Cleric and layman, the raw and the refined, the pauper,
The rich man, the serf and freeman, the healthy and the sick.
And Francis to one and all, a kind and loving welcome gave.
The pattern he set attracted them, his exemplary,
Blameless life, all that lent authority to his words.

But because discernment makes for wholeness in a holy proposal,
It is into three Orders he gathered all those converted.
One Order got its name from the penance its members practiced:
In it both sexes and every state of life were retained,
Cleric and lay person, man, woman, married and single.
Nor did one have to change one's home; in one's own each one
Knew what rules of life to observe, what was to be carried out.
Already this Order's adherents radiate miracles,
Which goes to show how great in the Lord's eyes is its status.

Of the second Order—the special order for virgins,
Though it did not turn away virtuous married women—
The first was the most holy virgin Clare; hers was a splendor
Clear shining from virtues, and from her signs and miracles.
Already the Church celebrates a feast in her honor
That was instituted solemnly by the Supreme Pontiff.

The third, surpassing the others, is the Order of Lesser Ones,
Which more perfectly cleaves to the counsels of the Gospel,
Under whose banner so many followed the camp of Francis,
Leaving all things, and setting out for the heights with fervor.

There was at that time near Assisi a religious in vows,
A member of the Crosiers, and his name was Morico.
The man was suffering from a severe illness, so badly
That death was not far off, in the opinion of the doctors.
He sent a message to Francis, humbly entreating him
To offer up prayers to the Lord to succor him and cure him.
Francis complied with his wish and, as well as praying for him,
Taking some oil from the lamp, that before the Virgin's altar
Burned, soaked some crumbs of bread in it, and sent it to him.
"Bring this medicine," he said, to our brother Morico,
"By means of it the power of Christ will restore him to full
Health, and on top of it give us the gift of a fighter!"
As soon as the sick man tasted of the present sent to him,
He got from it so much corporal and mental vigor,
That not long afterwards in the Order of Francis, which he
Entered, a single tunic only would he have for clothing,
Wearing for a very long time a hair shirt next to his skin.
Bread and wine he never would have, and he ate only

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