is epoch he had
received the lesser order, and that thus he might be subject to
the jurisdiction of the Church.

[15] 3 Soc., 18 and 19; 1 Cel., 14; Bon., 19.

[16] From 1204 until after the death of St. Francis the
episcopal throne of Assisi was occupied by Guido II. Vide
Cristofano, 1, 169 ff.

[17] _Piazza di Santa Maria Maggiore o del vescovado._
Everything has remained pretty nearly in the same state as in
the thirteenth century.

[18] 1 Cel., 15; 3 Soc., 20; Bon., 20.

[19] 3 Soc., 16; Bon., 21.

[20] 1 Cel., 16; Bon., 21. The curious will read with interest
an article by M. Mezzatinti upon the journey to Gubbio entitled
_S. Francesco e Frederico Spadalunga da Gubbio_. [Miscellanea,
t. v., pp. 76-78.] This Spadalunga da Gubbio was well able to
give a garment to Francis, but it is very possible that the gift
was made much later and that this solemn date in the saint's
life has been fixed by an optical illusion, almost inevitable
because of the identity of the fact with the name of the
locality.

[21] 1 Cel., 17; Bon., 11; 13; 21; 22; 3 Soc., 11; A. SS., p.
575.

[22] 1 Cel., 18; 3 Soc., 21; Bon., 23.

[23] 3 Soc., 22; 2 Cel., 1, 9.

[24] 3 Soc., 24; 2 Cel., 8; _Spec._, 24.

[25] 3 Soc., 23; 2 Cel., 7.

[26] 3 Soc., 24; _Testament de Claire_, Wadding, _ann. 1253_ v.

[27] Cel., 21; Bon., 24.

[28] 3 Soc., 14; 2 Cel., i., 6.

[29] Portiuncula was a dependence of this abbey.

[30] This is the date adopted by the Bollandists, because the
ancient missals mark the pericope, Matt. x., for the gospel of
this day. This entails no difficulty and in any case it cannot
be very far distant from the truth. A. SS., p. 574.

[31] See in particular Bon., 25 and 26. Cf. A. SS., p. 577d.

* * * * *

CHAPTER V

FIRST YEAR OF APOSTOLATE

Spring of 1209-Summer of 1210

The very next morning Francis went up to Assisi and began to preach. His
words were simple, but they came so straight from the heart that all who
heard him were touched.

It is not easy to hear and apply to one's self the exhortations of
preachers who, aloft in the pulpit, seem to be carrying out a mere
formality; it is just as difficult to escape from the appeals of a
layman who walks at our side. The amazing multitude of Protestant sects
is d