“ If it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you ” (Mt 12,28)
“The Spirit of the Lord” who had “anointed and sent” (Is 61,1) him and also “Christ, the power and the wisdom of God” (1Cor 1,24) were with their servant Francis wherever he went... For his word was like a burning fire
penetrating the innermost depths of the heart; and it filled the minds of all
with admiration, since it made no pretense at the elegance of human composition but exuded the perfume of divine revelation.
Once when he was to preach in the presence of the pope and cardinals... he memorized a sermon which he had carefully composed. When he stood in their midst... he went completely blank and was unable to say anything at all. This he admitted to them in true humility and directed himself to invoke the grace of the Holy Spirit. Suddenly he began to overflow with such effective eloquence and to move the those high-ranking men to compunction with such power that it was clearly evident it was not he, but the the Lord who was speaking...
He did not know how to touch the faults of others gingerly but only how to lance them; nor did he foster the habits of sinners but struck at them with harsh reproaches. He used to speak with the same firmness of mind to the great and the small and with the same joy of spirit to a few or to many. People of every age and hastened to see and hear this new man sent to the world heaven. Traveling through various regions, he preached the Gospel with burning love, “As the Lord worked with him and confirmed his preaching with the signs that followed” (Mk 16,20). For in the power of “the name of God,” this herald of truth “cast out devils and healed the sick” (Mk 16,17 ; 6 13).