Addition
¹⁷⁹He accepts some old clothes offered him by a pauper.
Servant of the bishop, that is to say, a single mantle,
That the prelate, moved by pity, ordered he should be given.
The sign of the cross Francis marked on this; and from that place
¹⁸⁰He went on his way with nothing but himself; just as an exile

The Fourth Book

HOW HE FELL AMONG THIEVES AND MINISTERED
TO THE LEPERS; THE REPAIRING OF THREE CHURCHES.

Expansion
¹²⁹And forces to the task his fugitive feelings.
On this account he could claim a great purifying power
Over bodies and minds. Of many cases I tell but one.
That of a certain member of a group of Spoletans,
Whom a malady of a wretched and horrible kind
Had so eaten into and rotted his mouth and his jaw,
That doctors were quite unable to offer him help.
It happened that, returning from Rome, whither as a pilgrim
He had journeyed in order to commend himself to the Saints,
Wandering over the places sacred to the Apostles,
He encountered Francis. The man, having done him homage,
Was now intent upon kissing his feet devoutly, until
The Saint, not allowing him, in no wise countenanced this;
To one who begged for feet to kiss he gave his mouth, and pressed
With inner strength, kisses on those half-eaten leprous lips.
But as soon as the disease was touched by the holy mouth
Of blessed Francis, full healing to the sick man was given.
Harmonized were a humble act and a miracle sublime:
Where there is humble kindness, there arises marvelous power.
¹³⁴Nor were the lepers his sole concern, for indeed he was fully of pity

Addition
²⁰⁷Springs forth from the ugly, and profit is made from loss.
So it was that he built up the fabric of three churches,
Thereby indicating the spiritual construction
Of the three Orders by which he renovated the Church.

To the chapel of God's Mother attachment was enduring,
There his whole self he entrusted to the Mother of Mercy.

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