Bible, of those who _by their perseverance conquer their souls_.
Thus we shall see him continually retouching the Rule of his institute,
unceasingly revising it down to the last moment, according as the growth
of the Order and experience of the human heart suggested to him
modifications of it.[2]

The first Rule which he submitted to Rome has not come down to us; we
only know that it was extremely simple, and composed especially of
passages from the Gospels. It was doubtless only the repetition of those
verses which Francis had read to his first companions, with a few
precepts about manual labor and the occupations of the new
brethren.[3]

It will be well to pause here and consider the brethren who are about to
set out for Rome. The biographies are in agreement as to their number;
they were twelve, including Francis; but the moment they undertake to
give a name to each one of them difficulties begin to arise, and it is
only by some exegetical sleight of hand that they can claim to have
reconciled the various documents. The table given below[4] briefly
shows these difficulties. The question took on some importance when in
the fourteenth century men undertook to show an exact conformity between
the life of St. Francis and that of Jesus. It is without interest to us.
The profiles of two or three of these brethren stand out very clearly in
the picture of the origins of the Order; others remind one of the
pictures of primitive Umbrian masters, where the figures of the
background have a modest and tender grace, but no shadow of personality.
The first Franciscans had all the virtues, including the one which is
nearly always wanting, willingness to remain unknown.

In the Lower Church of Assisi there is an ancient fresco representing
five of the companions of St. Francis. Above them is a Madonna by
Cimabue, upon which they are gazing with all their soul. It would be
more true if St. Francis were there in the place of the Madonna; one is
always changed into the image of what one admires, and they resemble
their master and one another.[5] To attempt to give them a name is to
make a sort of psychological error and become guilty of infidelity to
their memory; the only name they would have desired is that of their
father. His love changed their hearts and shed over their whole persons
a radiance of light and joy. These are the true personages of the
_Fioretti_, the men who brought peace to cities, awakened consciences,
changed he