Abstract
As we have already seen, Francis’s doctor told him that he expected him to die either at the end of September or— with remarkable precision—on October 3, 1226. Francis’s reaction was noteworthy:
Blessed Francis, while he was lying on his bed sick, with the greatest devotion and reverence for the Lord stretched out his arms and hands with great joy of mind and body and said to his body and soul: “Welcome, my Sister Death!” (II, 203–4)
At the time, the end of one day and the beginning of another were marked, with great imprecision, by sunset. Since Francis died after dark on what we would reckon as October 3, he was considered to have died on October 4.
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© 2013 Brian Moloney
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Moloney, B. (2013). “My Sister Death”. In: Francis of Assisi and His “Canticle of Brother Sun” Reassessed. The New Middle Ages. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137361691_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137361691_7
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-45531-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-36169-1
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