That lord conformed himself to the ways of the brothers.
In his desire for holiness
he was simple with the simple,
humble with the humble,
and poor with the poor.
He was a brother among brothers,
the least among the lesser,^a
and in his life and habits strove to behave
as one of them
as much as was possible.

He took care to plant this holy religion everywhere ^{Is 50:4}
and in faraway places his glowing reputation,
from an even more glowing life,
helped greatly to spread the Order.
The Lord gave him a learned tongue. ^{Phil 3:18}
With it he confounded the opponents of truth,
refuted the enemies of the cross of Christ,
led the strangers back to the way, ^{Dt 22:1}
made peace between those in conflict,
and bound together those in peace
in a stronger bond of love. ^{Hos 11:4}
In the Church of God
he was a lamp burning and shining, ^{Jn 5:35}
a chosen arrow ^{Is 49:2}
ready at the right time. ^{Ps 32:6 [Vulgate, Ps 31:6]}
Many times he took off his fine clothes
and, dressed in rough garments
and with bare feet,
like one of the brothers,
he went asking for terms of peace. ^{Lk 14:32}
He used to do this with great care whenever necessary
between neighbor and neighbor, ^{Jer 7:5}
and always between God and the people.
For this reason
God chose him ^{Sir 45:4}

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—⁴Conformabat se dominus ille moribus fratrum,
et in desiderio sanctitatis
cum simplicibus erat simplex,
cum humilibus erat humilis,
cum pauperibus erat pauper.
⁵Erat frater inter fratres,
inter minores minimus,
et velut unus caeterorum,
in quantum licitum erat,
in vita et moribus gerere se studebat.

⁶Sollicitus erat ubique sacram religionem plantare,
et in remotis partibus clara fama
clarioris vitae ipsius
ordinem plurimum ampliabat.
⁷Dedit illi Dominus linguam eruditam,
in qua confundebat adversarios veritatis,
in qua refellebat inimicos crucis Christi
in qua reducebat errantes ad viam,
in qua discordes pacificabat
et concordes fortiore
charitatis vinculo colligabat.
⁸Erat in Ecclesia Dei
lucerna ardens et lucens,
et sagitta electa,
parata in tempore opportuno.
—⁹O quoties, depositis pretiosis vestibus,
vilibus indutus,
discalceatis pedibus,
quasi unus e fratribus incedens,
rogabat ea quae ad Pacem sunt!
¹⁰Hoc inter virum et proximum suum,
quoties oportebat,
hoc inter Deum et hominem,
semper sollicite faciebat.
¹¹Propterea
paulo post elegit eum Deus