What follows took place at the time of the Chapter for at that time it was held every year at St. Mary of the Portiuncula. By the grace of God, the brothers had multiplied and were multiplying every day. Now, all they had for the general gathering was a poor small hut covered with straw and a wall made of branches and mud, such as the brothers had built when they settled in that place. The inhabitants of Assisi noticed this and organized a group to come to their aid. In a few days and with much haste and fervor they built a large house made of stones cemented together, but without the consent of blessed Francis and in his absence.
When he returned to Chapter from the providence where he was and saw the house they had built in that place, he was very astonished. Then he said to himself that this would serve as an excuse for the brothers in the friaries where they lived or would live to erect or have erected large buildings. Since he desired the Portiuncula friary should always be the model and the very pattern of all the fraternities, one day before the end of Chapter he got up, climbed on the roof of this house and ordered several brothers to climb up with him. With their help, he began to throw the tile with which the house was covered down to the ground, having decided to demolish it.
Saint Francis of Assisi
Legend of Perugia - 11
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