to return it to the master from whom he had received it. "It is I,"
replied Bernard, "who have received a great deal from God, and much
more than I have deserved; I return it willingly into His hands, and
place it at your disposal; for I mean to attach myself to you." At
these words, Francis, delighted to find that God began the
accomplishment of his works by so worthy a personage: "Your intention,"
he said, "is one of great importance; you must consult God upon it,
to learn from Him how you are to put it in execution. Early to-morrow
morning we will ask the Curate of St. Nicholas, who is known to be a
most worthy man, to say a mass for us, and after having heard it, we
will continue in prayer till the hour of Tierce." We see in this the
mode of acting of one who has the spirit of God; he hurries nothing,
he has recourse to prayer, and he makes use of the ordinary practices
of the Church.

The following day they did what they had proposed; after which, Francis,
who had great devotion to the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity,
opened three times in their honor the book of the Gospels, entreating
the Almighty to confirm, by the testimony of their texts, Bernard's
holy resolution. At the first opening they found the following: "If
thou wilt be perfect, go sell all thou hast, and give it to the poor."
At the second: "Take nothing for the journey." At the third: "If any
man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up the cross,
and follow Me." Then Francis, addressing himself to Bernard, said:
"There is the life we must lead, the rule we must follow, you and I,
and all those who shall desire to join us. Go thou and put in execution
what thou hast just heard."

The new disciple, intimately convinced that his design came from God,
sold, as fast as he could, all his effects, from which he got a