Chapter LXXXI. Of the temptations of the Saint, and how he overcame temptation

Of the Temptations he Suffered

115. As the merits of S. Francis increased so also did his enmity with the old Serpent. For the greater were the unctions of the Saint the more subtle became the temptations and the more grievous the assaults wherewith the Devil plied him. For though he had often proved the man a strenuous warrior, who had never yielded in the struggle for so much as an hour, he still endeavoured to attack his ever-victorious foe. Accordingly at a certain season there was sent to the holy father a most grievous temptation of the spirit, assuredly for the increase of his crown. Thenceforward he was hard bestead and filled with griefs, he afflicted and mortified his body, he prayed earnestly and shed plenteous tears. After having been thus assailed for more than two years, one day while he was praying in S. Maria de Portiuncula, he heard in the spirit a voice saying: "Francis, if thou wilt have faith as a grain of mustard-seed thou shalt bid a mountain remove and it shall remove". The Saint answered: "Lord, which is the mountain that I should wish to remove? "And again he heard it said: "The mountain is thy temptation". Then he said with tears: "Be it unto me, O Lord, as Thou hast said". And forthwith all the temptation was driven away, and he was made free and wholly set at rest within.