Francis forewarned his friars not to be troubled if the saving message of Jesus was not heeded, for its very proclamation was itself an act of worship.

Francis' method of evangelization was that of "the only-begotten Son of God, who is Wisdom itself and who came down from the Father's embrace…to teach the world by His own example and to bring the message of salvation to the men He had redeemed at the price of His precious blood."¹³ Francis insisted that "the Friars Minor had been sent by the Lord in these late days to give examples of light to those wrapped in the darkness of sin;"¹⁴ and he insisted that "all the brothers are to preach by their works."¹⁵

Francis himself possessed such a marvelous ability to harmonize actions with words, and his words with his actions, that his exemplification of Gospel values rendered their explication superfluous. But he never tired of reminding his friars that mastery of this art demanded "unwearied application to prayer and the continual practice of virtue…”¹⁶

The Franciscan evangelizer, he insisted, must labor long and hard in order to cultivate a balanced sense of mission and mysticism; otherwise he will be incapable of inwardly experiencing that wonderful and redemptive love which Christ exemplified in His passion.