C013/Y01269.json

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{"source_document": "", "creation_year": 1269, "culture": " English\n", "content": "TRANSCRIBER\u2019S NOTE:\nItalic text has been marked with _underscores_. Sidenotes, which are\nused extensively for Scripture references, have been placed inside\n{curly brackets}. Footnotes have been moved to the end of the text.\nTHE LADY POVERTY\n\u201cSacrum Commercium Beati Francisci cum Domina Paupertate\u201d\n[Illustration:\n  _Giotto._\n_The Espousals of St. Francis to the Lady Poverty._]\nThe frontispiece of this volume is reproduced by permission from a\nphotograph by Messrs ALINARI of Florence.\n                       A XIII. CENTURY ALLEGORY\n                         MONTGOMERY CARMICHAEL\n             WITH A CHAPTER ON THE SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE\n                        OF EVANGELICAL POVERTY\n                     John Murray, Albemarle Street\nCONTENTS\nINTRODUCTION--\n    (b) Authorship and Date                      xxviii\n    (c) Translation and Scripture References       xlii\n              THE LADY POVERTY.\n    II. How the Blessed Francis made diligent\n         search for the Lady Poverty                  8\n   III. How two old men showed the Blessed\n         Francis where he might find the\n    IV. Of the First Companions of the Blessed\n     V. How the Blessed Francis and his\n         Companions found the Lady Poverty\n    VI. The Blessed Francis and his Companions,\n         exalting her virtues in\n         divers ways, beseech the Lady\n         Poverty to abide with them forever          28\n   VII. The Answer of My Lady Poverty                41\n    IX. Of the Successors of the Apostles            59\n     X. That Times of Peace are unpropitious\n   XII. Of the followers of a spurious Poverty       70\n   XIV. How the Lady Poverty spoke of good\n    XV. How Avarice took the Name of\n   XVI. How Avarice took the Name of\n  XVII. How Avarice called in the aid of\n XVIII. Of the Religious who were conquered\n   XIX. How the Lady Poverty sorrowed\n         over certain Religious who were\n         poor in the World, and yet more\n         prone than others to Self-indulgence\n    XX. How the Lady Poverty showed the\n         Blessed Francis the Perfect Walk\n   XXI. How the Blessed Francis made\n         answer to the Lady Poverty                 114\n  XXII. How the Lady Poverty gave her\n XXIII. How the Blessed Francis thanked\n         God for the consent of the Lady\n  XXIV. Of the Sojourn of My Lady Poverty\n   XXV. How My Lady Poverty blessed the\n         Brothers, exhorting them to persevere\n         in the Grace which they\n On the Spiritual Significance of\n   Evangelical Poverty, by Father\n APPENDICES--\n     I. A Prayer of the Blessed Francis to\n    II. Paradiso. Canto XI. (lines 28-123)          200\nINTRODUCTION\nEDITIONS\nThe \u201cSacrum Commercium\u201d is an Allegory, simple in form and charming in\nconception, telling how St Francis wooed and won that most difficult\nof all Brides, my Lady Poverty. It was written some time in the\nthirteenth century (most probably in the year 1227) by an unknown\nFranciscan, and has been six times printed, thrice in Latin, and\nthrice in Italian.\n{The Latin Editions.} The first Latin edition was printed at Milan in\n1539. It is of exceeding rarity, and has escaped the vigilance of\nBrunet and Gr\u00e6sse. P\u00e8re Fran\u00e7ois Van Ortroy, the noted Bollandist\n(whom few things escape), was the first to call attention to a copy in\nthe Ambrosian Library, and it is the only copy known to exist. (See\n\u201cAnalecta Bollandiana,\u201d xix. 460.)\nThe second Latin edition was published nearly 400 years later, in 1894,\nunder the editorship of Professor Edoardo Alvisi, in the \u201cCollezione\ndi Opuscoli Danteschi inediti o rari diretta da G. L. Passerini.\u201d[1]\nProfessor Alvisi\u2019s edition has no pretensions to being critical: his\nsole object in publishing it was to supply an illustration to part\nof Canto XI. of the \u201cParadiso.\u201d This edition has, perhaps justly,\nbeen decried for its entire want of critical apparatus, but it at\nleast served to call attention to a gem that had hitherto slumbered\nuncared-for in parchment Codexes.\nThe third Latin edition is exceptional from every point of view. It\nwas published only last year by P\u00e8re Edouard d\u2019Alen\u00e7on, the learned\nArchivist General of the Friars Minor Capuchins. P\u00e8re Edouard has\ntaken his version from a Codex (No. 3560) in the Casanatese Library\nin Rome, which he has carefully collated with three other Codexes (of\nMilan, Vincenza and Ravenna), noting all the variants at foot. There is\nbut one fault to find with this scholarly edition: it does not attempt\nto give the numerous Scripture references.[2]\n{The Italian Editions.} The first Italian edition[3] appeared in 1847\nunder the title \u201cMeditazione sulla Povert\u00e0 di Santo Francesco.\u201d[4] It\nis taken from a Fourteenth-Century Codex in the Franciscan Convent\nof Giaccherino, near Pistoia. Its editors were the Lexicographer,\nPietro Fanfani, and a Canon of Pistoia, Enrico Bindi. It has been\nquoted in the great \u201cVocabolario\u201d of the Academicians of the Crusca,\nand has therefore become a \u201cTesto di Lingua\u201d or Italian classic.[5]\nThe \u201cMeditazione\u201d is a very free translation indeed from the original\nLatin. The translator adds beauties and leaves out obscurities at\nwill. It is curious to us in these days, when Franciscan studies\nare being pursued with such avidity all the world over (if I except\nEngland), to reflect that the editors, Fanfani and Bindi, did not know\nwhether the \u201cMeditazione\u201d was a translation or an original work. The\nFourteenth-Century translator is unknown.\nThe next Italian edition (1900) is the one given in parallel columns\nwith the Latin version of P\u00e8re Edouard d\u2019Alen\u00e7on\u2019s work above quoted.\nIt is taken from Codex B. 131 in the Vallicellian Library, and is\nprobably a Fourteenth-Century work, but, if interesting, it has little\nor no merit as an example of fine Tuscan.\nThe third Italian edition is a much-needed and very welcome work.[6]\nIt is a reprint of the \u201cMeditazione,\u201d which has for long been so\nscarce as to be almost unprocurable. The editor, Don Salvatore\nMinocchi, a Florentine priest, and one of the foremost authorities on\nmatters Franciscan, than whom there could be no one more fitted for the\ntask, has carefully collated the original edition of the \u201cMeditazione\u201d\nwith the Codex from which it was taken, and has removed quite a host\nof erroneous readings. We may therefore now be said to have, for the\nfirst time, a correct version of this little Italian classic. It was\nonly printed in the last days of May, and I have to thank the learned\neditor for courteously permitting me to see his proof sheets.\nAUTHORSHIP AND DATE\nThe authorship of the \u201cSacrum Commercium\u201d has been freely ascribed to\nthe Blessed Giovanni da Parma, seventh Minister General of the Friars\nMinor in succession to Saint Francis. I would with all my heart that\nhe were the author, for Giovanni is one of the brightest lights of\nthe Order, and both by his love and practice of Poverty, and by his\ngreat endowments, is the ideal author for so exquisite an allegory.\nThe \u201cChronica xxiv. Generalium,\u201d which was completed in 1379, and\nbegun perhaps twenty years earlier, distinctly states that Giovanni\nis the author (\u201cquendam libellum devotum composuit quem intitulavit\nCommercium Paupertatis\u201d),[7] and this opinion was followed by all\nsucceeding old writers (except Fra Bartolommeo da Pisa, who makes no\nattempt to assign authorship), and most moderns, including Professor\nAlvisi, M. Sabatier,[8] Professor Umberto Cosmo,[9] and the latest\nbiographer of the Blessed, Fra Luigi da Parma.[10] But all the\nCodexes which P\u00e8re Edouard d\u2019Alen\u00e7on cites, as also a Codex in the\nBodleian and another in the Communal library at Siena, give the date\nof composition as the month of July after the death of Saint Francis,\nthat is to say July, 1227. (_Actum est hoc opus mense Julii post obitum\nBeatissimi Francisci, anno Millesimo ducentesimo vigesimo septimo ab\nIncarnatione Domini Salvatoris Nostri Jesu Christi._) If this date\nbe correct, then the Blessed Giovanni could not have been its author,\nfor he was only born in 1208, and did not enter the Order until after\n1230. There is the point that Medi\u00e6val scribes were given (like other\nmortals) to making errors in dates, more especially when they were\nin Roman figures, and these errors would have been propagated from\nCodex to Codex. We have the well-known instance of the Mazarin Codex\nNo. 1743, where the erroneous date of 1228 led a distinguished French\ncritic to look upon the \u201cSpeculum Perfectionis\u201d as the oldest biography\nof St Francis. The date was probably 1318, and it will be seen how\neasily a slip might be made between MCCXXVIII and MCCCXVIII.[11] But in\nfavour of the date of 1227 for the \u201cSacrum Commercium\u201d we have not only\nthe fact that the date is written in words and not in figures, but\nthat the \u201cexplicit\u201d distinctly states that it was finished in the July\nafter the death of St Francis. Such extreme precision does not leave\nmuch room for error. Moreover, there is practically no serious internal\nevidence against the date 1227. It is true that the Casanatese Codex,\nat the beginning of Chap. iv. speaks of \u201c_Sanctum_ Franciscum,\u201d whereas\nSt Francis was not canonized until 1228. But this, even if some\nrefuse to translate it simply \u201cthe holy Francis,\u201d and insist upon\n\u201c_St_ Francis,\u201d I think it is fair to regard as the slip of a scribe,\nmore especially as the Vincenzian Codex gives \u201cbeatum\u201d in the same\nplace, and both Italian versions have \u201cbeato.\u201d There is, therefore,\nno substantial reason why we may not regard the \u201cSacrum Commercium\u201d\nas written in 1227, and it is interesting to note that this little\nallegory is thus the first book ever written on St Francis, for Thomas\nof Celano\u2019s \u201cLegenda Prima,\u201d was not completed until the following\nyear.[12]\nThere are, to my mind, two conclusive arguments, both adduced by\nP\u00e8re Edouard,[13] against attributing the authorship to Giovanni da\nParma. Fra Ubertino da Casale in a famous work[14] (\u201ctoo famous,\u201d it\nmight justly be called), finished in 1305, is the first writer who\nexpressly mentions the \u201cSacrum Commercium,\u201d and he ascribes it merely\nto \u201ca certain holy doctor,\u201d giving no name. Now Ubertino well knew\nGiovanni (_ob._ 1289), and it seems impossible that he should not also\nhave known and celebrated the Blessed as the author of the \u201cSacrum\nCommercium\u201d had he really been so. Again Fra Salimbene da Parma (_ob._\n1287 or 1290) knew the Blessed Giovanni intimately, and alludes to\nhim frequently in his Chronicle.[15] He even refers to writings of\nGiovanni\u2019s, but there is never a hint of the \u201cSacrum Commercium.\u201d The\nonly theory on which it is possible to ascribe the authorship to Fra\nGiovanni is so wild as scarcely to be worthy of mention. We should\nhave to suppose, seeing the unpopularity of the extremes of Poverty\nin a certain section of the Order, that he was afraid to acknowledge\nhis work, and that he deliberately, and with much circumstance,\nfalsified the date to secure his anonymity. But the Blessed Giovanni\nwas not made of such poor stuff! He who endured hatred, persecution\nand imprisonment, to some extent by reason of his zeal for the Lady\nPoverty, was not the man to resort to so trivial a ruse. His deeds\nwere far more unpopular (with some) than ever this little allegory\ncould have made him.\nP\u00e8re Edouard d\u2019Alen\u00e7on, with much ingenuity, seeks to credit\nGiovanni Parenti, St Francis\u2019 immediate successor as Minister General\n(1227-1233), with the authorship. He gives an instance tending to show\nthat there was a tradition that a Minister General had written the\nwork, and then he points to the similarity between \u201cJoannes Parenti\u201d\nand \u201cJoannes Parmensis.\u201d All this proves his acumen and ingenuity, but\nhe is too severely scientific a scholar to advance a clever theory as\nproof positive. For the present it is safest to admit frankly that the\nauthor of the \u201cSacrum Commercium\u201d is unknown, and to conclude with\nFra Ubertino da Casale that he was \u201cquidam sanctus doctor hujus Sanct\u00e6\nPaupertatis professor et zelator strenuus.\u201d\nTRANSLATION AND SCRIPTURE REFERENCES\nI have translated from P\u00e8re Edouard d\u2019Alen\u00e7on\u2019s version of the Codex\nCasanatensis.[16] But I have not slavishly adhered to this, using,\nwhen they seemed more apt, the variants which he has so diligently\nnoted at foot. I have also, now and again, used the Italian version of\nthe Codex Vallicellianus, and, though very rarely, even the classic\n\u201cMeditazione.\u201d In my translation I have been no bondsman, but have\nrendered freely, while seeking to convey accurately the spirit and\nmeaning of the work, and to preserve, as far as that might be, the\nelemental simplicity of its language.\nThe \u201cSacrum Commercium\u201d is a tissue of the words and phrases of St\nJerome\u2019s beautiful Latin version of Holy Scripture. Where so much is\nBiblical, I have had to a certain extent to adopt Biblical language,\nbut I have striven earnestly to avoid those excesses of Archaism which\nirritate even the most equable nerves. With the help of Cardinal\nHugo\u2019s \u201cConcordanti\u00e6 Sacrorum Bibliorum\u201d (may his name live for ever!)\nI have endeavoured to give references to the principal quotations from\nHoly Writ. Some will assuredly have escaped me, and I shall be grateful\nto him who points out to me any omissions.\nThe reader must not forget that it was the Latin Vulgate which was used\nby the author of the \u201cSacrum Commercium.\u201d To be faithful, therefore,\nI could not take my quotations straight from the \u201cAuthorised Version.\u201d\nI have translated sometimes after my own fashion, sometimes with the\nhelp of the \u201cDouay\u201d version, but when the sense has allowed of it, I\nhave gladly adopted the noble English of King James\u2019 Bible.[17]\nAnd now, _lector humanissime_, I am glad to have done with all\nthese dry details, necessary perchance to a right understanding of\nthe subject, and to leave thee free to hasten onward to the green\nPastures and still Waters of one of the fairest of Medi\u00e6val Idylls.\nFeed in those fresh Pastures, dip in the restoring Waters: thou canst\nnot but gather therefrom health and strength, life, and the Life to\ncome; together with a right knowledge of the Past, a loving pity for\nthe Present, and a valorous good resolution for the Future.\n  LIVORNO, _13th June 1901_.\nTHE LADY POVERTY\n    \u201cO amor di Povertade\n    La tua gran nobilitade\n    Chi potr\u00eca gia mai narrare?\u201d\n    --_Jacopone da Todi._\n  HERE BEGINNETH THE HOLY COMMERCE OF THE BLESSED FRANCIS WITH THE\n  LADY POVERTY:\nI\n  IN PRAISE OF POVERTY[18]\nAmong the cardinal excelling virtues which prepare a place and mansion\nfor God in the Soul of Man, and show a more excellent and {1 Cor.\nxii. 31.} a speedier way of approaching and attaining unto Him, Holy\nPoverty shines resplendent in her authority, and excels all others\nby her peculiar Grace. For she is the Foundation and Guardian of all\nthe Virtues, and holds the Primacy among the Evangelical Counsels.\nWherefore let not the other {Matt. vii. 25.} Virtues fear should the\nrain descend, and the floods come, and the winds blow, threatening\ndestruction, if only they have been founded upon the Rock of Poverty.\nAnd justly; for the Son of God, the Lord of Hosts and King of Glory,\nloved this Virtue with a special love, sought this Virtue, found\nher, and by her wrought Salvation {Ps. lxxiii. 12.} in the midst of\nthe Earth. Her, in the beginning of His preaching, He placed as a\nBeacon to lighten those entering the Haven of the Faith, and as chief\ncorner-stone of His House. The Kingdom of Heaven which He promised\nhereafter to all the Virtues, He openeth to Poverty even in this life.\nFor \u201cBlessed,\u201d He {Matt. v. 3.} has said, \u201care the Poor in Spirit, for\ntheirs _is_ the Kingdom of Heaven.\u201d[19] They are worthy of the Kingdom\nof Heaven who have freely renounced all Earthly Things out of Love and\nDesire for Heavenly Things. He must needs live by Heavenly Things who\ntakes no thought of Earthly Things, and counts {Phil. iii. 8.} them\nbut as dung: even in this our Exile shall he feed on the honied crumbs\nwhich fall from the table of the Holy Angels, that he may taste and\n{Ps. xxxiii. 8.} see how sweet the Lord is. This is truly to find the\nKingdom of Heaven; \u2019tis the Pledge of an Eternal Mansion therein, and,\nas it were, a foretaste of the Blessedness to come.\nII\n  HOW THE BLESSED FRANCIS MADE DILIGENT SEARCH FOR THE LADY POVERTY\nWherefore the Blessed Francis, as a true Follower and Disciple of the\nSaviour, gave himself up from the beginning of his Conversion with all\nhis Heart, with all his Strength, and with all his Mind, to seek and\nto find, to have and to hold the Lady Poverty, dreading no Adversity,\nfearing no Evil, sparing no labour, shunning no suffering of the body,\nso only that he might come unto her to whom the Lord had given the\nKeys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Like an eager explorer he began to go\nabout the highways and by-ways of the City, diligently seeking {Cant.\niii. 2.} her whom his Soul did love. He asked of those who stood\nabout, he questioned those who met him, saying: Saw ye her {Cant.\niii. 3.} whom my Soul loveth? But his speech was dark to them as an\nalien tongue, and, not understanding him, they answered: We know not\nwhat thou sayest: speak to us in our own tongue, and we will answer\nthee. For there was not at that time any word or sign in the language,\nby which the Children of Adam could discourse together of Poverty.\nThey hated her then as they hate her now, nor could they speak with\npatience to one who sought her. So they answered him that this thing\nwas unknown to them, and that they had no knowledge of what he sought.\nThen, said the Blessed Francis, I will go unto the Great and the Wise,\nand ask them, for they know the Ways of the Lord {Jer. v. 5.} and\nthe Judgments of God. But these only answered him yet more roughly,\nsaying: What is this new doctrine which thou bringest to our {Acts\nxvii. 20.} ears? May that Poverty which thou seekest always abide with\nthee, and with thy children, and with thy seed after thee. As for us,\nwe had rather enjoy the delights of life and abound in riches, for the\nspan of our {Wisdom ii. 1.} Life is short and tedious, and in the end\nof a man there is no remedy. Therefore we know nothing better than to\neat and {Luke xii. 19.} drink and be merry while there is still time.\nBut the Blessed Francis, hearing these things, marvelled in his Heart\nand gave Thanks to God, saying: Blessed art {Matt. xi. 25.} Thou, O\nLord God, Who hast hid these things from the Wise and Prudent, and\nrevealed them unto Babes. Even so, Father, for so it hath seemed good\nin Thy Sight. O God, the Author and Ruler {Eccli. xxiii. 1.} of my\nbeing, deliver me not over to their Counsels, nor suffer me to fall\ninto their iniquity, but give me Thy Grace, so that I may find what I\nseek, for I am Thy servant, {Ps. cxv. 16.} and the Son of Thy Handmaid.\nIII\n  HOW TWO OLD MEN SHOWED THE BLESSED FRANCIS WHERE THE MIGHT FIND THE\n  LADY POVERTY\nAnd the Blessed Francis, being come out of the City, made haste to\nreach a certain field, in which, from afar off, he saw two old men\nsitting, full of a heavy sorrow, the one of whom was saying: To whom\nshall I look save to {Isa. lxvi. 2.} some Poor Little Man, contrite of\nHeart, and who fears my Words? And the other: For we brought nothing\ninto {1 Tim. vi. 7, 8.} this World, and it is certain we can carry\nnothing out of it. But having food and a covering to our Bodies, let\nus be therewith content.\nAnd when the Blessed Francis had come up with them, he said unto them:\nTell me, I beseech you, where the Lady Poverty dwells, where she\n{Cant. i. 6.} feeds her flock, where she takes her rest at noon, for\nI languish for the Love of her. But they answered him, saying: O good\nBrother, we have sat here for a Time, and Times, {Dan. xii. 7.} and\nhalf a Time, and have often seen her pass this way, {Apoc. xii. 14.}\nand many were they who sought her. Many were they, once upon a time,\nwho walked in her train, but oft she would return alone and desolate,\nunadorned by jewels or fine raiment, unescorted by any following. And\nshe would weep bitterly, saying: The {Cant. i. 5.} Sons of my Mother\nhave fought against me. But we did answer and say: Have {Cant. i.\n3.} patience, for the Righteous love thee. And now, O Brother, ascend\nthe great and high Mountain whereon the Lord hath placed her. For she\ndwelleth in the Holy {Ps. lxxxvi. 1, 2.} Mountains, because God hath\nloved her more than all the tents of Jacob. Giants have failed to\nfollow her footsteps, and the Eagle to fly to the summit of her Hill.\nPoverty is the one thing despised of all men, for it is not found in\nthe {Job xxviii. 13.} land of them that live in delights. Wherefore\nshe is hid {Job xxviii. 21, 23.} from the eyes of the Living, and\nthe fowls of the air know her not. But God understandeth her way; He\nknoweth her Dwelling-place. If therefore, O Brother, thou wouldst\nascend unto her, put off the Garments of thy Pleasures, {Heb. xii. 1.}\nand lay aside every weight and the Sin which besets thee, for unless\nthou art free from these trammels, thou canst not attain unto her who\nis placed at so great a height. But because My Lady is gracious,\nshe is easily seen by those who love her, and found by those who\nseek her. To meditate upon her, Brother, is {Wisdom vi. 16.} perfect\nUnderstanding, and whoso watcheth for her shall speedily be secure.\nTake with thee trusty Companions that thou may\u2019st profit by their\nCounsel, and be sustained by their Help in the way, for woe {Eccl. iv.\n10.} to him that is alone; when he falleth he shall have none to raise\nhim up. But do you uphold one another.\nIV\n  OF THE FIRST COMPANIONS OF THE BLESSED FRANCIS\nAnd when he had heard these Counsels, the Blessed Francis chose unto\nhimself a few faithful Companions, with whom he set out for the\nMountain. And he said unto his brothers: Come {Isa. ii. 3.} ye, let us\ngo up to the Mountain of the Lord, to the House of the Lady Poverty,\nthat she may teach us her Ways, and we will walk in her Paths. And\nwhen they beheld the Ascent from every side, and saw how exceeding high\nand steep it was, they began to say one to another: Who shall ascend\nthis Mountain, and who shall reach unto the Mountain\u2019s top? The which,\nwhen Blessed Francis heard, he said unto them: Strait is the Way, and\n{Matt. vii. 14.} narrow the Gate, which leadeth unto Life, and few\nthere be that find it. Be strong in the {Eph. vi. 10.} Lord, and in\nthe power of His Might, and all things difficult will become easy unto\nus. Lay down the Burden of your own Will, cast away the heavy Weight\nof your Sins, and gird yourselves like Strong Men. Forget those things\n{Phil. iii. 13.} which are behind, and reach forth to those which are\nbefore. I say unto you that every {Deut. xi. 24.} place that your\nfoot shall tread upon shall be yours. For as a Spirit before our face\nis Christ the Lord, drawing us to the Mountain\u2019s summit by the Bonds\nof Charity. Wonderful, O Brethren, are the Espousals of Poverty, but\nwe may hope to enjoy her embraces, {Lament. i. 1.} for the Mistress\nof Nations is become as a Widow, the Queen of all Virtues is become\ncontemptible. There is none in all the Land who dares call upon her,\nnone who will stand over against us, none who by right can forbid this\nBlessed Union. All her {Lament. i. 2.} Friends have despised her, and\nare become her Enemies.\nV\n  HOW THE BLESSED FRANCIS AND HIS COMPANIONS FOUND THE LADY POVERTY ON\n  THE MOUNTAIN\nAnd when he had thus spoken, they followed after the Blessed Francis.\nAnd as with light feet they hastened to the summit of the Mountain,\nthey beheld my Lady Poverty on the topmost Pinnacle gazing down the\nMountain. And when she saw them climbing thus valiantly, nay, as it\nwere, rather flying towards her, she marvelled exceedingly, and said\nto herself: Who are these that {Isa. lx. 8.} fly like the Clouds and\nas Doves to their windows? It is long since I saw such as these, or\nlooked upon men so free from trammels. Therefore will I speak to them\nof the things which I ponder in my Heart, lest, like the rest, they\nshould repent them of their hardy ascent when they behold the dizzying\nabyss below. I know they cannot possess me without my consent, but I\nshall find Favour before my Heavenly Father if I give them the Counsels\nof Salvation. And behold a Voice spoke unto her, saying: Fear not,\nDaughter of Sion, {John xii. 15.} for these are of the Seed which\nthe Lord hath blessed. He hath elected them in Charity {2 Cor. vi.\n6.} unfeigned. So from the Throne of her Neediness, the Lady Poverty\npresented them with {Ps. xx. 4.} Blessings of Sweetness, and said unto\nthem: Tell me the cause of your Advent, my Brothers, and why you hasten\nthus speedily from the Valley of Tears to the Mountain of Light. Can\nit indeed be that you seek me who am poor and needy, tossed by the\ntempest, {Isa. liv. 11.} and bereft of all consolation?\nVI\n  THE BLESSED FRANCIS AND HIS COMPANIONS, EXALTING HER VIRTUES IN\n  DIVERS WAYS, BESEECH THE LADY POVERTY TO ABIDE WITH THEM FOREVER\nAnd the Blessed Francis and his Companions answered her, saying: Yea,\nwe have indeed come out to seek thee, Lady, and we beseech thee to\nreceive us in Peace. We desire to become the Servants of the Lord of\nthe Virtues,[20] for He is the {Ps. xxiii. 10.} King of Glory. We have\nheard that thou art the Queen of the Virtues, and we have proved it by\nexperience. Wherefore, prostrate at thy Feet, we humbly beseech thee to\nabide with us, and to light our Way to the King of Glory, as thou wast\nunto Him the Way, when, a Day-Spring {Luke i. 78, 79.} from on High,\nHe humbled Himself to visit them that sat in Darkness and the Shadow\nof Death. For we know that thine is the Power, thine the Kingdom, that\nthou art constituted Mistress and Queen of the Virtues by the King of\nKings Himself. Therefore, we entreat thee, make Peace with us and we\nshall be saved, and He will receive us through thee, Who through thee\ndid redeem us. Do but elect to save us, and we shall be made free. For\nthe King of Kings and Lord of Lords Himself, the Creator of Heaven and\nEarth, desired thy Comeliness {Ps. xliv. 11.} and thy Beauty. When the\n{Cant. i. 11.} King was at His Rest, rich and glorious in His Kingdom,\nHe left His House, and forsook His inheritance, the Glory {Jer. xii.\n7.} and Riches of His House, and His Royal Seat, and sought {Ps. cxi.\n3.} thee with gracious words. Great therefore is thy Dignity, and there\nis none so exalted as thee, since He could leave all Angelic Delights\nand the great Abundance of Celestial Virtues, to seek thee in the\nnethermost parts of the Earth, in the miry {Ps. xxxix. 3.} Clay, in the\nDarkness and the Shadow of Death. Thou {Ps. lxxxvii. 7.} wast hated\nby all the Children of Men, and all fled at thy Coming, or strove, as\nthey could, to drive thee from them. And though some could not fly thee\naltogether, yet not for that reason wert thou less hated and loathed by\nthem.\nBut then came the Lord, the Lord God, and took thee for Himself, and\nlifted up thy Head among the Tribes of the people, crowning thee His\nBride, and exalting thee above the Highest Heavens. And although, of\na surety, many still hate thee, not knowing thy Virtue and thy Glory,\nyet hast thou nothing lost thereby, for thou dwellest in Freedom in\nthy holy Mountains, in the most firm habitation of the {Exod. xv. 17.}\nGlory of Christ. Thus the Son of the Most High, having become a Lover\nof thy Beauty, {Wisdom viii. 2.} dwelt only with thee in the World,\nand found thee most faithful in all Things. Even before He left His\nbright Realms for the Earth, thou hadst prepared Him a fitting place,\na Throne on which to sit, a Couch in which to rest, a most poor Virgin\nfrom whom He sprung, and shone upon the World. At His Nativity thou\ndidst run to meet Him, so that He might find comfort in thee, and not\nin soft places. Thou didst lay Him in a {Luke ii. 7.} Manger, as saith\nthe Evangelist, for there was no room in the Inn. And thus didst thou\nalways inseparably accompany Him, so that during His whole Life, while\nHe dwelt among Men, though the Foxes had {Matt. viii. 20.} Caves, and\nthe Birds of the Air Nests, He had no place to lay His Head. And when\nHe Who in the Past had opened the lips of the Prophets opened His own\nLips to preach, among the many things which He spake, He first praised,\nfirst exalted thee, saying: Blessed are the Poor in Spirit, {Matt. v.\n3.} for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. And when He chose Witnesses\nto His Holy Preaching and to His glorious Work for the Salvation of\nMan, He did not take rich Merchants, but poor Fisherfolk, that by\nthis choice He might show forth that thou wert to be loved by All.\nAnd finally that thy Goodness, thy Greatness, thy Power, might be\nmade manifest to All, and how thou art above all the Virtues, and how\nwithout thee there is no Virtue, and how thy Kingdom {John xviii. 36.}\nis not of this World but from Heaven, thou alone didst remain with\nthe King of Glory when all His Elect and Beloved had fled from Him in\nAffright.\nLike unto a most dear Mistress and faithful Spouse, thou didst not\nleave Him for an instant. The more He was despised by All, the more\ndidst thou cleave to Him. For if thou hadst not been with Him, He could\nnever have been so despised by All. Thou wast with Him when the Jews\nreviled, the Pharisees scoffed, and the High Priests reproached Him.\nThou wast with Him when He was struck, when He was spat upon, when He\nwas scourged. He Who should have been reverenced by All, was derided by\nall, and thou alone didst minister unto Him. Thou wast with Him unto\nDeath, {Phil. ii. 8.} even the Death of the Cross. And on the Cross\nitself, His Body being stripped, His Arms extended, His Hands and Feet\npierced, thou didst suffer with Him, so that nothing did seem more\nglorious in Him than thou.\nWhen He ascended into Heaven, He left to thee the Seal of the Kingdom\nof Heaven, that thou might\u2019st seal the Elect, that whosoever should\naspire to Eternal Life might come to thee, pray to thee, and enter\nby thee, for if he be not sealed with thy Seal, no man may enter the\nKingdom of Heaven. Therefore, O Lady, have compassion upon us, and seal\nus with the Seal of thy Grace. For who is there so craven-spirited\nand foolish as not to love thee with all his Heart, thee who hast\nbeen chosen by the Most High, and prepared from all Eternity? Who is\nthere that does not reverence and honour thee, when He Whom all the\nHeavenly Host adore hath clothed thee with such Honour? Who would not\nreadily adore thy Footsteps, to whom the Lord of Majesty so humbly\ninclined, whom He so intimately embraced, to whom he was joined in so\ngreat a Love? We therefore beseech thee, O Lady, by Him and through\nHim, despise not our petitions {Antiphon at Compline in the Office of\nthe B.V.M.} in our Necessities, but deliver us at all Times from all\nDangers, O Glorious and ever blessed Lady!\nVII\n  THE ANSWER OF MY LADY POVERTY\nTo these Words my Lady Poverty, with joyful Heart, and cheerful\nMien, and most sweet Voice, made answer, saying: I confess to you,\nmy Brothers and most dear Friends, that from the moment you began\nto speak, I was filled with Gladness and exceeding great Joy, for I\nacknowledge your Fervour, and already know your Holy Intent; your words\nare dearer to me than Gold and Precious {Ps. xviii. 11.} Stones, and\nsweeter far than Honey and the Honeycomb. For it is not you that speak,\n{Mark xiii. 11.} but the Holy Ghost that speaketh in you, and it is His\n{1 John ii. 27.} Unction that inspires you in all the things which you\nhave spoken concerning the Most High King, Who by His Grace alone chose\nme as His Beloved, taking away my Reproach {Luke i. 25.} among Men, and\nglorifying me among the Highest in Heaven. Therefore I desire, if it\nwill not weary you, to tell you the story of my Estate. It is a long\nStory, but not less useful, and will teach you how to walk with God and\nplease {Gen. v. 22.} Him, giving heed that you who wish to put your\nhands {Luke ix. 62.} to the plough in no wise look back.\nI am not new,[21] as many think, but old and full of years, knowing the\nnature of Things, the Varieties of Creatures, the mutability of Time.\nI know the vacillations of the Heart of Man, in part by the experience\nof Ages, in part by subtlety of Nature, in part by the Merit of Grace.\nIn the beginning I dwelt in the Paradise of God, where Man was naked.\nOr rather, I was in Man, and of his Essence when he was naked, walking\nwith him in that spacious Paradise, fearing nothing, doubting nothing,\nthinking no Evil. I thought to have stayed with him forever, for he\nhad been created by the Most High, just, good, and wise, and placed\nin a most beautiful and delectable Place. I was joyful exceeding,\nentertaining him at all Times, for possessing Nothing, he belonged\nwholly to God. But, woe is me, he succumbed to Evil, which had been\nunknown from the beginning of the Creation, and the unhappy Spirit of\nEvil, who, through Vainglory, had lost Wisdom, entered the body of a\nSerpent because he could not inhabit Heaven, and treacherously assailed\nMan, that like himself he might become a transgressor of the Divine\nLaw. Unhappy Man, giving ear unto his evil Counsellor, acquiesced and\nconsented, and having forgotten God, his Creator, followed the Example\nof the first Transgressor. In the beginning, says Holy Writ, Man was\nnaked but not {Gen. ii. 25.} ashamed, for he was perfect in innocence.\nBut having sinned, he knew that he was naked, and being ashamed, he\nhastily made himself an apron of the leaves of the fig-tree.[22]\nWhen, therefore, I saw that my Companion had sinned, and was dressed in\nleaves (for he had nothing else), I left him. And standing afar off, I\nbeheld him through my Tears, and waited for Him Who should save me from\nFaintness of Spirit in so great {Ps. liv. 9.} a Storm. And suddenly\nthere came a Sound from Heaven {Acts ii. 2.} that shook the whole of\nParadise, and a most bright Light shone from Heaven. And I looked and\nbeheld the Lord of {Gen. iii. 8.} Majesty walking in Paradise in the\ncool of the day, resplendent in ineffable Glory. A mighty Host of\nAngels was in His Train, crying with a loud Voice: Holy, Holy, Holy,\n{Isa. vi. 3.} Lord God of Sabaoth, the Earth is full of the Majesty\nof Thy Glory. Thousands of {Dan. vii. 10.} Thousands ministered unto\nHim, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand[23] stood before Him.\nThen in Fear and Trembling, overcome with Dread and Amazement, my Body\nchill, my Heart fast beating, I cried out of the Depths: {Ps. cxxix.\n1.} Mercy, Lord--have Mercy! Enter not into Judgment with {Ps. cxlii.\n2.} Thy Servant, for in Thy Sight shall no Man living be justified.\nBut He said unto me: Go, hide thyself for a while, until Mine Anger\nbe overpast. And {Isa. xxvi. 20.} straightway He called my Companion,\nsaying: Adam, where art thou? Who answered: I heard Thy Voice, {Gen.\niii. 9, 10.} and was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.\nNaked indeed! The man who {Luke x. 30.} went down from Jerusalem to\nJericho and fell among Thieves was stripped of this World\u2019s Goods, but\nAdam had been robbed of the Likeness of God. But that King Who is Most\nHigh and yet most Gracious, awaited his Repentance, and gave him the\nOpportunity of returning to Him. Yet in his wretchedness he inclined\nhis {Ps. cxl. 4.} Heart to evil Words, and to making excuses for Sin.\nAnd thus he increased his guilt, and heaped up punishment, treasuring\n{Rom. ii. 5.} up unto himself Wrath against the day of Wrath and\nRevelation of the just Judgment of God. For he spared not himself nor\nhis seed after him, delivering up All to the terrible Curse of Death.\nAnd all the Angels that were present condemned him, and the Lord cast\nhim forth {Gen. iii. 23.} from Paradise by a just but not less merciful\nJudgment, and bade him return to the Earth from whence he was taken,\ngreatly tempering the Curse He had laid upon him. And being stripped\nof his robe of Innocence, God made him garments of skins, therein\nsignifying that Death had come into the World. And when I saw my\nCompanion clothed with the skins of dead beasts, I left him altogether,\nfor he had been cast forth to multiply his labours, whereby he might\nbecome rich. I went forth a {Gen. iv. 12.} fugitive and wanderer upon\nthe Earth, weeping and mourning exceedingly, and I found not {Gen.\nviii. 9.} where to rest the sole of my Foot. When Abraham, Isaac,\nJacob, and the other Patriarchs, received in promise Riches and a Land\nflowing with Milk and Honey, I sought Rest among {Eccli. xxiv. 11.}\nthem, but found none. A Cherub with a Flaming Sword {Gen. iii. 24.}\nstood before the Gates of Paradise until the Most High came down from\nthe Bosom of the Father, Who sought me out most graciously. And when He\nhad fulfilled all those Things of which you have spoken, and desired to\nreturn to the Father Who had sent Him, He made me a Testament to His\nElect, and confirmed it by irrefragable Decrees: Lay not up Gold nor\n{Matt. x. 9.} Silver, nor Money. Carry neither Purse, nor Scrip, nor\n{Matt. x. 10 and Luke x. 4.} Bread, nor a Staff, nor Shoes, nor two\nCoats. And if any {Matt. v. 40.} Man will contend with thee and take\naway thy Coat, let go thy Cloak also. And whoever {Matt. v. 41.} shall\ncompel thee to go a Mile, go with him other twain. {Matt. vi. 19.} Lay\nnot up unto yourselves Treasures upon Earth, where Rust and Moth doth\ncorrupt, and where Thieves break through and steal. Take no {Matt. vi.\n31.} thought, saying: What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or\nwherewithal shall we be clothed? And take no Thought of the Morrow, for\nthe Morrow will take Thought {Matt. vi. 34.} for itself. Sufficient\nunto the Day is the Evil thereof. Whosoever doth not renounce {Luke\nxiv. 33.} all that he hath, cannot be my disciple.... And many the like\nsayings, which are all to be found in the Gospels.\nVIII\n  OF THE APOSTLES\nAll which Things the Apostles and all the Disciples most diligently\nobserved, nor did they ever fail to fulfil the Things they had heard\nfrom the Master. They bore themselves as most valiant Knights and\nJudges of the Earth, carrying the Message of Salvation everywhere,\nthe Lord working with them, and {Mark xvi. 20.} confirming the Word\nwith Signs that followed. They glowed in Charity, abounded in Piety,\nand endured every Want, taking care that it should not be said of\nthem: These men preach but do not practise. Hence one of them speaketh\nboldly, saying: For {Rom. xv. 18, 19.} I will not dare to speak of any\nof those Things which Christ hath not wrought by me by Word and Deed,\nand by the Power of the Holy Ghost. And yet another speaketh thus:\nSilver and Gold have I {Acts iii. 6.} none. Thus did they, one and\nall, in Life and in Death, exalt me by the highest Praises. And those\nwho heard these Masters, gave heed to their Preaching, selling all\ntheir {Acts ii. 45.} goods and substance, and dividing them according\nas every man had need. And they were all together and had {Acts ii.\n44.} all things in common, praising God and having favour with all the\nPeople. {Acts ii. 47.}\nIX\n  OF THE SUCCESSORS OF THE APOSTLES\n{Acts ii. 47.} Wherefore the Lord increased daily such as should be\nsaved. Indeed for long the Truth of their Words remained among many,\nmore especially while the Blood of the Crucified Poor One, Jesus\nChrist, was warm in their memory, and the Noble Chalice of His Passion\ninebriated their Hearts. For if any of them sought to leave me at any\ntime because of my too great Rigours, they would remember the Wounds of\nthe Lord by which He made manifest His loving Compassion, and bitterly\nrepent of the Temptation, clinging to me more closely, and embracing\nme more eagerly than ever. And I abode in them all, ever striving to\nimpress upon their Memory the Dolours of the Passion of the Eternal\nKing. So strengthened by my Words, they cheerfully encountered the\ncruel Sword which shed their holy Blood. And this Triumph continued and\nendured a long while, so that daily a thousand thousand were sealed\nwith the Seal of the Most High King.\nX\n  THAT TIMES OF PEACE ARE UNPROPITIOUS TO POVERTY\nBut alas! after a while Peace was made, a Peace more hurtful than\nany War. In the beginning of that long Peace but few were sealed, in\nthe middle of it yet fewer, at the end fewer still. And behold! of a\nsurety in {Isa. xxxviii. 17.} this Peace is my Bitterness most bitter;\nfor All fly from me or drive me from them; by none am I sought, by\nAll forsaken. This Peace was the work of Enemies, not of Friends; of\nStrangers, not of my Sons. I indeed nourished {Isa. i. 2.} and raised\nup Sons, but they contemned me. In that Time when the Lamp of the Lord\n{Job xxix. 3.} shone upon my Head, and I walked by His Light through\nthe Darkness, Satan was raging in many who were with me, the World was\nenticing them, and the Concupiscence of the Flesh, so that many of {1\nJohn ii. 15.} them ended by loving the World and the Things of the\nWorld.\nXI\n  OF PERSECUTION\nBut the Crown of all the Virtues, and that is the Lady Persecution, to\nwhom the Lord, equally with me, delivered the Kingdom of Heaven, was by\nmy side, and in all things a faithful Helper, a strong Champion, and\na prudent Counsellor. She, when she saw any grow lukewarm in Heavenly\nCharity, or forgetting it a while, or fixing their Hearts on Earthly\nThings, she straightway sounded the Trump and moved her Armies, and\nmade their faces to be ashamed, that they might seek {Ps. lxxxii.\n17.} the Name of the Lord. But now my Sister has left me, the Light\nof my Eyes is not with me, for while my Sons are at rest from the\nPersecutors, they are most cruelly torn by civil and intestine War,\nenvying each other, and struggling for the acquisition of Wealth and an\nabundance of luxuries.\nAfter a while some began to breathe again, and wished of their own\naccord to walk in the right Road, which once they had walked in of\nnecessity. All these came to me with prayers and tears, and entreated\nme to make a perpetual League of Peace with them, and to abide with\nthem as I formerly did in the days {Job xxix. 4.} of my Youth, when\nthe Lord was with me, and my Children were round about me. These were\nmen of virtue, peaceful men, without Rebuke before the Lord, constant\nin brotherly Love, so long as they remained in the Flesh, poor in\nSpirit, poor in this World\u2019s Goods, rich in Holiness, abounding in\nthe Gifts of Heavenly Grace, fervent in Spirit, rejoicing in Hope,\npatient in Tribulation, meek and humble of Heart, and keeping Peace\nin their Souls, Harmony in their Ways, Steadfastness in their Hearts,\nand a joyful Unity in their Walk through Life. These men were indeed\ndevoted to God, pleasing to the Angels, beloved of Men, unsparing to\nthemselves, merciful to Others, devout in Deed, modest in Demeanour,\ncheerful of Countenance, earnest of Heart, humble in Prosperity,\nhigh-minded in Adversity, temperate of Life, sober in Dress, sparing of\nSleep, modest and devout, shining before all Men in the Light of their\nGood Works. My Soul was joined unto these my Sons, and there was one\nFaith and one Spirit within us.[24]\nXII\n  OF THE FOLLOWERS OF A SPURIOUS POVERTY\n{1 John ii. 19.} Finally there rose up among us Men who were not of us,\ncertain Sons of Belial speaking Vain Things, working Iniquity, calling\nthemselves Poor Men when they were not Poor, despising and dishonouring\nme who had been loved with Whole-heartedness by those glorious Men of\nwhom I have spoken, following the Way of Balaam, the Son {2 Pet. ii.\n15.} of Bosor, who loved the Wages of Sin, Men of a corrupt {1 Tim.\nvi. 5.} Mind, devoid of Truth, supposing Gain to be Godliness, Men who\nin assuming the Habit of Holy Religion, did not put on the New Man,\nbut sought to hide the Old. They derided their Elders, and in secret\nscoffed at the Life and Character of those who had begun the Way of\nHoly Conversation, saying that they were imprudent, merciless, and\ncruel, and that I, whom these holy ones had taken into their Company,\nwas idle, empty, base, rude, lifeless, and feeble. \u2019Twas my great Rival\nwho zealously worked all this, hiding under a Sheep\u2019s Clothing the\nCunning of a Fox and the Fierceness of a Wolf.\nXIII\n  OF AVARICE\nAvarice was this Rival\u2019s name, and she is the Immoderate Desire of\nacquiring and holding Riches. But they called her by a holier Name,\nso that it might not seem that they had abandoned me, by whose Gift\nthey had been raised from the Dust and lifted up out of the Mire. So\nthey spake gently of her to me, but there was Craft and Anger in their\nHearts. And though the Desolation of a City which is set upon a Hill\n{Matt. v. 14.} cannot be hid, yet they gave her the Name of Discretion\nor Foresight, though such Discretion were better named Confusion, and\nsuch Foresight a pernicious Forgetfulness of all Good Works. And they\nsaid unto me: Thine is the Power; thine the Kingdom: fear not. It is\ngood to use Charity and labour for Good Ends, to succour the Needy and\ngive to the Poor. But I answered: What you say is just, Brothers, but I\nbeseech you, consider {1 Cor. i. 26.} your Calling. Do not look back.\nDo not come down {Matt. xxiv. 17.} from the house-top to take anything\nout of your Houses, neither return back from the fields to take your\nClothes. Do not be busied about this World\u2019s Affairs, nor be entangled\nagain in its Pollution, {2 Pet. ii. 20, 21.} which you have escaped\nthrough the Knowledge of the Saviour. For those who are entangled\ntherein a second time must needs be overcome, and the latter End is\nworse with them than the Beginning, if by a Pretence of Piety they\nturn from the Holy Commandment which has been delivered unto them. And\nafter I had thus spoken, there arose a Dissension among them, for some\nsaid that I was good and spoke the Truth, but others that I desired to\nseduce them into following me, in that I was wretched, and wished to\nmake them wretched with me.\nXIV\n  HOW THE LADY POVERTY SPOKE OF GOOD RELIGIOUS\nMy Rival could not yet drive me out of their Land, for there were still\nmany Men among them in all the great Zeal and Charity of their First\nFervour, who assailed Heaven by their Cries, and penetrated to the\nThrone of God by their Perseverance in Prayer, rapt in Contemplation\nand despising all Things which were of the Earth. Then the {Eccli.\nxxiv. 12.} Creator of All Things commanded me, and He Who created me\nsaid: Let thy Dwelling be in Jacob, and thine inheritance in Israel,\nand take thou Root in My Elect. All which Things I most diligently\nobeyed. And while I abode with them, and we walked together on the\nRoyal Road, they became, on my {Wisdom viii. 10, 11.} account, of good\nRepute among the People, and admirable in the Sight of the Mighty. They\nwere honoured by all Men, and reputed as Saints, though they could not\nendure to be thus called, remembering what the Son of God had said: I\nseek no {John viii. 50.} Glory from Man; therefore they refused all\nHonour offered them by Men.\nXV\n  HOW AVARICE TOOK THE NAME OF DISCRETION\nBut whilst my Disciples were thus walking in so great Fervour of the\nLove of Christ, Avarice, taking to herself the Name of Discretion,\nspake and said unto them: Do not show yourselves so severe to Mankind,\nnor thus contemn their Honours, but have a kindly Countenance for them,\nand do not outwardly reject the Honours offered to you: be content to\ndo so inwardly. It is a good thing to have the Friendship of Kings,\nthe Acquaintance of Princes, the Intimacy of the Great, for if they\nhonour and venerate you, if they rise up to meet you, many seeing this\nshall follow their Example, and be the more easily turned to God. And\nmy Friends, acknowledging these advantages, but not guarding themselves\nfrom the Snare which {Ps. cxlii. 4.} had been set in the Way, in the\nEnd embraced Honours and Glory with all their Heart. They thought\nthemselves to be inwardly such as they seemed outwardly, but they\ngloried in the Praises they received, and were like the Foolish Virgins\nwithout Oil, profitless servants upon the Earth. And Men who believed\nthem to be interiorly that which they seemed exteriorly, freely offered\nthem their Goods in Remission of their Sins. In the beginning they had\ncounted all these {Phil. iii. 8.} Things as dung, saying: We are Poor\nMen and always desire to be Poor; we do not desire your goods but you.\nWe have Food and wherewithal {1 Tim. vi. 8.} to cover ourselves and\ndesire no more, for Vanity of {Eccl. i. 2.} Vanities and All is Vanity.\nWherefore the devotion of Men towards them increased still more, so\nthat many held in small Regard the Goods which they saw thus despised\nof the Saints.\nXVI\n  HOW AVARICE TOOK THE NAME OF PRUDENCE\nThat cruel Enemy of mine, Avarice, seeing this, began to grow exceeding\nangry, and to gnash her teeth, and in vexation of Spirit said to\nherself: What shall I do? For all the World is going {John xii. 19.}\nafter her! I will take, said she, the Name of Prudence, and will speak\nin their Hearts, and perchance they shall hear and consent. And she did\nas she had said, speaking unto them humble words, and saying: What do\nyou here all {Matt, xx. 6.} the Day idle and making no Provision for\nthe Morrow? In what could it hurt you to have the necessaries of Life,\nso long as you lack all Superfluities? For in Peace and Quietness could\nyou work out your Salvation and the Salvation of Mankind, if you were\nsupplied with all Things Needful to you. Therefore, while you have\nTime, provide for yourselves and those who shall come after you, for\nMen may not always be so generous to you, nor give you the customary\nGifts. It would be good for you to be always as you are, but that is\nimpossible, for God causes you daily to increase and multiply. Would\nGod reject you because you had Wherewith to give to the Needy, and\ncould remember the Poor, when He Himself has said: It is more blessed\nto {Acts xx. 35.} give than to receive? Why, therefore, do you not\nreceive the Goods which are offered you, and not defraud the Givers\nof their Eternal Reward? You need fear no harm from the possession\nof Riches, so long as you account them as Nought. There is no Evil\nin Things themselves, but only in the Soul of Man, for God {Gen.\ni. 31.} saw All Things and they were good. To the Good, all Things\nare good, all Things serviceable, for them All Things were made. O\nhow many having possessions use them evilly, which had they been\nyours, would have been put to a good use, for holy is your Purpose,\nholy your Desire. You do not wish to enrich your Relations who are\nalready rich enough, but simply to have All Things necessary, so that\nyour Conversation may be the more honest and orderly. These, and\nsimilar things, she said unto them, and some having already a corrupt\nConscience, gave a ready Assent. But others turned a deaf ear to her\nSayings, and by shrewd Answers refuted her Reasoning, alleging, as did\nalso their opponents, Arguments from Holy Writ.\nXVII\n  HOW AVARICE CALLED IN THE AID OF SLOTH\nBut Avarice, seeing that she could not, unaided, attain her ends upon\nmy Disciples, changed her plan, that she might better fulfil her\nPurpose. So she called in Sloth, who neglects to begin good Works,\nor to finish those begun. And Avarice made a Treaty with Sloth, and\nentered into a Compact with her against the Religious. They were not\nintimate, these two, nor closely affined, but they readily made Common\nCause in Evil-doing, as formerly did Pilate with Herod against the\nMessiah. And when their Plan was laid, Sloth began her Ravages, and\nhaving given Assault with her Satellites, she entered the Domain of the\nReligious, and by sheer Force carried off their Arms and extinguished\ntheir Charity, reducing them to Tepidity and Sluggishness. And so, a\nlittle also by Pusillanimity of Spirit, they became altogether dead of\nHeart.\nXVIII\n  OF THE RELIGIOUS WHO WERE CONQUERED BY SLOTH[25]\nAfter a While some of the Religious began to sigh most lamentably for\nthe Flesh-pots of Egypt which they had left behind, and ignobly to seek\nwhat with noble Heart they had abandoned. They fretted at having to\nwalk in the Ways of God\u2019s Commandments, and followed His Injunctions\nwith a barren Heart. They grew faint under their Burden, and for Want\nof the Spirit could scarcely breathe. Compunction they rarely felt,\nand never Contrition; at Obedience they murmured; their Thoughts\nwere Earthy, their Joy carnal, paltry their Sorrow and their Speech\nimprudent, their Laughter easily provoked. Mirthful of Visage, their\nCarriage full of Vanity, their Garments soft and delicate, carefully\ncut, and still more carefully fashioned, they slept inordinately, ate\novermuch, and drank intemperately. Their talk was full of Jests, and\nRailleries, and Idle Words. They engaged in Story-telling, changed the\nRule, disposed of Patronage, and were busily occupied about the Affairs\nof the World. Of Spiritual Exercises there was no Care or Thought;\nbut rarely Exhortations to save the Soul; they had become lukewarm in\nCelestial Things. In the Hardness of their Hearts they began to envy\none another, to provoke one another, to domineer over one another,\none Brother eagerly bringing the vilest Accusations against another.\nThey shunned Gravity, and sought false Sources of Joy, seeing that\nthey could not have the true. Nevertheless they kept up some show of\nSanctity, so that they might not be utterly despised, and by holy Talk\nthey sought to hide their wretched way of Life from the Simple. But\nso great was the Ruin of the Interior Man, that, unable to contain\nthemselves, their evil Life burst forth in exterior Manifestations.\nIn short they began to fawn upon the World, striking bargains with\nWorldlings that they might empty their Purses, and they enlarged their\nBuildings and multiplied those Things which they had forever renounced.\nThey bartered their Words to the Rich, and their Courtesies to Noble\nLadies. They eagerly frequented the Courts of Kings and Princes, that\nthey might join House to House {Isa. v. 8.} and lay field to field.\nAnd now they have become great {Jer. v. 27.} and rich, and have waxed\nstrong, because they have {Jer. ix. 3.} proceeded from Evil to Evil and\nhave not known God. They were cast down when {Ps. lxxii. 18.} they were\nlifted up; they fell to the Earth before their Birth, and yet they say\nunto me: We are thy Friends.\nXIX\n  HOW THE LADY POVERTY SORROWED OVER CERTAIN RELIGIOUS WHO WERE POOR\n  IN THE WORLD, AND YET MORE PRONE THAN OTHERS TO SELF-INDULGENCE IN\n  RELIGION\nIn my Sorrow I sorrowed all the more over certain Religious who had\nbeen poor and contemptible in the World, and yet grew rich after\nthey had come to me. And when they had waxed fat and gross {Deut.\nxxxii. 15.} beyond the rest, they spurned and derided me. They in the\nWorld were thought unworthy of Life, being destitute through Need\nand Hunger. Once they ate Grass and the Bark {Job xxx. 4.} of trees,\nthey were disfigured {Job xxx. 31.} by their Calamity and Misery,\nand now they are not content with the Community Life, but separate\nthemselves without shame, eating of special Meats. Their Example in\nthis is hurtful to the rest, and, moreover, they aspire to Honour among\nthe Disciples of Christ, who in this World were held most worthy of\nContempt. They who often wanted for Barley-bread and Water, and were\nglad to lie under the Hedges, were the Sons of the Ignorant and Mean\nand Unknown, on a level with my own Wretchedness. Now they hate me\nand fly far from me, and are not ashamed to spit in my face. I have\nsuffered Contumely and Terrors at their Hands, {Jer. xx. 10.} and those\nwho were my Friends and stood by my side have insulted me. They grew\nashamed of me, and cast me off all the more that they knew they had\nbeen enriched by my Favours, so much so that they even scorned to hear\nmy Name.\n{Jer. iii. 22.} In my Sorrow I sorrowed and said unto them: Return,\nye rebellious Children, and I will heal your Backslidings. Take heed\nand beware of {Luke xii. 15, and Ephes. v. 5.} Avarice, which is the\nService of Idols, for the Avaricious Man shall not be satisfied with\n{Eccl. v. 9.} Silver. Call to Mind your former Days in which, being\n{Heb. x. 32.} illuminated, you endured a great Fight of Afflictions.\nDo not be of them who draw {Heb. x. 39.} back unto Perdition, but of\nthem that believe to the Saving of the Soul. He who made void the\nLaw of Moses died {Heb. x. 28.} without Mercy under two or three\nWitnesses. How much {Heb. x. 29.} more, think you, doth he deserve\nsorer Punishment, who hath trodden under Foot the Son of God, and hath\naccounted the Blood of the Covenant, by which he was sanctified, an\nunclean thing, and hath done despite to the Spirit of Grace? Return,\nthen, ye Transgressors, {Isa. xlvi. 8.} search your Hearts, for a Man\u2019s\nlife consisteth not in the abundance of Things which he possesseth.\n{Job xix. 21, 22.} But they were angered, and said: Go to, depart from\nus, thou miserable thing. We desire not the knowledge of thy Ways.\nAnd I answered and said unto them: Have {Luke xii. 15.} pity upon me,\nhave pity upon me, at least, O ye, my Friends. Why do you persecute me\nwithout a Cause? Did I not tell you that your Ways and mine would not\nagree? It repenteth me that I have ever seen you.\n{Cant. vi. 12.} And the Word of the Lord came to me, saying: Return,\nreturn, O Shulamite, return, return, that we may look upon thee. These\nare the Children of Wrath; they will not hear thee, because they will\nnot hear Me. Their Hearts have become stubborn and unbelieving; they\nhave departed and gone away, but they have not rejected thee without\nrejecting Me. For thou hast {Jer. xiii. 21.} taught them against thee,\nand instructed them against thine own Head, for if they had never\nreceived thee, they would never have been made rich. They pretended to\nlove thee, so that having received thy Benefits, they might depart from\nthee. Wherefore under adverse Temptation they have turned away, and\nhaving laid {Jer. viii. 5.} hold on Lying, they would not return. Do\nnot again believe those that speak thee fair, for they despise thee and\nseek thy Life. Do not offer Prayers or Hymns for them, for I will not\nhear thee: I have cast them off because they have despised Me.\nXX\n  HOW THE LADY POVERTY SHOWED THE BLESSED FRANCIS THE PERFECT WALK IN\n  THE RELIGIOUS LIFE.\n{Prov. iv. 25.} Lo! then, dear Brothers, I have told you a long story,\nso that your eyes may behold where you go, and that you may see what\nyou should do. It is perilous to look back and attempt to deceive God.\nRemember Lot\u2019s wife, and do not believe every Spirit. But I have {Luke\nxvii. 32, and 1 John iv. 1.} confidence in you, dearest Brothers, for\nI see better Things in you than in any others, and you are nearer to\nSalvation. You seem to have abandoned Everything, and to have freed\nyourselves from all Burdens. And the best proof is this, that you\nhave ascended this Mountain, which it is given to so few to do. But\nI tell you, dear Friends, that the Wickedness of many others hath\nmade me suspicious of the Virtues of the Good, for I have too oft had\nexperience of ravening Wolves in Sheeps\u2019 Clothing.\nI desire that each one of you should become a Follower {Heb. vi. 12.}\nof the Saints, who by Faith and Patience have come into my Inheritance.\nBut because I dread lest the Fate of others should overtake you, I give\nyou this salutary Counsel: that you should not in the Beginning aim\nat the Higher and more Hidden Things, but that, setting Christ before\nyou, you should little by little come to the Highest. Take heed lest,\nwhen the dung of Poverty has been laid about your Roots, you should\nafter all be found barren, for then there will remain nothing but the\nAxe. Do not trust entirely to the Love which you now have, for Man is\nmore prone to Evil than to Good, and the Soul easily returns to former\nHabits, even though it may long have been separated from them. I know\nthat with your great Fervour all Things seem easy to you. But remember\nwhat is written: Behold they that serve Him {Job iv. 18.} are not\nsteadfast, and in His Angels He found Wickedness. At first it will seem\nsweet to you to bear Anything, but after awhile, lulled in Security,\nyou will become careless of the Blessings you have received. You will\nimagine that you can return to Him whenever you wish, and find the old\nconsolation. But the Spirit of Negligence, once admitted, is not so\neasily got rid of. Your Heart will turn after other Things, but Reason\nwill call you to return to the Former Things. Lapsed into Sloth and\nIdleness, Words of Excuse will rise easily to your Lips: We cannot be\nstrong as we were in the Beginning, and now the Times are changed; not\nknowing that it is written: When a Man hath come to {Eccli. xvii. 6.}\nhis End then would he make a Beginning. For a voice will always dwell\nin your Hearts, saying: To-morrow, and To-morrow, we will return to the\nformer Man, for it was better with us then than it is now. Behold, I\nhave foretold you many Things, my Brothers, and many other things have\nI {John xvi. 12.} to say unto you, which ye cannot bear now. But the\nHour cometh when I shall {John xvi. 25.} speak to you plainly of All\nThings.\nXXI\n  HOW THE BLESSED FRANCIS MADE ANSWER TO THE LADY POVERTY\nAnd when my Lady had made an end of speaking, the Blessed Francis,\nwith his Companions, fell upon his Face, giving Thanks to God, and\nsaid: Thy Sayings, O Lady, are well-pleasing unto us, nor in ought that\nthou hast said can we find any Fault. All that we have {3 Kings x. 6.}\nheard in our Land concerning thy Words and thy Wisdom, is most true;\nnay, far greater is thy Wisdom than the Fame thereof. Blessed are thy\nServants and Disciples, who dwell forever with thee and hear thy Words\nof Wisdom. May the Lord thy God, to Whom thou wast pleasing from all\nEternity, be forever blessed, Who loved thee and made thee Queen, that\nthou mightest execute Judgment and Mercy on thy Servants. O how good\nand how sweet is {Wisdom xii. 1.} thy Spirit, chastising the Erring,\nand admonishing Sinners. Behold, O Lady, by the Love wherewith the\nEternal King did love thee, by the Love wherewith thou didst love Him,\nwe beseech thee do not despise our petition, but deal with us according\nto thy Mercy {Wisdom xvii. 1.} and Loving-kindness. Great are thy\nWorks, and beyond the Tongue of man to tell, wherefore undisciplined\nSouls fly from thee, for thou walkest alone in rocky Places, terrible\n{Cant. vi. 3.} as an Army set in Array,[26] and Fools cannot dwell\nwith thee. But we are thy servants and {Ps. xcix. 2.} the Sheep of thy\nPasture Forever, and Forever and Ever, have we sworn and {Ps. cxviii.\n106.} determined to keep the Judgments of thy Justice.\nXXII\n  HOW THE LADY POVERTY GAVE HER CONSENT\nAt these Words my Lady Poverty was deeply moved, and as her Property is\n{Collect from the Litany of the Saints.} to have Mercy and spare, she\ncould restrain herself no longer, but having speedily embraced them,\nand given to each the Kiss of Peace, she said: Behold, my Brothers and\nmy Sons, I will come with you, because I know that through you I shall\nwin many more.\nXXIII\n  HOW THE BLESSED FRANCIS THANKED GOD FOR THE CONSENT OF\n  THE LADY POVERTY\nBut the Blessed Francis, beside himself for joy, began to praise\nAlmighty God with a loud Voice, for that He had not abandoned those who\ntrusted in Him, saying: Bless the Lord, all ye {Tob. xiii. 10.} His\nElect, keep Days of Rejoicing, and give Glory {Ps. cv. 1.} unto Him,\nfor He is Good and His Mercy endureth Forever. And coming down from the\nMountain they brought my Lady Poverty to the Place where they dwelt.\nAnd it was about the Sixth Hour.\nXXIV\n  OF THE SOJOURN OF MY LADY POVERTY WITH THE BROTHERS\nAnd when the Brothers had made all Things ready, they urged the Lady\nPoverty to eat with them. But she said unto them: Show me first your\nOratory, the Cloister and Chapter House, the Refectory, Kitchen,\nDormitory, and Stables, your fine Seats and polished Tables and noble\nHouses. For I see none of these Things, and yet I do see that you are\nblithe and cheerful, abounding in Joy, filled with Consolation, as if\nyou expected all these Things to be supplied to you at will. But they\nmade answer and said: O Lady and Queen, we thy Servants are weary with\nthe long Journey, and thou in coming with us hast endured not a little.\nTherefore, if it please thee, let us eat first, and thus refreshed, we\nwill do thy Bidding. And my Lady answered: It pleaseth me well. But\nfirst bring Water that we may wash our Hands, and a Cloth wherewith to\ndry them. And they brought forth a broken earthenware Vessel--for they\nhad no sound one--full of Water. And having poured the Water on her\nhands they searched on all sides for a Cloth. But when none could be\nfound, one of the Brethren offered the Habit he wore, that therewith my\nLady might wipe her Hands. And giving Thanks she took it, magnifying\nGod with all her Heart Who had given her such Men as Companions.\nAnd after this they led her to the Place where the Table was made\nready. But she looked round about, and seeing Nothing save three\nor four Crusts of Barley-bread laid upon the Grass, she marvelled\nexceedingly within herself, saying: Who ever saw the {Wisdom xii. 13,\n18, 19.} Like in the Generations of Old? Blessed art Thou, O Lord God,\nWho hast care of All, for Thy Power is at hand when Thou wilt, and Thou\nhast taught Thy People, that by such Works they may please Thee. And\nthus they sat a while giving Thanks to God for all His Gifts. Then my\nLady Poverty commanded them to bring in Dishes the Food which they had\ncooked. But they fetched a Basin full of cold Water, that all might\ndip their Bread therein, for here was there no abundance of Dishes or\nsuperfluity of Cooks. My Lady Poverty then begged that she might at\nleast have some uncooked savoury Herbs, but having neither Garden nor\nGardener, the Brethren gathered some wild Herbs in the Wood, and placed\nthem before her. Who said: Bring me a little Salt, that I may savour\nthese Herbs, for they are bitter. But they answered her: Then must thou\ntarry a while, Lady, until we go into the City to obtain it, if haply\nthere should be any one who would give us some. Then she asked them,\nsaying: Fetch hither a Knife that I may trim these Herbs, and cut the\nBread, which verily is hard and dry. Who answered: O Lady, we have no\nSmith to make us knives. For the present, use thy Teeth in the place of\na Knife, and afterwards we will provide. Whereupon she said: Have you a\nlittle Wine? To which they answered: No, Lady, we have no Wine, for the\nnecessaries of {Eccli. xxix. 28.} Man\u2019s Life are Bread and Water, and\nit is not good for thee to drink Wine, for the Spouse of Christ should\nshun Wine as Poison.\nAnd when they were satisfied, rejoicing more in the Nobility of Want\nthan if they had had an Abundance of All Things, they blessed the Lord,\nin Whose Sight they had found such Favour, and led my Lady Poverty to a\nPlace where she might sleep, for she was weary. And she lay down upon\nthe bare ground. And when she asked for a Pillow, they straightway\nbrought her a Stone, and laid it under her Head. So after she had\nslept for a brief space in Peace, she arose and asked the Brothers\nto show her their Cloister. And they, leading her to the Summit of a\nHill, showed her the wide World, saying: This is our Cloister, O Lady\nPoverty. Thereupon she bade them all sit down together, and opening her\nMouth she began to speak unto them Words of Life, saying:\nXXV\n  HOW MY LADY POVERTY BLESSED THE BROTHERS, EXHORTING THEM TO PERSEVERE\n  IN THE GRACE WHICH THEY HAD RECEIVED\nBlessed are you, my Sons, of the Lord who made Heaven and Earth, who\nhave received me into your House with such Fulness of Charity that\nit seems to me as if, being with you, I had to-day been in Paradise.\nWherefore I am full of Joy and abound in Consolation, and I ask pardon\nof you for having so long delayed my Coming. Verily the Lord is with\nyou, {Gen. xxviii. 16.} and I knew it not. Behold, what I longed for\nI see, what {Antiphon at the Benedictus in the Feast of St Agnes.} I\ndesired I hold, for I am joined to them that are a type upon Earth of\nHim to Whom I am espoused in Heaven. The Lord bless your Fortitude,\n{Deut. xxxiii. 11.} and receive the Work of your Hands. I pray and\nmost earnestly beseech you, as most dear Sons, to persevere in those\nThings which you have begun by the Inspiration of the Holy Ghost, not\nabandoning your Perfection as is the Custom with some, but avoiding\nall the Snares of Darkness, strive ever after Things more Perfect.\nMost high is your Perfection, above Man and the Strength of Man, and\nit excels in its Brightness the Perfection of your Forefathers. Have\nno Doubt or Fear concerning the Kingdom of Heaven, for you already\nhold the Earnest of Future {Eph. i. 14.} Inheritance and a Pledge of\n{2 Cor. v. 5.} the Spirit, being sealed with the Seal of the Glory of\nChrist, and are like in all things, by His Grace, to that first Company\nof Disciples which He gathered about Him when He came into the World.\nFor that which they did when He was with them, you have done not seeing\nHim, and you need not fear to say: Behold we {Matt. xix. 27.} have left\nall Things and have followed Thee.\nLet not the Greatness of the Fight, nor the Magnitude of the Labour\nhinder you, for Great shall be your Reward. {Heb. x. 35.} Looking\nunto the Author and {Heb. xii. 2.} Finisher of All Good Things, Our\nLord Jesus Christ, Who having Joy set before Him, endured the Cross,\ndespising the Shame, hold fast to the {Heb. x. 23.} Confession of your\nHope, without wavering. Run with Charity to the Fight that is before\nyou; run, too, with Patience which is most necessary to you, that by\nso doing the Will of God you may receive the Promise. For God is able\nby His Holy Grace to bring to a happy Consummation, the Work which\nis above your Strength, because He is faithful to His Promises. Let\nnothing be found in you pleasing to the {Eph. ii. 2.} Spirit of the\nChildren of Unbelief, let there be no Doubt or Hesitation, lest in\nworking their Wickedness against you, they convict you of Consent.\nFor it is a proud Spirit, but {Isa. xvi. 6.} its Pride and Arrogancy\nare greater than its Strength. This Spirit is exceeding wrath with\nyou, and it will turn against you all the Arms of its Cunning. It will\nseek to pour out the Venom of its Malice upon you, like one who in\nfighting had thought all his Enemies vanquished, and now rages to see\nyou looking down upon him. All the Inhabitants of Heaven, O dearest\nBrothers, rejoice exceedingly in your Conversion, and have sung a new\nSong before the Face of the Eternal King. The Angels rejoice because\nof you, for through you many shall continue Virgins, they shall be\nresplendent in Chastity, and shall fill the empty places in the City on\nHigh, where Virgins are established in especial Glory, for those that\nneither marry {Matt. xxii. 30.} nor are given in Marriage are like the\nAngels in Heaven. The Apostles exult at seeing their Life renewed, and\ntheir Doctrine preached, and because you show an Example of the Highest\nSanctity. And the Martyrs exult, waiting to see their Constancy in\nthe Shedding of Blood made manifest in you also. The Confessors dance\nbefore the Lord, knowing that their Victory in the Face of the Enemy\nis often to be repeated in you. The Virgins who follow the Lamb {Rev.\nxiv. 4.} whithersoever He goeth, likewise rejoice, knowing that by you\nmany will be daily added to their Number. The Whole Court of Heaven is\nfilled with Joy, for daily shall they keep the Festival of some new\nInhabitant, and because they shall be continually incensed with the\nOdour of Holy Prayers ascending from this Valley of Tears.\n{Rom. xii. 1.} Therefore, I beseech you, dear Brothers, by the Mercy of\nGod, for which you have made yourselves thus Poor, carry out that which\nyou have come to do, for which you left the Rivers of Babylon. Receive\nin all Humility the Grace which has been given you, use it worthily in\nAll Things, and always for the Praise, Honour, and Glory of Him Who\ndied for you, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who with the Father and the Holy\nGhost, liveth and reigneth, Victorious and Glorious, Eternal God, World\nwithout End,\nAMEN\n  HERE ENDETH THE TREATISE CONCERNING THE LADY POVERTY AND OUR SERAPHIC\n  FATHER, THE BLESSED FRANCIS.\nThis Work was done in the Month of July, after the Death of the Blessed\nFrancis, in the Year One thousand two hundred and twenty-seven after\nthe Incarnation of OUR LORD and SAVIOUR, JESUS CHRIST.\nON THE SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF EVANGELICAL POVERTY\nBY\nFATHER CUTHBERT, O.S.F.C.\n  THE SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF EVANGELICAL POVERTY\n\u201cThis is the sublimity of most high Poverty which has made you,\nbeloved brethren, heirs and kings of the Kingdom of Heaven.\u201d[27] Thus\nwrote St Francis of Assisi when he gave his disciples the Rule which\nobliged them to \u201cserve the Lord in poverty and humility.\u201d It is easy to\nrecognise in these words the note of exultation and achievement which\nmade St Francis the most inspiring personality in Medi\u00e6val Christendom,\nand which gives to his name, even to-day, a singular power over the\nimagination of the Christian World. Clad in his peasant\u2019s dress, and\nwith no possessions of his own in the world save his soul and body,[28]\nhe is nevertheless the man rich in all things that are of vital\ninterest, the clear spiritual vision, the perfect joy, the encompassing\nsympathy, which gathers all palpitating life into its own. Francis\n_lived_, if ever a man lived. His was the liberty of soul which finds\nthe joy of life in all Creation.\nArtificial stimulus and transient excitement could add nought to\nthe Joy that was his. To him the sky and the earth, the sun and the\nflowers, the fields and all living things, spoke with articulate speech\nof the life that is in them. As for his fellow-men, their life was his\nlife. He had come to pass beyond the bounds of his own personality, and\nto enter into that spiritual communion with all living things, whereby\nman escapes from his own limitations, and the world lives in him as he\nin the world. And above all, and yet in all, he beheld the ever blessed\nGod, the Author of all life that is. To Francis, God was ever present\nin the Creation, the Life behind all life. \u201cThe Heavens show forth\nthe Glory of God, and the Firmament declareth the Work of His Hands.\u201d\nThe intimate relationship binding creation to its Creator was to him\nan abiding perception; he could not think of Earth apart from Heaven,\nnor of finite man apart from the Infinite God. Whatever was good and\nbeautiful was to him an indication of the Divine Goodness and Beauty,\na portal of the Eternal Kingdom; and with keen spiritual intuition he\ndiscovered the good and the beautiful, where men of lesser sensibility\nwould only find the commonplace and the material. \u201cTo them that love\nGod, all things work together unto Good;\u201d[29] the truly spiritual man\ndiscovers the imprint of the Divine Life along all the highways and\nbyways of Creation: just as the poet\u2019s eye discovers beauty in the\nwoodland through which the ordinary wayfarer passes unheeding.\nThus the whole creation poured into the Soul of Francis an unceasing\nstream of spiritual life, and with the inflowing life came joy--joy\nunutterable; and sorrow too. For life as it is, has no joy altogether\nseparate from pain. There is tragedy in the purest romance, death even\nwhere there is life. And so the \u201cjoyous troubadour of God\u201d sorrowed\nmuch because of the shadow that lay across the sunshine. To him\npersonally life was joy, such was his liberty of spirit; but it was not\nso to all men. Many are they to whom life is sorrow; they walk as in a\ndark valley with but the twilight around them; nay, at times with no\nlight at all, but only darkness, and their souls are starved for lack\nof light and warmth; even when in their ignorance or despair they seek\npleasure in the immediate objects of sense around them. For these he\nsorrowed with the sorrow of Christ weeping over Jerusalem. It was a\nsorrow which kept him at long vigils when the world lay asleep, praying\nfor mercy for the souls of men. Yet this sorrow could not destroy the\nessential joy of life which was his in a super-eminent degree. He\nsorrowed as many a man and woman sorrows over a friend who is deprived\nof the happiness which is their own.\nTruly was Francis a \u201cKing and heir of the Kingdom,\u201d if Kingship means\nsovereign possession; for he found what is best in life and had it as\nhis own, nought else than the very joy of life. Francis himself has\ntold us how this joy of life came to him with the absolute renunciation\nof what the world at large holds most dear--wealth, place, and power.\nIn renunciation he found spiritual freedom, and with it joy. No man is\ntruly joyous whose joy does not spring from his own soul, or from that\ninalienable possession of the world which comes of spiritual communion\nwith what is good and true in it, and therefore Eternal.\nThe joy which is dependent upon the possession of the merely visible\nand material can never reach the inmost spirit of man, even were such\npossession not, at best, uncertain and of its nature transitory. Nay,\nthe joy of life, which springs from man\u2019s own spirit, is impossible\nto him whose heart is set upon the merely external world. For the\nspiritual and the material are in the immediate aspect a simple\nantithesis; so that where the one is, the other cannot be. \u201cYou\ncannot serve God and mammon.\u201d You cannot satisfy your nature with the\ntransitory, and yet retain an appetite for the Eternal. Consequently,\nhe who would be free and retain a relish for the life of the Spirit,\nmust beware of the lust of the earth, and keep a detached heart towards\nwhat is of its nature unspiritual.\nTo St Francis, a man amongst men, the lust of the earth was radically\nallied with pride of class, an inordinate ambitiousness of glory, and a\nlove of luxury. Poverty, as Francis understood it, meant the antithesis\nof all this. The Lady Poverty (to borrow the Saint\u2019s own imagery) was\nan outcast; she was the despised of men; and she walked amid the rough\nways of the earth with threadbare garments and bruised feet.\nThe story how Francis found his ideal bride and came to love her with\nchivalric devotion, is too well known to need repetition. The final\nact in the drama came when one day, riding in the plain before Assisi,\nhe was met by a leper who besought an alms, and, filled with disgust,\nhe at first thought to pass on, but, moved by a nobler impulse, cast\nhimself from his horse, and not only gave the alms, but folded the\nleper to his breast and embraced him. From that moment he himself has\ntold us that \u201cwhat had seemed bitter was changed into sweetness of soul\nand body, and not long afterwards I left the world.\u201d[30]\nThe embrace of the leper marked the final abandonment in Francis\u2019 soul\nof the sense of separation between himself, the son of the wealthy\nBernardone, and the outcasts of society. Henceforth to Francis, the\npoor and the outcast were human brethren, worthy of a brother\u2019s\nintimate love and care. In the same moment he cast aside, once for\nall, his youthful dream of entering the ranks of chivalry, and seeking\nrenown in battle and tournament. Henceforth he would be the servant of\nhis brothers the poor, and \u201cserve the Lord in Poverty and Humility.\u201d\nThe path of renunciation was further determined for him when his new\nideal of life clashed with the commercial interests of his family.\nIn the newly-awakened consciousness of his kinship with the poor, he\nconsidered his share in the family business as their share, and freely\nparted with what he had a right to consider his own. Pietro Bernardone,\nhis father, foresaw commercial ruin from such a course, and when he\nfound that Francis was indissolubly wedded to his ideal, promptly\ndisinherited him. Henceforth Francis was without house or property of\nhis own. With the keenness of a soul set free, he at once recognised\nin his father\u2019s act of disinheritance the charter of his spiritual\nfreedom. \u201cNow in truth can I say: Our Father Who art in Heaven!\u201d Heaven\nand earth became his when in the moment of abandonment he called God\nhis Father. Thus he cast from himself forever the three dominant\ntyrannies which in his own age and since, have oppressed the souls of\nmen--wealth, place, and power. He had become in very truth the Poor Man\nof Assisi, and yet who was richer than he?\nNever did Francis regret his renunciation, but ever did the thought\nof it fill him with gratitude and joy. One day, some years after his\ndisinheritance, the Saint and one of his disciples, Brother Masseo,\nwere eating a scanty meal of broken bread, begged by the way; they\nate near a fountain, and a large stone was their table. \u201cO Brother\nMasseo,\u201d said Francis, his soul bubbling with joy, \u201cwe are not worthy\nof so great a treasure;\u201d and he repeated these words several times.\nBrother Masseo answered: \u201cFather, how canst thou talk of a treasure\nwhere there is so much poverty and indeed a lack of all things? for we\nhave neither cloth, nor knife nor dish, nor table, nor house; neither\nhave we servant nor maid to wait upon us.\u201d Then said the Saint: \u201cAnd\nthis is the very reason why I look upon it as a great treasure, because\nman has no hand in it, but all has been given us by Divine Providence,\nas we clearly see in this bread of charity, in this beautiful table of\nstone, and in this clear fountain.\u201d[31] Surely here we find the very\napotheosis of poverty; of the poverty which, discarding the artificial,\nis happy in the simple realities and in the bounties of nature, and\nfeels no barrier between itself and the spiritual possession of the\nvery earth itself.\nHere it may be as well to take note how alien is the poverty of Francis\nfrom the vulgarity and squalor, the idleness and discontent, which\nmark too frequently the life of the poor. No greater misconception of\nFranciscan poverty could there be than to conceive it as sanctioning or\ncondoning any condition that detracts from the proper native dignity\nof man. The \u201cLady Poverty\u201d of Francis went with bare and bruised feet,\nher garment was coarse, and she ate but the bread of the peasant; but\nshe retained her native dignity of soul, and bore herself as a Queen\nwherever she went. She delighted in the pure air, and the flowers, and\nthe running stream, was honest and self-revering, simple and joyous.\nThe poverty of our city slums where hearts break in discontent, and\nsouls are starved for lack of spiritual intelligence--such was not\nthe poverty of Francis\u2019 dream. To use again his own manner of speech,\nthis is poverty in slavery, degraded and dishonoured by the vice and\nselfishness of man. With a full heart would he have set himself to\nrescue his Ideal from her modern degradation and restore her to her\nplace of honour upon the earth. Knight-errant as he was, he would not\nhave rested until poverty was made honourable amongst men. To rescue\nthe poor from the conditions which have so effectually demoralised them\nduring the past two or three centuries of unheeding individualism,\nwould undoubtedly have been to Francis a first and urgent duty were\nhe with us to-day. Even in his own time he regarded with anxiety the\nconditions which debased the poor; even then he considered himself the\nknight-errant sent to rescue the comely maiden Poverty from the neglect\nand heartless scorn of the world.[32] But was ever Italian peasant so\nutterly degraded as are many of the victims of modern industrialism?\nPoverty with Francis was the mother of spiritual freedom; poverty in\nthe London slum is synonymous with hard materialism and irreligion.\nWas ever contrast greater? And yet Francis has made evident to us that\nbeneath the squalor and degradation of the modern city, there is a\nspiritual possibility, if only it can be recovered. But will it ever\nbe that poverty shall again regain amongst the hungry multitude the\nhonourable estate with which the Saint of Assisi had endowed it? Will\nit ever be rescued from its present inhuman conditions? The future only\ncan tell; and they who strive that it shall be so can only work in the\nstrength of their faith; but faith verily can accomplish the apparently\nimpossible, if faith itself be strong. Meanwhile the ideal of Francis\nhas assuredly a prophetic message for the multitude which is not hungry.\nPoverty, as Francis preached it, is an integral element in the\nChristian life. Christianity imperatively demands of all its followers\nan acceptance of the truth which Francis embodied so wonderfully in\nhimself. No one can enter the Kingdom of Heaven unless he be as Francis\nwas, a lover of Poverty. Such is the Gospel. \u201cBlessed are the poor\nin spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.\u201d[33] There are those\nwho so interpret this beatitude as to empty it of all significance\nconcerning material possessions. The meaning of Christ, however, is\nmade clear, by His own earthly life and by the lives of His early\ndisciples. \u201cPoverty of Spirit\u201d means nothing less than detachment of\nheart from the possession or achievement of material gain, and from its\nattendant pleasures. No man can be a disciple of Christ who is not free\nfrom the moral slavery which wealth and temporal possessions so easily\nset upon the soul. To no man is given the spiritual insight and vision\nwhich alone can bring rest eternal to man\u2019s spirit, unless he have\nfirst put from him the lust of the earth. And according to the measure\nof his detachment is spiritual achievement possible.\nIs then every man to imitate St Francis of Assisi, and cast off all\nwealth and become dependent upon the labour of his hands or the charity\nof his neighbour? No such claim is made by Francis, for it was not\nmade by Christ. If Christ demanded of the young man that he should \u201cgo\nand sell what he had and give it to the poor\u201d in order to follow Him,\nHe also acquiesced in the rich Zacch\u00e6us keeping his wealth so long as\nhe did not neglect his duty to those in need. Francis, too, following\nthe Divine Model, gave no injunction to the Lord of Chiusi or to the\nLady Giacoma to renounce their property, and he expressly forbade his\nfriars, who like himself gave up all right of possession, to judge\nthose who have possessions. No, it is not the holding of property, but\nthe selfish misuse of it and the inordinate desire of material gain and\nits pleasures, which is opposed to the virtue of evangelical poverty.\nIn few words may the Christian precept of poverty be set forth: Let\nno man set his heart on any material possession for its own sake, or\nfor the mere holding of it; if a man is lacking in this world\u2019s goods,\nlet him not fret nor complain, but seek rather the life of the spirit.\nIf, on the other hand, he is endowed with this world\u2019s goods, either\nby inheritance or as the result of honest labour, let him bear in mind\nthat such goods are not absolutely his own; they belong, in the first\ninstance, to God, the Master of all, and may rightfully be used and\ndistributed only subject to the Divine laws of justice and charity. No\nman has an absolute ownership before God, so that he may satisfy his\nown whim or pleasure without consideration for what is due by Divine\nLaw to his fellow-men. Possession in the sphere of conscience is\nstewardship. The rich are God\u2019s stewards, appointed to \u201cgive to every\nman his just measure in due season.\u201d Such briefly is the precept of\nEvangelical Poverty--a precept which has no direct connection with any\ntheory of social economics, but is based upon the fundamental law of\nreligion, that only the poor in spirit are spiritually free and capable\nof citizenship in the realm of eternal life.\nAssuredly to us who live our lives upon the pulse of a great industrial\nempire, this message of the Poverello comes with a distinctness not\nto be passed unheeded. As a race we are a prosperous people, and\nmoney-making is our first preoccupation. Luxuries are easily within\nour grasp; cheap luxuries, perhaps, which is all the worse, for that\nvery cheapness is a snare blinding us to the fact that what we indulge\nin is a luxury. In money-making and luxury lie the elemental dangers\nto our spiritual life. \u201cMoney,\u201d says Cardinal Newman, \u201cis a sort of\ncreation, and gives the acquirer, even more than the possessor, an\nimagination of his own power, and tends to make him idolise himself.\nAgain, what we have hardly won we are unwilling to part with; so that a\nman who has himself made his wealth will commonly be penurious, or, at\nleast, will not part with it except in exchange for what will reflect\ncredit on himself or increase his importance. Even when his conduct\nis most disinterested and amiable (as in spending for the comfort of\nthose who depend on him), still this indulgence of self, of pride, and\nworldliness insinuates itself.\u201d And he adds: \u201cIf such be the effect of\nthe pursuit of gain on an individual, doubtless it will be the same on\na nation; and if the peril be so great in the one case, why should it\nbe less in the other?\u201d[34] The enduring strength of a nation, as of an\nindividual, depends upon moral fibre and spiritual vision. If these be\ndestroyed no nation can long remain save as a warning to the nations\nthat shall come. Undoubtedly there are strong tendencies amongst us\ntowards the worship of wealth and its attendant luxuries and towards a\nselfish accumulation of wealth beyond all possible needs, tendencies\nwhich acquire strength with the growth of empire and trade. Well for us\nis it that at this time Francis of Assisi is becoming widely known. To\nall who revolt against the vulgar materialism which dominates so much\nof our present life, Francis of Assisi is as a prophet sent by God.\nStanding against the dark background of Avarice and Luxury which had\nalready infested the growing commercial centres of the medi\u00e6val world,\nhe throws the light of his own clear personality into the dark corners\nof our own life.\nWe yearn, many of us, for a deeper spiritual life; we sorrow because\nthe joy of life seems flitting ever further and further away from this\ncomplex social organism of ours. We seek direction, and the Poverello\nis here to lead us; and the way he leads is that of detachment and\nrenunciation. But his own personality and life are an assurance to us\nthat the renunciation he preaches, leads to richer gain; he leads us\nthrough death, only that we may find life even here, in some measure,\nupon the earth, and in the fulness of the spirit hereafter. Thus and\nnot otherwise does he interpret to us the Poverty of Christ.\n  FATHER CUTHBERT, O.S.F.C.\n  Crawley, Feast of St Anthony\n  of Padua, 1901.\nAPPENDICES\nAPPENDIX I\n  A PRAYER OF THE BLESSED FRANCIS TO OBTAIN HOLY POVERTY.\nO Lord Jesus! Show me the ways of Thy dearly-loved Poverty. I know\nthat the Old Testament was but a Figure of the New. In the Old, Thou\nhast promised that \u201cevery place that your foot shall tread upon, shall\nbe {Deut. xi. 24.} yours.\u201d To tread under foot is to despise; Poverty\ntreads all Things under foot, therefore she is the Queen of all Things.\nBut, O my dear Lord Jesus, have pity upon me and upon my Lady Poverty,\nfor I am consumed with Love for her, and can know no rest without her.\nThou knowest all this, my Lord, Thou who didst fill me with the Love\nof her. But she sitteth in sadness, rejected of all; she, the Mistress\nof Nations, is become as a Widow; the Queen of all Virtues is become\ncontemptible; {Lament. i. 1.} and sitting upon a dunghill she lamenteth\nthat all her friends have despised her and have become her enemies; for\nlong now she knows them to be wantons and no Spouses of hers.\nRemember, O Lord Jesus, that Poverty is so much the Queen of the\nVirtues, that Thou, forsaking the dwelling-place of the Angels, didst\ndescend upon Earth in order to espouse her in Love Everlasting, and so\nas to bring forth in her, and by her, and through her, all the Children\nof Perfection. And she clung to Thee with such Fidelity, that even\nwithin Thy Mother\u2019s womb she paid Thee homage, for Thy Infant Body was,\nit is thought, the smallest of all. And at Thy Birth she received Thee\nin a Holy Manger and Stable; and in Thy Life upon Earth she so deprived\nThee of all things, that Thou hadst no place where to lay Thy Head. And\nas a faithful Helpmeet she followed Thee loyally when Thou didst go\nforth to do battle for our Redemption, and in the Agony of the Passion\nshe was Thy only Armour-bearer. When Thy Disciples denied Thee and\nfled, she alone did not leave Thee, but was Thy faithful Companion with\nall the host of her Princes.\nEven Thy own Mother (who alone did faithfully honour Thee, and with\ngrievous Sorrow share Thy Passion), even she, I say, could not by\nreason of the height of the Cross, reach up unto Thee, but the Lady\nPoverty in all her Penury, like a most dear Servitor, did there hold\nThee in an ever closer embrace, and join herself more and more nearly\nto Thy Sufferings. For the which reason she did not wait to smooth\nThy Cross, nor to give It even the rudest preparation; nor, it is\nthought, did she even make sufficient Nails for Thy Wounds, nor sharpen\nor polish them, but furnished three only, all rough and jagged and\nblunted, to support Thee in Thy Martyrdom. And when Thou wast dying of\na burning Thirst, Thy faithful Spouse was careful lest Thou shouldst\nhave one drop of Water even, and by the hands of the impious Soldiery,\nprepared Thee a Cup of such bitterness, that Thou couldst only taste,\nbut not drink of it. And in the close Embrace of this Thy Spouse, Thou\ndidst yield up the Ghost.\nBut so faithful a Spouse was not absent at Thy Burial and would not\nsuffer Thee to have anything of Thy own, either Sepulchre or Ointments\nor Linen, for these were all borrowed from others. Nor did she fail to\nbe present at Thy Resurrection; for rising gloriously in her Embrace,\nThou didst leave behind in the Sepulchre all those things which had\nbeen borrowed. And then Thou didst take her up into Heaven with Thee,\nabandoning all earthly things to those that are of the Earth, and\nbequeathing unto the Lady Poverty the Seal of the Kingdom of Heaven,\nwherewith she might seal the Elect who desire to walk in the Way of\nPerfection.\nO who would not love the Lady Poverty above all things! Of Thee, O\nJesus, I ask to be signed with this Privilege; I long to be enriched\nwith this Treasure; I beseech Thee, O most poor Jesus, that, for Thy\nsake, it may be the Mark of me and mine to all Eternity, to possess no\nthing of our own under the Sun, but to live in penury upon the goods of\nothers, so long as this vile body lasts.\nAMEN.\nNOTE\nThis remarkable prayer figures as the composition of St Francis in\nall the editions of his works from Wadding (Antwerp, 1623) to Fra\nBernardo da Fivizzano (Florence, 1880). But we have (unfortunately)\nno satisfactory or scientific proof that the prayer was really the\ncomposition of the Seraphic Patriarch. Wadding took it from Ubertino\nda Casale \u201cArbor Vit\u00e6 Crucifixi Jesu\u201d (Venice, 1485). Ubertino wrote\nhis redoubtable book in 1305, and though he puts this prayer into the\nmouth of St Francis, the context points to the fact that he is rather\nattempting to reproduce the sentiments of the Saint, than giving a\nprayer literally written by him. And his indebtedness to the \u201cSacrum\nCommercium\u201d is obvious. But whether written by St Francis or not,\nthere can be no doubt that when he prayed, he often prayed after this\nfashion. It most faithfully reflects his spirit and ideas, and is\nadmirably illustrative of the \u201cSacrum Commercium.\u201d For this reason we\nhave given it a place in the Appendix. It is also interesting as being\nthe probable source whence Dante drew his beautiful idea that the Lady\nPoverty was more privileged than the Blessed Virgin, insomuch as she\nfollowed the Lord up on to the very Cross itself:\n    \u201c_Si che, dove Maria rimase giuso,\n      Ella con Cristo salse[35] in su la croce._\u201d\nThe na\u00efve sublimity of the concluding petition of the prayer \u201cet\nalienis rebus semper cum usus penuria, dum vivit caro misera,\nsustentari,\u201d is most characteristic of the Saint, not only in its\nsentiment but in its Franciscan directness. It strikes strangely upon\nmodern ears to hear a Divine petition that certain men may ever be\nknown as men who lived upon others. But it is logical, as Francis\nalways was. There can be no evangelical poverty with possessions, and\nyet man must keep body and soul together; hence mendicancy is the only\nresource of the real lovers of my Lady Poverty. This sentiment recalls\nthe famous saying of St Francis in the Fifth of his \u201cCollationes\nMonastic\u00e6\u201d: \u201cThere is a compact between the World and my Brothers. They\nowe it a good example, and the World in return must provide them with\nall necessities. But if the Brothers, breaking faith, cease to give\ntheir good example, the World will, with justice, withdraw its helping\nhand.\u201d\nVery interesting, and of considerable importance, is the fact that this\nPrayer speaks of Christ being crucified with three nails only. Whether\nSt Francis wrote the prayer or not, we may take this to have been his\nopinion, for it seems to have been the common opinion of the thirteenth\ncentury. And bearing in mind this opinion of his, it becomes impossible\nto attribute the phenomena of his Stigmata to subjective causes, or to\nthat which is loosely called hysteria. The Stigmata of St Francis were\nnot merely open wounds, but showed nails of a black fleshy substance,\none in each hand and one in each foot. If these Stigmata had been the\nresult of intense meditation on the Passion, then, seeing what his\nopinion was, the singular phenomena which were developed in him, would\nhave shown one nail only for the feet, and not a nail in either foot.\nThe point is of capital importance to investigators of a remarkable\noccurrence which, while proved beyond a doubt as a matter of fact, has\nhitherto found no scientific explanation.\nAPPENDIX II.\nPARADISE--CANTO XI.\nLINES 28-123\n_Dean Plumptre\u2019s Translation_\nIt is probable that Dante knew the \u201cSacrum Commercium\u201d; it is certain\nthat he knew the Prayer to obtain Poverty. Therefore it may be\nconvenient to give _in extenso_ that part of the Divine Canto which\nsings of the Mystic loves of Francis and the Lady Poverty.\n    The Providence,--which all things doth dispose                    28\n    With such deep counsels that all mortal gaze\n    Is baffled ere to that great depth it goes--\n    That unto Him she loves might bend her ways,                      31\n    The Bride of Him Who, with a bitter cry,\n    Espoused her with the blood we bless and praise,\n    In fuller peace, more steadfast loyalty,                          34\n    Her, for her good, with two high chiefs endowed,\n    That they on either side her guides might be.\n    The soul of one with love seraphic glowed;                        37\n    The other by his wisdom on our earth\n    A splendour of cherubic glory showed.\n    Of one I\u2019ll speak; for, if we tell the worth                      40\n    Of one, \u2019tis true of both, whiche\u2019er we take,\n    For to one end each laboured from his birth.\n    Between Tupino and the streams that break                         43\n    From the hill chosen by Ubaldo blest,\n    A lofty mount a fertile slope doth make;\n    Perugia\u2019s Sun-gate from that lofty crest                          46\n    Feels heat and cold; Nocer\u2019 and Gualdo pine\n    Behind it, by their heavy yoke opprest.\n    On this slope, where less steeply doth incline                    49\n    The hill, was born into this world a sun,\n    Bright as this orb doth oft o\u2019er Ganges shine.\n    Whence, naming this spot, let not any one                         52\n    Call it Ascesi--that were tame in sense--\n    As Orient doth its proper title run.\n    Such was his rise, nor was he far from thence,                    55\n    When he began to make the wide earth share\n    Some comfort from his glorious excellence;\n    For he, a youth, his father\u2019s wrath did dare                      58\n    For maid, for whom not one of all the crowd,\n    As she were death, would pleasure\u2019s gates unbar.\n    And then before court spiritual he vowed                          61\n    _Et coram patre_--marriage-pledge to her,\n    And day by day more fervent love he showed.\n    Of her first spouse bereaved, a thousand were,                    64\n    And more, the years she lived, despised, obscure,\n    And, till he came, none did his suit prefer.\n    Nought it availed that she was found secure                       67\n    With that Amyclas when the voice was heard\n    Which made the world great terror-pangs endure;\n    Nought it availed that she nor shrank nor feared,                 70\n    So that, when Mary tarried yet below,\n    She on the Cross above with Christ appeared.\n    By these two lovers, in my speech diffuse,\n    Thou Poverty and Francis now mayst know.\n    Their concord and their looks of joy profuse,                     76\n    The love, the wonder, and the aspect sweet,\n    Made men in holy meditation muse,\n    So that the holy Bernard bared his feet,                          79\n    The first to start, and for such peace so tried,\n    That slow he thought his pace, though it was fleet.\n    O wealth unknown, true good that doth abide!                      82\n    \u00c6gidius bared his feet, Sylvester too,\n    Following the Bridegroom, so they loved the Bride.\n    Then went that Father and that Master true                        85\n    With that his Bride and that his family,\n    Who round their loins the lowly girdle drew;\n    Nor was faint heart betrayed in downcast eye,                     88\n    As being Pietro Bernardone\u2019s son,\n    Nor yet as one despised wondrously;\n    But like a king his stern intention                               91\n    To Innocent he opened, who did give\n    The first seal to that new religion.\n    Then, when the race content as poor to live                       94\n    Grew behind him, whose life, so high renowned,\n    Would, in Heaven\u2019s glory, higher songs receive,\n    With a new diadem once more was crowned                           97\n    By Pope Honorius, from on high inspired,\n    This Archimandrite\u2019s purpose, holy found.\n    And after that, with martyr zeal untired,                        100\n    He, in the presence of the Soldan proud\n    Preached Christ, and those whom His example fired;\n    And finding that that race no ripeness showed                    103\n    For their conversion, not to toil in vain,\n    He to Italia\u2019s fields his labours vowed.\n    On the rough rock \u2019twixt Tiber\u2019s, Arno\u2019s, plain,                 106\n    From Christ received he the last seal\u2019s impress,\n    Which he two years did in his limbs sustain.\n    When it pleased Him, Who chose him thus to bless,                109\n    To lead him up the high reward to share\n    Which he had merited by lowliness,\n    Then to his brothers, each as rightful heir,                     112\n    He gave in charge his lady-love most dear,\n    And bade them love her with a steadfast care;\n    And from her breast that soul so high and clear                  115\n    Would fain depart and to its kingdom turn,\n    Nor for his body sought another bier.\n    Think now what he was who the fame did earn                      118\n    To be his comrade, and for Peter\u2019s barque\n    On the high seas the true path to discern.\n    And such was he, our honoured Patriarch;                         121\n    Wherefore, who follows him as he commands,\n    Him laden with rich treasures thou mayest mark.\nBy M. CARMICHAEL.\nIN TUSCANY.\nTUSCAN TOWNS--TUSCAN TYPES--THE TUSCAN TONGUE, ETC.\n_With numerous Illustrations._\nSECOND EDITION.\nCrown 8vo. 9s. nett.\n  Printed at\n  The Edinburgh Press,\n  9 & 11 Young Street.\nFOOTNOTES:\n[1] \u201cNota al Canto XI. (versi 43-75) del \u2018Paradiso\u2019 di Dante\nAlighieri,\u201d Citt\u00e0 di Castello, Lapi, 1894, pp. 54.\n[2] \u201cSacrum Commercium Beati Francisci cum Domina Paupertate, Opus\nAnno Domini 1227 conscriptum ad fidem Variorum Codicum MS. Adjuncta\nversione Italica inedita, curante P. Eduardo Alinconiensi, Ord. Min.\nCapuccinorum Archivo Generali Pr\u00e6posito.\u201d Rome, Kleinbub, 1900, 4to,\npp. xviii-52.\n[3] The Italian edition of the Chronicle of Mark of Lisbon (Venice,\n1590, voi. ii. pp. 82-92) contains a compendium of the \u201cSacrum\nCommercium\u201d which, however, does not merit the name of an edition.\n[4] \u201cMeditazione sulla Povert\u00e0 di Santo Francesco\u201d Scrittura inedita\ndel Secolo XIV. Pistoia, Tip. Cino., 1847, 18mo. pp. 72.\n[5] See \u201cBibliografia dei Testi di Lingua a Stampa citati dagli\nAccademici della Crusca, opera di Luigi Razzolini ed Alberto Bacchi\ndella Lega,\u201d 4th Edition. Bologna, 1890.\n[6] \u201cLe Mistiche Nozze di San Francesco e Madonna Povert\u00e0. Allegoria\nFrancescana del Secolo, xiii.\u201d Florence, 1901, 12mo. pp. xxiv-70. I\ncannot help regretting that Don Minocchi has given the work a title\nof his own choosing, though I recognise the superiority of his title\nas title. As the \u201cMeditazione\u201d it was christened by the original\ntranslator, as the \u201cMeditazione\u201d first published by Fanfani and Bindi,\nand as the \u201cMeditazione\u201d it has become a Tuscan classic under the \u00e6gis\nof the Crusca.\n[7] \u201cAnalecta Francescana,\u201d vol. iii. p. 283. Ad Claras Aquas\n(Quaracchi) 1897, 4to.\n[8] \u201cSpeculum Perfectionis,\u201d p. vi., Paris, 1898. But then he is only\nfollowing Alvisi.\n[9] \u201cLe Mistiche Nozze di Frate Francesco con Madonna Povert\u00e0,\u201d\nFlorence, Olschki, 1898, pp. 58. I have since seen his _Noterelle\nFrancescane_, in the \u201cGiornale Dantesco\u201d (An. ix., Quad, iii.) in which\nhe modifies his opinion.\n[10] \u201cVita del Beato Giovanni da Parma,\u201d 2nd Edition. Quaracchi, 1900,\n[11] _Cf._ the \u201cMiscellanea Francescana,\u201d vol. vii. p. 182.\n[12] Add to all this that the \u201cSacrum Commercium\u201d contains not a single\ncitation from the Office of St Francis--which it is natural to suppose\nthat the imaginative writer would have here and there availed himself\nof--and it seems to me that the date of 1227 is proved with something\nlike certainty, and the date of 1247 excluded beyond a doubt.\n[13] _Op. cit._ p. xii. and p. 41 et ss.\n[14] The \u201cArbor Vit\u00e6 Crucifixi Jesu,\u201d Venice, 1485, fol.\n[15] \u201cChronica Fratris Salimbene Parmensis.\u201d Parma, 1857, 4to, pp.\n[16] Let me here render him public thanks for his courteous permission\nto do so, and make due public acknowledgment of my indebtedness to his\ncritical preface. Had it not been for this scholarly work I must needs\nhave spent months in puzzling out for myself the crabbed hands and\ncrooked abbreviations of three or four fourteenth-century scribes.\n[17] My references to the Psalms are according to the notation of\nthe Vulgate. Perhaps it may be necessary to state for the benefit\nof readers not well acquainted with the Vulgate, that \u201cEccli.\u201d is a\nreference to Ecclesiasticus or the Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach,\nand not to Ecclesiastes (Eccl.) or the Wisdom of the Preacher.\n[18] This chapter is wanting a title in all the Codexes. I have taken\nthe liberty of styling it \u201cIn Praise of Poverty.\u201d\n[19] In contradistinction, _e.g._ to the Meek who _shall_ possess the\nLand (Matt. v. 4). Only the persecuted for Justice\u2019s sake have the same\nimmediate privilege as the Poor in Spirit (Matt. v. 10). We shall see\nlater on that Persecution is the noblest and most helpful of all the\nLady Poverty\u2019s sisters.\n[20] Though the Author here quotes Psalm xxiii. 10, \u201cDominus Virtutum,\u201d\nhe is, from the context which follows, obviously not referring to the\nLord of Hosts or Sabaoth, nor to the Virtues as one of the Orders of\nAngels, but to God as the Lord of the Moral Perfections.\n[21] \u201cNon sum rudis,\u201d I am not raw or new, says the Writer, quoting\nMatt. ix. 16: \u201cNemo autem immittit commissuram panni rudis in\nvestimentum vetus\u201d: No man putteth a piece of new or raw cloth into an\nold garment.\n[22] So that Man\u2019s first transgression after his original Sin, was,\nby this, his first acquisition of property, a Sin against the High\nDoctrine of the Lady Poverty.\n[23] King James\u2019 Bible has \u201cten thousand times ten thousand.\u201d\n[24] There is in a part of this Chapter so intricate an interweaving of\nPauline phrases, that I make no attempt to indicate them by references.\n[25] In this terrible picture of Religious life at its lowest ebb, some\nallowance must be made for the fervid imagination and righteous wrath\nof the holy writer (\u201c_quidam sanctus doctor hujus sanctae Paupertatis\nprofessor et zelator strenuus_\u201d). But even with sloth, gluttony,\nintemperance, greed of gain, hypocrisy, and ungodliness running riot in\na whole Community, it is profitable to the historian to note that there\nis not a hint of unchastity, the truth being that a Community wholly\nunchaste is one of those rarities of history sought in the past, and\ndesired, I fear, by certain historians, but scarcely existing outside\nthe cruel inventions of interested despoilers. And lest any be amazed\nthat the Religious life should ever have fallen even half as low as\nis here portrayed, let them remember that the higher the ideal, the\nfurther the fall when it comes, and that the Lady Poverty has ever\npunished her betrayers by the completest degradation.\n[26] \u201cTerribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata.\u201d This occurs in the\nChapter at Prime in the Office of Our Lady, and hence it is here used\nin connection with that other Lady, Madonna Povert\u00e0. The translator of\nthe \u201cMeditazione,\u201d finding it would have no associations in Italian (as\nof course it has none in English), quietly drops it, but I cannot take\nso great a liberty, nor allow myself to hide the vivid and touching\nimagination which the pious author thus betrays. Throughout the whole\nallegory the influence of the Liturgy is conspicuous.\n[27] Regula S. Francisci, Cap. vi.\n[28] \u201cNon habebat aliud Christi pauper nisi duo minuta, corpus\nscilicet, et animam, quod posset liberali charitate largiri.\u201d Leg. Maj.\nS. Bonav., Cap. ix.\n[29] Romans viii. 28.\n[30] Testament of St Francis.\n[31] \u201cFioretti,\u201d chap. xiii.\n[32] _Vide_ \u201cThe Parable of Poverty,\u201d Legenda III. Soc. Cap. xii.,\nBollandist Edition.\n[33] Matthew v. 3.\n[34] \u201cParochial Sermons\u201d: _The Danger of Riches_.\n[35] Scartazzini rejects the reading \u201csalse\u201d (\u201clezione priva di\nautorit\u00e0\u201d), and adopts \u201cpianse.\u201d I hope, for the sake of Dante\u2019s great\nimagination, that he may be in the wrong. So competent an authority\nas Mr Wicksteed adheres to \u201csalse,\u201d basing his reason on this very\nprayer. See the \u201cParadise\u201d of Dante Alighieri, translated by Philip H.\nWicksteed, Dent, 1899.", "source_dataset": "gutenberg", "source_dataset_detailed": "gutenberg -  The Lady Poverty\n"}
]