Chapter XVII. How he asked to have the Lord of Ostia for a Pope

25. So the man of God came to Rome¹ and was received by the Lord Pope Honorius and all the Cardinals with great respect; for that which had been fragrant in report shone in his life and sounded on his tongue; and when this is the case there is no room for disrespect. He preached before the Pope and Cardinals with readiness and fervour, giving full utterance to all the promptings of his spirit. The mountains were moved at his word, and heaving deep sighs from their profound recesses bathed the inner man with tears. When the sermon was ended, after a few words of friendly discourse with the Lord Pope, Francis at length petitioned him as follows: "My lord, as you know, access to such Majesty as yours is not readily granted to men poor and despised. You hold the world in your hands, and businesses of vast moment allow you not to attend to the smallest matters. Wherefore (he said) I beg of your Holiness' compassion that this Lord of Ostia may be granted us for a Pope, to the end that, saving always the dignity of your pre-eminence, the brethren may resort to him in time of need and fetch from him the benefits both of protection and of governance." So holy a petition was pleasing in the Pope's sight, and presently (as the man of God had asked) he set the Lord Hugo, then Bishop of Ostia, over the Religion. That holy Cardinal welcomed the flock entrusted to him, became their diligent foster-father, and continued [at once] their shepherd and their nursling until his blessed decease. To [this] special subjection are due the privilege of love and the care which the Holy Roman Church has never ceased to display to the Order of Friars Minor.