CHAPTER XI
CHAPTER XI.
General Chapter at Narbonne—Legend of St.
Francis.
'* Circa illum corona fratrum ; quasi plantatio cedri in Monte Libano," —EccLes, ii.
St. BONAVENTURE had been appointed to the government of his Order at a time when it was harassed by interior agitations, and he was, therefore, called upon to fight.
He had early had to contend with the enemies of his Order, and he was afterwards obliged to encounter new adversaries who rose up against him, but his main occupation was to revive among his brethren the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi, to encourage feeble hearts, and to strengthen failing courage, to cause the earth, confided to his care, to produce abundant flowers of piety and the fruits of salvation.
St. Francis had adopted in his Order a practice which had long been in favour in other Religious
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II5 Communities for the maintenance of discipline.
This was the holding of General Chapters, where the principal members of each province were called together to give an account of the different houses under their authority.
These Chapters were held every three years, unless the Superior-General judged it to be necessary to hold them at shorter intervals, or to postpone them for any special reason.
The Provincials also held Chapters, in their respective provinces, to promulgate the orders of the General Chapter, and they also assembled their brothers every
- year, in order to remedy any more pressing needs.
St. Bonaventure fully recognised the advantage of such gatherings.
As much as he could, he liked to mix with his religious, and to question them about the needs of their different houses ; to ask their advice, and to discuss with them the best remedies that could be applied to any disorders that might arise.
Five Chapters were held by him—the first at Narbonne in 1260, the second at Pisa, the third at Paris, the fourth at Assisi, the fifth at Lyons—and at each he presided with striking wisdom and virtue.
Of these five Chapters, the first is the most
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important, for it was there that the Rule of St.
Francis was explained, and this exposition of the Rule has caused its author to be considered as a second Founder of the Order.
In it the Rule is divided into twelve Chapters, and to each is added a commentary intended to recommend it, and to prevent any arbitrary interpretation being made.
'I propose to myself," says the pious General, ''to make more fully known the holiness of this Rule, in the hope that by so doing
I may console those who have embraced it, and may lead in the right way those enemies who, considering it with eyes full of envy and dislike, attribute to its light the defects of their own darkness."
Every part of this exposition is extremely clear, and leaves no occasion for doubt; every part is consoling to a humble religious belonging to the Order of Minor Friars; every part contributes to fill him with a holy pride and sweet confidence.
The end of the first chapter is an example of the piety and rich imagination of the commentator.
"The Rule," he says, "is divided into twelve points, which are like the twelve hard stones
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taken by the command of Joshua from the bed of the Jordan, at the place where the priests stopped, by twelve chosen men, and set by them in the place where the children of Israel were to encamp the following night.
The Minor Friars, like men chosen by the true Joshua, who is our Lord, wishing to pass the Jordan and to march on quickly to the promised land, ought to take twelve stones of impenetrable hardness, that is to say, the twelve points of the Rule, which is confirmed by evangelic and apostolic authority ; and they ought to take these stones to the place where the feet of the Priests have rested, by following the footsteps of the twelve
Apostles.
The three first chapters receive the rays of the rising sun, the three following ones warn us against the dangers of the: north wind, three others protect us from the evils of the night, while the three last are full of the delights of a southern land.
Thus, our city, being developed on four different sides, and ornamented by twelve gates, which are the twelve apostolic pearls, has nothing to fear from the insults of the great: it is fortified by the wisdom of the poor."
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After the exposition of the Rule, the Saint made several orders, which mostly related to the observance of poverty, as that was the point on which more disputes had arisen, and in which laxity was most to be feared.
Francis of Assisi had bequeathed poverty as the inheritance of his children, and had made it the queen of his
Order.
Hence the zeal with which Bonaventure endeavoured to keep it intact.
He had noticed with sorrow that some of the best religious had fallen from the brightness of their first fervour by indulging a love for earthly riches; he had seen the salt deprived of its savour by mixing with the dust of the world, and he trembled for the welfare of his children.
We will give a few of these regulations which the Saint introduced.
They may seem to us to be severe, but they were all strictly founded on the Rule of St.
Francis. 'No dome is to be built in the churches without the express permission of the MinisterGeneral, except above the high altar.
The steeples are no longer to be built in the form of a tower.
There are not to be in the churches any paintings except those of the principal altar, where may be represented the image of the
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be) Crucifix, the Virgin Mary, St. Francis, and St.
Anthony of Padua.
The retables of the altar are not to be sumptuous.
The censers, crosses, and images, which are of gold or silver, are to be removed under obedience, except in the case of those crosses which contain valuable relics, and those vessels which are to receive the Body and the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The chalices are to be simple and unornamented, and are to weigh two marks and ahalf.
Each altar is to have its own chalice, but there is to be a special one for use at the Conventual Mass."
At this Chapter of Narbonne was made also a new arrangement of the provinces of the Order : fresh limits were assigned to them, and two new ones were added, with four vicariates ; and the record of this circumscription shows how the blessing of Heaven had multiplied the family of St. Francis. The Order had existed now for fiftythree years, and it had spread through Italy,
France, Spain, England, Ireland, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Dalmatia, Poland,
Bosnia, the Empire of Greece, the Holy Land, Tartary, and other countries visited by its missionaries.
It had now thirty-three provinces
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and four vicariates, and in all two hundred and thirty houses.
Nor did its growth diminish after the time of St. Bonaventure, for about a hundred and forty years after this Chapter at Narbonne, Barthelemi of Pisa gives a list of the houses which then existed, and which numbered fifteen hundred and fifty-six.
Thus were accomplished the promises of God to St.
Francis ; thus the new Abraham was privileged to see his race multiply like the stars of Heaven, and cover the whole earth.
Another important incident of the General Chapter of Narbonne was the composition by St. Bonaventure of the beautiful " Legend of St.
Francis".
Shortly after the death of the founder of the Minor Friars, one of his favourite disciples, Thomas de Celano, the author of the Dies ire had been commissioned by Pope Gregory IX. to record all that he knew of the acts and virtues of the Saint.
Later on, three others of his contemporaries in religion—Léon, Angelo, and Rufino—also wrote a history of his life, at the request of their Superior-General.
But these works did not satisfy the tender love of the brethren for their illustrious Father, and
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they now besought Bonaventure to relate in his turn the history of that marvellous life.
The most influential members of the Order assembled at Narbonne made an appeal to their General to undertake this task, and the Saint regarded their prayer as a command which he could not disobey.
"*T feel myself to be incapable and unworthy," he replied, "'to write the life of so venerable a man, that life which is so valuable a model to us all, and I should never have attempted such a work if the earnest desires of my brethren of the General Chapter had not imposed it upon me, and if their special devotion to our blessed
Father had not made me feel it to be an obligation upon me to do as they ask.
For in my infancy I was rescued from death by his merits and his prayers, and the memory of this benefit is always present to my mind.
If, then, I were to refuse to celebrate his praises, I should fear to be guilty of the crime of ingratitude.
Therefore the principal motive which makes me undertake this work is the fact that I am indebted to the intercession of Francis for the life of my body and of my soul; and as I myself
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have experienced the effect of his power with God, I have resolved gladly to gather up as far as I can all the virtues, actions, and words of his life, as precious relics which have been scattered here and there, and to keep them from falling into oblivion."
St. Bonaventure applied himself to fulfil this work of love and gratitude with fervour and with zeal, and to this.end he made a pilgrimage to all the places which had been honoured by the presence of the Saint whose virtues he had to commemorate.
He also visited any of his disciples who were still living, appealed to their recollections of St.
Francis, and carefully treasured up all the particulars they gave him of that holy life.
Bonaventure entered upon his work with the zest of filial love.
After having collected the necessary materials, he examined them carefully by the light of truth, and arranged them to form the body of his work.
Then he began to write his story, and every page of it shows us the feeling of veneration which filled his heart.
One day, St. Thomas of Aquin came, with a brother of his Order, to visit the Saint while he was
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occupied in this work.
The " Angelic Doctor " loved, as we have said, to commune with Bonaventure on the deep mysteries of theology.
He found an ineffable charm in these conversations, from which all earthly interests were excluded, and he venerated the love which filled the heart of his friend.
But on this occasion, when he knocked at the well-known door, no one answered to his call.
St. Thomas therefore partly opened the door, and saw Bonaventure entirely lost in contemplation, raised up above the ground in ecstasy, and unconscious of all that was passing around him.
We know not what incident in the life of the great patriarch had thus transported the soul of his historian from earth to Heaven, for the pious discretion of St. Thomas has left the mystery unexplained.
He blessed God for having allowed him to witness these marvels, and turning to his companion, he said, " Let us leave a Saint to work for a Saint ".
This work, so worthy of the piety of the Seraphic Doctor, must be read to be appreciated, but we will bring forward one passage from it, which follows a long account of the miracle of the Stigmata :
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" And now, O valiant soldier of Christ, thou dost carry the arms of thine invincible Chief, and, so protected and defended thou shalt overcome all thine enemies.
Thou dost carry the standard of the Almighty King, and at the sight of it all the members of the army of God will be encouraged to the fight.
Thou dost bear the seal of the Supreme Pontiff, and thy words and actions will be regarded by all as words of truth, as actions that cannot be condemned.
To-day thou art marked with the Stigmata of the Lord Jesus; none can harass thee now, but all the servants of God will surround thee with their homage and their love.
These signs, the truth of which does not rest on the evidence of two or three witnesses only, but on the superabun dant authority of an innumerable multitude— these signs, I say, which are irresistible witnesses of God in thee and in thy person, remove every excuse for incredulity ; they confirm the faith of the children of God, they fill them with hope, and they kindle in their souls the fire of love.
Now is accomplished the vision which was shown thee at the beginning, in which it was declared to thee that thou, bright light of Christ, shouldst
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be clothed in celestial armour, and shouldst bear the standard of the Cross and its glorious insignia.
This manifestation of Christian wisdom, graven in the dust of thy flesh, no truly pious man will be able to reject, nor will any faithful man attack it, or humble heart despise it.
It is the work of Heaven, of God Himself, and deserves to be accepted without reserve."
We may add that this " Legend" was one of the most popular works of the Middle Ages.
The faith of our fathers was nourished by it, and they loved, after having heard the fervent preaching of the Minor Friars, to look back to the days when the Lord sent St. Francis to console
His Church, and to call men to repentance, The forty-five editions of the work attest the esteem in which it was held by the nations of Catholic Europe.