St. Francis, according to Butler, Lives of the Saints , X 78, used to say that “he possessed nothing of earthly goods, being a disciple of Him who, for our sakes, was born a stranger in an open stable, lived without a place of his own wherein to lay his head, subsisting by the charity of good people, and died naked on a cross in the close embraces of holy poverty.” ↩

Bernard of Quintavalle, the first follower of St. Francis. Butler, Lives of the Saints , X 75, says:⁠—