by the knight’s incessant pleading, he betook himself to prayer, and having made the sign of the cross, raised up the boy in the name of the Lord. The boy, moreover, immediately got up in front of everyone, and, restored to health, walked around the house as he wished.

⁴⁸Another time, a man from Narni named Peter lost the use of all his limbs to such an extent that, for five months lying as immobile as a log, he could only move his tongue and open his eyes pitiably. Hearing that Blessed Francis had arrived there, the man immediately requested that the bishop of the place ask the servant of God come to him for the sake of Divine Pity, because he believed that by Francis’s presence he would be restored to health. ^{Mt 12:13} Moved by pity, the man of God came up to him, and drew the sign of the cross over him from head to foot. When his sickness had been put to flight, in the power of the Most High, ^{Lk 1:35 Wis 6:3} Francis raised him up healthy.

In the same city too, there was a certain woman who had lost her vision who joyfully merited to receive her sight from Blessed Francis the moment that he made the sign of the cross over her eyes.

A certain woman from Gubbio had withered hands, which were utterly useless for any kind of work. When she heard that Blessed Francis had come there, she ran to him full of sadness to show him why she deserved his compassion. Having seen her, the man of God pitied her, touched her and cured her so that immediately, with her own hands, she made a cheesecake and offered it to the servant of God; he accepted only a little of it on account of the woman’s devotion.

⁴⁹A certain brother was being tortured by the miserable pain of some disease. (I don’t know its name.) Many thought he was being tormented by the most evil sort of demon, for at one moment, with a horrible face, he would writhe foaming at the mouth, ^{Mk 9:20} at another, he would lie in turn stiff and extended, bent and contracted. Then, in truth, his body would be raised horizontally to a man’s height, only to fall back down miserably to earth. Knowing about his illness, the holy father went up to him, first fervently prayed for him to the Lord, and then made the sign of the cross over him. At this a miracle immediately occurred: the brother was freed from that terrible suffering so that from then on he felt not the least twinge of pain as a result of that condition.

⁵⁰Once, while Blessed Francis was preaching the reign of God ^{Lk 8:1} in the town of San Gemini, he, along with three brothers, was welcomed with enthusiasm and entered the home of a certain devout man whose wife, as everyone in the town was badly tormented by a demon. ^{Mt 15:22} The

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donec ad ultimum victus instantia deprecantis ad orationem se contulit, factoque deinde signo crucis, in nomine Domini puerum allevavit. ⁴Puer autem, cunctis videntibus, incontinenti surrexit, et sanus per domum huc atque illuc, prout voluit, ambulavit.

48 ¹Alio tempore quidam vir Petrus nomine, in civitate quae Narnium dicitur, sic omnium membrorum fuerat officio destitutus, ut per quinque mensium spatium quasi truncus immobilis iacens, linguam saltem utcumque moveret et oculos miserabiliter aperiret. ²Hic, audito quod beatus Franciscus illic applicuisset, mox ad episcopum loci suppliciter rogans misit, ut ad se divinae pietatis intuitu servum Dei venire rogaret, eo quod ex ipsius praesentia sanitati restituendum se crederet. ³Ad quem vir Dei pietate commotus accedens, signum crucis super eum a capite usque ad pedes protraxit; et mox, omni morbo fugato, in virtute Altissimi sanum erexit.

⁴In eadem civitate quaedam mulier oculorum lumen amiserat, quae et a beato Francisco illuminari cum gaudio meruit, statim ut ab eo super oculos signum crucis accepit.

⁵Quaedam mulier civitatis Eugubii sic ambas habebat manus contractas, ut ad omne opus agendum penitus essent inutiles. ⁶Quae cum beatum Franciscum illic advenisse cognosceret, moestitiae plena cucurrit ad illum, ut suam ei miserandam necessitatem ostenderet. ⁷Quam visam vir Dei commiserans tetigit ac sanavit, ita ut illa propriis manibus caseatam continuo praepararet, eamque famulo Dei, de qua et ipse paulisper ob devotionem mulieris accepit, offerret.

49 ¹Frater quidam miseranda nescio cuius infirmitatis angustia torquebatur, nisi quod pessimum a plerisque daemonium fuisse putatur. ²Nam nunc allisus volutabatur spumans et aspectu horribilis, nunc autem rigidus et extensus, nunc curvus iacuit et contractus, nunc vero ad staturam hominis a terra, pedibus aequatis capiti, levabatur, miserabiliter illico relapsurus. ³Ad quem infirmitate illius agnita, pater sanctus accessit; primo quidem orationem pro eo fundens ad Dominum, ac deinde signum crucis exprimens super illum. ⁴Ad quod subito mirabiliter factum est, ut frater ille sic immunis a passione huiusmodi pessima fieret, ne vel,motum prorsus ex tunc exiguum de illa sentiret.

50 ¹Apud castellum Sancti Gemini quodam tempore beatus Franciscus praedicans regnum Dei, cum tribus fratribus domum cuiusdam viri devote receptus intravit; ²cuius uxorem, sicut omnibus loci illius incolis notum fuit, daemonium male vexavit.