iliations.

But after watching one day in the Cloister of Santa Maria degli Angeli a
number of Doctors of Theology in meditation on the perfections of the
Most Holy Trinity and the Mysteries of the Passion, he began to doubt
whether they did not possess the love of God more fully than he, by
reason of their wider knowledge.

He was afflicted in his soul, and for the first time in his life fell
into melancholy. But sadness was unnatural to one in his estate; for joy
is the inheritance of the poor.

He resolved to carry his difficulty to the General of the Order, to be
rid of it as of a galling burden. Now Giovanni di Fidanza was General of
the Order in those days.

In the cradle he had received from St. Francis himself the name of
Bonaventure. He had studied Theology at the University of Paris; and he
excelled in the science of Love, which is the science of God. He knew
the four degrees which lift the creature to his Creator, and he pondered
on the mystery of the six wings of the Cherubim. This was the reason why
he was called the Seraphic Doctor.

And he was well aware that Science is vain without Love. Fra Giovanni
found him walking in his garden, on the terrace overlooking the city.

It was a Sunday; and the handicraftsmen of the town and the peasants who
work in the vineyards were climbing, at the foot of the terrace, the
steep street that leads to the Church.

And Fra Giovanni, seeing Brother Bonaventure in the garden, in the midst
of the lilies, drew near and said:

"Brother Bonaventure, free my mind of the doubt that is tormenting me,
and tell me: Can an ignorant man love God with as great love as a
learned Doctor of the Church?"

And Brother Bonaventure answered:

"I will tell you the truth, Fra Giovanni; a poor old woman may not only
equal but surpass all the Doctors of Theology in the world. And seeing
the sole excellence of man lies in loving, I tell you again--the most
ignorant of women shall be exalted in Heaven above the Doctors."

Fra Giovanni, on hearing these words, was filled with great joy; and,
leaning out over the low wall of the garden, looked lovingly at the
passers-by. Then he cried out at the top of his voice:

"Ho! you poor women, ignorant and simple-minded, you shall be set in
Heaven above Brother Bonaventure."

And the Seraphic Doctor, hearing the good Brother's proclamation, smiled
sweetly where he stood among the lilies of his garden.

IV

THE LOAF ON THE FLAT STONE

F