THE LITTLE FLOWERS OF SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI
PART ONE HERE BEGIN THE LITTLE FLOWERS OF ST FRANCIS OF ASSISI
CHAPTER II OF BROTHER BERNARD OF QUINTAVALLE, THE FIRST COMPANION OF ST FRANCIS
CHAPTER XIV HOW THE LORD APPEARED TO ST FRANCIS AND TO HIS BRETHREN AS HE WAS SPEAKING WITH THEM
CHAPTER XV HOW ST CLARE ATE WITH ST FRANCIS AND HIS COMPANIONS AT ST MARY OF THE ANGELS
CHAPTER XXI OF THE MOST HOLY MIRACLE OF ST FRANCIS IN TAMING THE FIERCE WOLF OF GUBBIO
CHAPTER XXII HOW ST FRANCIS TAMED THE WILD DOVES
CHAPTER XXIV HOW ST FRANCIS CONVERTED TO THE FAITH THE SULTAN OF BABYLON
CHAPTER XXX OF THE BEAUTIFUL SERMON WHICH ST FRANCIS AND BROTHER RUFFINO PREACHED AT ASSISI
CHAPTER XXXI HOW ST FRANCIS WAS ACQUAINTED WITH THE SECRETS OF THE CONSCIENCES OF ALL HIS BRETHREN
CHAPTER XXXII HOW BROTHER MASSEO OBTAINED FROM CHRIST THE VIRTUE OF HUMILITY
CHAPTER XXXVI HOW ST FRANCIS EXPLAINED TO BROTHER LEO A BEAUTIFUL VISION THAT HE HAD SEEN
CHAPTER XLV OF THE CONVERSION, LIFE, MIRACLES, AND DEATH OF THE HOLY BROTHER JOHN DELLA PENNA
CHAPTER XLIX HOW CHRIST APPEARED TO BROTHER JOHN OF ALVERNIA
OF THE SACRED AND HOLY STIGMATA OF ST FRANCIS AND CERTAIN CONSIDERATIONS THEREON
OF THE FIRST CONSIDERATION OF THE SACRED, HOLY STIGMATA
OF THE SECOND CONSIDERATION OF THE SACRED, HOLY STIGMATA
OF THE THIRD CONSIDERATION OF THE SACRED HOLY STIGMATA
OF THE FOURTH CONSIDERATION OF THE SACRED, HOLY STIGMATA
HOW JEROME, WHO AT FIRST BELIEVED NOT, SAW AND TOUCHED THE SACRED, HOLY STIGMATA OF ST FRANCIS
OF THE FIFTH AND LAST CONSIDERATION OF THE SACRED, HOLY STIGMATA
CHAPTER LVI OF A HOLY FRIAR WHO SAW A WONDERFUL VISION OF A COMPANION WHO WAS DEAD
HERE BEGINNETH THE LIFE OF BROTHER JUNIPER
CHAPTER I HOW BROTHER JUNIPER CUT OFF THE FOOT OF A PIG TO GIVE IT TO A SICK BROTHER
CHAPTER II AN INSTANCE OF BROTHER JUNIPER’S GREAT POWER AGAINST THE DEVIL
CHAPTER III HOW, BY THE CONTRIVANCE OF THE DEVIL, BROTHER JUNIPER WAS CONDEMNED TO THE GALLOWS
CHAPTER IV HOW BROTHER JUNIPER GAVE ALL THAT HE HAD TO THE POOR FOR THE LOVE OF GOD
CHAPTER VI HOW BROTHER JUNIPER KEPT SILENCE FOR SIX MONTHS
CHAPTER VII HIS REMEDY FOR TEMPTATIONS OF THE FLESH
CHAPTER VIII HOW BROTHER JUNIPER MADE HIMSELF CONTEMPTIBLE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD
CHAPTER IX HOW BROTHER JUNIPER, IN ORDER TO BE DESPISED, PLAYED AT SEE-SAW
CHAPTER X HOW BROTHER JUNIPER ONCE COOKED FOR THE BRETHREN ENOUGH TO LAST FOR A FORTNIGHT
CHAPTER XI HOW BROTHER JUNIPER WENT ONE DAY TO ASSISI FOR HIS OWN CONFUSION
CHAPTER XII HOW BROTHER JUNIPER FELL INTO AN ECSTASY DURING THE CELEBRATION OF MASS
CHAPTER XIV OF THE HAND WHICH BROTHER JUNIPER SAW IN THE AIR
CHAPTER XV HOW ST FRANCIS COMMANDED BROTHER LEO TO WASH THE STONE
PART THREE THE LIFE OF THE BLESSED BROTHER GILES, COMPANION OF ST FRANCIS
CHAPTER I HOW BROTHER GILES, WITH THREE COMPANIONS WAS RECEIVED INTO THE ORDER OF FRIAR’S MINOR
CHAPTER II HOW BROTHER GILES WENT TO ST JAMES THE GREAT
CHAPTER III OF BROTHER GILES’S MANNER OF LIFE WHEN HE WENT TO THE HOLY SEPULCHRE
CHAPTER IV HOW BROTHER GILES PRAISED OBEDIENCE MORE THAN PRAYER
CHAPTER V HOW BROTHER GILES LIVED BY THE LABOUR OF HIS HANDS
CHAPTER VII OF THE DAY OF THE HOLY BROTHER GILES’S DEATH
CHAPTER VIII HOW A HOLY MAN, BEING IN PRAYER, SAW THE SOUL OF BROTHER GILES PASS TO ETERNAL LIFE
CHAPTER X HOW GOD GAVE SPECIAL GRACES TO BROTHER GILES, AND OF THE YEAR OF HIS DEATH
PART FOUR HERE BEGIN THE CHAPTERS OF CERTAIN INSTRUCTIONS AND NOTABLE SAYINGS OF BROTHER GILES
CHAPTER I OF VICES AND VIRTUES
CHAPTER IV OF THE HOLY FEAR OF GOD
CHAPTER VII OF THE CONTEMPT OF TEMPORAL THINGS
CHAPTER XII OF HOLY SPIRITUAL PRUDENCE
CHAPTER XIII OF KNOWLEDGE USEFUL AND USELESS
CHAPTER XIV OF GOOD AND EVIL SPEAKING
CHAPTER XV OF HOLY PERSEVERANCE
CHAPTER XVI OF TRUE RELIGIOUS LIFE
St Francis once appeared on Mount Alvernia to Brother John of Alvernia, a man of great sanctity, while he was in prayer, and spoke with him for a long space of time; and before he departed he said to him: “Ask of me what thou wilt.� Then Brother John made answer: “Father, I pray thee, tell me that which I have long desired to know, - what thou wast doing, and where thou wast, when the seraph appeared to thee.� And St Francis replied: “I was praying in that place whereon the chapel of Count Simon da Battifolle now stands, and I asked two favours of my Lord Jesus Christ. The first was that he would grant to me in my lifetime to feel, as far as might be possible, both in my soul and body, all that he had suffered in his most bitter Passion. The second favour which I asked was, that I might feel in my heart that exceeding love which enkindled his, and moved him to endure so great a Passion for us sinners. And then God put it into my heart that it was granted to me to feel both, as far as is possible for a mere creature; and this promise was well fulfilled to me by the impression of the stigmata.� Then Brother John asked him whether those sacred words spoken to him by the seraph had been truly related by the brother who affirmed that he had heard them from the mouth of St Francis, in the presence of eight friars. And St Francis made answer, that they were even so as that brother had said. Then Brother John, emboldened to ask by the saint’s liberality in granting his requests, said thus: “O Father, I beseech thee most earnestly that thou wilt suffer to see and kiss thy glorious, sacred stigmata; not that I have any doubt upon the matter, but because such has always been my most earnest desire.� And St Francis graciously showing them to him, Brother John plainly saw and touched and kissed them. Lastly he said to him: “Father, grant me, if it be the will of God, to feel in some small measure the consolation which thou didst experience when thou didst behold our dear Lord come down to thee to give thee the stigmata of his most holy Passion.� Then St Francis replied: “Dost thou see these nails?� “Yes, Father,� said Brother John. “Touch once more,� said St Francis, “this nail which is in my hand.� Then Brother John, with great fear and reverence, touched that nail, and as he touched it there issued forth from it a perfume, with as it were a little cloud of incense, which, entering the nostrils of Brother John, filled both his soul and body with such overpowering sweetness that he was immediately rapt in God: and in that ecstasy he remained insensible from that hour, which was the hour of Tierce, until Vespers. And of that vision and familiar converse with St Francis, Brother John never spoke to any save to his confessor till the day of his death; but on his deathbed he revealed it to several of the brethren.