A lot of very devoted and somewhat absent-minded priests will wear their shoes through to the ground, or cassocks until they have holes in them and no buttons left or safety-pinned on.
I have heard that St. Francis Xavier's cassock got into such a state that his friends wanted to replace it, but knew if they gave him a new one he would give it away. So they STOLE his old one and put the new one in its place.
Apparently he wore it for some time without noticing, until somebody complimented him on how nice it looked.
20 posted on
12/10/2008 11:57:22 AM PST by
ZULU
(Non nobis, non nobis Domine, sed nomini tuo da gloriam. God, guts and guns made America great.)
I have heard that St. Francis Xavier's cassock got into such a state that his friends wanted to replace it, but knew if they gave him a new one he would give it away. So they STOLE his old one and put the new one in its place. Similar story about Blessed Titus Brandsma, O.Carm.. His habit had gotten so worn that his Prior had to order him to get a new one. He did so under the vow of obedience, of course. :-)