Excerpt from The Little Flowers of Saint Francis of Assisi: In the Name of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Who Was Crucified and of His Mother the Virgin Mary; In This Book Are Contained Certain Little Flowers, Miracles, and Devout Examples of That Glorious Poor Follower of Christ, Saint Francis, and of Certain The boy was taught by the priests of the parish, and learned easily all that was taught him, showing an especial talent for the language of the land from which he took his name. As he grew to manhood he was foremost in the gayeties of the town, win ning for himself the sobriquet of the flower of youth. Thomas of Celano, a Franciscan brother, and a dear friend of Francis, describes him thus: He was of middle stature, rather under than over, with an oval face and full but low fore head, his eyes dark and clear, his hair thick, his eyebrows close, a straight and delicate nose, a voice soft yet keen and fiery; S aint francis was born in 1182, in the little town of Assisi, close, equal, and white teeth; lips modest yet subtle; a black beard not thickly grown; a thin neck, square shoulders, short arms, small hands and feet, delicate skin, and little flesh. So elegant was his dress, and so luxurious were his tastes, that his parents often said, He is more like the son of a prince than like our son. Still, they were proud of his splendor, and grudged him nothing, though his charities were as lavish as his pleasures: no beggar ever asked of him in vain. When he had reached the age of twenty-four, however, a war broke out between Assisi and Perugia. Francis was taken prisoner, and for a year languished in captivity. Returning home, he suffered from a long and tedious illness which proved a turn ing-point in his career. He began to long for something better and higher than mere amusement. It was the age of knighthood, and his first thought was to redress wrong and help the weak. He set out to join the forces of the Count de Brienne, described as a man of great magnificence and liberality; but stopping at Spoleto, he was warned in a dream to return home, which he did in a state of melancholy and absorption. He now began to devote himself more entirely to the sick and poor, particularly the lepers, of whom there were many at that time. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.