was waging active war against the emperor, in the kingdom of Naples,
on the subject of the claims of his wife Alberia, the eldest daughter
of Tancred, King of Cicily, who had been some years dead. Francis
resolved to offer him his services, in the hope of gaining military
honors. He attached himself to an officer of distinction, who belonged
to the count's army, and he set out with a good retinue, after having
assured his friends that he was sure of acquiring great renown.

He first went to Spoleto, and there Jesus Christ addressed these
benevolent words to him during the night: "Francis, which of the two,
think you, can be of the greatest service to you: the master or the
servant, the rich or the poor?" "It is the master and the rich," he
answered without any hesitation. "Why then," continued our Lord, "do
you leave God who is the master and rich, to seek man, who is the
servant and poor?" "O Lord!" exclaimed Francis, "what is it your
pleasure I should do?" Jesus Christ then said to him: "Return to your
town; what you have seen signifies nothing but what is spiritual. It
is from God, and not from man, that you will receive their
accomplishment." The very next morning he retraced his steps towards
Assisi, to await the orders of the Lord, without troubling himself as
to what the world should say as to this precipitate return.

His friends came as usual to propose a party of pleasure. He received
them, as was his custom, with great politeness, and feasted them
magnificently to bid them, thus honorably, an eternal adieu. On parting
from them, he found himself suddenly struck with the vanity of all
terrestrial things, and with the grandeur of all that is heavenly, by
a communication from the Spirit of God, full of mildness, but so
internal, and so forcible, that his senses were brought into a state
of inaction, and he himself remained motionless. He afterwards told