Although Absent In Person, St. Francis Is Present In Spirit

With his companions, Francis now went to live in an abandoned hut near Assisi....While they were still loving there, St. Francis went into Assisi on Saturday because he was to preach as usual in the cathedral the following morning. There he spent the night praying in a shelter in the garden belonging to the canons of the cathedral, as was his custom. In person he was separated from the friars, but then about midnight, as some of them were praying and others slept, a fiery chariot of extraordinary brilliance came in the door of the hut and turned here and there three times about the room. It was surmounted by a globe of light which looked like the sun and lit up the darkness. Those who were awake were dumbfounded, while the others woke up terrified; they could feel the light penetrating their hearts just as it lit up the room, and their consciences were laid bare to one another by force of its brightness. As they read one another's hearts, all realized simultneously that their father who was absent from them in person was present with them in spirit under the appearance of this vision.

Bonaventure, Major Life
CHAPTER IV - 5