About the venerable and holy man Brother Francis of Iesi, priest and preacher

From a city situated in the Marches of Ancona called Iesi, Brother Francis was born to very noble parents of the family of the house of Ripanti. They nurtured him in good ways from his childhood. On going to school he became a very good young man. When he was about eighteen years old, because of his fine manner, he was sent to study civil law in the city of Perugia. At this time the Bishop of the city of Iesi died. Consulting among the citizens about a new pastor this young man adorned with every virtue was elected by common agreement. When the young man reconsidered the election he began to worry about entering some great labyrinth by accepting this office. Because the whole city was in factions and his own parents were deeply involved, he feared very much about having to be caught up in that. He thought to free himself from the claws of the infernal serpent and from the entanglements of the world and take up religious life.

Therefore after having studied for about five years he was very well educated in civil and canon law. However he did not want teach so as not to become any further engulfed in the tumultuous sea of this world. By the grace of the Holy Spirit he made up his mind and gave away his books and every thing he owned and became a Friar Minor in the Congregation of Zoccolanti. And just as I heard fro his own mouth, if his father had not be alive he would have given away everything for the love of God according to the Rule.

Once his nephew visited him the Carcerelle of Assisi and in my presence said to him, “Uncle, you abandoned us just at the moment when you could have benefited us very much. The Bulls that were obtained for your Episcopate are still at home.” The holy man replied, “It was good for me that the Lord freed me from pastoral cares. The tangles which come from such offices are so many that is very difficult thing to be able to save oneself. I am not mentioning the partiality and envy that are in the city of Iesi. I am sure that if accepted that I would be dead now.”

He was clothed in the habit of the Order at about the age of twenty three and in his heart he began to want to do no other things except those that made him know God in order to be able to love him perfectly, citing the sentence of Saint Augustine: Invisa diligere possumus, incognita nequaquam. As he told himself, he always practised in the science of sacred theology for it seemed to him that if all the sciences are ordered unto knowing God, nonetheless sacred theology, he said, makes us know God more than any other. For the love of God is the end of all things and God cannot be loved if He is not known. If we want to remain within the observance of the Rule we must practise in the things that make us know God. When those Fathers saw that he was so studios and well founded in learning, they set him to the study of sacred theology according to his desire. After applying himself for many years, partly under a master and partly by himself, he succeeded in becoming a very profound theologian. He was regarded in his time as the best theologian in the Franciscan Order, well instructed in the science of Scotus. Therefore he remained steadfast in such praiseworthy study, practising it until his death, so that in his sermons and also in his preaching little else came from his mouth that theology accommodated with Sacred Scripture.

As it pleased God, when he became a preacher he had an immense desire to put his knowledge at the service of God and to profit souls redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Desiring the opportunity to be able to benefit souls, with the good grace of the Superiors, he managed to be made Apostolic Preacher by His Holiness Leo X. Therefore having received the licence from His Holiness, he took Brother Augustine Lanaro of Norsia as his companion. Taking up the journey toward the Marches he preached in almost all the regions and towns of the Marches with such approval and benefit to souls that everyone called him the Apostle of Christ.

Therefore it happened that he was passing through Abruzzo that he came to the town of Solmona where he preached with great approval. It pleased the Lord God, in order to complement his science in his service, that he met there the great and learned Brother Paul of Sulmona. He was a Friar of the same Order. Brother Paul heard him preach. When he returned to the Friary he called Brother Bernardine and said to him, “Father Preacher, you have the knowledge but you do not have its methodology. I have the skill to organise all your knowledge.” Attracted by this, Brother Francis was so attentive to Brother Paul who began to teach him how to be systematic. When he had taught him, the good, old Brother Paul wanted to reprimand the negligence of the young student Friars who were there. They were complacent about seeking to learn that knowledge. One morning he began to cry out through the dormitory, “Oh dear! A Friar from the Province of Saint Francis has stolen my knowledge.” This made Brother Francis worry that Brother Paul regretted having taught it to him. He went to find him in his cell. With great humility he said to him, “Father, I beg you not to regret having done this good thing for me because I do not want to use it except for the honour of God.” The good, old Brother Paul replied, “I do not regret it, my son. Moreover I would like to show you some things that are still missing. Show me the most beautiful sermon that you have so that I may rewrite it systematically. This will serve as a model for the others. And know that this science is the key to all the others.” And he told this example. When Brother Paul was in the world he had a great friend. The college of doctors had condemned to death the brother of this friend for a crime. Sorrowing over this, the friend of Brother Paul had recourse to him as a last resort. Bringing him the proceedings, Brother Paul studied it somewhat and wrote a note on some of the main points and said to him, “Take this note and bring it to those noble men who have sentence your brother to death.” When those doctors had studied the note, they were compelled to revoke the sentence. He added, “Know this, Brother Francis, that this is one of the greatest sciences there is in the world.”

Therefore Brother Francis left Brother Paul and went preaching here and there for about three years. Then he returned to the Province of Saint Francis and dedicated himself totally to the contemplative life. According to what he told me, he decided that it was more useful to be quiet away in the friaries and to preach only at the ordinary times than to go around too much. Too much dealing with seculars cools the spirit a great deal and a preacher without spirit cannot benefit his neighbour. Instead he does himself great harm. In order to be able to better practise holy contemplation, he avoided in every way all the offices of the Order and dealings with seculars. He always stayed in the poorest, most remote friaries of the Province – in Monteluco at Spoleto, at Santa Maria dell’Oro at Terani, at the Speco of St. Urban, and the like. He continued to live in this way for about ten years.

However when talk of the Reform began he was one of the first who supported it the most. Together with the Venerable Father Bernardine of Asti he sought the Bull of Reform from His Holiness. Because of this he entered into a sea of travails. The lax Friars viciously opposed that Reform. For the Commissary was at Our Lady of the Angels where the Fathers of the Order and the General had sent him to support the Reform. Instead of supporting it, he allowed this Father together with Brother Baptist of Norcia to be put in prison by the adversaries with the intention that they not see the light of day for months and years.

However, as it pleased God, he was soon freed and God punished in good measure those who were the cause of the error. They died badly within a short time. Therefore once freed the said Fathers fled to the Province of the Marches. There in the place at Camerino they took up the Capuchin habit. Under obedience to Father Louis they went back immediately to the friary at Foligno. I was present there when they came with clogs and in that house they the put on the sandals that the Capuchins use. The holy man had no sooner arrived and rested a couple of days and he began to preach to the Friars about the state of perfection that we have promised to our Lord God to undertake through the Rule. He was like a Seraph, completely aflame with the love of God. He based all his arguments on the Rule, showing which kind of perfection the Rule is and how the Friars persevere in this perfection with difficulty. For the one who perfectly observes the Rule of Saint Francis can be called holy. Hence he said that nothing can be a greater ruin to the Congregation than the reception of Friars and the Congregation must be conformed to the disposition of those who are received to the profession of its Rule. It is not enough to consider the good will of the young. For if they are very frail, very young, weak, infirm or similar, they must not be received. For they will be obliged to something they cannot observe: to go barefoot and poorly dressed, to fast often, and to endure the efforts that the Order offers in order to be poor. The complete opposite results. They cannot fast and do the other things required but instead it is necessary to serve them and burden the seculars to procure costly foods for them. Therefore the Lord God has wanted there to be a number of Rules in His Church so that if they cannot attend to such perfection in another Order they can comfortably practise the holy virtues, live religiously and save themselves. Therefore it does them no harm not to receive them. Another inappropriate thing stems from there being a large number. It is necessary to build large friaries near to the towns for the greater practicality of these friaries. Familiarity with seculars stems from having large houses as does the difficulty of our observance of holy poverty that is the foundation of our Rule. Silence is lost and little attention is given to holy prayer, which is the goal of our Rule. “Therefore,” he said, “the Rule of Saint Francis is nothing other than a way of life that is well accommodated to holy contemplation. Therefore, it does not depart from the cross, taking part in both the active and the contemplative life. It makes the mixed life more perfect than the simple contemplative life because it is more in conformity to the Holy Gospel and the apostolic life. With poverty it observes the two precepts of the love of God and of neighbour. It carries out the love of God in holy prayer and the love of neighbour in preaching. Likewise with holy poverty, our Rule purges us of every earthly affection and makes us disposed for prayer. With prayer it puts us in order with God. With preaching and good example it puts us in order with our neighbour. And because these are the practice of perfection men who are unsuitable for these should not be received. Otherwise we go against the rule. Nevertheless it is not denied that we need of some forms of service. Therefore we receive some who indeed do not have the gift either of preaching or contemplation. However it is enough that they may be occupied in some form of service. And for their service they are sharers first of all in living from the alms offered to the Order. Therefore it goes against the Rule to receive those who are suitable for none of these.

This servant of God always led daily life around austerity. He never did more than what the Rule orders for us and allows us. In his dress he always used two garments and never more. When he went on a journey he never put on a mantle when he wore the tunic, unless it rained. He remained very strict in observing the Rule to the letter. I heard this from his own mouth: “When I made profession, I had in mind to observe the Rule to the letter.” This intention, he told me, had always given him a lot trouble in the Order since he felt he could not satisfy this obligation. Therefore when he received novices for profession he always advised them to have the intention of observing the Rule without the clarifications made by the Supreme Pontiffs ‑ the precepts as precepts and the counsels as counsels. His scruple was this. He felt that because of this intention he was bound to observe all the counsels as precepts.

Therefore he was very zealous about dress. He said, “Poverty of dress can be offended in two ways, that is, if it is refined or unnecessary. It is not permitted to use more than two garments however patched. Although these two garments are allowed us, and one of them is enough, the use of two is against the Rule because a second is not necessary. Because if using one is enough, the use of a second is superfluous.” Once he reprimanded me. I was wearing a mantle for a journey and he told me it was not permitted because the weather was fine. He said to me, “Wear it on your shoulder. Although this may be a little thing, it is nonetheless against the purity of the Rule that only allows the use of necessary things.” Nor did he ever want to carry a staff for travel. However, since he was quite old he carried a cane. I asked him, “What difference do you make between the cane to the staff?” He answered me, “The Gospel forbids me to carry a staff. Since I need a little support I meet my need with the cane and I leave the staff alone that the holy Gospel prohibits.” I said to him, “These look like frivolous things to me.” He replied, “It is true. The one who acts this way does not sin mortally. However in so far as they are against the purity of the Rule they impede perfection for us and dull the spirit and oblige us to the pains of purgatory. Our Father Saint Francis wrote the Rule twice. The first time God instructed him to shorten it because it was too long. So for the full perfection of the Rule our Lord did not entrust to our Father Saint Francis to write everything he liked. Rather, he wanted him to write it according to what His Majesty revealed to him. Hence the perfection of our Rule so whoever depends on it cannot go wrong. Therefore let us say that there may not be any unnecessary things and for the who wants to observe it perfectly is not allowed to fail any of the things that are written in this Rule. It is very important to obey God simply in what he asks of us and to obey him perfectly. Why do you think that Father Saint Francis was so perfect if not because, as Saint Bonaventure says, he did not fail to observe completely that the Holy Gospel be fulfilled well. […] In this consists every increase in doing the will of God, because each of all our sins is a going against the will of God.”

Regarding eating this servant of God kept this rule. He only ate once a day that which the others ate. Of the bread of the community he ate very little. Once when I was his companion and we were preaching in Norcia I put a little meat in his bowl because he was old and very worn out. Then I gave him a small slice of bread. He didn’t want to touch it. When I said he should eat it he replied, “Isn’t what you have put in my bowl enough?” Although I begged him for a long time he did not want to touch it. The holy man Brother Justin of Panicale, who was very close to him, said of him, “I have never seen a man in the Order who has more perfectly mortified these three vices like him: pride, gluttony and lust. He has always been a mirror of humility, decency and paucity in eating.

From the beginning when he took the holy habit this servant of God had many revelations from God just as he told me secretly in the friary at Montecasale because of the great familiarity I had with him. “Know that before Martin Luther came God showed it to me in vision while I was praying in the Church. I saw him many times in the shape of a bull, half black and half white. He entered the Church and went straight away to the high altar. A woman appeared there who led a child by the hand. The bull went to strike the child and that woman repelled him with her cape. This stunned me and for a long time I commended myself to God so that He would tell me the interpretation. Inwardly I was enlightened that the bull would be a Friar of the Order of Saint Augustine that wears the black and white habit. He was in the form of a bull because of the filth and carnal life that he has introduced into the Church with his false doctrine. His wanting to strike the child refers, he told me, to the spirit, because with his evil doctrine this bull will strive to take Christ from the Church. However because this cannot be, the woman you saw who repelled him with her cloak is the Holy Church who none the less keeps Christ with herself, as a child however. Because he has infected the Church with the worst heresy he has taken away the adult Christ from the Church and kept him little. The adult Christ was in the primitive Church however because of the bad ways of Christians and through heresy he has grown small. Because of the little faith of Christians and few deeds of little importance he has grown small. For although not many a heretics, they are nonetheless infected by the presumption the heretics preach that everything must be entrusted to the blood of Christ who will save us without good works. If one considers it well, the presumption is no less harmful of those who speak about being Catholics as trusting in the mercy of God and who persevere in so many virtues without self-examination and without doing penance […] from all hope of being saved. Under the cloak of the woman – of holy Doctors and Holy Church our Lord remains concealed. Anyone who wants to find him finds him undoubtedly in the teaching of Holy Church and in the definitions of the Sacred Councils. Know,” he said, “that one does not have to preach anything other than the Scripture conformed however to the definitions of Holy Church and as the holy Doctors have explained them.”

Furthermore he told me that God showed him a city like Perugia. I don’t know if it was Perugia or another place like it. Having been besieged for a long time it was about to be taken. He told me that Martin Luther came along a little while later. A little while after the war a universal tribulation against the Clergy will come. In this tribulation the Holy Church, together with all its Religious Orders will be purged and will reform. A little while after the death of this holy man came the war of Siena and according to what he depicted to me, all those things in the rebellion of Siena that were shown him were fulfilled.

Before Brother Bernardine of Siena lapsed, he told me many times, “I am fearful of this Brother Bernardine of Siena.” And I knew that God had revealed to him Bernardine’s fall. When Brother Bernardine had gone to ruin he composed some very beautiful litanies of the mercy of God. He said to me, “Know that there is no other remedy than to have recourse to the mercy of God. Whoever wants to be secure in this times should flee in every way from reading suspect books and not to listen to the opinions of the heretics. For God has revealed,” – and he did not say that He revealed it to him – “that many foremost devils have been released from hell to seduce the carnal. Three very subtle demons have been given to Martin Luther. One was for his intellect in order to find new subtleties of heresy. Another was for his tongue in order to preach them. The other was for his hands in order to write them so that his entire doctrine has been dictated by demons. Blessed the one who will be on guard to not depart from the doctrine of Holy Church and from devotion towards her Prelates and the Ministers of Holy Church. Enlightened by the Holy Spirit the Seraphic Father founded his Order on this because he wanted Prelates of Holy Church obeyed and her Ministers honoured. So that if one met them on a journey he should not only kiss their sacred hands, but kneeling down kiss the feet of their horses, as Brother Leo says in the Legend of the Three Companions. There is no other refuge where one may not be endangered in this stormy sea of world than under the shadow of the Supreme Pontiff and not to depart the slightest bit from the doctrine of Holy Church. In these things our Lord Jesus Christ promises us salvation, likening the Church for us with the barque of Peter. Outside of this there is no hope of salvation, etc.

The Lord God bore many good fruits through this servant of God both in the Congregation through the sermons and good instruction that he gave as well as in the world though his preaching. For the Lord God often miraculously testified that his doctrine pleased Him. For when he at the friary at Montemalbi and reading to the Friars some beautiful rules come to perfection, a farmer who lived nearby often said Father Seraphim of Perugia, “What does this mean, Father? I have seen a star many times above your friary for the space of a good hour. Like a ray of fire it went up and down, shining upon your roof.” Having considered the matter, from this they knew it was a brilliance that appear miraculously when the holy man taught the Friars, showing the heart glowing with the love of God of the one who offered such words.

On the feast of Our Lady in September, since I was his disciple, were going on visitation to Norcia. About three miles from that place we met a messenger sent by its Lord Priors. They asked him to hurry because Norcia was completely upside down because of murders. When he arrived he preached six homilies there with such fervour that he returned peace to the entire region. The concourse of people was so great that it was necessary for him to preach in the square. More than a hundred reconciliations were concluded with much joy with fires, bells, and artillery and with children processing through the streets and crying out, “Peace! Peace!” For there was not a single eye that did not weep out of tenderness and joy. They said, “An Angel of God could not have done more than this holy man.”

After many labours for many years when he governed the Province of Saint Francis and the whole Order when he was General, after he had served the Lord God with such austerity of life and such good example to everyone for about fifty eight years, it finally pleased the Lord God to reward his efforts. For when he was in the friary at Monte Malbi he became ill with catarrh and a very high fever. He lived with this for two and half days. Then that happy soul passed to its creator. When he was alive his skin tended to be somewhat dark. When he died his flesh became so beautiful that the looked like an Angel sleeping. He was buried in that place.

In order to show how pleased He was with this servant of His, God wanted to make him illustrious with miracles. For in the city of Gubbio – just as I heard from his own mouth – a possessed woman was brought to him. When she began to speak different languages the servant of God said to her, “I don’t care about such prattle. In the name of Jesus Christ, be gone!” Amazing! He had no sooner said the word and she fell down in a faint. Then she shortly got up perfectly liberated.

His cord performed another miracle because a lady of Spoleto wore it as a relic. She was called Veronica and she was very devoted to this holy man. It happened that her neighbour became possessed. The lady thought of the cord that the holy man had worn and brought it with great faith to the house of the possessed woman. When she entered those spirits made an uproar. They made the whole house tremble. As the lady drew closer, she tied the cord on and said to her, “By the holiness of the one to whom this cord belonged I command you to go away!” Amazing! She was freed immediately.

Brother Bernardine of Modena, a Capuchin, had such a great headache that he was going crazy. The Friars exhumed the skull of this holy man and brought it into the choir with great devotion. When Brother Bernardine drew close with great faith and kissed it he was freed immediately from all pain.

I could tell of many other miracles of this holy man. However, as not to bore the reader I will pass them over. May this alone suffice: his very holy life, the miracles and more importantly the testimony the Mother of God gave the Friars in our house at Leonessa. It was this. When the holy man had died all the Friars of that house prayed diligently for his soul. As well as others the great servant of God Brother Baptist Piemontese more than any one else wanted to know what had become of his soul. He prayed to Our Lady that she might reveal to him what had become of his soul. He persevered in this prayer for many days. However, very early one morning when he was alone in the church, he was commending himself to Our Lady more than usual. Suddenly the Queen of heaven appeared to him with great splendour I such a way that Brother Baptist began to shudder very much. However the Holy Virgin comforted him straightaway. She said to him, “How can you worry, Brother Baptist my servant, about the soul of such a man who has written so many beautiful praises about my Son and about me? Know that he is saved and now enjoys paradise.” Regaining some of his strength and because of the beautiful words of the Mother of God he said to her, “O Queen of heaven, if it pleases you, tell me about the soul of Pope Paul III too.” The Mother of the Lord answered, “The soul of Pope Paul III is in purgatory. Know that the prayers of the souls who were liberated by the indulgences he granted help him very much. There were about eleven thousand of them.” Amen.