The Rapture of Contemplation

Borgo San Sepolcro, Italy

As St. Francis was passing through the crowded village of Borgo San Sepolcro on one occasion, the crowds rushed out to meet him in their excitement. He was riding an ass because he was not well and they pulled him and dragged him this way and that and crowded all about him, pushing against him from every side, but he seemed insensible to it all and, like a dead body, noticing nothing that was going on. Long after they had passed the village and left the crowds behind, they came to a leper hospital and then, as if coming back from far away, he inquired anxiously when they would be near Borgo San Sepolcro. His mind was fixed on the glory of heaven and so he had lost all track of changes of place or time or people. His companions knew from their own experience that this often happened to him.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Bonaventure, Major Life
Chapter X

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