Admonition XIV: Poverty of Spirit

Sometimes Francis acted in a manner we would call bizarre. For example, we read in one of his biographies: 'Taking off his tunic, blessed Francis ordered Brother Peter to lead him naked with a rope tied around his neck in front of the people'. Why would Francis do this? Perhaps, he did this because he felt that the people who already regarded him as a saint were misled in praising him; they were unaware of his weaknesses. So much is recorded in the biography but one can also speculate that Francis remembered how embarrassed he had felt many years earlier when he stood before the leper. When he met the leper Francis was well dressed and regarded by all as an honourable young man while the leper was ugly and held no place in society. Yet Francis experienced Christ in the leper and became acutely aware that the appearances were contrary to the truth. In the leper he experienced the all holy God while in himself he felt a sense of sin. When the people were praising him Francis wanted them to know what he thought of himself and so acted as he did. In this Admonition Francis says that the opposite of poverty of spirit is to do many penances but then take offence when even a single hurtful word is spoken about hem. A person who is truly poor is spirit, he says 'hates himself and loves those who strike him on the cheek'. Poverty of spirit is to acknowledge that we stand before God as sinful people and any offence against us can be and should be accepted as what we deserve for our sins.