Vigils Reading – St Francis

ST FRANCIS AND THE PEASANT

From “The Little Flowers of St Francis”

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The next morning, as his companions knew that…St Francis was too weak

to be able to continue the journey on foot, they went up to a poor local peasant

and asked him, for the love of God to lend his donkey for their Father, Brother

Francis, who could not travel on foot. Hearing Brother Francis mentioned, the

man asked them: “Are you the friars of that Brother Francis of Assisi about

whom people say so much good?”

The friars answered, “Yes,” and that it was really for him that they were

asking for the donkey.

Then with great devotion and care this good man saddled the donkey and

led it to St Francis, and with great reverence helped him get into the saddle.

Then they continued their journey, the peasant walking with them behind

his donkey. And after they had gone awhile, he said to St Francis: “tell me, are

you Brother Francis of Assisi?”

St Francis answered that he was.

“Well then,” said the peasant, “try to be as good as everyone thinks you

are, because many people have great faith in you, so I urge you: never let there

be anything in you different from what they expect of you.”

When St Francis heard these words, he did not mind being admonished

by a peasant, and he did not say to himself, as many proud fellows who wear the

cowl nowadays would say, “Who is this brute who admonishes me?” But he15

immediately got off the donkey and threw himself on his knees before the

farmer and humbly kissed his feet, thanking him for having deigned to

admonish him so charitably.

Then his companions and the peasant very devoutly helped him to his feet

and sat him on the donkey again. And they traveled on.

And when they had climbed about halfway up the mountain, because the

summer heat was very great and the path was long and steep, the peasant began

to suffer intensely from thirst, and he called ahead to St Francis: “I am dying of

thirst. If I don’t have something to drink, I’ll suffocate in a minute!”

So St Francis immediately got off the donkey and began to pray. And he

remained kneeling on the ground, raising his hands toward heaven, until he

knew by revelation that God had granted his prayer. Then he said to the

peasant, “run quickly to that rock, and their you’ll find running water which

Christ in his mercy has just caused to flow from the rock.”

The man ran to the place which St Francis had shown him, and found a

very fine spring that had been made to flow through the hard rock by the power

of St Francis’ prayer. And he drank all he wanted and felt better.