Francis to his chosen bride, who is haggard and careworn, clothed in
ragged and patched garments, barefooted and girded with a cord. Roses
and lilies spring up behind her and encircle her head; she wears the
aureole and has wings, though weak; but thorns and briars are around her
feet. Hope and Love are her bridesmaids; Hope clothed in green with
uplifted hand and Love with flame-colored flowers and holding a burning
heart. A dog is barking at the Bride and boys are assaulting her with
sticks and stones, but all around are bands of angelic witnesses, their
flowing raiment and mighty wings glowing with rainbow hues. In these
days when money seems the ideal of thousands, Poverty, whose mystical
appeal is so glowingly painted, still speaks to great numbers of men and
women who give up material comforts and ease to embrace as monks and
nuns the state of voluntary poverty. Let us now hear how St. Thomas
recounts the life and work of St. Francis of Assisi:
"He was not yet much distant from his rising,
When his good influence 'gan to bless the earth.
A dame, to whom one openeth pleasure's gate
More than to death, was 'gainst his father's will,
His stripling choice; and he did make her his,
Before the spiritual court, by nuptial bonds,
And in his father's sight: from day to day,
Then loved her more devoutly.
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