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In the province of the Marches after St. Francis had died, there were two brothers who were together in the Order: Brother Humble and Brother Pacifico.* They were both great in holiness.
Brother Humble lived at Soffiano,† a long way from where Brother Pacifico lived in a community of friars. One day, while praying, Pacifico was touched by the hand of God and he saw his brother’s soul flying directly to heaven. Brother Humble had died.
Years later, Brother Pacifico was himself living at Soffiano, where his brother had died, when a request came from the house of Brunforte for the friars to leave Soffiano and move to another place.‡ The friars needed to move the remains of all of their brothers who had died in that place, and it was given to Brother Pacifico to transfer the bones of his brother, Humble. He gathered up the bones reverently and bathed them in wine, wrapped them in a white cloth, and wept and kissed them. This shocked the other friars. They looked on him as one who was putting too much care into worldly affection and showing too great a devotion to what was merely natural remains. Sensing this, Brother Pacifico explained himself.
“Dear brothers, don’t be surprised,” he said. “I did what I did because my brother died at a time when I was devoutly in prayer and I clearly saw his soul ascend to heaven. So I have known for certain that these are the bones of a saint and are bound eventually, also, for heavenly glory. If God had graced me with a similar knowledge about any of the other friars who were buried here, I would do likewise with their bones.”
With this, the other friars understood Brother Pacifico’s intentions, and all were blessed by him. They praised God from whom come all blessings wrought by his holy friars. Amen.
[#46 of 53]
* Every translator of The Little Flowers makes decisions as to when to retain the Italian, for flavor, and when to render Italian names and words into English for sense and understanding. This is a case where I’m using “Humble” in place of the Italian Umile, but retaining the Italian original, Pacifico, which would be “Peace-Loving” in English.
† Raphael Brown tells us that “Soffiano was a grotto high on the steep slopes of Monte Ragnolo, three hours’ climb from Sarnano—a striking example of early Franciscan hermitages.” (Raphael Brown, ed., The Little Flowers of Saint Francis: First Complete Edition [New York: Image Books, 1958], 341–42.)
‡ This family of Brunforte was likely known to Brother Ugolino, the compiler of these tales. It seems that the friars were occupying the Soffiano friary only by the good graces of the lords of Brunforte. The closing of Soffiano is used by scholars today as an indication of when the original edition of the Actus was written—immediately afterward. They say that Soffiano closed in 1327 and these stories could then have been compiled for the first time in the year or two following that event. (See Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, vol. 3, ed. Regis J. Armstrong et al. [New York: New City Press, 2001], 429.)