To all the custodians of the Friars Minor to whom this letter is sent, Brother Francis, your servant and little one in the Lord God, sends a greeting with new signs of heaven and earth, which are great and extraordinary in the sight of God and yet are regarded as of little importance by many religious and other people.
I beg you, with all that is in me and more, that, when it is appropriate and you judge it profitable, you humbly beg the clergy to revere above everything else the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and His holy written words which consecrate His Body. The chalices, corporals, appointments of the altar, and everything which pertains to the sacrifice must be of precious material.
And if the most holy Body of the Lord is very poorly reserved in any place, it should be placed in a precious location under lock and kept according to the mandate of the Church and carried about with great reverence and administered to others with discretion. In a similar way the written words of the Lord, whenever they are found in an improper place, should be gathered together and kept in a becoming place. And in every sermon which you give, admonish the people concerning the need of penance, and tell them that no one can be saved unless he receive the Body and Blood of the Lord. And when It is sacrificed upon the altar by the priest and carried to any place, let all the people, on bended knee, praise, glorify, and honour the Lord God living and true.
And you must announce and preach His praise to all peoples in such a manner that at every hour and whenever the bells are rung, praise, glory, and honour are given to the all-powerful God throughout all the earth. And my brothers who are custodians to whom this writing shall come and who have made copies to keep for themselves and to give to the brothers who have the office of preaching or the care of the brothers; and who have preached everything which is contained in this writing to the very end, should know that they have the blessing of the Lord God as well as my own.
And let these matters be for them an expression of true and holy obedience. Amen.