Blessed are those whom death will find in Your most holy will,
for the second death shall do them no harm."

[11]

One day blessed Francis called his companions to himself: "You know how faithful and devoted Lady Jacoba dei Settesoli was and is to me and to our religion.^a Therefore I believe she would consider it a great favor and consolation if you notified her about my condition. Above all, tell her to send us some cloth for a tunic of religious cloth the color of ashes, like the cloth made by Cistercian monks in the region beyond the Alps.^b Have her also send some of that confection which she often made for me when I was in the City.^c This confection, made of almonds, sugar or honey, and other things, the Romans speak of as mostacciolo."

That spiritual woman was a holy widow, devoted to God. She belonged to one of the more noble and wealthy families of the entire City."^d Through the merits and words of blessed Francis she had obtained such grace from God that she seemed like another Magdalene, always full of tears and devotion for love of God.

After the letter was written, as dictated by the holy father, while one brother was looking for another one to deliver the letter, there was a knock at the door. When one of the brothers opened the gate, he saw Lady Jacoba who had hurried from the City to visit blessed Francis. With great joy the brother immediately went to tell blessed Francis that Lady Jacoba had come to visit him with her son and many other people. "What shall we do, Father," he said, "shall we allow her to enter and come in here?" He said this because blessed Francis a long time ago had ordered that in that place no women enter that cloister out of respect and devotion for that place. Blessed Francis answered him: "This command need not be observed in the case of this lady whose faith and devotion made her come here from so far away." And in this way, she came in to see blessed Francis, crying many tears in his presence.

They marveled: she brought with her shroud-cloth, that is, gray-colored cloth, for a tunic, and all the other things that were written in the letter. This made the brothers greatly marvel at the holiness of blessed Francis.

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¹⁴Beati quegli, ke trovarone ne le tue sanctissime voluntadi,
ka la morte secunda no gle farà male ».

[11]

¹Quadam die beatus Franciscus vocavit ad se socios suos dicens: « Vos scitis, quemadmodum domina Ia[coba] de .VII. sociis michi et religioni nostre extitit et est fidelis plurimum et devota; ²quapropter, ut credo, si significaveritis ei statum meum pro magna gratia et consolatione habebit; ³et specialiter, ut mictat nobis pannum pro una tunica de panno religioso, qui colori cineris assimiletur, et est tanquam pannus, quem faciunt monachi Cistercienses in ultramarinis partibus; ⁴mictat etiam de iila comestione, quam pluries fecit michi, cum fui apud Urbem ». ⁵Illam autem comestionem dicunt Romani mortariolum , quod fit de amigdalis, et zucaro vel melle et aliis rebus.

⁶Erat enim illa spiritualis mulier, sancta vidua, Deo devota, de nobilioribus et ditioribus totius Urbis, que tantam gratiam consecuta est a Deo meritis et predicatione beati Francisci, ut videretur altera quasi Magdalena, plena semper lacrimis et devotione pro amore Dei.

⁷Et scripta littera sicut dixerat sanctus pater, quidam frater procuraverat invenire aliquem fratrem qui portaret litteram, et statim pulsatum fuit ad portam fratrum; ⁸cumque aperiret hostium quidam frater, vidit dominam Iacobam [que venerat] cum festinatione de Urbe ad visitandum beatum Franciscum, ⁹et statim quidam frater cum magna letitia ivit ad beatum Franciscum nuntians, qualiter domina Iacoba cum filio suo et aliis multis venerat ad visitandum eum, ¹⁰et ait: « Quid facimus, pater? Dimictimus eam intrare et venire ad te? ». ¹¹Nam de voluntate beati Francisci statutum fuit in loco in antiquo tempore, propter honestatem et devotionem illius loci, ut nulla mulier deberet intrare claustrum illud. ¹²Et ait beatus Franciscus: « Non est observanda hec constitutio in ista domina, quam tam magna fides et devotio de longinquis partibus fecit huc venire ». ¹³Et sic introivit ad beatum Franciscum, spargens coram ipso multas lacrimas.

¹⁴Et mirantes quod pannum morticinum, videlicet cinerei coloris, pro tunica et omnia, que scripta erant in littera, ut micteret, secum apportavit, ¹⁵et plurimum admirati sunt inde fratres, considerantes sanctitatem beati Francisci.