A Source Book of Mediaeval History Part 45

Now when on a certain day he was praying fervently unto the Lord, answer was made unto him: "Francis, all those things that thou hast loved after the flesh, and hast desired to have, thou must needs despise and hate, if thou wouldst do My will, and after thou shalt have begun to do this the things that aforetime seemed sweet unto thee and delightful shall be unbearable unto thee and bitter, and from those that aforetime thou didst loathe thou shalt drink great sweetness and delight unmeasured." Rejoicing at these words, and consoled in the Lord, when he had ridden nigh unto a.s.sisi, he met one that was a leper. And because he had been accustomed greatly to loathe lepers, he did violence to himself, and dismounted from his horse, gave him money, and kissed his hand. And receiving from him the kiss of peace, he remounted his horse and continued his journey. Thenceforth he began more and more to despise himself, until by the grace of G.o.d he had attained perfect mastery over himself.

A few days later, he took much money and went to the quarter of the lepers, and, gathering all together, gave to each an alms, kissing his hand. As he departed, in very truth that which had aforetime been bitter to him, that is, the sight and touch of lepers, was changed into sweetness. For, as he confessed, the sight of lepers had been so grievous to him that he had been accustomed to avoid not only seeing them, but even going near their dwellings. And if at any time he happened to pa.s.s their abodes, or to see them, although he was moved by compa.s.sion to give them an alms through another person, yet always would he turn aside his face, stopping his nostrils with his hand. But, through the grace of G.o.d, he became so intimate a friend of the lepers that, even as he recorded in his Will,[519] he lived with them and did humbly serve them.

[Sidenote: How St. Francis would not dwell in an adorned cell]

[Sidenote: Or in a cell called his own]

(b)

A very spiritual friar, who was familiar with Blessed Francis, erected at the hermitage where he lived a little cell in a solitary spot, where Blessed Francis could retire and pray when he came thither. When he arrived at this place the friar took him to the cell, and Blessed Francis said, "This cell is too splendid"--it was, indeed, built only of wood, and smoothed with a hatchet--"if you wish me to remain here, make it within and without of branches of trees and clay." For the poorer the house or cell, the more was he pleased to live therein. When the friar had done this, Blessed Francis remained there several days. One day he was out of the cell when a friar came to see him, who, coming thereafter to the place where Blessed Francis was, was asked, "Whence came you, Brother?"

He answered, "I come from your cell." Then said Blessed Francis: "Since you have called it mine, let another dwell there and not I."

And, in truth, we who were with him often heard him say: "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have their nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head." And again he would say: "When the Lord remained in the desert, and fasted forty days and forty nights, He did not make for Himself a cell or a house, but found shelter amongst the rocks of the mountain." For this reason, and to follow His example, he would not have it said that a cell or house was his, nor would he allow such to be constructed.... When he was nigh unto death he caused it to be written in his Testament[520] that all the cells and houses of the friars should be of wood and clay, the better to safeguard poverty and humility.

[Sidenote: A lazy friar]

At the beginning of the Order, when the friars were at Rivo-Torto,[521] near a.s.sisi, there was among them one friar who would not pray, work, nor ask for alms, but only eat. Considering this, Blessed Francis knew by the Holy Spirit that he was a carnal man, and said to him, "Brother Fly, go your way, since you consume the labor of the brethren, and are slothful in the work of the Lord, like the idle and barren drone who earns nothing and does not work, but consumes the labor and earnings of the working bee." He, therefore, went his way, and as he was a carnally-minded man he neither sought for mercy nor obtained it.

[Sidenote: Public humiliation inflicted upon himself]

Having at a time suffered greatly from one of his serious attacks of illness, when he felt a little better he began to think that during his sickness he had exceeded his usual allowance of food, whereas he had really eaten very little. Though not quite recovered from the ague, he caused the people of a.s.sisi to be called together in the public square to listen to a sermon. When he had finished preaching, he told the people to remain where they were until he came back to them, and entered the cathedral of St. Rufinus with many friars and Brother Peter of Catana, who had been a canon of that church, and was now the first Minister-General[522] appointed by Blessed Francis. To Brother Peter Francis spoke, enjoining him under obedience not to contradict what he was about to say. Brother Peter replied: "Brother, neither is it possible, as between you and me, nor do I wish to do anything save what is pleasing to you."

Then, taking off his tunic, Blessed Francis bade him place a rope around his neck and drag him thus before the people to the place where he had preached. At the same time he ordered another friar to carry a bowlful of ashes to the place, and when he got there to throw the ashes into his face. But this order was not obeyed by the friar out of the pity and compa.s.sion he felt for him.

Brother Peter, taking the rope, did as he had been told; but he and all the other friars shed tears of compa.s.sion and bitterness. When he [Francis] stood thus bared before the people in the place where he had preached, he cried: "You, and all those who by my example have been induced to abandon the world and enter Religion to lead the lives of friars, I confess before G.o.d and you that in my illness I have eaten meat and broths made of meat." And all the people could not refrain from weeping, especially as at that time it was very cold and he had scarcely recovered from the fever.

Beating their b.r.e.a.s.t.s where they stood, they exclaimed, "If this saint, for just and manifest necessity, with shame of body thus accuses himself, whose life we know to be holy, and who has imposed on himself such great abstinence and austerity since his first conversion to Christ (whom we here, as it were, see in the flesh), what will become of us sinners who all our lifetime seek to follow our carnal appet.i.tes?"

[Sidenote: St. Francis and the larks]

Blessed Francis, wholly wrapped up in the love of G.o.d, discerned perfectly the goodness of G.o.d not only in his own soul, now adorned with the perfection of virtue, but in every creature. On account of which he had a singular and intimate love of creatures, especially of those in which was figured anything pertaining to G.o.d or the Order. Wherefore above all other birds he loved a certain little bird which is called the lark, or by the people, the cowled lark.

And he used to say of it: "Sister Lark hath a cowl like a Religious; and she is a humble bird, because she goes willingly by the road to find there any food. And if she comes upon it in foulness, she draws it out and eats it. But, flying, she praises G.o.d very sweetly, like a good Religious, despising earthly things, whose conversation is always in the heavens, and whose intent is always to the praise of G.o.d. Her clothes (that is, her feathers), are like to the earth and she gives an example to Religious that they should not have delicate and colored garments, but common in price and color, as earth is commoner than the other elements." And because he perceived this in them, he looked on them most willingly. Therefore it pleased the Lord, that these most holy little birds should show some sign of affection towards him in the hour of his death. For late in the Sabbath day after vespers, before the night in which he pa.s.sed away to the Lord, a great mult.i.tude of that kind of birds called larks came on the roof of the house where he was lying, and, flying about, made a wheel like a circle around the roof, and, sweetly singing, seemed likewise to praise the Lord.

[Sidenote: His desire that birds and animals be fed on Christmas day]

We who were with Blessed Francis and write these things, testify that many times we heard him say: "If I could speak with the Emperor,[523] I would supplicate and persuade him that, for the love of G.o.d and me, he would make a special law that no man should snare or kill our sisters, the larks, nor do them any harm. Also, that all chief magistrates of cities and lords of castles and villages should, every year, on the day of the Lord's Nativity, compel men to scatter wheat and other grain on the roads outside cities and castles, that our Sister Larks and all other birds might have to eat on that most solemn day; and that, out of reverence for the Son of G.o.d, who on that night was laid by the most Blessed Virgin Mary in a manger between an ox and an a.s.s, all who have oxen and a.s.ses should be obliged on that night to provide them with abundant and good fodder; and also that on that day the poor should be most bountifully fed by the rich."

For Blessed Francis held in higher reverence than any other the Feast of the Lord's Nativity, saying, "After the Lord was born, our salvation became a necessity." Therefore he desired that on this day all Christians should rejoice in the Lord, and, for the love of Him who gave Himself for us, should generously provide not only for the poor, but also for the beasts and birds.

[Sidenote: His regard for trees, stones, and all created things]

Next to fire he most loved water, which is the symbol of holy penance and tribulation, whereby the stains are washed from the soul, and by which the first cleansing of the soul takes place in holy baptism. Hence, when he washed his hands, he would select a place where he would not tread the water underfoot. When he walked over stones he would tread on them with fear and reverence, for the love of Him who is called the Rock, and when reciting the words of the Psalm, _Thou hast exalted me on a rock_, would add with great reverence and devotion, "beneath the foot of the rock hast thou exalted me."

In the same way he would tell the friars who cut and prepared the wood not to cut down the whole tree, but only such branches as would leave the tree standing, for love of Him who died for us on the wood of the Cross. So, also, he would tell the friar who was the gardener not to cultivate all the ground for vegetables and herbs for food, but to set aside some part to produce green plants which should in their time bear flowers for the friars, for love of Him who was called "The Flower of the Field," and "The Lily of the Valley." Indeed he would say the Brother Gardener should always make a beautiful little garden in some part of the land, and plant it with sweet-scented herbs bearing lovely flowers, which in the time of their blossoming invited men to praise Him who made all herbs and flowers. For every creature cries aloud: "G.o.d has made me for thee, O man!"

64. The Rule of St. Francis

There is every reason for believing that St. Francis set out upon his mission with no idea whatever of founding a new religious order. His fundamental purpose was to revive what he conceived to be the purer Christianity of the apostolic age, and so far as this involved the announcement of any definite principles or rules he was quite content to draw them solely from the Scriptures. We have record, for example, of how when (in 1209) St. Francis had yet but two followers, he led them to the steps of the church of St. Nicholas at a.s.sisi and there read to them three times the words of Jesus sending forth his disciples,[524] adding, "This, brethren, is our life and our rule, and that of all who may join us. Go, then, and do as you have heard." As his field of labor expanded, however, and the number of the friars increased, St. Francis decided to write out a definite Rule for the brotherhood and go to Rome to procure its approval by the Pope. The Rule as thus formulated, in 1210, has not come down to us. We know only that it was extremely simple and that it was composed almost wholly of pa.s.sages from the Bible (doubtless those read to the companions at a.s.sisi), with a few precepts about the occupations and manner of living of the brethren. This first Rule indeed proved too simple and brief to satisfy the demands of the growing order. A general injunction, such as "be poor," was harder to apply and to live up to than a more specific set of instructions explaining just what was to be considered poverty and what was not. The brethren, moreover, were soon preaching and laboring in all the countries of western Europe and questions were continually coming up regarding their relations with the temporal powers in those countries, with the local clergy, with the papal government, and also among themselves.

Reluctantly, and with a heart-felt warning against the insidious influences of ambition and organization, the founder finally brought himself to the task of drawing up a const.i.tution for the order which had surprised him, and in a certain sense grieved him, by the very elaborateness of its development. During the winter of 1220-21, when physical infirmities were foreshadowing the end, Francis worked out the doc.u.ment generally known as the Rule of 1221, which became the basis for the Rule of 1223, quoted in part below. Before the Rule took its final form, the influence of the Church was brought to bear through the papacy, with the result that most of the freshness and vigor that St. Francis put into the earlier effort was crushed out in the interest of ecclesiastical regularity. Only a small portion of the doc.u.ment can be reproduced here, but enough, perhaps, to show something as to what the manner of life of the Franciscan friar was expected to be. The extract may profitably be compared with the Benedictine Rule governing the monks [see p. 83].

Source--_Bullarium Romanum_ ["Collection of Papal Bulls"], editio Taurinensis, Vol. III., p. 394. Adapted from translation in Ernest F. Henderson, _Select Historical Doc.u.ments of the Middle Ages_ (London, 1896), pp. 344-349 _pa.s.sim_.

=1.= This is the rule and way of living of the Minorite brothers, namely, to observe the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, living in obedience, without personal possessions, and in chast.i.ty.

Brother Francis promises obedience and reverence to our lord Pope Honorius,[525] and to his successors who canonically enter upon their office, and to the Roman Church. And the other brothers shall be bound to obey Brother Francis and his successors.

[Sidenote: Money in no case to be received by the brothers]

=4.= I firmly command all the brothers by no means to receive coin or money, of themselves or through an intervening person. But for the needs of the sick and for clothing the other brothers, the ministers alone and the guardians shall provide through spiritual friends, as it may seem to them that necessity demands, according to time, place and the coldness of the temperature. This one thing being always borne in mind, that, as has been said, they receive neither coin nor money.

[Sidenote: The obligation to labor]

=5.= Those brothers to whom G.o.d has given the ability to labor shall labor faithfully and devoutly, in such manner that idleness, the enemy of the soul, being averted, they may not extinguish the spirit of holy prayer and devotion, to which other temporal things should be subservient. As a reward, moreover, for their labor, they may receive for themselves and their brothers the necessities of life, but not coin or money; and this humbly, as becomes the servants of G.o.d and the followers of most holy poverty.

=6.= The brothers shall appropriate nothing to themselves, neither a house, nor a place, nor anything; but as pilgrims and strangers in this world, in poverty and humility serving G.o.d, they shall confidently go seeking for alms. Nor need they be ashamed, for the Lord made Himself poor for us in this world.

65. The Will of St. Francis

The will which St. Francis prepared just before his death (1226) contains an admirable statement of the principles for which he labored, as well as a notable warning to his successors not to allow the order to fall away from its original high ideals. Among the later Franciscans the Will acquired a moral authority superior even to that of the Rule.

Source--Text in Amoni, _Legenda Trium Sociorum_ ["Legend of the Three Companions"], Appendix, p. 110. Translation adapted from Paul Sabatier, _Life of St. Francis of a.s.sisi_ (New York, 1894), pp. 337-339.

G.o.d gave it to me, Brother Francis, to begin to do penance in the following manner: when I was yet in my sins it seemed to me too painful to look upon the lepers, but the Lord Himself led me among them, and I had compa.s.sion upon them. When I left them, that which had seemed to me bitter had become sweet and easy. A little while after, I left the world,[526] and G.o.d gave me such faith that I would kneel down with simplicity in any of his churches, and I would say, "We adore thee, Lord Jesus Christ, here and in all thy churches which are in the world, and we bless thee that by Thy holy cross Thou hast ransomed the world."

[Sidenote: St. Francis not hostile to the existing Church]

Afterward the Lord gave me, and still gives me, so great a faith in priests who live according to the form of the holy Roman Church, because of their sacerdotal character, that even if they persecuted me I would have recourse to them, and even though I had all the wisdom of Solomon, if I should find poor secular priests, I would not preach in their parishes against their will.[527] I desire to respect them like all the others, to love them and honor them as my lords. I will not consider their sins, for in them I see the Son of G.o.d, and they are my lords. I do this because here below I see nothing, I perceive nothing physically of the most high Son of G.o.d, except His most holy body and blood, which the priests receive and alone distribute to others.[528]

I desire above all things to honor and venerate all these most holy mysteries and to keep them precious. Wherever I find the sacred name of Jesus, or his words, in unsuitable places, I desire to take them away and put them in some decent place; and I pray that others may do the same. We ought to honor and revere all the theologians and those who preach the most holy word of G.o.d, as dispensing to us spirit and life.

When the Lord gave me the care of some brothers, no one showed me what I ought to do, but the Most High himself revealed to me that I ought to live according to the model of the holy gospel. I caused a short and simple formula to be written and the lord Pope confirmed it for me.[529]

[Sidenote: Poverty and labor enjoined]

Those who volunteered to follow this kind of life distributed all they had to the poor. They contented themselves with one tunic, patched within and without, with the cord and breeches, and we desired to have nothing more.... We loved to live in poor and abandoned churches, and we were ignorant and were submissive to all. I worked with my hands and would still do so, and I firmly desire also that all the other brothers work, for this makes for goodness. Let those who know no trade learn one, not for the purpose of receiving wages for their toil, but for their good example and to escape idleness. And when we are not given the price of our work, let us resort to the table of the Lord, begging our bread from door to door. The Lord revealed to me the salutation which we ought to give: "G.o.d give you peace!"

[Sidenote: No further privileges to be sought from the Pope]

Let the brothers take great care not to accept churches, dwellings, or any buildings erected for them, except as all is in accordance with the holy poverty which we have vowed in the Rule; and let them not live in them except as strangers and pilgrims. I absolutely forbid all the brothers, in whatsoever place they may be found, to ask any bull from the court of Rome, whether directly or indirectly, in the interest of church or convent, or under pretext of preaching, or even for the protection of their bodies. If they are not received anywhere, let them go of themselves elsewhere, thus doing penance with the benediction of G.o.d....