LETTER VI.
To Brother Elias, Vicar-General of the whole Order.
To the Reverend Father in Christ, Brother Elias, Vicar- General of the whole Order, Brother Francis sends greeting in the Lord. Brother, may Our Lord give thee His holy benediction. Be patient and kind in all things. If the brethren offend thee in anything, ofter it to God. By this I shall know if thou art a true servant of God, if thou bringest back the erring brethren to God by mercy, and if thou never ceasest to love those who have most deeply offended. And if through any human fear they dare not approach thee, ask them if they wish for pardon. And if anyone, through the persuasion of the devil, should fall into some grievous sin, let him have recourse to the Guardian, who shall send him to the Provincial. And the Provincial must receive him with kindness ; and if he seem contrite, he shall say to him : ‘Go, and now sin no more.’ Farewell in the Lord.