Chapter XXII: The Friars

From the twelfth century onwards one of the most conspicuous features of the internal development of the mediaeval Church was the struggle to combat worldliness among ecclesiastics and to preserve the purity of doctrine and uprightness of living which had characterized the primitive Christian clergy. As the Middle Ages advanced to their close, unimpeachable evidence accumulates that the Church was increasingly menaced by grave abuses. This evidence appears not only in contemporary records and chronicles but even more strikingly in the great protesting movements which spring up in rapid succession--particularly the rise of heretical sects, such as the Waldenses and the Albigenses, and the inauguration of systematic efforts to regenerate the church body without disrupting its unity. These latter efforts at first took the form of repeated revivals of monastic enthusiasm and self-denial, marked by the founding of a series of new orders on the basis of the Benedictine Rule--the Cluniacs, the Carthusians, the Cistercians, and others of their kind [see p. 245]. This resource proving ineffective, the movement eventually came to comprise the establishment of wholly new and independent organizations--the mendicant orders--on principles better adapted than were those of monasticism to the successful propagation of simplicity and purity of Christian living. The chief of these new orders were the Franciscans, known also as Gray Friars and as Minorites, and the Dominicans, sometimes called Black Friars or Preaching Friars. Both were founded in the first quarter of the thirteenth century, the one by St. Francis of Assisi; the other by the Spanish nobleman, St. Dominic.

The friars, of whatsoever type, are clearly to be distinguished from the monks. In the first place, their aims were different. The monks, in so far as they were true to their principles, lived in more or less seclusion from the rest of the world and gave themselves up largely to prayer and meditation; the fundamental purpose of the friars, on the other hand, was to mingle with their fellow-men and to spend their lives in active religious work among them. Whereas the old monasticism had been essentially selfish, the new movement was above all of a missionary and philanthropic character. In the second place, the friars were even more strongly committed to a life of poverty than were the monks, for they renounced not only individual property, as did the monks, but also collective property, as the monks did not. They were expected to get their living either by their own labor or by begging. They did not dwell in fixed abodes, but wandered hither and thither as inclination and duty led. Their particular sphere of activity was the populous towns; unlike the monks, they had no liking for rural solitudes. As one writer has put it, "their houses were built in or near the great towns; and to the majority of the brethren the houses of the orders were mere temporary resting-places from which they issued to make their journeys through town and country, preaching in the parish churches, or from the steps of the market-crosses, and carrying their ministrations to every castle and every cottage."

Both the Franciscans and the Dominicans were exempt from control by the bishops in the various dioceses and were ardent supporters of the papacy, which showered privileges upon them and secured in them two of its strongest allies. The organization of each order was elaborate and centralized. At the head was a master, or general, who resided at Rome and was assisted by a "chapter." All Christendom was divided into provinces, each of which was directed by a prior and provincial chapter. And over each individual "house" was placed a prior, or warden, appointed by the provincial chapter. In their earlier history the zeal and achievements of the friars were remarkable. Nearly all of the greatest men of the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries--as Roger Bacon, Thomas Aquinas, Dun Scotus, and Albertus Magnus--were members of one of the mendicant orders. Unfortunately, with the friars as with the monks, prosperity brought decadence; and by the middle of the fourteenth century their ardor had cooled and their boasted self-denial had pretty largely given place to self-indulgence.

63. The Life of St. Francis

Saint Francis, the founder of the Franciscan order, was born, probably in 1182, at Assisi, a small town in central Italy. His boyhood was unpromising, but when he was about twenty years of age a great change came over him, the final result of which was the making of one of the most splendid and altogether lovable characters of the entire Middle Ages. From a wild, reckless, although cultured, youth he developed into a sympathetic, self-denying, sweet-spirited saint. Finding himself, after his conversion, possessed of a natural loathing for the destitute and diseased, especially lepers, he disciplined himself until he could actually take a certain sort of pleasure in associating with these outcasts of society. When his father, a wealthy and aristocratic cloth-merchant, protested against this sort of conduct, the young man promptly cast aside his gentlemanly raiment, clad himself in the worn-out garments of a gardener, and adopted the life of the wandering hermit. In 1209, in obedience to what he conceived to be a direct commission from heaven, he began definitely to imitate the early apostles in his manner of living and to preach the gospel of the older and purer Christianity. By 1210 he had a small body of followers, and in that year he sought and obtained Pope Innocent III.'s sanction of his work, though the papal approval was expressed only orally and more than a decade was to elapse before the movement received formal recognition. About 1217 Francis and his companions took up missionary work on a large scale. Members of the brotherhood were dispatched to England, Germany, France, Spain, Hungary, and several other countries, with instructions to spread the principles which by this time were coming to be recognized as peculiarly Franciscan. The success of these efforts was considerable, though in some places the brethren were ill treated and an appeal had to be made to the Pope for protection.

The several selections given below have been chosen to illustrate the principal features of the life and character of St. Francis. We are fortunate in possessing a considerable amount of literature, contemporary or nearly so, relating to the personal career of this noteworthy man. In the first place, we have some writings of St. Francis himself--the Rule (p. 373), the Will (p. 376), some poems, some reported sermons, and fragments of a few letters. Then we have several biographies, of which the most valuable, because not only the earliest but also the least conventional, are the _Mirror of Perfection_ and the _Legend of the Three Companions_. These were written by men who knew St. Francis intimately and who could avow "we who were with him have heard him say" or "we who were with him have seen," such and such things. The "three companions" were Brothers Leo, Rufinus, and Angelo--all men of noble birth, the last-named being the first soldier to be identified with the order. The _Mirror of Perfection_ was written in 1227 by Brother Leo, who of all men probably knew St. Francis best. It is a vivid and fascinating portrait drawn from life. The _Legend of the Three Companions_ was written in 1246. The later biographies, such as the official _Life_ by St. Bonaventura (1261) and the _Little Flowers of St. Francis_ (written probably in the fourteenth century), though until recently the best known of the group, are relatively inferior in value. In them the real St. Francis is conventionalized and much obscured.

The first passage here reproduced (a) comes from the _Legend of the Three Companions_; the others (b) are taken from the _Mirror of Perfection_.

Sources--(a) _Legenda S. Francisci Assisiensis quae dicitur
Legenda trium sociorum._ Adapted from translation by E. G.
Salter, under title of "The Legend of the Three Companions,"
in the Temple Classics (London, 1902), pp. 8-24, _passim_.

(b) _Speculum Perfectionis._ Translated by Constance, Countess
de la Warr, under title of "The Mirror of Perfection,"
(London, 1902), _passim_.

[Sidenote: His youthful vanities and waywardness]

(a)

Francis, born in the city of Assisi, which lies in the confines of
the Vale of Spoleto, was at first named John by his mother. Then,
when his father, in whose absence he had been born, returned from
France, he was afterward named Francis[517]. After he was grown up,
and had become of a subtle wit, he practiced the art of his father,
that is, trade. But [he did so] in a very different manner, for he
was a merrier man than was his father, and more generous, given to
jests and songs, going about the city of Assisi day and night in
company with his kind, most free-handed in spending; insomuch that
he consumed all his income and his profits in banquets and other
matters. On this account he was often rebuked by his parents, who
told him he ran into so great expense on himself and on others that
he seemed to be no son of theirs, but rather of some mighty prince.
Nevertheless, because his parents were rich and loved him most
tenderly, they bore with him in such matters, not being disposed to
chastise him. Indeed, his mother, when gossip arose among the
neighbors concerning his prodigal ways, made answer: "What think ye
of my son? He shall yet be the son of God by grace." But he himself
was free-handed, or rather prodigal, not only in these things, but
even in his clothes he was beyond measure sumptuous, using stuffs
more costly than it befitted him to wear. So wayward was his fancy
that at times on the same coat he would cause a costly cloth to be
matched with one of the meanest sort.

[Sidenote: His redeeming qualities]

[Sidenote: A lesson in charity]

Yet he was naturally courteous, in manner and word, after the
purpose of his heart, never speaking a harmful or shameful word to
any one. Nay, indeed, although he was so gay and wanton a youth,
yet of set purpose would he make no reply to those who said
shameful things to him. And hence was his fame so spread abroad
throughout the whole neighborhood that it was said by many who knew
him that he would do something great. By these steps of godliness
he progressed to such grace that he would say in communing with
himself: "Seeing that thou art bountiful and courteous toward men,
from whom thou receivest naught save a passing and empty favor, it
is just that thou shouldst be courteous and bountiful toward God,
who is Himself most bountiful in rewarding His poor." Wherefore
thenceforward did he look with goodwill upon the poor, bestowing
alms upon them abundantly. And although he was a merchant, yet was
he a most lavish dispenser of this world's riches. One day, when he
was standing in the warehouse in which he sold goods, and was
intent on business, a certain poor man came to him asking alms for
the love of God. Nevertheless, he was held back by the covetousness
of wealth and the cares of merchandise, and denied him the alms.
But forthwith, being looked upon by the divine grace, he rebuked
himself of great churlishness, saying, "Had this poor man asked
thee aught in the name of a great count or baron, assuredly thou
wouldst have given him what he had asked. How much more then
oughtest thou to have done it for the King of Kings and Lord of
all?" By reason whereof he thenceforth determined in his heart
never again to deny anything asked in the name of so great a
Lord....

[Sidenote: A vision in the midst of revelry]

Now, not many days after he returned to Assisi,[518] he was chosen
one evening by his comrades as their master of the revels, to spend
the money collected from the company after his own fancy. So he
caused a sumptuous banquet to be made ready, as he had often done
before. And when they came forth from the house, and his comrades
together went before him, going through the city singing while he
carried a wand in his hand as their master, he was walking behind
them, not singing, but meditating very earnestly. And lo! suddenly
he was visited by the Lord, and his heart was filled with such
sweetness that he could neither speak nor move; nor was he able to
feel and hear anything except that sweetness only, which so
separated him from his physical senses that--as he himself
afterward said--had he then been pricked with knives all over at
once, he could not have moved from the spot. But when his comrades
looked back and saw him thus far off from them, they returned to
him in fear, staring at him as one changed into another man. And
they asked him, "What were you thinking about, that you did not
come along with us? Perchance you were thinking of taking a wife."
To them he replied with a loud voice: "Truly have you spoken, for I
thought of taking to myself a bride nobler and richer and fairer
than ever you have seen." And they mocked at him. But this he said
not of his own accord, but inspired of God; for the bride herself
was true Religion, whom he took unto him, nobler, richer, and
fairer than others in her poverty.

[Sidenote: His increasing zeal in charity]

And so from that hour he began to grow worthless in his own eyes,
and to despise those things he had formerly loved, although not
wholly so at once, for he was not yet entirely freed from the
vanity of the world. Nevertheless, withdrawing himself little by
little from the tumult of the world, he made it his study to
treasure up Jesus Christ in his inner man, and, hiding from the
eyes of mockers the pearl that he would fain buy at the price of
selling his all, he went oftentimes, and as it were in secret,
daily to prayer, being urged thereto by the foretaste of that
sweetness that had visited him more and more often, and compelled
him to come from the streets and other public places to prayer.
Although he had long done good unto the poor, yet from this time
forth he determined still more firmly in his heart never again to
deny alms to any poor man who should ask it for the love of God,
but to give alms more willingly and bountifully than had been his
practice. Whenever, therefore, any poor man asked of him an alms
out of doors, he would supply him with money if he could; if he had
no ready money, he would give him his cap or girdle rather than
send the poor man away empty. And if it happened that he had
nothing of this kind, he would go to some hidden place, and strip
off his shirt, and send the poor man thither that he might take it,
for the sake of God. He also would buy vessels for the adornment
of churches, and would send them in all secrecy to poor priests....

[Sidenote: He begs alms at Rome]

So changed, then, was he by divine grace (although still in the
secular garb) that he desired to be in some city where he might, as
one unknown, strip off his own clothes and exchange them for those
of some beggar, so that he might wear his instead and make trial of
himself by asking alms for the love of God. Now it happened that at
that time he had gone to Rome on a pilgrimage. And entering the
church of St. Peter, he reflected on the offerings of certain
people, seeing that they were small, and spoke within himself:
"Since the Prince of the Apostles should of right be magnificently
honored, why do these folk make such sorry offerings in the church
wherein his body rests?" And so in great fervency he put his hand
into his purse and drew it forth full of money, and flung it
through the grating of the altar with such a crash that all who
were standing by marveled greatly at so splendid an offering. Then,
going forth in front of the doors of the church, where many beggars
were gathered to ask alms, he secretly borrowed the rags of one
among the neediest and donned them, laying aside his own clothing.
Then, standing on the church steps with the other beggars, he asked
an alms in French, for he loved to speak the French tongue,
although he did not speak it correctly. Thereafter, putting off the
rags, and taking again his own clothes, he returned to Assisi, and
began to pray the Lord to direct his way. For he revealed unto none
his secret, nor took counsel of any in this matter, save only of
God (who had begun to direct his way) and at times of the bishop of
Assisi. For at that time no true Poverty was to be found anywhere,
and she it was that he desired above all things of this world,
being minded in her to live--yea, and to die....

[Sidenote: Francis and the leper]

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 Assisi, 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 God 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 pass their abodes, or to see them,
although he was moved by compassion 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 God, 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 Assisi, 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 Assisi 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 compassion 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 compassion 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 God 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 breasts 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 appetites?"

* * * * *

[Sidenote: St. Francis and the larks]

Blessed Francis, wholly wrapped up in the love of God, discerned
perfectly the goodness of God 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 God 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
God 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 God. 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 passed away to the Lord, a great
multitude 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 God 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 God, who on that night was laid by the most Blessed
Virgin Mary in a manger between an ox and an ass, all who have oxen
and asses 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: "God 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 Assisi 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 passages from the Bible (doubtless those read to the companions at Assisi), 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 constitution 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 document 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 document 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
Documents of the Middle Ages_ (London, 1896), pp. 344-349
_passim_.

=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 chastity.
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 God 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 God 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 God, 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 Assisi_ (New York,
1894), pp. 337-339.

God 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 compassion 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 God 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 God, and they are my lords. I do this because here below
I see nothing, I perceive nothing physically of the most high Son
of God, 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 God, 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: "God 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 God....

And let the brothers not say, "This is a new Rule"; for this is
only a reminder, a warning, an exhortation. It is my last will and
testament, that I, little Brother Francis, make for you, my blessed
brothers, in order that we may observe in a more Catholic way the
Rule which we promised the Lord to keep.

[Sidenote: No additions to be made to the Rule or the Will]

Let the ministers-general, all the other ministers, and the
custodians be held by obedience to add nothing to and take nothing
away from these words. Let them always keep this writing near them
beside the Rule; and in all the assemblies which shall be held,
when the Rule is read, let these words be read also.

I absolutely forbid all the brothers, clerics and laymen, to
introduce comments in the Rule, or in this Will, under pretext of
explaining it. But since the Lord has given me to speak and to
write the Rule and these words in a clear and simple manner, so do
you understand them in the same way without commentary, and put
them in practice until the end.

And whoever shall have observed these things, may he be crowned in
heaven with the blessings of the heavenly Father, and on earth with
those of his well-beloved Son and of the Holy Spirit, the Consoler,
with the assistance of all the heavenly virtues and all the saints.

And I, little Brother Francis, your servant, confirm to you, so far
as I am able, this most holy benediction. Amen.

FOOTNOTES:

[517] The father's name was Pietro Bernardone. As a cloth-merchant he was probably accustomed to make frequent journeys to northern France, particularly Champagne, which was the principal seat of commercial exchange between northern and southern Europe.

[518] Aspiring to become a knight and to win distinction on the field of battle, Francis had gone to Spoleto with the intention of joining an expedition about to set out for Apulia. While there he was stricken with fever and compelled to abandon his purpose. Returning to Assisi, he redoubled his works of charity and sought to keep aloof from the people of the town. His old companions, however, flocked around him, expecting still to profit by his prodigality, and for a time, being himself uncertain as to the course he would take, he acceded to their desires.

[519] See p. 376.

[520] Brief portions of this testament, or will, are given on p. 376.

[521] This was in the latter part of 1210 and the early part of 1211. Rivo-Torto was an abandoned cottage in the plain of Assisi, an hour's walk from the town and near the highway between Perugia and Rome. The building had once served as a leper hospital. Francis and his companions selected it as a temporary place of abode, probably because of its proximity to the _carceri_, or natural grottoes, of Mount Subasio to which the friars resorted for solitude, and because it was at the same time sufficiently near the Umbrian towns to permit of frequent trips thither for preaching and charity.

[522] Practically, St. Francis's successor in the headship of the order. With the idea of realizing entire humility in his own life, St. Francis had resigned his position of authority into the hands of Brother Peter and had pledged the implicit obedience of himself and the others to the new prelate.

[523] That is, the sovereign of the Holy Roman Empire.

[524] The passage (Luke ix. 1-6) is as follows: "Jesus, having called to Him the Twelve, gave them power and authority over all devils and to cure diseases. And He sent them to preach the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. And He said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece. And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart. And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them. And they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere."

[525] Honorius III., 1216-1227.

[526] That is, abandoned the worldly manner of living.

[527] Despite the willingness of St. Francis here expressed to get on peaceably with the secular clergy, i.e., the bishops and priests, the history of the mendicant orders is filled with the records of strife between the seculars and friars. This was inevitable, since such friars as had taken priestly orders were accustomed to hear confessions, preside at masses, preach in parish churchyards, bury the dead, and collect alms--all the proper functions of the parish priests but permitted to the friars by special papal dispensations. The priests very naturally regarded the friars as usurpers.

[528] That is, in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper.

[529] The Rule of 1210, approved by Innocent III., is here meant [see p. 374].