Admonition I of Saint Francis of Assisi

I. The Blessed Sacrament

Our Lord Jesus told his disciples, I am the way, and the truth, and the life

That is why all those were condemned who saw the Lord Jesus Christ in his humanity but did not see or believe in spirit in his divinity, that he was the true Son of God. In the same way now, all those are damned who who see the sacrament of the Body of Christ which is consecrated on the altar in the form of bread and wine by the words of our Lord in the hands of the priest, and do not see or believe in spirit and in God that it is really the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the Most High himself who told us, "This is my Body and Blood of the new covenant" (Mark 14:22-24), and "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has everlasting life" (John 6:55).

Saint Francis of Assisi

The Admonitions

Note: The Admonitions are found in the Assisi MS. 338, the Orgissanti MS., the thirteenth-century MS. in the Laurentian library at Florence, and in some twenty-one other manuscripts. Since the manuscripts are unanimous in attributing them to St. Francis, there can be no question as to their authenticity.