This servant of God, Francis, then built an oratory in the city of Koine, where he might reap the fruits of his contemplations, and, like a noble warrior, engage in battle against evil spirits and carnal vices. Of the preaching of the aforesaid brother, and his wonderful death. Francis then devoutly fulfilled the duties of his preaching throughout all Italy and other kingdoms, and especially in the city of Home ; but the Roman people, the enemies of all righteousness, so despised the preaching of this man of God, that they would not hear him or attend at his holy exhortations. At length, as they continued for a long time to despise his preaching, he severely rebuked their hardness of heart ; " I much grieve," said he, " for your wretchedness, because you not. only reject me as a servant of Christ, but also despise him in mc. since I have preached the gospel of the Redeemer of tlic world to you ; I therefore call on him to hear witness to your desolation, who is my faithful witness in heaven, and go forth from the city to your shame to preach the gospel of Christ to the brute beasts and to the birds of the air, that they may hear the life-giving words of (iod, and he obedient to them." lie then went out of the city, and in the suburbs found crows sitting amongst the dead bodies, kites, magpies, ai 1 several other birds flying about in the air, and said to them, " I command you in the name of Jesus Christ, whom the Jews crucified, and whose preaching the wretched Romans have despised, to come to me and hear the word of God, in the name of Him who created you and preserved Xoah in the ark from the waters of the deluge." All that flock of birds then drew near and surrounded him. and having ordered silence, all kinds of chirping was hushed, and those birds listened to the words of that man of God for the space of half a day without moving from the spot, and the whole time looked in the face of the preacher. This wonderful circumstance was discovered by the Romans passing and repassing to and from the city, and when the same had been repeated by the man of (iod to the assembled birds, the clergy, with a crowd of people, went out from the city and brought back the man of God with great, reverence ; and he then by the oil of his supplicatory preaching softened their fruitless and obdurate hearts and changed them for the better. His fame then began to bo