Chapter XXIX. How he Stripped Himself and his Fellow that he Might Clothe the Poor

AT Celano in the winter time, when blessed Francis had a cloth folded like a mantle which a certain friend of the friars had lent to him, there came to him an old woman seeking alms. Who forthwith loosed the cloak from his neck, and though it belonged to another, gave it to the poor old woman, saying, "Go and make a tunic for yourself, because you want it enough." The old woman laughed, and astonished, I know not whether from fear or joy, took the cloth from his hands, and lest delay should bring about a danger of his taking it back, ran very swiftly, and fell upon the cloth with her scissors. But when she found the cloth was not enough for a tunic, she came back to the first kindness of the holy Father, pointing out to him that the cloth was not large enough for a tunic. The saint turned his eyes to his fellow who wore such another cloth on his back, and said to him, "Hearest thou what this poor woman says. For the love of God let us bear the cold, and give that cloth to the poor woman that her tunic may be finished." And forthwith as he had given it so also did his fellow. Thus both of them remained bare that the poor woman might be clothed.

*n 485 2 1 o The Mirror of Perfection