Consider, O clerics, the great sin and ignorance of which some are guilty towards the Sacred Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, His holy Name, and written Words, by which His Body is consecrated ; for we know that the Body of Jesus Christ is not present until His Sacred Words are pronounced. We have nothing, and can see nothing corporally of God in this world, except the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, His holy Name and Words, by which we were created, and by which we have been restored from death to life. Let all those who minister in these most holy Mysteries, and especially those who do so carelessly, consider well within themselves whether the chalices, corporals, and linen which are used in the most adorable Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ, be in a becoming state ; whether Our Lord is not left in an improper place, carried about disrespectfully, received unworthily, and indiscreetly given to others. Sometimes even His holy Name and His written Word are trampled under foot, for the animal man cannot understand the things of God. Shall we not be moved to grief by this when we consider that this sweet Lord places Himself in our hands, and that we daily touch Him and receive Him in our mouth ? Do we not know that one day we shall fall into His Hands ? Let us then at once courageously correct ourselves of these faults and others; and wherever we find the Sacred Body of Our Lord kept disrespectfully and neglected, let us remove It thence, and securely place It in a carefully prepared tabernacle. And in like manner, if we find the Name or the written Words of Our Lord in unclean places, let us at once collect them, and put them away respectfully. And let us remember that we are bound to observe these things by the commandments of God, and the constitutions of our holy Mother the Church. And let him who neglects this know that he will have to give an account thereof before Our Lord Jesus Christ in the day of judgment. That this writing may be the better observed, let those be blessed by God who cause copies to be made of it. May Our Lord Jesus Christ fill you all, my Masters, with His grace and strength. Amen.—St. Francis of Assisi (Letter XIII, as quoted in “Works of the Seraphic Father” tr. by “a religious of the order”, Pub. by R. Washborne, LONDON, 1882, pp. 20-21.)