The Little Flowers and the Life of St. Francis, with the...

Whence, near the end of his life, a certain brother said unto him: “Father, thou wilt go hence unto the Lord, and this family that followeth thee will abide in the vale of tears: notify therefore unto us if any there be in the Order thou knowest in whom thy spirit can find rest, and upon whom the burden of the Minister General may worthily be laid.”

The Blessed Francis made answer, and all his words were the weightier for his sighs: “My son, the captain of an army so great and made up of so many manner of men, the shepherd of a flock so huge and so scattered abroad, do I behold none that is sufficient to be; yet one will I picture for you in whom shall be seen clearly such an one as the captain and shepherd of this family ought to be.

“This man,” saith he, “ought to be one of most grave life, of great discre- tion, of laudable report, without private affections, lest while he loveth a part more dearly, he breed scandal to the whole. The study of prayer ought he to hold dear, but so as that he distribute certain hours to his own soul and certain others to his flock, for the first thing in the morning ought he set before all things the most holy sacrifice of the Mass, and therein by long devotion most lovingly to commend himself and the flock to the divine protection. But after prayer let him set himself in the midst to be plucked and pilled of all, ready to make answer to all and to make provision for all with charity and patience and gentleness.

“One ought he to be that accepteth the person of none, so that no less heed shall he pay to the simple and foolish than to the knowing and wise. Unto whom, if the gift of knowledge be granted, yet in his dealings let him rather bear the stamp of piety and simplicity, patience and humility, and let him cherish godliness in himself and in others, and in preaching godliness let him evermore practise the same, inciting others thereunto rather by his example than by his sermons. Let him be a blasphemer of money, the which is the chiefest source of corruption to our profession and perfection, and as the head and pattern to be imitated of all, let him in no wise give rise unto abuse by multiplying of money-boxes.

“Let it be enough for him as for himself to have his habit and his little book; for others his little basket with a reed, his tablets, and a seal. Let him not be a heaper up of books nor overmuch given to reading, lest haply he derogate from his office that cometh before his study. Let him pitifully console the afflicted, seeing that this is the last remedy of them that suffer tribulation, lest, in case he have not wherewith to supply the remedies of health, the desperateness of the disease do prevail over them that are sick. That he may bend the froward to tractableness, let him prostrate himself, and remit somewhat of his rightful due that thereby he may make gain of a soul.

“Unto the runaways of the Order, as unto sheep that have perished, let him deny not the bowels of pity, nor never refuse them mercy, knowing that so overpowering be the temptations that can drive them to so great a downfall, that were the Lord to permit him to be tried thereby himself, haply he might slide down toward an even steeper precipice. I would that he should be honored by all with all devotion and reverence as the vicar of Christ, and that in all things and by all provision should be made for him with all goodwill, having regard to his necessity and the meanness of our estate.

“Nevertheless doth it behove him not to look kindly upon honors, nor to take delight in favors more than in injuries, so that his behavior be not changed by honors save for the better. But in case at any time he should be in need of more palatable and better food, let him take it not by stealth but in the public place, so that others may have no shame in providing them with the like in their ailments and infirmities.

“Especially needful is it that he be able to detect the secrets of conscience and to search out the truth from hidden sources. All accusations at the outset let him hold suspect until the truth by diligent examination doth begin to appear. But let him not lend ear to babblers; in accusations especially, let him hold them suspect and believe them not easily. Lastly, such an one ought he to be as never in any wise to warp nor relax the manly rule of equity and justice through covetousness of retaining office; yet so nevertheless, as that the soul of none shall be slain by excess of rigor; nor of excess of mildness let lukewarmness be born, nor let dissolution of discipline be the outcome of an over-ready pardon. So let him be feared of all as that he may be loved of them that fear. Let him always think and feel that his office of superior is more of a burden than an honor unto him.

“I would, therefore, that he should have companions endowed with hon- esty, austere as against their own wills, brave in times of need, pitiful and compassionate toward them that offend, having an equal affection toward all, receiving nought for their labor save only just enough for the pure necessities of the body, and desirous of nought save the praise of God, the profit of the Order, the merit of their own souls, and the perfect salvation of all the brethren, becomingly courteous toward all, and all becomingly courteous toward them, with holy cheerfulness receiving both the form and example of observance of the Gospel according to the profession of the Rule in their own persons purely and simply, and manifesting the same to all. Behold, I say, such an one ought the Minister General to be, and such companions ought he to have.”