times comforted by the visitation of angels. Thus, as S. Francis was one day thinking on his death and of the state of his Order when his life was done, and saying: " O Lord God, what will become of Thy poor little family after my death, the which of Thy goodness Thou hast entrusted to me a sinner? who will pray to Thee for them? " and other such words, there appeared unto him an Angel sent by God, and comforted him, saying: " I tell thee in the name of God, that the profession of the Order will never fail until the Day of Judgment, and there will be no sinner so great as not to find mercy with God, if with his whole heart he love thine Order; and none shall live long, that of malice persecutes thy Order. Moreover no very wicked person within thy Order, that does not amend his life, will be able to remain long in the Order. Wherefore grieve not thyself, if in thine Order thou see certain that be not good brothers and do not observe the Rule as they ought, and think not that thereby this Order will decline; for always a many shall be found therein that will perfectly observe the Gospel life of Christ and the purity of the Rule; and all such, immediately after the death of the body, shall go into life eternal without passing at all through Purgatory; some will observe it, but not perfectly, and these before they go to Paradise, will be in Purgatory, but the time of their purification shall be left by God to thee. But of him that observes not the Rule at all, do thou take no heed, saith God, for of such He Himself taketh no heed." And said these words, the Angel was away, and S. Francis remained comforted and consoled. Thereafter, as the feast of the Assumption of Our Lady drew near, S. Francis sought how he might find a place more solitary and secret, wherein he might the more solitary keep the forty days” fast of S. Michael the Archangel, which beginneth with the said feast of the Assumption. Wherefore he called unto him Brother Leo, and said: "Go and stand in the doorway of the oratory where the brothers lodge, and when I call thee, return to me again." So Brother Leo went; and stood in the doorway; and S. Francis withdrew himself a little space, and called aloud. Hearing him call, Brother Leo returned to him again; and S. Francis said to him: ” Son, let us seek for another more secret place, where thovi canst not thuswise hear me when I call."

And as they searched, they found on the side of the mountain that looked towards the south, a lonely place and very proper for his purpose; but they could not win there; because in front there was a horrible and fearful cleft in a huge rock; wherefore with great pains they laid a piece of wood over it as a bridge and got across to the other side. Then S. Francis sent for the other brothers and told them how he was minded to keep the forty days” fast of S. Michael in that lonely place; and therefore he besought them to make him a little cell there, so that no cry of his could be heard by them. And when the cell was made, S. Francis said to them: " Go ye to your own place, and leave me here alone, for, with the help of God, I am minded to keep the fast here, without disturbance or distraction, and therefore let none of you come unto me, nor suffer any lay folk to come to me. But, Brother Leo, thou alone shalt come to me, once a day, with a little bread and water, and at night once again at the hour of Matins; and then shalt thou come to me in silence, and when thou art at the bridge-head, thou shalt say: ' Domine, labia me a aperies; ' and if I answer thee, cross over and come to the cell, and we will say Matins together; and if I answer thee not, then depart straightway." And this S. Francis said because at certain times he had been so rapt in God, that he nor heard nor felt aught with the bodily senses. And this said, S. Francis gave them his blessing; and they went back again to their own place. And the feast of the Assumption being now come, S. Francis began the holy fast with great abstinence and severity, mortifying his body and comforting his spirit with fervent prayers, vigils, and scourgings; and in these prayers ever growing from virtue to virtue he made ready his soul to receive the divine mysteries and the divine splendours, and his body to endure the cruel assaults of the demons, with whom he oftentimes fought in sensible form; and among others, it befell on a time during that fast, that S. Francis leaving his cell one day in fervour of spirit and going aside a little to pray in a hollow of the rock, from the which down to the ground is an exceeding deep descent and a horrible and fearful precipice, — suddenly the devil came in terrible shape, with a tempest and exceeding loud roar, and struck at him for to push him down thence. S. Francis, not having where to flee, and not being able to endure the grim aspect of the demon, he turned him quickly with hands and face and all his body pressed to the rock, commending himself to God, and groping with his hands, if perchance he might find aught to cling to. But as it pleased God, who sufFereth not His servants to be tempted above that they are able to bear, suddenly by a miracle the rock to which he clung hollowed itself out in fashion as the shape of his body, and so received him into itself, and like as if he had put his hands and face in melted wax, even so was the form of the face and hands of S. Francis imprinted on the rock; and thuswise helped of God he escaped out of the hands of the demon. But that which the demon could not then do unto S. Francis, to wit, push him down thence, he did a good while after the death of S. Francis, unto one of his dear and pious brothers, who was setting in order some pieces of wood in the selfsame place, to the end that it might be possible to win there without peril, out of devotion to S. Francis and the miracle that was wrought there; on a day the demon pushed him, while he had on his head a great log that he wished to set there, and made him fall down thence with the log upon his head. But God that had preserved and delivered S. Francis from falling, through his merits delivered and preserved his pious brother from the peril of his fall: for the brother, as he fell, with exceeding great devotion commended himself in a loud voice unto S. Francis; and S. KKANCIS ASSAULTKlJ HY THKDKVIL, ON MONTE ALVKRNIA (l”rom Descrizione del Sacro Monte <{ella l'ernia. Fiate N) straightway he appeared unto him, and catching him, set him down upon the rocks, without suffering him to feel or shock or any hurt. Then the other brothers having heard his cry as he fell, and deeming him dead and dashed in pieces by reason of his fall from such a height upon the sharp rocks, with great sorrow and weeping took up the bier and came from the other side of the mountain for to gather up the fragments of his body and bury them. When they were now come down from the mountain, that brother that had fallen met them with the log upon his head wherewith he had fallen, and he was singing Te Deum laudamus in a loud voice. And the brothers marvelling exceedingly, he told unto them in order all the manner of his falling and how S. Francis had delivered him from all peril. Then all the brothers went with him to the place, singing most devoutly the aforesaid psalm. Te Deum laudamus, and praising and giving thanks to God and to S. Francis for the miracle that He had wrought upon their brother. Now while S. Francis was keeping the aforesaid fast, as hath been set forth above, albeit he suffered many assaults of the evil one, nevertheless he received of God much consolation, not only through the visits of angels, but also through the birds of the wood. For during all the time of that fast, a falcon, that was building her nest hard by his cell, woke him every night a little before Matins, with her singing and the beating of her wings against the cell, and went not away until he rose up to say Matins; and when perchance S. Francis was at one time more wearied than at another or sickly or weak, this falcon, like a discreet person and pitiful, would sing her song later. And so S. Francis had great joy of this clock; for the great carefulness of the falcon kept far from him all idleness, and spurred him on to pray; and beyond all this, she would sometimes in the daytime sit quite tamely by him. Finally, as touching this second reflection, S. Francis being much weakened in body through his sharp abstinence, and through the assaults of the devil, and desiring to comfort the body with the spiritual food of the soul, began to think on the immeasurable glory and joy of the blessed in the life eternal; and therewithal began to pray God to grant him the grace of tasting a little of that joy. And as he continued in this thought, suddenly there appeared unto him an Angel with exceeding great splendour, having a viol in his left hand and in his right the bow; and as S. Francis stood all amazed at the sight of him, the Angel drew the bow once across the viol; and straightway S. Francis was ware of such sweet melody that his soul melted away for very sweetness and was lifted up above all bodily feeling; insomuch that, as he afterwards told his companions, he doubted that, if the Angel had drawn the bow a second time across the strings, his mind would have left his body for the all too utter sweetness thereof. And this touching the second reflection.