The Salutation of the Virtues

by Francis of Assisi

English version by Regis J. Armstrong, OFM CAP & Ignatius C. Brady, OFM
Original Language Italian

Hail, Queen Wisdom, may the Lord protect you
     with your sister, holy pure Simplicity.
Lady, holy Poverty, may the Lord protect you
     with your sister, holy Humility.
Lady, holy Charity, may the Lord protect you
     with your sister, holy Obedience.
O most holy Virtues, may the Lord protect all of you,
     from Whom you come and proceed.
There is surely no one in the entire world
     who can possess any one of you
     unless he dies first.
Whoever possesses one of you
     and does not offend the others,
     possesses all.
And each one destroys vices and sins.
Holy Wisdom destroys
     Satan and all his subtlety.
Pure holy Simplicity destroys
     all the wisdom of this world
     and the wisdom of the body.
Holy Poverty destroys
     the desire of riches
     and avarice
     and the cares of this world.
Holy Humility destroys
     pride
     and all the people who are in the world
     and all the things that belong to the world.
Holy Charity destroys
     every temptation of the devil and of the flesh
     and every carnal fear.
Holy Obedience destroys
     every wish of the body and of the flesh
     and binds its mortified body
          to obedience of the Spirit
          and to obedience of one's brother
and the person who possesses her is subject and submissive
          to all persons in the world
          and not to man only
          but even to all beasts and wild animals
          so that they may do whatever they want with him
          inasmuch as it has been given to them from above by the Lord.

-- from Francis and Clare: The Complete Works: The Classics of Western Spirituality, Translated by Regis J. Armstrong, OFM CAP / Translated by Ignatius C. Brady, OFM

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