provided them with lodgings, she fed them, clothed them, and assisted
them in their sicknesses with the tenderness of a mother. It was she
who procured for them from the Benedictines of the Abbey of St. Cosmas
beyond the Tiber, a refuge in the Hospital of St. Blaise; and this
hospital with its church was entirely ceded to them by the same
religious order in the year 1229, at the request of Pope Gregory IX;
it is to this day the Convent of St. Francis of Ripa. Thus the Friars
Minor are indebted to the children of St. Benedict for the first
establishment they had in Rome, as well as for that of St. Mary of the
Angels, or Portiuncula, the first of the whole Order.

Francis, having terminated his business at Rome, returned to St. Mary
of the Angels, where he communicated to his brethren his intention of
proceeding to the Levant. He exhorted them in the strongest terms to
perfect themselves in the exercises of a religious life; he left them
Peter of Catania as superior during his absence, and set out with one
companion for Ascoli. At that place they were extremely anxious to see
and hear this admirable man, who was everywhere looked upon as a saint:
he had scarcely arrived in the town when all flocked to him; whichever
way he went, a crowd followed him; every one was anxious to get near
him, and they pressed upon each other in order only to be able to touch
his miserable habit. His presence and preaching in this town procured
him thirty disciples, some priests, and some laymen, whom he placed
in different houses of the Order.

The desire of martyrdom which he aspired to from the infidels, did not
admit of a longer stay at Ascoli; he therefore made for the sea-side,
and embarked on board a vessel which was bound for Syria. But on the
passage the winds became adverse, and they were obliged to come to
anchor off Sclavonia, where he remained some days in hopes of finding