Produced by Scott Pfenninger, Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. THE LIFE AND LEGENDS OF SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF FATHER CANDIDE CHALIPPE, O.F.M. REVISED AND RE-EDITED BY FATHER HILARION DUERK, O.F.M. Imprimatur FATHER SAMUEL MACKE O.F.M. _Min. Prov._ St. Louis September 1, 1917 Nihil obstat ARTHUR J. SCANLAN, S.T.D. _Censur Librarum_ Imprimatur JOHN CARDINAL FARLEY _New York_ This Jubilee Edition of the Life and Legends of St. Francis of Assisi is Respectfully Dedicated to all Members of the Third Order in the City of Cleveland and Vicinity, above all, to the Nobel Patrons and Zealous Workers of Our Tertiary Branches. INTRODUCTORY NOTE The Life and Legends of St. Francis of Assisi by Father Candide Chalippe, O.F.M., need no apology. The work was first published at Paris in 1727. It is not only well written and reliable withal, but also instructive, elevating and inspiring. The facts and legends mentioned are drawn from the oldest and most reliable sources. The abundance of incidents and anecdotes not to be found elsewhere make the volume eminently interesting, while the reflexions and applications which the author now and then interweaves with the narrative are so replete with practical hints on spiritual life, that they will undoubtedly produce the best spiritual results in the reader. The style though simple, at times graphic, is very pleasing; the narrative flows on with equal ease and freedom. In 1852 a priest from the Oratory of St. Philip Neri made a translation into English from what was then the latest French edition. This French edition came from the press in 1850. With the English translation the original work appeared in an abridged form. The original work is divided into six books, the English translation contains but half of these, so rearranged for the sake of clearness that they form five books. Most elucidations of the original work regarding characteristics of St. Francis, events and dates that are doubtful, are omitted, likewise most of the writings of St. Francis. The former were and still are undergoing changes, owing to new historical researches and discoveries made by students of Franciscan sources, while the latter were but lately again newly translated into English and edited as completely as possible with many critical notes and references of great value by the scholarly Father Paschal Robinson, O.F.M.--The Writings of St. Francis of Assisi by Father Paschal Robinson, O.F.M. The Dolphin Press, 1906.