CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FOUR
THE PROGRESS OF
THE ORDER UNDER HIS HAND
AND
THE CONFIRMATION OF THE RULE
Strengthened by God's grace and the pope's approval, Francis with great confidence took the road toward the valley of Spoleto, where he intended to preach and to live the Gospel of Christ. On the way he discussed with his companions how they should sincerely keep the rule which they had taken upon themselves, how they should proceed in all holiness and justice before God (Luke 1:75'), how they should improve themselves and be an example for others.
It was already late in the day as they continued their long discussion. Fatigued from their prolonged activity and feeling hungry, they stopped at an isolated spot. When there seemed to be no way for them to get the food they needed, God's providence immediately came to their aid.
For suddenly a man appeared carrying bread in his hand, which he gave to Christ's little poor and then suddenly disappeared. They had no idea where he came from or where he went. From this the poor friars realized that while in the company of the man of God they would be given assistance from heaven and so they were refreshed more by the gift of God's generosity than by the food they had received for their bodies.
Moreover, filled with divine consolation, they firmly resolved and irrevocably committed themselves never to turn back from the promise they had made to holy poverty, in spite of any
pressure from lack of food or other trials.
2. When they arrived at the valley of Spoleto full of their 1.
Major source:
I C 34; minor sources:
II C 17; Jul.
22; I C 35.
ST. BONAVENTURE
holy plans, they began to discuss whether they should live among the people or go off into places of solitude. But Christ's servant Francis did not place his trust in his own efforts or those of his companions; rather he sought to discern God's will in this matter by earnest prayer. Then, enlightened by a revelation from heaven, he realized that he was sent by the Lord to win for Christ the souls which the devil was trying to snatch away. Therefore he chose to live for all men rather than for himself alone, drawn by the example of the one who deigned to
die for all (2 Cor.
: 1 5).
3. Then with his companions the man of God took shelter in an abandoned hut near the town of Assisi, 3 where they barely subsisted according to the rule of holy poverty in much labor and want, drawing their nourishment more from the bread of tears (Ps. 79:6) than from the delights of bodily food. They spent their time there praying incessantly, devoting themselves to mental rather than vocal prayer because they did not yet have liturgical books from which to chant the canonical hours.
In place of these they had the book of Christ's cross which they studied continually day and night, taught by the example and words of their father who spoke to them constantly about the cross of Christ. When the friars asked him to teach them to pray, he said: "When you pray, say 'Our Father .
.' (Luke 11:2) and 'We adore you, O Christ, in all your churches in the whole world and we bless you because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.' " He also taught them to praise God in all creatures and from all creatures, to honor priests with special reverence and to firmly believe and simply profess the true faith as held and taught by the Holy Roman Church. The friars followed his teaching in every detail; and before every church and crucifix which they saw even from a distance, they
Major source:
I C 35; minor source: Jul.
23.
3. At Rivo Torto, on the road between Spoleto and Perugia.
THE LIFE OF ST. FRANCIS
humbly prostrated themselves and prayed according to the form he had taught them. 4
While the friars were still staying in the place already mentioned, one Saturday the holy man went to the town of Assisi to preach in the cathedral on Sunday morning, as was his custom. The devoted man of God spent the night in prayer, as he usually did, in a hut situated in the garden of the canons, separated physically from the friars. At about midnight while some of the friars were resting and others continued to pray, behold, a fiery chariot of wonderful brilliance entered through the door of the house and turned here and there three times through the house. A globe of light rested above it which shone like the sun and lit up the night. Those who were awake were dumbfounded, and those who were sleeping woke up terrified.
They felt the brightness light up their hearts no less than their bodies, and the conscience of each was laid bare to the others by the strength of that marvelous light. As they looked into each other's hearts, they all realized together that their holy father, who was absent physically was present inspirit (1 Cor. 5:3), transfigured in this image. And they realized that by supernatural power the Lord had shown him to them in this glowing chariot offire (4 Kings 2:11), radiant with heavenly splendor and inflamed with burning ardor so that they might follow him like true Israelites (John 1:47). Like a second Elijah, God had made him a chariot and charioteer for spiritual men
(4 Kings 2:12).
Certainly we can believe that God opened the eyes (John 9:32) of these simple men at the prayers of Francis so that they might see the wonders of God (Acts 2:11; Ecclus.
18:5) just as he had once opened the eyes of the servant of Elisha so that he could see the mountain full of horses and chariots offire round about the prophet
(4 Kings 6:17). When the holy man returned to the friars, he 4.
Major sources:
I C 42; I C 45; minor sources:
I C 40; II C 91; I C 45; Jul.
27; I C 80-81; I C 62, 41; Jul.
27. Cf. Testamentum , 1.
ST. BONAVENTURE
began to probe the secrets of their consciences, to draw courage for them from this wonderful vision and to make many predictions about the growth of the Order. When he disclosed many things that transcended human understanding, the friars realized the Spirit of the Lord had come to rest (Isa.
1 1:2) upon him in such fulness that it was absolutely safe for them to follow his life and teaching. 5
After this, under the guidance of heavenly grace, the shepherd Francis led the littleflock (Luke 12:32) of twelve friars to St. Mary of the Portiuncula, so that there, where the Order of Friars Minor had had its beginning by the merits of the mother of God, it might also begin to grow with her assistance.
There, also, he became a herald of the Gospel. He went about the towns and villages proclaiming the kingdom of God not in words taught by human wisdom , but in the power of the Spirit (Matt. 9:35;
Luke 9:60; 1 Cor.
2:4, 13). To those who saw him, he seemed to be a man of another world as, with his mind and face always turned toward heaven, he tried to draw them all on high. As a result, the vineyard of Christ began to sprout shoots with the fragrance of the Lord and to bring forth abundant fruit, producing blossoms of sweetness , of honor and goodness (Ecclus.
24:23). 6
Set on fire by the fervor of his preaching, a great number of people bound themselves by new laws of penance according to the rule which they received from the man of God.
Christ's servant decided to name this way of life the Order of the Brothers of Penance. As the road of penance is common to all who are striving toward heaven, so this way of life admits clerics and laity, single and married of both sexes. 7
How meritorious it is before God is clear from the numerous miracles performed by some of its members. Young women,
Major source:
I C 47; minor sources: Jul.
29; I C 48.
Major source:
I C 36-37; minor source: Jul.
21.
7. A reference to the emergence of the Third Order; cf.
II, 8, n.
10, p.
197; also I C 37 and Jul.
23.
THE LIFE OF ST. FRANCIS
too, were drawn to perpetual celibacy, among whom was the maiden Clare, who was especially dear to God.
She was the first tender sprout among these and gave forth fragrance like a bright white flower that blossoms in springtime, and she shone like a radiant star.
Now she is glorified in heaven and venerated in a fitting manner by the Church on earth, she who was the daughter in Christ of our holy father Francis, the little poor man, and the mother of the Poor Clares. 8
7. Many people also, not only stirred by devotion but inflamed by a desire for the perfection of Christ, despised the emptiness of worldly things and followed in the footsteps of Francis. Their numbers increased daily and quickly reached to the ends of the earth . 9
Holy poverty, which was all they had to meet their expenses, made them prompt for obedience, robust for work and free for travel.
Because they possessed nothing that belonged to the world, they were attached to nothing and feared to lose nothing.
They were safe everywhere, not held back by fear, nor distracted by care; 8. The Latin term is Pauperes Dominae , Poor Ladies, the official name of the Second
Order; we have translated it here by the popular title Poor Clares. On Clare and her nuns, cf.
I C 18-20 and Jul.
13; also XII, 2, p. 294. Minor sources for no. 6 are Jul. 23 and II C 109.
Ps.
18:15.
ST. BONAVENTURE
they lived with untroubled minds, and, without any anxiety, looked forward to the morrow and to finding a lodging for the night.
In different parts of the world many insults were hurled against them as persons unknown and despised.
But their love of the Gospel of Christ had made them so patient that they sought to be where they would suffer physical persecution rather than where their holiness was recognized and they could glory in worldly honor.
Their very poverty seemed to them overflowing abundance since, according to the advice of the wise man, they were content with a minimum as if it were much . 10
When some of the friars went to the lands of the infidels, a certain Saracen, moved by compassion, once offered them money for the food they needed. When they refused to accept it the man was amazed, seeing that they were without means.
Realizing they did not want to possess money because they had become poor out of love of God, he felt so attracted to them that he offered to providefor their needs (3 Kings 4:7) as long as he had something to give.
O inestimable value of poverty, whose marvelous power moved the fierce heart of a barbarian to such sweet compassion!
What a horrible and unspeakable crime 10.
Ecclus. 29:30. Major source:
I C 39-40; minor sources:
I C 37, 41.
THE LIFE OF ST. FRANCIS
that a Christian should trample underfoot this noble pearl 11 which a Saracen held in such veneration! 12
8. At that time a certain religious of the Order of the Crosiers, 13 Morico by name, was suffering from such a grave and prolonged illness in a hospital near Assisi that the doctors had already despaired of his life. In his need, he turned to the man of God, urgently entreating him through a messenger to intercede for him before the Lord. Our blessed father kindly consented and said a prayer for him. Then he took some bread crumbs and mixed them with oil taken from a lamp that burned before the altar of the Virgin. He made a kind of pill out of them and sent it to the sick man through the hands of the friars, saying: "Take this medicine to our brother Morico. By means of it Christ's power will not only restore him to full health but will make him a sturdy warrior and enlist him in our forces permanently." When the sick man took the medicine which had been prepared under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he was cured immediately. God gave him such strength of mind and body that when a little later he entered the holy man's Order, he wore only a single tunic, under which for a long time he wore a hairshirt next to his skin. He was satisfied with uncooked food such as herbs, vegetables and fruit and for many years never tasted bread or wine, yet remained strong and in good health.
9. As the merits of virtue increased in Christ's little poor men, their good reputation spread all about and attracted a great number of people from different parts of the world to come and see our holy father. Among them was a spirited 11.
Matt.
7:6.
12.
This incident is not found in Celano or Julian.
13. The Latin term is Ordo Cruciferorum , the title of the religious order known as the Crosiers or Religious of the Holy Cross. This incident is not found in Celano or Julian.
ST. BONAVENTURE
composer of worldly songs, who had been crowned by the Emperor 14 and was therefore called the King of Verses. He decided to visit the man of God, who despised the things of the world. When he found him preaching in a monastery in the village of San Severino, the hand of the Lord came upon him (Ezech.
1:3); and he saw Francis, the preacher of Christ's cross, signed with a cross, in the form of two flashing swords, one of which stretched from his head to his feet, the other crossed his chest from one hand to the other. He did not know Christ's servant by sight, but quickly recognized him once he had been pointed out by so great a miracle. Dumbfounded at the vision, he immediately began to resolve to do better. He was struck in his conscience by the power of the saint's words, as if pierced by a spiritual sword coming from his mouth. He completely despised his worldly popularity and joined our blessed father by making a religious profession. When the holy man saw that he had been completely converted from the restlessness of the world to the peace of Christ, he called him Brother Pacificus.
Afterwards he advanced in holiness; and before he went to France as provincial minister— indeed he was the first to hold that office there 15— he merited to see a second vision: a great
Tau on Francis's forehead, which shone in a variety of colors and caused his face to glow with wonderful beauty. The holy man venerated this symbol with great affection, often spoke highly of it and signed it with his own hand at the end of the letters which he sent, as if his whole desire were to mark with a Tau the foreheads of men who have been truly converted to Jesus
Christ and who moan and grieve , according to the text of the Prophet (Ezech. 9:4). 16
10. As the number of friars increased with the passing of time, Francis began to summon them, like a solicitous 14.
Either Frederick Barbarossa or Henry VI; certainly not Frederick II, who did not bear the imperial title until 1220.
15. He held this office from 1217 to 1223 or 1224.
16.
Major source: II C 106; on the sign Tau, cf. prol., 2, n. 27, p. 182; also p. 287, n.
17.
THE LIFE OF ST. FRANCIS
shepherd, to a general chapter at St. Mary of the Portiuncula, so as to allot to each a portion of obedience in the land of their poverty , according to the measuring-cord of divine distribution (Gen. 41:52; Ps. 77:54). Although there was a complete lack of all necessities and sometimes the friars numbered more than five thousand, nevertheless with the assistance of divine mercy, they had adequate food, enjoyed physical health and overflowed with spiritual joy.
Francis could not be physically present at the provincial chapters, but he was present in spirit through his solicitous care in governing, his insistent prayers and his effective blessing.
Occasionally, however, he did appear visibly by God's miraculous power. For at the chapter of Arles that outstanding preacher Anthony, 17 who is now a glorious confessor of Christ, was preaching to the friars on the inscription on the cross: Jesus of Nazareth , King of the Jews (John 19:19). A certain friar of proven virtue, Monaldus by name, was moved by divine inspiration to look toward the door of the chapter and saw with his bodily eyes blessed Francis lifted up in midair, his arms extended as though on a cross, and blessing the friars. All the friars felt themselves filled with such unusual inner consolation that it was clear the Spirit was giving them certain testimony
(John 1:7) that their holy father had been really present.
In addition to these evident signs, it was later confirmed by the external testimony of the words of the holy father himself. We can indeed believe that the almighty power of God, which allowed the holy bishop Ambrose to attend the burial of the glorious St. Martin and to honor that holy prelate with his holy presence, also allowed his servant Francis to be present at the preaching of his true herald Anthony in order to attest to the truth of his words, especially those concerning Christ's cross, which Francis both carried and served. 18
17. This is Anthony of Padua, the widely venerated saint of the early Franciscan Order.
18.
Major source:
I C 48.
ST. BONAVENTURE
1 1 . When the Order was already widely spread and Francis was considering having the rule which had been approved by Innocent permanently confirmed by his successor Honorius, he was advised by the following revelation from God.
It seemed to him that he had to gather some tiny bread crumbs from the ground and distribute them to many hungry friars who were standing around him. He was afraid to distribute such small crumbs lest they should fall from his hands. Then a voice spoke to him from above: "Francis, make one host out of all these crumbs and give it to those who want to eat it." When he did this, whoever did not receive it devoutly or despised the gift they had received suddenly appeared covered with leprosy.
In the morning the holy man told all this to his companions, regretting that he did not understand the meaning of the vision.
On the following day, while he was keeping watch in prayer, he heard a voice coming down from heaven, saying: "Francis the crumbs of last night are the words of the Gospel, the host is the rule and the leprosy is wickedness." 19
Since the profusion of texts from the Gospel had lengthened the rule unduly, Francis wished to condense it into a more concentrated form as the vision he was shown had commanded. Led by the Holy Spirit, he went up to a certain mountain with two of his companions where he fasted on bread and water and dictated the rule as the Holy Spirit suggested to him in prayer. When he came down from the mountain, he gave the rule to his vicar to keep. 20 But after a few days had elapsed, the vicar claimed that he had lost it by an oversight. A second time the holy man went off to a place of solitude and at once rewrote the rule just as before, as if he were taking the words from the mouth of God. And he obtained confirmation for it, as he had desired, from the Lord Pope Honorius, in the 19.
Major source:
II C 209.
20.
Brother Elias of Cortona, the controversial vicar to Francis and Minister General of the Order.
THE LIFE OF ST. FRANCIS
eighth year of his pontificate . 21
Fervently exhorting the friars to observe this rule, Francis used to say that nothing of what he had placed there came from his own efforts but that he dictated everything just as it had been revealed by God . 22
To confirm this with greater certainty by God's own testimony, when only a few days had passed ,
the stigmata of our Lord Jesus were imprinted upon him by the finger of the living God ,
as the bull or seal of Christ, the Supreme Pontiff, for the complete confirmation of the rule and approval of its author, as will be described below, after our exposition of his virtues . 25
21.
Honorius III was pope from 1216-1227; he confirmed the Second Rule of Francis in a bull dated November 29, 1223. This incident on the writing of the rule and its approbation by Honorius III are not found in Celano or Julian.
22.
Cf. Testamentum , 8.
23.
Bonaventure uses the expression paucis diebus , literally a few days-, but actually eight and a half months separated the approval of the Rule from the impression of the stigma, and presumably the time-lapse between the latter and the composition of the Rule was even longer.
24.
Apoc.
7:2.
25.
Cf. XIII, 3-8, pp. 305-31 1.