as will appear quite clearly in the course of his life.
And so in the true prophecy
of that other friend of the Bridegroom, ^{Jn 3:29}
John the Apostle and Evangelist,
he is considered not without reason
to be like the angel ascending from the rising of the sun
bearing the seal of the living God.
For "at the opening of the sixth seal,"
John says in the Apocalypse,
"I saw another Angel
ascending from the rising of the sun,
having the sign of the living God."^{a Rv 7:2}

² If we consider the height of his extraordinary sanctity
we can come to the conclusion, without any doubt,
that this messenger of God
—worthy of love by Christ,
imitation by us,
and admiration by the world—
was God's servant, Francis
In this, while living among humans,
he was an imitator of angelic purity
and was placed as an example for the perfect followers of Christ.

This conviction should be faithfully and devotedly
in the forefront of our minds:
not only does this advance the mission he held
of calling to weep and mourn,
to shave one's head and wear sackcloth,
and to sign the Tau
on the foreheads of those moaning and grieving^b
with a sign
of a penitential cross,
and of a habit conformed to the cross;
even more,
it confirms with the irrefutable testimony of truth that
the seal of the likeness of the living God,

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sicut ex ipsius vitae decursu luculenter apparet,
rationabiliter comprobatur
venisse in spiritu et virtute Eliae.
⁷Ideoque alterius amici Sponsi,
Apostoli et Evangelistae Ioannis
vaticinatione veridica sub similitudine Angeli ascendentis ab ortu solis
signumque Dei vivi habentis
adstruitur non immerito designatus.
⁸Sub apertione namque sexti sigilli vidi,
ait Ioannes in Apocalypsi,
alterum Angelum
ascendentem ab ortu solis,
habentem signum Dei vivi.

2 ¹Hunc Dei nuntium
amabilem Christo,
imitabilem nobis
et admirabilem mundo
servum Dei fuisse Franciscum,
indubitabili fide colligimus,
si culmen in eo eximiae sanctitatis advertimus,
qua, inter homines vivens,
imitator fuit puritatis angelicae,
qua et positus est perfectis Christi sectatoribus in exemplum.

²Ad quod quidem fideliter
sentiendum et pie,
non solum inducit officium quod habuit,
vocandi ad fletum et planctum,
calvitium et cingulum sacci
signandique Thau
super frontes virorum gementium et dolentium
signo
poenitentialis crucis
et habitus cruci conformis;
³verum etiam
irrefragabili veritatis testificatione confirmat
signaculum similitudinis Dei viventis,