more confidence ought we believe that He will give them what He usually
gives, with so much liberality, to the good and to the bad."

The Pope listened very attentively to the parable and to its
application. He was greatly pleased with it, and had no doubt but that
Jesus Christ spoke by the mouth of Francis. He was also convinced by
an interior light of the Holy Spirit, that in him a celestial vision
which he had but some days before would be accomplished, and which,
as St. Bonaventure informs us, he himself related. While he slept, he
saw that the Lateran Church was on the point of falling, when a poor
and miserable man supported it on his shoulders. On which he exclaimed:
"Yes truly, it is that man who will support the Church of Jesus Christ
by his works and by his doctrine." He thus foretold the great service
Francis and his children would render to the universal Church, which
indeed they have rendered, and, for the last six centuries, have not
ceased to render: this was what was prefigured by the vision; although
it has been remarked as something very singular, that the Lateran
Church has been repaired, improved and ornamented by three Popes, the
children of the blessed Patriarch, to wit, Nicholas IV, Sixtus IV, and
Sixtus V.

Innocent III, moved and greatly affected by these celestial portents,
conceived for Francis a most tender friendship, which he preserved
ever after. He approved his rule verbally, granted him several other
favors, and promised many more. After having received in his own hands
the profession of the founder, and of those who accompanied him, he
directed him to preach penance in all parts, and to labor for the
extension of the Catholic faith. In order to enable them to employ
themselves more freely in preaching, and to assist the priest with
greater dignity in the performance of the holy mysteries, he directed