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The first companion to join St. Francis was Brother Bernard of Assisi. His conversion happened like this. It was in the days when Francis was still wearing his secular clothing, even though he had begun to renounce the things of the world. He had been going around Assisi looking mortified and unkempt, wearing his penance in his appearance in such a way that people thought he had become a fool. He was mocked and laughed at, and pelted with stones and mud by both those who knew him and those who did not. But Francis endured these things with patience and joy, as if he did not hear the taunts at all and had no means of responding to them.
The noble Bernard of Assisi noticed all of this. For two years, he watched Francis as he was scorned by the townspeople—the same people who respected Bernard as one of the wisest and wealthiest men around. Despite the torment, Francis always seemed patient and serene. Bernard pondered these things in his heart. He said to himself, This man must have grace that comes from God alone.
But Bernard decided to put the younger man’s saintliness to a test. He asked Francis to join him one night for dinner, and they ate together at Bernard’s table.
Then, Bernard invited Francis simply to spend the night; he had prepared a room for Francis in his home, in fact, in his very own chamber. This was a part of the test as well.
In that room a lamp burned low all night long. Francis entered the chamber first, and quickly flung himself into bed, pretending that he was eager to drop off to sleep. Then, Bernard came into the chamber prepared for bed, and he too lay down. Before long, Bernard was pretending to be asleep, even going so far as to let out loud sounds of snoring. Hearing such noises coming from the other end of the chamber, Francis got out of his bed and threw himself to the floor to pray.
Francis turned his face toward heaven and raised his hands fervently to God. “My God, my God!” he cried out.
He began to weep, and he prayed in this way all night long until the morning light.
Why did Francis pray these words, “My God, my God!”? Like a prophet, he could see the great things that God would accomplish through him and through the movement that he would begin—and Francis was considering his inadequacy to do what needed to be done. This was his call to God for help.
Bernard of Assisi saw all of this from the other end of the chamber. The words and spirit of Francis touched him deeply, and in that moment, Bernard felt inspired to change his own life also. By the light of morning, Bernard said, “Friar Francis, I have decided to follow you in your work, to live with you your life, and to leave behind the things of this world.”
Francis was elated. He said, “Lord Bernard, what you propose doing is of such importance, and will be so difficult, that I think we should seek together from our Lord Christ how we are to do it. Let’s go together to the house of the bishop and hear Mass, and remain in prayer until the time of Tierce, asking God to show us his will three times in the reading of the missal.”* And so they went together to the bishop’s house and they heard Mass, and they stayed at prayer until the hour of Tierce, and then they asked the priest to take up the missal three times for them.
The priest made the sign of the cross over the book, and opening it the first time he read, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me” (Matt. 19:21). Then the priest opened the book for a second time. There occurred these words: “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money” (Lk. 9:3). And last, the third opening of the book revealed: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Mk. 8:34).
When they had heard all of these words, Francis said to Bernard, “This is the wisdom that Jesus Christ has given to us. You should go and do exactly what you have heard. And thanks to God for showing us the true way of life!”
Bernard left immediately to gather all of his possessions. He owned many things, and some he distributed to the poor. Some he sold. And with the money that he earned, he gave liberally to widows and orphans, prisoners and pilgrims. In all of this, Francis was by his side.
While they were distributing money to the poor in Assisi, a man named Sylvester saw and said to Francis: “You never paid me for all of those stones that I gave you to repair churches.” Francis was amazed at the man’s greed at such a moment as this. He thrust his hand into Bernard’s pocket, which was filled with money, and then thrust a handful of money into Sylvester’s pocket, saying, “If you ask for more, I will give that, too.” Sylvester turned and went home.
Later than evening, Sylvester thought about what he had done, and reproached himself. For three nights, then, he had a dream from God. He saw a cross of gold coming from the mouth of Francis; its arms reached from east to west, and the top of the cross went all the way to heaven. Sylvester knew that the Lord was touching him, and for God’s glory he too gave away all that he had to the poor and became a Friar Minor. In some of the stories to come, you will see how Sylvester became a holy man and spoke as an intimate friend with God.
In the same way, Bernard received much grace from God once he’d given everything away. He became a friar with the gift of contemplation. Francis used to say that Brother Bernard should be held in reverence by the others because he was the first to live according to the poverty of the Gospel, holding back nothing, offering himself naked into the arms of the Crucified, glory be to him forever and ever. Amen.
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*Tierce is one of the appointed canonical “hours” of monastic daily prayer, usually at 9 AM. A missal was the book a priest used for celebrating the Mass. In the thirteenth century, this would have included much of the text of the New Testament (what is now usually included in a separate book called a Lectionary).