“Let the friars appropriate nothing for themselves, neither house nor place nor any thing. And as pilgrims and exiles in this age, as ones serving the Lord in poverty and humility, let them go about for alms confidently, nor is it proper that they be ashamed, because the Lord made Himself poor in this world on our behalf. This is that loftiness of the highest poverty, which has established you, my most dear friars, as heirs and kings of the Kingdom of Heaven, has made you poor in things, and has raised you high in virtues. Let this be your portion, which leads you through to the land of the living.”
(St. Francis, Definitive Rule)