everything according to the pattern shown to us in Him as on the heights of the mountain, it seems more pleasing to God that I interrupt my quiet and go out to labor."

When he had mulled over these words for many days with his brothers, he could not perceive with certainty which of these he should choose as more acceptable to Christ. Although he understood extraordinary things through the spirit of prophecy, this question he could not resolve with clarity on his own.

But God's providence had a better plan, that the merit of preaching would be shown by a sign from heaven, thus preserving the humility of Christ's servant.

²He was not ashamed to ask advice in small matters from those under him, true Lesser Brother that he was, though he had learned great things from the supreme Teacher. He was accustomed to search with special eagerness in what manner, and in what way he could serve God more perfectly according to His good pleasure.

As long as he lived,
this was his highest philosophy,
this his highest desire:
to ask
from the wise and the simple,
the perfect and the imperfect,
the young and the old,
how he could more effectively arrive
at the summit of perfection.

Choosing, therefore, two of the brothers, he sent them to Brother Sylvester, who had seen the cross coming out from his mouth, and, at that time, spent his time in continuous prayer on the mountain above Assisi. He was to ask God to resolve his doubt over this matter, and to send him the answer in God's name. He also asked the holy virgin Clare to consult with the purest and simplest of the virgins living under her rule, and to pray herself with the other sisters in order to seek the Lord's will ^{Lk 12:47} in this matter. Through a miraculous revelation of the Spirit, the venerable priest and the virgin dedicated to God came to the same conclusion: that it was the divine good will that the herald of Christ should preach.

When the two brothers returned and told him God's will as they had received it, he rose at once, girded himself ^{Jn 21:7} and without the slightest delay took to the roads. He went with such fervor to carry out the

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¹²Et quia nos debemus omnia facere secundum exemplar eorum, quae videmus in ipso tamquam in monte sublimi, videtur magis Deo placitum, quod intermissa quiete, foras egrediar ad laborem ».

¹³Cumque per multos dies verba huiuscemodi ruminaret cum fratribus, certitudinaliter nequibat percipere, quid horum sibi foret ut Christo vere acceptius eligendum. ¹⁴Cum enim miranda nosset per spiritum prophetiae, hanc per se ipsum quaestionem dissolvere non valebat ad liquidum,

Deo melius providente, ut praedicationis meritum per supernum manifestaretur oraculum, et servi Christi humilitas servaretur.

2 ¹Non erubescebat a minoribus parva quaerere verus Minor, qui magna didicerat a Magistro supremo. ²Studio namque praecipuo solitus erat exquirere, quali via qualique modo Deo posset secundum ipsius beneplacitum perfectius deservire.

³Haec summa eius philosophia,
hoc summum eius desiderium exstitit,
quoad vixit,
ut quaereret
a sapientibus et simplicibus,
perfectis et imperfectis,
parvulis et grandaevis,
qualiter ad perfectionis
culmen virtuosius pervenire valeret.

⁴Assumens itaque duos ex fratribus, misit ad fratrem Silvestrum, qui crucem egredientem viderat de ore ipsius et tunc in monte supra Assisium iugiter orationi vacabat, ut divinum super dubitatione huiusmodi responsum perquireret, quod sibi ex parte Domini demandaret. ⁵Hoc ipsum mandavit sacrae virgini Clarae, ut per aliquam puriorem et simpliciorem de virginibus sub ipsius disciplina degentibus, et ipsa cum sororibus aliis orans, super hoc exquireret Domini vo1untatem. ⁶Concordaverunt autem mirabiliter in id ipsum, superno eis revelante Spiritu, venerabilis sacerdos et virgo Deo dicata, beneplaciti scilicet esse divini, quod Christi praeco ad predicandum exiret.

⁷Revertentibus itaque fratribus et Dei, iuxta quod acceperant, indicantibus voluntatem, exsurgens continuo succinxit se, nullaque prorsus contracta mora, iter aggressus est. ⁸Ibat autem cum tanto fervore, ut divinum exsequeretur imperium,