absorbed the mind of Francis—so much so that his spirit clearly shone through his flesh: indeed, for two years before his death, he carried in his own body the holy stigmata of the passion. Thus it is that the symbolism of the six wings of the Seraph suggests six ascending steps of illumination, starting with creatures and leading all the way up to God, to whom there is no access except through the Crucified.* For he who enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up another way, is a thief