The Life and Legends of Saint Francis of Assisi

Father Candide Chalippe

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• Publié par: muthir
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 9
• Langue: English

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The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Life and
Legends of Saint Francis of Assisi, by Father
Candide Chalippe
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Title: The Life and Legends of Saint Francis ofAssisi
Author: Father Candide Chalippe
Release Date: August, 2004 [EBook #6367] [Yes,
we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
[This file was first posted on December 2, 2002]
[Date last updated: January 18, 2004]
Edition: 10
Language: English
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG
EBOOK FRANCIS OF ASSISI ***
Produced by Scott Pfenninger, Juliet Sutherland,
Charles Franks and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team.
THE LIFE AND LEGENDS OF SAINT
FRANCIS OF ASSISI
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF FATHER
CANDIDE CHALIPPE, O.F.M.
REVISED AND RE-EDITED BY FATHERHILARION DUERK, O.F.M.
Imprimatur FATHER SAMUEL MACKE O.F.M.
Min. Prov. St. Louis
September 1, 1917
Nihil obstat ARTHUR J. SCANLAN, S.T.D. Censur
Librarum
Imprimatur JOHN CARDINAL FARLEY New York
This Jubilee Edition of the Life and Legends of St.
Francis of Assisi
is Respectfully Dedicated to all Members of the
Third Order in the
City of Cleveland and Vicinity, above all, to the
Nobel Patrons and
Zealous Workers of Our Tertiary Branches.
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
The Life and Legends of St. Francis of Assisi by
Father Candide Chalippe, O.F.M., need no
apology. The work was first published at Paris in
1727. It is not only well written and reliable withal,but also instructive, elevating and inspiring. The
facts and legends mentioned are drawn from the
oldest and most reliable sources. The abundance
of incidents and anecdotes not to be found
elsewhere make the volume eminently interesting,
while the reflexions and applications which the
author now and then interweaves with the narrative
are so replete with practical hints on spiritual life,
that they will undoubtedly produce the best spiritual
results in the reader. The style though simple, at
times graphic, is very pleasing; the narrative flows
on with equal ease and freedom.
In 1852 a priest from the Oratory of St. Philip Neri
made a translation into English from what was then
the latest French edition. This French edition came
from the press in 1850. With the English translation
the original work appeared in an abridged form.
The original work is divided into six books, the
English translation contains but half of these, so
rearranged for the sake of clearness that they form
five books. Most elucidations of the original work
regarding characteristics of St. Francis, events and
dates that are doubtful, are omitted, likewise most
of the writings of St. Francis. The former were and
still are undergoing changes, owing to new
historical researches and discoveries made by
students of Franciscan sources, while the latter
were but lately again newly translated into English
and edited as completely as possible with many
critical notes and references of great value by the
scholarly Father Paschal Robinson, O.F.M.—The
Writings of St. Francis of Assisi by Father Paschal
Robinson, O.F.M. The Dolphin Press, 1906.The marvellous progress the Third Order of St.
Francis is making in this country causes the story
of the life of St. Francis that is herewith presented
to the public in a newly revised edition to be
especially welcome. For all Tertiaries know that
mere devotion to St. Francis is of itself not
sufficient to acquire the spirit of their Seraphic
Father; all are aware that membership in the Third
Order does not necessarily argue the possession
of this spirit—and yet, every real Tertiary desires
nothing more than to acquire the poor, humble,
loving spirit of St. Francis. This spirit can scarcely
be acquired, unless the life of St. Francis be well
known, meditated upon and imitated as far as
practicable. The Life and Legends of St. Francis of
Assisi by Father Candide Chalippe, O.F.M., is
peculiarly adapted to help Tertiaries to perform this
task; the spirit of St. Francis breathes in every
page. Not once, but several times may Tertiaries
read this book to great advantage. With every
reading new items of interest will be discovered,
new lessons will present themselves to be learnt,
new inspirations will be imparted to the soul from
above. The more this book is read, the more it will
be loved; the more it is studied, the more it will be
admired. For Tertiaries a book of this kind is a
necessity; it is as necessary for them as a text-
book is for a scholar.
May this wonderful work spread in the future even
more rapidly than before, may it receive the hearty
welcome it deserves among the innumerable
Tertiaries and clients of St. Francis of Assisi and be
to them a sure guide to God's abundant graces inthis world and to life everlasting in the next.PREFACE BY THE AUTHOR
WHEREIN THE PREJUDICES OF CERTAIN
PERSONS AGAINST MIRACLES WHICH ARE
RECORDED IN THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS ARE
SHOWN TO BE BOTH UNREASONABLE AND
DANGEROUS, AND THAT THE MIRACLES
ATTRIBUTED TO SAINT FRANCIS ARE VERY
WELL AUTHENTICATED.
A very common failing amongst men is to adopt
one extreme in the endeavor to avoid another, and
sometimes not to perceive that the extreme into
which they fall is greater than that which they had
sought to flee from. To insure themselves against
weak incredulity, some have imbibed such
prejudice against the miracles in the Lives of the
Saints, that they cannot endure to hear of them;
the very ideas of miracles, revelations, ecstasies,
visions, apparitions, are hateful and disgusting to
them; all that is said on these subjects they look
upon as fabulous and incredible; they call in
question the most undeniable evidence, or attribute
these wonders to natural and unknown causes.
The wonders which are recorded in the Life of St,
Francis, afford an opportunity of grappling with
these prejudices.
In the first place, no man using his right reason will
reject the wonders recorded in the Lives of the
Saints, because of their impossibility. Miracles areextraordinary events, which break through the laws
of nature, and exceed the force of all natural
causes; it is only necessary to make use of our
reason to be aware that God, whose power is
infinite, having freely established these laws, may,
whenever He thinks fit, break through them Himself
by the ministry of His creatures, whom He makes
use of as He pleases; that these suspensions may
enter into the external designs of His wisdom and
providence, and that they occur by successive
acts, without there having been any change in Him,
because it is an act of His will which causes them,
as it does every other thing. Now this proves that
miracles are possible, and that there is no
impossibility in the wonders recorded in the Lives
of the Saints.
In the second place, these wonders ought not to
cause an incredulous surprise in any sensible
person who pays due attention to the wonders of
nature. "Man," says St. Augustine, "sees
extraordinary things happen, and he admires them,
while he himself, the admirer, is a great wonder,
and a much greater miracle than any things which
are done by the intervention of man. There is
nothing more marvellous done in the world, which
is not less wonderful than the world itself. All nature
is full of what is miraculous; we seem unconscious
of it, because we see those things daily, and
because this daily repetition lowers them in our
eyes. And this is one reason why God has
reserved to Himself other things out of the
common course of nature, on which He shows His
power from time to time, in order that their noveltymay strike us; but when we consider attentively,
and with reflection, the miracles we constantly see,
we find that they are far greater than others,
however surprising and uncommon these may be."
The holy doctor admits that the prodigies which are
out of the common course of nature, and which are
properly called miracles, are to be viewed with
astonishment, since they are works of God, worthy
of admiration; he only requires that the surprise
they cause shall be qualified by a consideration of
the wonders of nature, to which he likewise gives
the name of miracles, in a more extended sense:
on the same principle, and a fortiori, what there is
surprising in the