Francis and Evangelism

A little gem that is often repeated these days by liberals is an alleged quote from Francis about evangelism. The purported quote goes something like this: "preach the gospel, and if necessary use words." Recently I asked for a citation for this quote and this is the response I received:

"Many sayings are attributed to St. Francis, but were never actually written by him. One of the more famous of these has to do with preaching without words. This one is based on what St. Francis said and taught.

What St. Francis said about giving good example, and how this was more important that preaching with words comes from a variety of sources, one of which is:

The Little Flowers of St. Francis: Chapter 50

At the end of this chapter, in the English translation by T. Okey, which appeared in the Everyman Library edition of 1951, Philosophy and Theology, n. 485A, p. 295, St. Francis is quoted to have said:

But as for me, I desire this privilege from the Lord, that never may I have any privilege from man, except to do reverence to all, and to convert the world by obedience to the Holy Rule rather by example than by word.

"The Holy Rule" is the Rule of St. Francis. Here is the link http://www.franciscan-archive.org/patriarcha/preach.html"

I checked on the quotation in two versions of the Little Flowers and did not find it in the place mentioned. Chapter 50 of the Little Flowers is titled "Brother Conrad converts a young man" in the Blaiklock/Keys translation and something similar in the version in the St. Francis of Assisi Omnibus of Sources.

What is interesting for this thread is chapter 16 where Francis agonizes
over whether he should continue in uninterrrupted prayer or take time
out for preaching. The response that he gets from one of the brothers
is "The Lord thus directs that you should reply to Brother Francis, that
God called him not for himself alone, but for a harvest of souls, and
that he should bless many through him." Later in the same chapter
Francis is told directly by Brother Masseo "that you continue with
preaching, because God called you not for your sake alone but for the
salvation of others."

The oft-quoted "without words" appears to be of liberal lore origin
unless someone can come up with a direct quotation. If someone can supply a direct quotation, I will post it.

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