Of the three churches which Francis had repaired, he chose that of St.
Mary of the Angels for his residence, in order to honor the Mother of
God and the Celestial Intelligences. St. Bonaventure says that he was
often favored by visits from Angels, on account of the frequent
apparitions of these blessed spirits there. The man of God passed days
and nights there in fervent prayer, when he entreated the Blessed
Virgin, that as she had conceived and brought forth the Word of the
Father, full of grace and truth, she would have the goodness to obtain
for him a participation therein; it was there also, that, by the merits
of this powerful advocate, he had the happiness to conceive and bring
forth, if it may be so expressed, his evangelical life; the precious
fruit of grace and truth, which the Son of God had come to bring upon
earth.

One day when he was assisting in this church at a mass of the Apostles,
which he had requested the priest of St. Damian to say, he listened
attentively to the Gospel where this form of life is prescribed by our
Saviour for the mission of His Apostles: "Do not possess gold, nor
silver, nor money in your purses; nor scrip for your journey, nor two
coats, nor shoes, nor a staff." After mass, he asked the priest to
explain these words to him; he understood the sense of them well, and
impressed them well on his heart, finding in them the image of that
poverty which he loved: "This is what I seek for," he exclaimed, quite
overjoyed, "this is what I desire with my whole heart." At the same
instant he threw away his purse with a feeling of horror for money,
he took off his shoes, he replaced his leather girdle by a cord, and
devoted his thoughts to putting in practice what he had just heard,
and to conforming himself in all things to the Evangelical rule. It
is a vocation similar to that of St. Anthony, of whom St. Athanasius
relates, that having heard in the church these words of Jesus Christ,