Chapter 2

How the blessed Francis declared his will and his intention, which he held from the beginning until the end, concerning the observance of poverty.

Brother Richard [Roger] of the Marche, noble by his origin and noble by his holiness, whom the blessed Francis loved with great affection, one day paid a visit to the blessed Francis in the palace of the bishop of Assisi. Among other things he said to him concerning the state of the Order and the observance of the Rule, he questioned him especially in these terms:

“Tell me, father, what was your intention at the beginning, when you first began to have brothers, and what is your intention now, and the one you believe you will keep until the day of your death, so that I may be assured of your first and last intention and will, namely, whether we, clerical brothers, who possess so many books, may have them, even though we say that they belong to the Order.”

The blessed Francis answered him:

“I tell you, brother, that such was and such is my first intention and my final will, if the brothers had believed me, that no brother should have anything other than the garment, as our Rule permits, together with the cord and the trousers.”

But if someone should wish to say, “Why did the blessed Francis, in his time, not have the Rule and poverty observed by the brothers with as much strictness as he stated to Brother Roger, nor command that they be observed in this way?”, we who lived with him reply, as we heard from his own mouth, that he said these things to the brothers and many others besides, and that he even had several prescriptions written into the Rule which he continually asked of the Lord, through assiduous prayer and meditation, for the benefit of the Order, affirming that they were entirely in accordance with the will of God.

But when he later set them forth to the brothers, they seemed to them heavy and unbearable, for they did not then know what was to come upon the Order after his death. And since he greatly feared scandal, both in himself and among the brothers, he did not wish to enter into contention with them, but, against his own will, he yielded to theirs and excused himself before the Lord.

Nevertheless, so that the word which the Lord had placed in his mouth for the benefit of the brothers might not return to Him without fruit, he wished to fulfill it in himself, so as to receive the reward from the Lord; and in this, finally, his spirit found rest and consolation.