or Tertiary Order of Brothers Minor.

CHAPTER XVI.

"BRETHREN OF THE MILITIA OF JESUS CHRIST."

"A dream of man and woman,
Diviner but still human,
Solving the riddle old,
Shaping the Age of Gold.

The love of God and neighbor,
An equal handed labor;
The richer life where duty
Walks hand and hand with beauty."

The idea of this Third Order had been in Francis' mind for a long
time; in fact, as far back as his first journey to Rome, when the
entire brotherhood numbered twelve! On his way home to Assisi he had
preached in every village and town he passed. One day, as he was
preaching in the vicinity of a large feudal castle, the whole
establishment turned out to hear him, and when he had finished, his
listeners, lords and ladies, officers and retainers, threw themselves
at his feet, announcing their intention to follow him wherever he
went, and renounce the world for ever. Never was preacher in such a
plight! There they stood, the tears running down their faces, husbands
and wives and little children, soldiers, bower-maidens and pages, the
entire retinue that ordinarily made up the household of a mediaeval
lord. Francis knew that it would not be possible to carry off the lot;
beside, there was no Second Order then, and what could he do with the
women and children? So he calmed them by telling them that he would
endeavor to create an Order into which they could come without shaking
the foundations of the universe!

Little he thought that the Third Order was destined to make even more
stir in the world than the First or Second.

[Sidenote: _What must we do?_]

As the years passed by, Francis was continually met with the question,
"What must we do now we are converted? Teach us how to live!"

It was a very important question, and a very natural one, for the
first instinct of a healthy, newly-converted soul is to spend and be
spent for its Master. Strange as it may seem to us in these days of
Bible readers, district visitors, and lay-workers of all kinds, it was
a very difficult question to answer. The Church, which as yet was the
Church Universal, not having suffered any disruption, knew nothing of
lay help, other than setting its members to pray, and give alms. A
change of life and action had long since ceased to be preached.
Francis and his followers had revived the old Apostolic doctrine of
repentance and conversion and holiness of life and thought. As many as
could