For the Poor Man of Assisi, loving God with all his heart and mind and strength, as well as his neighbour, was something that made him wince all over.
The Sources, a sublime concatenation of astonishing events, give us evidence of this.
We read, in fact:
"Once when he was travelling through a region preaching, it happened that two French friars approached him, drawing deep consolation from him.
At the moment of parting, they asked him, driven by devotion, for his cassock for the love of God. And Francis, as soon as he had heard God's love invoked, took off his habit, and remained naked for a few hours.
For it was his custom, when it was said to him: 'For the love of God, give me the cassock or the rope' or whatever he wore, to give it immediately out of reverence for that Lord who is called Charity.
But it displeased him so much, and he used to reproach the brothers when he heard them mention the love of God for every trifle.
He said: "So sublime is the love of God, that only rarely and in cases of great necessity must it be named, and always with great veneration" (FF 1603).
"The indomitable fire of love for the good Jesus erupted in him with flames and flames of charity so strong that the many waters could not extinguish them" (FF 1224).
But her first seedling, Clare, was also entirely dedicated to the love of Christ, as we can see from her writings.
In her Blessing we read:
"Always be lovers of God and of the souls of yourselves and of all your sisters, and always be solicitous to observe what you have promised the Lord" (FF 2857).
In a Letter to Ermentrude of Bruges, a spiritual sister, she says:
"Remain, therefore, O dearest one, faithful until death to Him to whom you are bound for ever. And surely you will be crowned by Him with the crown of life' (FF 2914).
And to Agnes of Prague: "Contemplate again His unspeakable delights, riches and eternal honours, and cry out with all the ardour of your desire and love: Draw me to you, O heavenly Bridegroom! We will run after you, attracted by the sweetness of your perfume" (FF 2906).
Yes, loving God and our brothers is worth more than many holocausts!