Chapter 81

How the Lord spoke to him when he was deeply afflicted because the brothers were departing from perfection

Because of the measure of zeal he constantly bore for the perfection of the religious life, he would experience great sadness whenever he heard or saw anything imperfect within it. When he began to understand that certain brothers were giving a bad example in the religious life, and that some brothers had already begun to decline from the summit of their profession, he was inwardly struck by an excessive pain of heart. One day, in prayer, he said to the Lord:

“Lord, I commend to you the family that you have given me!”

And immediately the Lord said to him:

“Tell me, O simple and ignorant little man, why do you grieve so much when someone leaves the religious life and when the brothers do not walk on the path that I have shown you? Tell me also: who planted this religion of the brothers? Who converts a man to penance? Who gives the strength to persevere in it? Is it not I?

I did not choose you as a learned and eloquent man to be at the head of my family, for I do not wish that you, nor those who were true brothers and true observers of the Rule that I gave you, should walk by the path of knowledge and eloquence. But I chose you simple and ignorant, so that you and the others might know that it is I who watch over my flock. I have placed you as a sign for them, so that the works that I perform in you, they themselves must accomplish in themselves.

For those who walk on the path that I have shown you have me, and will have me in abundance; but those who wish to walk by another path, even what they seem to have will be taken away from them.

Therefore I say to you: do not grieve so much any longer, but continue what you are doing, accomplish what you are accomplishing, for it is in an eternal love that I have planted the religion of the brothers. Know then that I love them so much that, if one of the brothers returns to his vomit and dies outside the religious life, I will send another into the religious life to receive his crown in his place. And if he had not been born, I would cause him to be born. And so that you may know that I freely love the life and the religion of the brothers, suppose that in the entire religious body only three brothers remained: it would still be my religion, and I would never abandon it.”

At these words, his soul remained wonderfully consoled. And although, because of the excessive zeal he always bore for the perfection of the religious life, he could not with all his heart keep himself from being deeply saddened when he heard that an imperfection had been committed by brothers, giving rise to bad example or scandal, nevertheless, after having been thus comforted by the Lord, he recalled to his memory this verse of the psalm: “I have sworn and resolved to keep the judgments of God, and to observe the Rule that the Lord Himself had given to him, as well as to those who wished to imitate him.”

“The brothers themselves have all committed to this as I have. And therefore, after having left the office because of my infirmities and for other legitimate reasons, I am now bound only to pray for the religious life and to give a good example to the brothers. For I have received this from the Lord, and I know in truth that, if infirmity did not excuse me, the greatest help I could bring to the religious life would be to devote myself each day to prayer for it, so that the Lord may govern it, preserve it, and protect it.

For I have committed myself before the Lord and before the brothers to this: if a brother were to perish because of my bad example, I wish to be held accountable for him before the Lord.”

These words he addressed inwardly to himself to calm his heart; and he also frequently explained them to the brothers in his conversations and in the chapters.

Therefore, if any brother sometimes told him that he should involve himself in the governance of the Order, he would reply:

“The brothers have their Rule and have sworn to observe it. And so that they may have no excuse because of me, when the Lord willed that I should be their superior, I swore before them to observe it myself as well. Since the brothers know what they must do and what they must avoid, nothing remains except to instruct them by deeds. For it is for this that I was given to them during my life and after my death.”