franciscan - September 1998
The death of St Francis . . .
. . . While the brothers were weeping, Francis commanded that bread be brought to him. He blessed and broke
it and gave a small piece to each one to eat. Asking also that the book of the Gospels be brought, he asked that
the section from St John be read, where it begins, ‘Before the feast of the Passover . . .’
Then he spent the few days that remained before his death in praise, teaching his companions whom he loved so much
to praise Christ with him . . .
He also invited all creatures to praise God . . . he exhorted death itself, terrible and hateful to all, to give
praise and, going joyfully to meet it, he invited it to make its lodging with him: ‘Welcome, my sister death.’
Then to the brothers, he said: ‘When you see that I am brought to my last moments, place me naked upon the ground
and let my lie there for the length of time it takes one to walk a mile unhurriedly.’ When many brothers had gathered
about, whose father he was, his holy soul was freed from his body and received into the abyss of light, and his
body fell asleep in the Lord.
From Thomas of Celano’s First Life of St Francis