On his way to Assisi Saint Francis passed through Borgo San Sepolcro, and as he drew nigh unto the walls, the inhabitants of the town and of the villages came forth to meet him, and many of them went before him with boughs of olive in their hands, crying aloud: “Behold the saint! behold the saint!” And, for devotion and the desire which the folk had to touch him, they thronged and pressed upon him; but ever he went on his way with his mind uplifted and rapt in God through contemplation, and, although he was touched and held and plucked at by the people, he knew nothing at all of that which was done or said around him; neither did he perceive that he was passing through that town or through that district.
When he had passed through Borgo and the crowd had returned to their homes, Saint Francis arrived at a house for lepers, a full mile beyond Borgo, and returned to himself, and, as one who had come fro another world, inquired of his companion: “When shall we be near Borgo?” Of a truth his soul, being fixed and rapt in contemplation of heavenly things, had been unconscious of anything earthly, whether of change of place, or of time, or of the people who thronged about him. This occurred many times, as his companions proved by evident experience.
That evening St. Francis reached the Place of the friars of Monte Casale, where a friar was so cruelly sick and so horribly tormented by sickness that his disease seemed rather some affliction and torment of the devil than a natural infirmity; for sometimes he cast himself upon the ground trembling violently and foaming at the mouth; anon all the sinews of his body were contracted, then stretched, then bent, then twisted, and anon his heels were drawn up to the nape of his neck, and he flung himself into the air, and straightway fell flat on his back.
Now, while St. Francis sat at table, he heard from the friars of this friar, so miserably sick and without remedy; and he had compassion on him, and took a piece of bread which he was eating, and, with his holy hands imprinted with the stigmata, made over it the sign of the most holy Cross, and sent it to the sick friar; who, as soon as he had eaten it, was made perfectly whole, and never felt that sickness any more.
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