3. Certainly We, of all others, approve of this zeal for so excellent an object, especially because We have been accustomed from Our youth to admire Francis of Assisi and to pay him a particular veneration; because We glory in being on the roll of the Franciscan family; and because, more than once, We have, out of devotion, climbed with eagerness and joy the sacred heights of Alvernia; there the image of that great man presented itself to Us wherever We trod, and that solitude teeming with memories held Our spirit rapt in silent contemplation.