speak evil of you, persecute, expel, and abuse you, ^{Mt 5:11} denounce your name as evil and utter every kind of slander against you because of me. ^{Lk 6:22 Mt 5:11 16}Rejoice and be glad on that day because your reward is great in heaven. ^{Lk 6:23 Mt 5:12}

¹⁷I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of them ^{Lk 12:4 18}and do not fear those who kill the body and afterwards have nothing more to do. ^{Mt 10:28 Lk 12:4 19}See that you are not alarmed. ^{Mt 24:6 20}For by your patience, you will possess your souls; ²¹whoever perseveres to the end will be saved. ^{Mt 10:22 Mt 24:13}

[Chapter XVII: Preachers]

¹Let no brother preach contrary to the rite and practice of the Church or without the permission of his minister. ²Let the minister be careful of granting it without discernment to anyone. ³Let all the brothers, however, preach by their deeds. ⁴No minister or preacher may make a ministry of the brothers or the office of preaching his own, but, when he is told, let him set it aside without objection.^a

⁵In the love that is God, ^{1 Jn 4:16} therefore, I beg all my brothers—those who preach, pray, or work, cleric or lay—to strive to humble themselves in everything, ⁶not to boast or delight in themselves or inwardly exalt themselves because of the good words and deeds or, for that matter, because of any good that God sometimes says or does or works in and through them, in keeping with what the Lord says: Do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you. ^{Lk 10:20 7}We may know with certainty that nothing belongs to us except our vices and sins. ⁸We must rejoice, instead, when we fall into various trials ^{Jas 1:2} and, in this world, suffer every kind of anguish or distress of soul and body for the sake of eternal life.

⁹Therefore, let all the brothers, beware of all pride and vainglory. ¹⁰Let us guard ourselves from the wisdom of this world and the prudence of the flesh. ¹¹Because the spirit of the flesh very much desires and strives to have the words but cares little for the activity; it does not seek a religion and holiness in an interior spirit, ¹²but wants and desires to have a religion and a holiness outwardly apparent to people. ¹³They are the ones of whom the Lord says: Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. ^{Mt 6:2}

¹⁴The Spirit of the Lord, however, wants the flesh to be mortified and looked down upon, considered of little worth and rejected. ¹⁵It strives for humility and patience,

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¹⁵Beati estis, cum vos oderint homines et maledixerint vobis et persequentur vos et separaverint vos et exprobraverint et eiecerint nomen vestrum tamquam malum et cum dixerint omne malum adversum vos mentientes propter me.¹⁶Gaudete in illa die et exsultate, quoniam merces vestra multa est in caelis. ¹⁷Et ego dico vobis amicis meis, non terreamini ab his, ¹⁸et nolite timere eos qui occidunt corpus et post hoc non habent amplius quid faciant. ¹⁹Videte, ne turbemini. ²⁰In patientia enim vestra possidebitis animas vestras, ²¹et qui perseveraverit usque in finem, hic salvus erit.

[Caput XVII - De praedicatoribus]

¹Nullus frater praedicet contra formam et institutionem sanctae Ecelesiae et nisi concessum sibi fuerit a ministro suo. ²Et caveat sibi minister, ne alicui indiscrete concedat. ³Omnes tamen fratres operibus praedicent. ⁴Et nullus minister vel praedicator appropriet sibi ministerium fratrum vel officium praedicationis, sed quacumque hora ei iniunctum fuerit, Sine omni contradictione dimittat suum officium.

⁵Unde deprecor in caritate, quae Deus est, omnes fratres meos praedicatores, oratores, laboratores, tam clericos quam laicos, ut studeant se humiliare in omnibus, ⁶non gloriari nec in se gaudere nec interius se exaltare de bonis verbis et operibus, immo de nullo bono, quod Deus facit vel dicit et operatur in eis aliquando et per ipsos, secundum quod dicit Dominus: Verumtamen in hoc nolite gaudere, quia spiritus vobis subiciuntur. ⁷Et firmiter sciamus, quia non pertinent ad nos nisi vitia et peccata. ⁸Et magis debemus gaudere, cum in tentationes varias incideremus et cum sustinueremus quascumque animae vel corporis angustias aut tribulationes in hoc mundo propter vitam aeternam.

⁹Omnes ergo fratres caveamus ab omni superbia et vana gloria; ¹⁰et custodiamus nos a sapientia huius mundi et a prudentia carnis ¹¹spiritus enim carnis vult et studet multum ad verba habenda, sed parum ad operationem, et quaerit non religionem et sanctitatem in interiori spiritu, ¹²sed vult et desiderat habere religionem et sanctitatem foris apparentem hominibus. ¹³Et isti sunt, de quibus dicit Dominus: Amen dico vobis, receperunt mercedem suam. ¹⁴Spiritus autem Domini vult mortificatam et despectam, vilem et abiectam esse carnem.