CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER IX.
The Minor Friars and the Preaching Friars.
''Fratres Minores sunt illius sancte regulz professores, que in Evangelii fundatur eloquio, vite Christi roboratur exemplo et fundatorum militantes Ecclesia apostolorum actibusque firmatur."
MEANWHILE the new Superior-General of the Minor Friars had gone to Anagui to defend his
Order.
He found there Albert le Grand, whom he had known and admired in Paris ; Humbert,
General of the Dominicans, and lastly, Thomas of Aquin.
It has already been said by what writings the Saint replied to the detractors of his brethren, and how Alexander IV. showed himself a zealous protector of the persecuted religious; it remains now to see how the persecution which these two great Orders had had to endure contributed to strengthen the intimate ties which had bound them together from their birth.
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gl St. Dominic had met St. Francis of Assisi at Rome, and there, after having exchanged ideas, they had engaged to work in_indissoluble union, for the conversion of the world; and since the death of the two Founders, remembering this friendship which had existed between them, the two Orders had gone on increasing side by side, like one and the same family.
The Order of St. Dominic had been more fortunate than the Order of St. Francis, inasmuch as it had never had among its chiefs any such men as those who had been injurious to the interests of the latter Community ; and their present Superior, Humbert de Romaus, the friend of John of Parma, of St. Bonaventure, and of St. Louis, during the ten years of his government, had witnessed the establishment of fifty-four new houses.
Never for a half-century had the two Orders been subjected to such a tempest as that which now disturbed the University of Paris.
They had been attacked in common, and they defended themselves in common, and as if suffering had made their union more close, about a year before the election of St. Bonaventure, John of Parma and
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Humbert had addressed to all the members of their Orders an admirable letter, which was to show to the world how the children of the Lord preserve their strength, and by what secret means they prepare themselves for the day of trial.
This letter has been preserved from generation to generation, as an evidence of the affectionate intimacy which prevailed between St. Dominic and St. Francis.
"To our well-beloved Brothers in Jesus Christ, the Minor Friars and the Preaching Friars throughout the world.
"The Saviour of the world,-Who loves all men, and does not will the death of any of His children, has taken different means, in different ages, to repair the primitive ruin of the human race, and in these last days has raised up our two Orders for the ministry of salvation.
We believe indubitably that it is He Who has called, and enriched with His most precious gifts, this innumerable company of devoted men, who both by speech and by example are to save the earth.
For the glory of God and not for their own, they exist as two great torches which illuminate with celestial light those who sit in
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the shadow of death; they are two cherubim, full of knowledge, who have in their souls the same thoughts and the same desires, and, extending their wings over the people, they protect and nourish them with salutary truth; they are the two breasts of the Spouse from which the little children are fed; they are the two sons of the Governor of all the earth ; they hold themselves ready to execute His will, they are the two witnesses of Jesus Christ; clothed in symbolic habits, they preach and bear witness to the truth; they are the two brilliant. stars, which, according to the speech of the Sibyls, had the appearance of four animals, and which in these last days were to publish to the world the praise of humility and voluntary poverty.
Who could count up all the mysterious and symbolical communications which have passed between these two holy Orders?
The divine wisdom which produces all things in numbers has not willed to create one Order, but two, so that they may form a mutual society for the service of the Church, and for their own advantage; they will kindle in each other the same love, they will help and encourage each other ;
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their zeal will be double, and the strength of the one will supplement that which is wanting to the other, so that the united testimony which they shall render to the truth may be the more imposing.
See, O our very dear brothers, see how abundant should be our sincere delight— we who were born to our mother the Church, at the same time, we whom Eternal Love has sent two by two, to work for the salvation of men— how would they recognise us if not for the affectionate union which subsists between us?
How shall we spread charity in other souls, if it is feeble and languishing in our own? How shall we resist persecution, if we are torn by interior dissensions?
How great, how strong should be the love which unites us, when we consider the immeasurable affection which existed between Blessed Francis and Blessed Dominic, between the first Fathers of the two Orders!
They looked upon each other as Angels of God, they received each other as they would have welcomed
Christ ; they honoured each other, they rejoiced in each other's spiritual progress, they praised each other, they helped each other in everything,
and avoided carefully all scandalous disputes.
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"What great advantages have accrued from this union to our two Orders and to the people!
What great glory to God!
This it is that has made the enemy tremble ; like a furious lion he seeks to break this old attachment.
O you who are blessed by God, take heed lest in his pride he should be able to say of you: 'I have prevailed against them, because they have left the ways of their forefathers, and have ceased to walk in the paths of love', May the demon always find us ready to defend this most precious charity which our Fathers have bequeathed to us ; the law of love must always rule our actions, and we must not, because of the faults of any, allow our displeasure to be victorious over our love.
Let not the desire of passing from one Order to another cause us to disturb the general tranquillity, but let each encourage and persuade his brother to remain in his vocation.
Let the protectors and benefactors of each Order be blessed in common ; let not one Order seek to take away the converts of the other, nor that _ which is given in alms or by inheritance ; and let there be no jealousy in the ministry of preaching.
Otherwise, where will be the charity?
Let not
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one Order exalt, in an inconsiderate manner, its great men and its privileges ; let the brothers of the Order avoid, above all things, to reveal in public the troubles and defects of the other, for this never can be useful, but rather let them in all kindness reprove the guilty.
One brother should never be ready to believe evil of another.
'We beg you for Charity, which is God Himself, to do carefully all that may lead to peace, to mutual concord in the Lord, and to indissoluble unity.
Know that each of us desires, with all his heart and will, that this should be done by you:
The transgressors will be punished as enemies to unity and peace.
We have regarded it as our fatherly duty to write these things to you, since we cannot say them to you with our lips."
But it was not enough to cause this letter to be read by the two Orders.
One sad thought had troubled the soul of Bonaventure for some time, and had filled it with grief.
He could not forget that of the accusations made against his brethren, many were, at least in part, founded on fact.
In his replies, he had not hesitated to
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impute blame where it was deserved.
He considered it to be his duty to place himself as a wall of brass in defence of his children, and at the same time to crush by his virtue any iniquity which might disfigure the beauty of their souls.
He therefore addressed himself with apostolic freedom to the provincial ministers of his Order, and with that authority which belongs to a Saint whose only desire is for the honour of God, he wrote to them the following letter :
"To his well-beloved in Christ, the Provincial Ministers and all the Guardians, Brother Bonaventure, Minister-General, and servant of the same Order, wishes salvation and the peace which surpasses all understanding.
" Although I know my manifest insufficiency to bear the burden that is laid upon me, because of my bodily weakness, the imperfection of my mind, my inexperience in business, and the repugnance of my will, yet, as it is hard to 'kick against the pricks,' by obstinately resisting the will of so large a Community, the order of the Sovereign Pontiff, and the will of God as expressed by their means, I have submitted my feeble shoulders to so heavy and almost intoler-
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able a burden, full of hope in the help of the Almighty, and of confidence in the aid which you are anxious to lend me. _' For, though it is impossible for a man, even if he be endowed in the highest degree, with strength, aptitude, and experience, to bear alone the weight of so heavy a load, yet when the weight is divided into several parts, and each one is enjoined to have his share according to the extent of his courage, there is no one who need, even with the meanest capacity, give way to the despair that is inspired by the fear of something that is new.
I expect therefore, from your intelligence, your carefulness, and your active zeal, the most eager desire to reprove the evil, to promote the good, to encourage the weak, and to ensure the perseverance of the strong.
Also, as I find myself placed as the sentinel of the House of Israel, I have resolved, for fear that I should have to render an account of the blood of souls, to write to you briefly about things which I would much rather have explained to you by word of mouth in a general Chapter, if I had had the opportunity.
But the peril of the moment is urgent, even the loss of consciences and the scandal of the world,
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o which in many places our Order is become an object of disgust and of contempt, instead of being a bright mirror of sanctity.
Having then taken the advice of prudent men on the points which need correction, without entirely keeping silence, or expressing all that there might be to say, without establishing any new obligations, or imposing new ties, but simply as a herald of truth, I tell you in' a few words that which I cannot silently pass by.
I ask myself why the splendour of our Order is in some sort obscured, why the external observance is feeble; why purity of conscience has lost its brightness; and my answer is, that the reason lies in the multitude of business which its children undertake.
In return for their work they greedily claim money, which is the thing most opposed to the poverty belonging to the Order; they receive it imprudently, and spend it more imprudently still.
Then I see that idleness prevails among certain of the brothers, which is the advance guard of all disorders ; they sleep in this vice, proposing to occupy a monstrous state lying between the active and contemplative life, where they cruelly drink the blood of souls.
Others take useless
I0o
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measures for the comfort of their bodies ; they are a burden to themselves, and their examples, far from edifying, are a scandal to souls.
Others are importunate in their demands, and wherever they go they leave behind an aversion for their Order, so that their visits are dreaded by the people, as if they were brigands.
In many places they build sumptuous and elegant edifices, and, for féar of troubling their brethren, they make them chargeable on their friends, thereby exposing themselves to the adverse criticisms of men.
Offices are imprudently bestowed on brothers who have not yet passed through the required examinations, and are little mortified in body or strengthened in soul, thus laying on them burdens which they are unable to bear.
Many eagerly search documents and tombs, thereby exciting the clergy against them.
Again others make frequent and costly changes in our houses, and by so doing they bring trouble on the country, violate poverty, and are accused of inconstancy.
In fact, these superfluities are without end; the brothers forget how to be content with a little and the charity of men grows cold ; we shall be
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IOI made burdensome to all men, and shall become yet more so, if we do not find a prompt remedy for such a state of things...
"Vet, then, the devotion of our hearts be great ; let our zeal burn with fervour; let us drive the merchants out of our Father's House; let us kindle in the hearts of our brothers an ardent love for prayer and for the practice of devotion.
Be less willing to admit so many people; I desire absolutely that the Rule for the admission of religious should be strictly observed.
Stop the perverse and disorderly customs which are enumerated in this letter.
This may perhaps seem hard to many, but the holiness of our profession demands it; present tribulation demands it; the world demands it; Blessed Francis cries to us; the Blood of Jesus Christ, poured out for us, orders it ; the Lord insists on it from the heights of Heaven.
"Stimulate the idle to work; force into a quiet life those spirits that are eager to extend their labours outside the walls; impose silence on the importunate; make the men who want to build grand houses enter into deeper humiliation ; keep in solitude the souls that are too much
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inclined to intercourse with the world.
Never impose the offices of preacher and confessor on any who have not undergone a strict examination.
. Do not, under any pretext, give permission to anyone to change his residence before the General Chapter has been held.
Indeed, by the advice of wise men, and in order to avoid scandal, as well as to obey the command of my predecessor, I strictly reserve to myself this point.
I order, by virtue of the obedience they owe me, that, for the future, no one shall change his House without my special permission.
Let the brothers also learn to be content with a little, for wise men think that they have good reason to fear that all will be constrained, whether they will or not, to be content with it soon."
The language of this letter is grave and solemn ; it is severe, and contains some serious reproaches.
But we are not to imagine that these reproaches were deserved by the majority of the Order.
We have seen how the relaxation of the Rule had been introduced since the time of St. Francis, how the heroic poverty enjoined by it had been exchanged for a
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poverty less rigid and more guarded, but we have seen at the same time a constant struggle going on against this laxity ; we have seen that the majority chose for their generals those men who were most remarkable for their fidelity to primitive observance, and, in the election of St.
Bonaventure, we find a last protest against all deviation from it.
But it was in these days especially that Bonaventure, in his desire to see the Lord's earth purified from all that may shock the eyes of God, addressed those who were charged to watch over it; it was in these days that saints abounded in the pious and venerable family of Francis of Assisii 'These men were the counsellors, the friends, the children of our Saint.
They have passed through the world as beneficent clouds sent by the hand of the Lord to refresh the earth, and their memory is retained in benediction by their brethren.