The first friars, and those who followed them for a long while, afflicted their bodies beyond measure by abstinence from food and drink, by vigils, by cold, by coarse clothing, and by manual labour. They wore iron bands and breast-plates, and the roughest of hair shirts. So the holy father, considering that the friars might fall ill as a result of this - as had already happened in a short time - gave orders in Chapter that no friar should wear anything but the habit next to his skin.
Saint Francis of Assisi
Mirror of Perfection - 27
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