Pride and joy: Tony D’Souza relates another tale from The Little Flowers of St Francis
‘This story is a jewel of Franciscan spirituality because it is so simple.’
It was the depth of winter when Francis of Assisi and his secretary and confessor Leo set out from Perugia to Saint Mary of the Angels. They walked barefoot, and the bitter wind whipped at the tattered rags they were wearing. Francis had to call out loudly to be heard by Leo who was walking only few steps ahead, ‘Leo, if it were to please God that the friars should give in every land a great example of holiness and instruction, write down, and note carefully, that this would not be perfect joy.’
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