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or tell the quality of the miracles
the Lord has chosen to work everywhere through him?
Just in France, Francis has worked so many miracles that the Frankish king and queen and all the nobility hasten to kiss and venerate the pillow that Saint Francis used during his illness.a There also the world’s wise and literate, whom Paris usually produces more abundantly than the whole world, humbly and devotedly venerate, admire, and revere Francis, an uneducated man, a friend of true simplicity and whole-hearted sincerity. Jer 1:18
He is truly “France-ish” whose heart was so frank and free.b Those who experienced the greatness of his soul know well how free and freeing he was in everything, how intrepid and fearless in all circumstances.c With great strength and bravery he trampled upon every worldly thing.
And what can I say of other parts of the world? Disease disappears and illness flees simply by means of his cord, and both men and women are freed from distress merely by invoking his name.
121 At his tomb new miracles occur constantly
and, as the prayers increase,
remarkable aid is given to body and soul.
The blind recover sight,
the deaf regain hearing,
the lame walk again,
the mute speak,
those with gout jump,
lepers are cleansed, Mt 11:5
those with swelling see it reduced,
and those suffering the burden of many different diseases
- The king of France here is probably Saint Louis IX (+1270) and the "queen" Blanche of Castille, his mother (+1252). At the time Thomas was writing in 1228, the king was no more than fourteen years old. The text seems to say that the relic was kept in France and exposed for the veneration of the faithful. According to 3C 37-39, Lady (Brother) Jacopa dei Settesoli came to see Francis as he lay dying. Among the things she brought him was a pillow for his head.
- Thomas engages in a wordplay here that is nearly impossible to translate. The word for Francis in Latin, Franciscus, is closely related to the word for a Frenchman in medieval Latin, Francus, as in the phrase rex Francorum, and literally translates as the diminutive "little Frenchman." But the adjectival form francus means "noble" and "free." Hence there are four meanings being put into play here: French, noble, free, and Francis. One could translate this opening line as "Truly was he French," "Truly was he free," and "Truly was he noble." The meaning of a name was extremely important in the Middle Ages. Here, as earlier in the case of Clare, Thomas surely sees more than a fanciful etymology.
- In Francis’s name, Thomas sees two qualities, namely independence with regard to himself and discernment with regard to the initiatives of his neighbor. In the Latin text these two qualities are liber [free] and liberalis [freeing].
Vita Prima, Fontes Franciscani, p. 400-401
quis dicere valeat qualia
per eum ubique Dominus dignatur miracula operari?
5Quanta nempe in sola Francia Franciscus mirabilia patrat, ubi ad deosculandum et adorandum capitale, quo sanctus Franciscus in infirmitate fuerat usus, Francorum rex et regina et universi magnates accurrunt?6Ubi etiam sapientes orbis et litteratissimi viri, quorum copiam super omnem terram o Parisius maximam ex more producit, Franciscum virum idiotam et verae simplicitatis totiusque sinceritatis amicum, humiliter et devotissime venerantur, admirantur et colunt. —7Et vere Franciscus, qui super omnes cor francum et nobile gessit.8Norunt quippe qui magnanimitatem eius experti sunt, quam liber, quam liberalis in omnibus fuit, quam securus et impavidus in omnibus existitit, quanta virtute, quanto fervore animi cuncta saecularia conculcavit. —9Verum quid de aliis mundi partibus loquar, in quibus per semicinctia sua morbi discedunt, fugiunt aegritudines, et ad solam nominis eius invocationem utriusque sexus frequentia multa suis a cladibus liberatur?
121 1Ad eius quoque tumbam assidue nova miracula fiunt,
et multiplicatis intercessionibus,
eo in loco animarum et corporum gloriosa beneficia impetrantur.
2Caecis restituitur visus,
surdis reparatur auditus,
claudis redditur gressus,
mutus loquitur,
salit podagricus,
leprosus mundatur,
turgens subtiliatur,
et diversa variaque infirmitatum gravamina patientes