I.
Words of Admonition of our Holy Father St. Francis.
nder this title a precious series of spiritual counsels on the religious life has come down to us from the pen of St. Francis. The early Legends afford no indication of the time or circumstances of the composition of these Admonitions; nor is it possible to determine by whom they were collected. But they accord so completely with the Saint's genuine works and are so redolent of his spirit that their authenticity is admitted by all.[1] Moreover, the various codices in which these Admonitions may be found are unanimous in attributing them to St. Francis, while the number of the Admonitions[2] and the order in which they are given in the different codices are almost the same as in the Laurentian codex at Florence, dating from the thirteenth century.
Codices containing the Admonitions of St. Francis are to be found at the following places: 1. Assisi (Munic. lib. cod. 338, fol. 18);—2. Berlin (Royal lib. cod. lat. 196, fol. 101);—3. Florence (Laurentian lib.
- ↑ See Goetz: Quellen zur Geschichte des hl. Franz von Assisi, in Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte, t. xxii, p. 551, and Van Ortroy, S.J., in Anal. Bolland., t. xxiv, fasc. iii (1905), p. 411.
- ↑ The codex of St. Antony's College, Rome, omits the Admonitions numbered 11 and 22. It may be noted, however, that both these numbers are found at the end of the Speculum Perfectionis, ed. Lemmens. See Documenta Antiqua Franciscana, P. II, p. 84.
