The holy man Fra Matteo, the revelation he had in Saint Peter’s and how he left Rome

97 He is told in prayer not to wait for the Papal Brief 98 He returns to the Marches 99 He reforms the shape of the cowl 100 Like a lost sheep

(97) The servant of God Fra Matteo recognised in himself a worthless, simple and uneducated man. He felt more profoundly obliged to God who had guided him so miraculously. The goodness of God had disposed the heart of the Pontiff to hear him kindly and grant him all he wished for the perfect observance of his profession. He returned to Saint Peter’s that evening so that his return to His Holiness for the Brief would be easier in the morning. He went the whole night in prayer so that the Lord God might be pleased to give him even greater light and guide him on the way of perfection, as He had already done until then. And he asked for patience in his troubles. As dawn drew near he felt exhausted. He thought he would rest a little. He looked around everywhere to see where he could rest most comfortably, and so the poor fellow made his way onto the pulpit. Settling there as best he could with the scant mantle he was wearing, he rested a little. Then just before sunrise the Lord God wanted to visit him again with the cross. Fra Matteo felt a tremendous fever. He felt as if his flesh would burn up with a boundless and unbelievable heat. In the midst of that pain he felt a firm hand seize his shoulder, although he saw no one. While that hand shook him vigorously he heard a human voice in the air. It said to him, “Haven’t you received all you wanted from the Supreme Pontiff?” Fra Matteo answered, “Yes indeed, by the grace of God.” The voice replied, “Well, then, let that be enough for you. Leave and seek nothing else because the Lord wants you to walk the way of the cross. The Brief would be no help to you except to avoid the cross and free yourself from men. The Order of Saint Francis depends directly on divine providence and on His Vicar on earth. It is not founded on human support. For now His Holiness’ blessing is enough and so is God’s will, about which you have been received confirmation. Straight away the voice disappeared. God wanted to assure Fra Matteo that this had been His voice – he felt completely cured of the fever straightaway.

(98) Because of his having seen the many signs and miracles that God did for him, and that God had assured him that this was His will, Fra Matteo marvellously felt his mind to be unusually more enlightened: He was eager to fulfil his primary aspiration. He knew in his spirit that the Lord didn’t want him to seek further favour from His Holiness, but that he entrust himself fully to God’s providence. This was the reason that Fra Matteo never wanted a Brief about the permission His Holiness granted him. He knew clearly that God called him to that life of itinerant preaching, observing holy poverty completely by being entirely detached from all human favour. He knew God had not called him to do another Reform but to be, indirectly, the occasion for the Reform to take place and that other Fathers would come and request Briefs and Bulls from His Holiness, as happened later. For this reason the servant of God always went about as a pilgrim, because Christ had confirmed this to be His will.

So Fra Matteo said in his heart, “Since this is a work of God, as is obvious from the signs, His Majesty will bring it to perfection. No creature will be able to stop it.” With many tears he went before the Blessed Sacrament and thanked God. When morning came, without doing anything about the Supreme Pontiff, he left Rome and returned directly to the Province of the Marches. Wherever he saw people gathered he preached to them passionately and urged them to a real observance of the commandments and to abandon their sins.

(99) On that journey the Lord God did a great deal of good through His servant. Fra Matteo took his time going from one castle to the next. He said Mass quite early in the morning and then he preached. Consequently the people began to know him and realised he wasn’t mad but a genuine servant of God. Devotion towards him grew profound. As he passed through many places he liked to look closely at the devout places in the Province of Saint Francis where the Seraphic Father had dwelt. In particular he visited the Sacro Convento at Assisi where the holy body rests. He managed to see the very habit our Father Saint Francis wore. He saw the colour and shape of the pointed cowl of Blessed Rufino. Even though he had already adopted the pointed cowl, he was not really sure how it was on Saint Francis’ habit. His wasn’t exactly the same. From then on he wore his exactly according to the form he had seen there.

(100) At this time Fra Matteo was like an unknown hermit. So Friars never knew he was a Friar Minor. This worked out well for him because they would have jailed him quite promptly. The poor fellow went about like a stray sheep. For a long time he had been accustomed to living in the Congregation. Now he was alone. He needed great help from God to resist the temptations he suffered physically because he found nothing to live on except a few pieces of bread. When people saw how poor he was very few we willing to give him lodging. In particular, he didn’t have the facility to say Mass and do the other spiritual things. The devil battled with him a great deal over this. He would say to him, “You are an apostate. You are doing no good at all.” And yet on the other hand God did not fail him since his mind was raised to God almost continuously.