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The Little Flowers of Saint Francis of Assisi by Brother Ugolino
CHAPTER III OF BROTHER GILES'S MANNER OF LIFE WHEN HE WENT TO THE HOLY SEPULCHRE
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Brother Giles, by the permission of St Francis, went to visit the Holy
Sepulchre of Christ; and being come to the port of Brindisi, he was
obliged to tarry there many days, because there was on ship ready to
sail. So Brother Giles, desiring to live by his labour, got a vessel,
and, filling it with water, he went around the city, crying: "Who wants
water?" And for his labour he received bread, and all things necessary
for the bodily support of himself and his companion. Then he passed
over the sea, and with great devotion visited the Sepulchre of Christ
and the other Holy Places. And as he returned, he abode for some days
in the city of Ancona; and because he was accustomed to live by his
labour, he made baskets of rushes, and sold them, not for money, but
for bread for himself and his companion; and he carried the dead to
their burial for the same wages. And when even this failed him, he
begged at the table of Jesus Christ, asking alms from door to door. And
with so much labour and in poverty, he returned to St Mary of the
Angels.
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