THE LITTLE FLOWERS OF SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI
PART ONE HERE BEGIN THE LITTLE FLOWERS OF ST FRANCIS OF ASSISI
CHAPTER II OF BROTHER BERNARD OF QUINTAVALLE, THE FIRST COMPANION OF ST FRANCIS
CHAPTER XIV HOW THE LORD APPEARED TO ST FRANCIS AND TO HIS BRETHREN AS HE WAS SPEAKING WITH THEM
CHAPTER XV HOW ST CLARE ATE WITH ST FRANCIS AND HIS COMPANIONS AT ST MARY OF THE ANGELS
CHAPTER XXI OF THE MOST HOLY MIRACLE OF ST FRANCIS IN TAMING THE FIERCE WOLF OF GUBBIO
CHAPTER XXII HOW ST FRANCIS TAMED THE WILD DOVES
CHAPTER XXIV HOW ST FRANCIS CONVERTED TO THE FAITH THE SULTAN OF BABYLON
CHAPTER XXX OF THE BEAUTIFUL SERMON WHICH ST FRANCIS AND BROTHER RUFFINO PREACHED AT ASSISI
CHAPTER XXXI HOW ST FRANCIS WAS ACQUAINTED WITH THE SECRETS OF THE CONSCIENCES OF ALL HIS BRETHREN
CHAPTER XXXII HOW BROTHER MASSEO OBTAINED FROM CHRIST THE VIRTUE OF HUMILITY
CHAPTER XXXVI HOW ST FRANCIS EXPLAINED TO BROTHER LEO A BEAUTIFUL VISION THAT HE HAD SEEN
CHAPTER XLV OF THE CONVERSION, LIFE, MIRACLES, AND DEATH OF THE HOLY BROTHER JOHN DELLA PENNA
CHAPTER XLIX HOW CHRIST APPEARED TO BROTHER JOHN OF ALVERNIA
OF THE SACRED AND HOLY STIGMATA OF ST FRANCIS AND CERTAIN CONSIDERATIONS THEREON
OF THE FIRST CONSIDERATION OF THE SACRED, HOLY STIGMATA
OF THE SECOND CONSIDERATION OF THE SACRED, HOLY STIGMATA
OF THE THIRD CONSIDERATION OF THE SACRED HOLY STIGMATA
OF THE FOURTH CONSIDERATION OF THE SACRED, HOLY STIGMATA
HOW JEROME, WHO AT FIRST BELIEVED NOT, SAW AND TOUCHED THE SACRED, HOLY STIGMATA OF ST FRANCIS
OF THE FIFTH AND LAST CONSIDERATION OF THE SACRED, HOLY STIGMATA
CHAPTER LVI OF A HOLY FRIAR WHO SAW A WONDERFUL VISION OF A COMPANION WHO WAS DEAD
HERE BEGINNETH THE LIFE OF BROTHER JUNIPER
CHAPTER I HOW BROTHER JUNIPER CUT OFF THE FOOT OF A PIG TO GIVE IT TO A SICK BROTHER
CHAPTER II AN INSTANCE OF BROTHER JUNIPER’S GREAT POWER AGAINST THE DEVIL
CHAPTER III HOW, BY THE CONTRIVANCE OF THE DEVIL, BROTHER JUNIPER WAS CONDEMNED TO THE GALLOWS
CHAPTER IV HOW BROTHER JUNIPER GAVE ALL THAT HE HAD TO THE POOR FOR THE LOVE OF GOD
CHAPTER VI HOW BROTHER JUNIPER KEPT SILENCE FOR SIX MONTHS
CHAPTER VII HIS REMEDY FOR TEMPTATIONS OF THE FLESH
CHAPTER VIII HOW BROTHER JUNIPER MADE HIMSELF CONTEMPTIBLE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD
CHAPTER IX HOW BROTHER JUNIPER, IN ORDER TO BE DESPISED, PLAYED AT SEE-SAW
CHAPTER X HOW BROTHER JUNIPER ONCE COOKED FOR THE BRETHREN ENOUGH TO LAST FOR A FORTNIGHT
CHAPTER XI HOW BROTHER JUNIPER WENT ONE DAY TO ASSISI FOR HIS OWN CONFUSION
CHAPTER XII HOW BROTHER JUNIPER FELL INTO AN ECSTASY DURING THE CELEBRATION OF MASS
CHAPTER XIV OF THE HAND WHICH BROTHER JUNIPER SAW IN THE AIR
CHAPTER XV HOW ST FRANCIS COMMANDED BROTHER LEO TO WASH THE STONE
PART THREE THE LIFE OF THE BLESSED BROTHER GILES, COMPANION OF ST FRANCIS
CHAPTER I HOW BROTHER GILES, WITH THREE COMPANIONS WAS RECEIVED INTO THE ORDER OF FRIAR’S MINOR
CHAPTER II HOW BROTHER GILES WENT TO ST JAMES THE GREAT
CHAPTER III OF BROTHER GILES’S MANNER OF LIFE WHEN HE WENT TO THE HOLY SEPULCHRE
CHAPTER IV HOW BROTHER GILES PRAISED OBEDIENCE MORE THAN PRAYER
CHAPTER V HOW BROTHER GILES LIVED BY THE LABOUR OF HIS HANDS
CHAPTER VII OF THE DAY OF THE HOLY BROTHER GILES’S DEATH
CHAPTER VIII HOW A HOLY MAN, BEING IN PRAYER, SAW THE SOUL OF BROTHER GILES PASS TO ETERNAL LIFE
CHAPTER X HOW GOD GAVE SPECIAL GRACES TO BROTHER GILES, AND OF THE YEAR OF HIS DEATH
PART FOUR HERE BEGIN THE CHAPTERS OF CERTAIN INSTRUCTIONS AND NOTABLE SAYINGS OF BROTHER GILES
CHAPTER I OF VICES AND VIRTUES
CHAPTER IV OF THE HOLY FEAR OF GOD
CHAPTER VII OF THE CONTEMPT OF TEMPORAL THINGS
CHAPTER XII OF HOLY SPIRITUAL PRUDENCE
CHAPTER XIII OF KNOWLEDGE USEFUL AND USELESS
CHAPTER XIV OF GOOD AND EVIL SPEAKING
CHAPTER XV OF HOLY PERSEVERANCE
CHAPTER XVI OF TRUE RELIGIOUS LIFE
Many sorrows and troubles shall befall the miserable man who sets his heart and desires upon earthly things, for which he forsakes and loses the things of heaven, and at last those of earth also. The eagle flieth very high; but if a weight be laid upon his wings, he can no longer soar aloft; and so by the weight of earthly things man is hindered from soaring on high, to wit, from attaining to perfection; but the wise man, who lays the weight of the remembrance of death and judgment on the wings of his heart, cannot fly and range freely amid the vanities of this world, lest they prove to him occasion of damnation. We see daily how men of the world toil and labour hard, placing themselves in many bodily dangers, to acquire its false riches; and then, after they have thus laboured and acquired, in a moment they die, and leave behind them all that they have gathered together in their lifetime. Therefore there is no dependence to be placed on this deceitful world, which deceiveth every man who trusteth in it, for it is a liar. But he who desires to be truly great and rich indeed, let him love and seek the true and eternal riches, which never satiate or weary or grow less. Let us take example from the beasts and birds, who, when they receive their food are content, and seek only what they need from hour to hour: and so also ought man to be content with what is barely sufficient temperately to supply his needs, asking no more. Brother Giles said that St Francis loved the ants less than any other animal, because of the great care they take in the summer to gather and lay up a store of grain against the winter, but that he said that he loved the birds far better, because they gathered nothing one day for another. But the ant giveth us n example that we should not remain idle in the summer-time of this present life, lest we be found empty and without fruit in the winter of the last and final judgment.