Fragrant Perfume Of Holiness

St. Francis used to say that he felt filled with the sweetest fragrance (Exodus 29:18) and anointed with "costly ointment" (John 12:3) when it was reported to him that his brothers, scattered throughout the world, were drawing many to return to the right way by the fragrant perfume of their holiness. When he heard this, he rejoiced in spirit and poured his enviable blessings upon those brothers who, by word and deed, were leading sinners to the love of Christ. On the other hand, those who dishonored religious life by their evil deeds incurred his condemnation and his terrible curse: "By you, Most Holy Lord, and by the whole celestial court, and by me, too, your little one, cursed be they who by their bad example disrupt and destroy what you have built up, and do not cease to build up, through the holy brothers of the Order."

Saint Francis of Assisi
St. Bonaventure - Major Life
Chapter 8

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