Strip Our Lady's Altar Bare!

At another time the community at St. Mary of the Portiuncula was so much in need that they had nothing to offer the friars who came there visiting. Francis' vicar approached him and told him how badly off they were and asked him to allow tem to keep some of the property which those entering the Order brought with them; then the friars could fall back on this when the need arose. Francis, who was not without his own share of divine guidance, replied, "My dear brother, God forbid that we should sin against the rule for anyone. I should prefer to see you strip our Lady's altar bare rather than have you commit the slightest sin against our vow of poverty or the observance of the Gospel. The Blessed Virgin will be better pleased to see her altar laid bare and the Gospel counsel observed perfectly, rather than have the altar properly decorated and her Son's counsel violated, which we have promised to observe."

Saint Francis of Assisi
Bonaventure, Major Life
CHAPTER VII : 4