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fault before the guardian and the brothers, and from that time he longed for harsh penance and clothing as if luxuries. And thus changed for the better, he ended in a holy life.
To the praise of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
XXIII
BLESSED FRANCIS LEADS A WOLF TO BECOME VERY TAME
1 A remarkable, noble event, worthy of remembrance, happened in the city of Gubbio while our most holy Father Saint Francis was still living. There was a wolf in the vicinity of the city of Gubbio, terrifying in physical size and ferocious with rabid hunger.a This wolf not only destroyed other animals but even devoured men and women, keeping all the citizens in such danger and terror that when they went outside the town, they went armed and guarded as if they had to advance toward deadly battles. Yet, even armed, they were not able to escape the deadly teeth or the savage fury of that wolf when they accidentally met. As a result, everyone was filled with such terror that hardly anyone dared to go outside the city gate.
4 But God wished to make known to the citizens the holiness of blessed Francis. When Saint Francis was staying there, having compassion for them, Saint Francis decided to go out to meet that wolf. On learning this, the citizens said to him: "Be careful, Brother Francis, don't go outside the gate, because the wolf, which has already devoured many people, will certainly kill you." But Saint Francis put his hope in the Lord Jesus Christ who rules the spirits of all flesh. Without the protection of a shield or helmet, but protecting himself with the sign of the holy Cross, he went out the gate with a companion, casting all his confidence on the Lord who makes those who believe in him tread unharmed on the basilisk and the asp, and trample not only the wolf, but even the lion and dragon. And so Francis, that most faithful soldier of Christ, steadily began taking the path that made others hesitate, not wearing chain-mail or a sword, not carrying a bow or weapons of war, but protected by the shield of holy faith and the sign of the Cross. And while many were looking on from places where they had climbed in order to see, suddenly that
- Wolves appear in earlier stories, AC 74, 2C 35-6, and the Passion of San Verecondo, cf. FA:ED II 175-8, 269-70, 807. A thirteenth manuscript of Sarnano, E.70, concerning Francis's charity contains both the story of the wolf of Gubbio and the following story of the doves of Siena, leading Marino Bigaroni and Giovanni Boccali to accept the authenticity of these stories. Cf. Biagroni, Boccali, ed., Actus, 58 n. 201, n. 285.