wit, those at Assisi,[1] Berlin, Florence (Ognissanti MSS.), St. Floriano, Liegnitz, Paris (Nat. lib. and Mazarin MSS. 989), Prague and Rome (St. Antony's and both Vatican MSS.), as well as in a fifteenth century MS. at the Hague (Municip. lib. cod. K. 54, fol. 3 v). The text here translated is that of the Assisi codex collated with those of Ognissanti, Florence, and St. Antony's, Rome, and with the versions of the Testament contained in the Monumenta (fol. 274 v) and Firmamenta,[2] (fol. 16 v). Here begins the:
TESTAMENT OF THE HOLY FATHER ST. FRANCIS.
The Lord gave to me, Brother Francis, thus to begin to do penance; for when I was in sin it seemed to me very bitter to see lepers, and the Lord Himself led me amongst them and I showed mercy to them.[3] And when I left them, that which had seemed to me bitter was changed for me into sweetness of body and soul. And afterwards I remained a little and I left the world. And the Lord gave me so much[4] faith
- ↑ The text of the Testament given by M. Sabatier in his edition of the Speculum Perf. is that of this Assisi MS.
- ↑ It may also be found in the Speculum Minorum (Tract. III, 8 r) and in the Annales of Wadding (ad an. 1226, 35).
- ↑ See 1 Cel. 17, where this passage of the Testament is quoted. See also Bonav. Leg. Maj., II, 6; and Leg. III Soc. 11. Some texts instead of "feci misericordiam cum illis" give "feci moram cum illis": "I made a sojourn with them." See Miscell. Franc., III (1888), p. 70. It is interesting to note here how St Francis on the eve of his death, casting a backward glance over the ways by which he had been led, dwells on this incident which had marked a new era in his life.
- ↑ Cod. As. reads "talem fidem," "such faith."
