intent upon his wish to consecrate himself to God, Jesus Christ appeared
to him, and said: "Man of desires, if you hope to be in the enjoyment
of what you wish for, and to effect your salvation, take a religious
habit and follow Me." He immediately asked into what order he should
enter. Our Lord answered him: "Join the new Order of Francis of Assisi."
He then made this further inquiry: "Lord, when I shall have joined
that Order, what mode of life shall I follow, to be more agreeable to
Thee?" and this is the answer he received: "Lead the usual life; enter
into no particular intimacies with your brethren; take no notice of
the defects of others, and form no opinion to their disadvantage."
These are admirable means for living holily and peaceably in a
community. The young man came and offered himself to Francis, who knew
that Jesus Christ had sent him, and he admitted him immediately, giving
him the name of Brother Humble, on account of the humility he found
in his heart.

At Crotona, to which place he next took the word of God, there was
another young man named Guy, who, moved by his preaching, had invited
him to dinner: "This young man," said Francis, "will enter our militia
to-day, and will sanctify himself in this town." He was the oldest
of his family, brought up in study and in virtue, and the excellence
of his conduct exceeded even that of his education. He frequented the
churches and the sacraments, he gave great alms, and visited the sick
to assist them; he wore a hair-shirt, and chastised his body severely,
to enable him to preserve his virginal purity. He had made a vow to
do this. After the dinner, he knelt down and petitioned for the habit
of a Friar Minor, which he received in the principal church of the
town, in the presence of a numerous concourse of people, after having
first fulfilled two conditions which the father had prescribed for
him: The first was, to give to the poor all that he had inherited by