staying there to understand and hear, and while he is saying them, the brothers must be quiet. And doing otherwise, he would be bound to say one Our Father in the same way with the Praises of God for the soul of the brother who spoke.

He also ordained that when any brother enters a cell, a house or any place and finds a brother or brothers there or anywhere, he should always earnestly praise and bless God. It was the custom of the most holy father always to say those Praises, and it was his fervent wish and desire. And he wanted the other brothers to be similarly careful and attentive in saying them.

[36]

Blessed Francis had such reverence and devotion to the Body of Christ, that he wanted it written in the Rule that the brothers in the regions where they stay have care and concern, and should preach to the people, and admonish the clerics and priests to place the Body of Christ in a good and fitting place; that, if they did not do so, the brothers were to do it.

Moreover, at that time, he wanted to send some brothers with pyxes through every region and wherever they found the Body of Christ placed illicitly, they were to place It honorably in them. Likewise he wanted to send others with beautiful wafer irons for making hosts at all times.

[37]

When blessed Francis sent brothers through the regions to preach penance, he said to them: "Go, in the name of the Lord, two by two ^{Lk 10:1} along the way, decently, in the greatest silence from dawn until after terce, praying to the Lord in your hearts. And let no idle or useless words be mentioned among you. Although you are traveling, nevertheless, let your behavior be as decent as if you were staying in a hermitage or a cell because wherever we are or wherever we travel, we have a cell with us. Brother Body is our cell, and the soul is the hermit who remains inside the cell to pray to God and meditate. So if the soul does not remain in quiet and solitude in its cell, a cell made by hands does little good to a religious."

One day when blessed Francis was preaching, he said to them: "I speak to you as to those in demons' chains. You bound and sold yourselves like animals in the market because of your wretched state, because you exposed yourselves to the will of those who

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quod a fratribus illic manentibus audiri possent et intelligi, qui fratres, dum ille laudaret, auscultare tenerentur; ⁴et contrafaciens unum "Pater noster" cum Laudibus Dei pro anima dicentis dicere teneretur.

⁵Ordinavit etiam quod quilibet frater, cum domum vel in cellam vel quemlibet locum ingressus fuerit, ibidem vel alibi fratrem seu fratres inveniens Deum semper laudare ac benedicere debeat diligenter, ⁶quas Laudes idem sanctissimus pater solitus erat dicere cum ardentissima voluntate et desiderio. ⁷Et fratres alios volebat facere ad dicendum easdem solicitos et attentos.

[36]

¹Tantam reverentiam et devotionem beatus Franciscus habebat in corpore Christi quod voluit scribi in regula, ut fratres in provinciis , quibus morarentur, curam et sollicitudinem haberent ²et predicarent inde populo [et ammonerent] clericos et sacerdotes ut corpus Christi in loco bono et honesto collocarent; ³quod si non facerent, quod fratres illud agerent.

⁴Immo quodam tempore voluit mictere quosdam fratres cum pissidibus per universas provincias et ubicumque invenirent corpus Christi illicite collocatum , illud honorifice in ipsis collocarent . ⁵Similiter voluit mictere cum ferramentis pulchris hostiarum ad faciendum eas omni tempore.

[37]

¹Cum beatus Franciscus ad predicandum micteret fratres per provincias ad predicandum penitentiam, dixit illis: 2 « In nomine Domini ite bini et bini a honeste per viam et maxime cum silentio mane usque post tertiam, orantes semper in cordibus vestris Dominum, et verba otiosa vel inutilia nec nominentur in vobis; ³licet enim ambuletis, tamen conversatio vestra sic sit honesta quodammodo, quasi si in eremitorio aut cella permaneretis, quoniam, ubicumque sumus et ambulamus, habemus cellam nobiscum; ⁴frater enim corpus est cella nostra, et anima est eremita, que moratur intus in cella ad orandum Deum et meditandum. ⁵Unde, si anima non manserit in quiete et solitudine, in cella sua, parum prodest religioso cella manu facta ».

⁶Cum quadam die prefficaret beatus Franciscus, dicebat eis: « Loquor vobis sicut vinctis demoniorum, quoniam vosmetipsos ligatis et venditis vos tamquam animal ad forum propter miseriam vestram; ⁷quoniam exponitis vos voluntati eorum, qui destruxerunt et destruunt se ipsos