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Lady Jacoba da Settesoli from Rome, as did many others,a as his Legend describes more completely.
By his call Saint James was the third apostle and is always placed third in the Gospel in which the Apostles are listed. In a similar way, Brother Giles was the third brother called after Francis, that is, after Bernard and Peter, just as James, leaving what was his, followed Christ after Andrew and Peter.
As James visited Spain by his preaching and, later, Jerusalem and the Holy Land, so Brother Giles, in encouraging people to penance, traveled first to Spain to visit James to whom he was conformed and, later, to the Holy Land.b While ascending the mountain James saw with his own eyes Christ transfigured and fell as if dead from fright. In the same way, among all the companions of Saint Francis, Brother Giles, having the grace of rapture, once saw Christ with his bodily eyes. And, out of amazement and his heart's sweetness, which his human frailty was hardly able to endure, he seemed to have died, as his Legend narrates.c
["Saint" John the Evangelist] | [Brother Leo] |
6d Francis's fourth companion was Brother Leo, his confessor, who was very much like blessed John the Evangelist. Blessed John was very pure, simple, and thoroughly gentle, so that Christ loved him more than the others. In the same way, Brother Leo was very innocent, simple, and gentle, so that Francis called him "the little lamb" and loved him most dearly.d As Christ was closer to John and revealed His secrets to him more than to the others, so Saint Francis was much closer to Brother Leo and revealed to him more than to the others mysteries of his heart, even things God had revealed to him.
- According to Arnald of Sarrant's ChrXXIVG 104, one of these visitors was Pope Gregory IX: "When Pope Gregory IX came to Perugia and heard about the mighty deeds of Br. Giles, he sent someone to summon him. As soon as Giles entered the palace with his companion, he experienced a certain spiritual sweetness which was accustomed to precede his ecstasies. Fearing, therefore, that he would go into ecstasy in front of the Pope, Giles was disinclined to enter into his presence. Instead he sent his companion to ask to be excused because he could not come to the Pope at that time. His companion did this and, when the Pope asked the reason, the brother answered: 'Most holy Father, Brother Giles is below but I believe that, fearing that he would be enraptured before you, he dreads to come.' Then the Pope with a greater desire to see Giles ordered him to enter. As soon as Giles began to speak to the Pope, he went into ecstasy and stood immobile with his eyes raised to heaven. The Pope was astonished and, now seeing in person the things that he had heard about Giles, he said: 'If you leave this life before me, I will not look for any other reason for adding your name to the catalogue of the Saints.' "
- Cf. ChrXXIVG 76ff.
- Cf. ChrXXIVG 96.
- ChrXXIVG 65: "Blessed Francis loved him because of his dove-like simplicity, and he frequently called him the 'Little Lamb of God.' "