The Book on St. Anthony's Miracles [antikvár]

We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to the Franciscan friar Arnaldo de Serranno (d. 1374) for this collection of stories about the miracles of St. Anthony. Arnaldo was one of the most important figures of his homeland, the Aquitaine. He was famous for his deep spirituality, the holy tenor of his life, and his practical common sense. It is not surprising, therefore, that in 1361 he was elected to be the Franciscan superior for this entire region and continued to be reelected to this responsibility until the day he died. He was especially famous for his diplomatic skill, so much so that the Holy Father entrusted him with a mission to Spain to foster reform and to bring peace to the region. Thanks to his fervent love for the order, he feli into the habit of collecting an impressive amount of material concerning St. Francis and the people and events associated with him and the order that he founded. Arnaldo obtained this material from what he read (e.g. spiritual reading, chronicles, canonical procedures, etc.) and from conversations with others. His various responsibilities carried him far and wide, e.g. to Assisi, Naples, Florence, Strasbourg, Lyon, and Spain - all of which were sites of large friaries, well established libraries, and eminent scholars. The most essential works produced from this collection of materials are the Chronicle of the Twenty-