CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SIX
HIS HUMILITY AND OBEDIENCE
AND
GOD'S CONDESCENSION TO HIS
SLIGHTEST WISH
Humility, the guardian and the ornament of all the virtues, had filled the man of God in copious abundance.
In his own estimation he was nothing but a sinner, although in truth he was a resplendent mirror of all holiness.
He strove to build himself up upon this virtue
like an architect laying the foundations , for he had learned this from Christ.
He used to say that it was for this reason that the Son of God came down from the height of his Father's bosom to our lowly estate so that our Lord and Teacher might teach humility in both word and example.
Therefore as Christ's disciple, he strove to appear worthless in his own eyes and those of others, recalling what had been said 1.
1 Cor.
3:10; Heb. 6:1.
THE LIFE OF ST. FRANCIS
by his supreme Teacher:
What is highly esteemed among men is an abomination before God . 2
He often used to make this statement:
"What a man is in God's eyes, that he is and nothing more ." 3
Therefore, judging that it was foolish to be elated by worldly approval, he rejoiced in insults and was saddened by praise.
He preferred to hear himself blamed rather than praised, knowing that blame would lead him to amend his life, while praise would drive him to a fall.
And so when people extolled the merits of his holiness, he commanded one of the friars to do the opposite and to impress upon his ears insulting words.
When that friar, although unwilling, called him boorish and mercenary, unskilled and useless, he would reply with inner joy shining on his face:
"May the Lord bless you, my beloved son, for it is you that speak the very truth and what the son of Peter Bernardone should hear ." 4
2. Luke 16:15.
3. Admonitiones , 20.
Major sources:
II C 140; I C 53; minor sources:
II C 26; I C 4; Jul.
33.
ST. BONAVENTURE
In order to render himself contemptible to others, he did not spare himself the embarrassment of bringing up his own faults when he preached before all the people. Once it happened that when he was weighed down with sickness, he relaxed a little the rigor of his abstinence in order to recover his health. When his strength of body returned, he was aroused to insult his own body out of true self-contempt:
"It is not right," he said, "that the people should believe I am abstaining while, in fact, I eat meat on the sly." Inflamed with the spirit of true humility, he called the people together in the square of the town of Assisi and solemnly entered the principal church with many of the friars whom he had brought with him. With a rope tied around his neck and stripped to his underwear, he had himself dragged before the eyes of all to the stone where criminals received their punishment. He climbed up upon the stone and preached with much vigor and spirit although he was suffering from a fever and the weather was bitter cold. He asserted to all his hearers that he should not be honored as a spiritual man but rather he should be despised by all as a carnal man and a glutton.
Therefore those who had gathered there were amazed at so great a spectacle. They were well aware of his austerity, and so their hearts were struck with compunction; but they professed that his humility was easier to admire than to imitate. Although this incident seemed to be more a portent
5 than an example, neverthelike that of the Prophet (Isa. 20: 3) less it was a lesson in true humility instructing the follower of Christ that he should despise the fame of transitory praise, suppress the arrogance of bloated bragging and reject the lies of deceptive pretense. 6
3. He often did many things like this so that outwardly he might become like a discarded utensil (Ps.
30:13) while inwardly possessing the spirit of holiness. He strove to hide the gifts of
. The text of Isaiah reads: My servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefootfor three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Ethiopia.
Major source:
I C 52; minor sources:
I C 54, 53.
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his Lord in the secret recesses of his heart, not wanting them to be exposed to praise, which could be an occasion of a fall. For often when he was praised by the crowds, he would answer like this: "I could still have sons and daughters; don't praise me as if I were secure! No one should be praised whose end is still uncertain." This is what he would say to those who praised him, and to himself he would say: "If the Most High had given so much to a brigand, he would be more grateful than you,
Francis." He often used to tell the friars: uNo one should flatter himself for doing anything a sinner can also do. A sinner," he said, "can fast, pray, weep and mortify his flesh. This one thing he cannot do: be faithful to his Lord.
Therefore we should glory in this: if we give back to the Lord the glory that is his, if we serve him faithfully and ascribe to him whatever he gives to us." 7
In order to profit in many ways like the merchant in the Gospel and to use all the present time to gain merit, he wanted to be a subject rather than a superior, to obey rather than command. Therefore he relinquished his office as general 8 and looked for a guardian whose will he would obey in all things. 9 He used to say that the fruits of holy obedience are so abundant that for those who submit their necks to its yoke not an hour passes without making a profit. Therefore he used to always promise and observe obedience to whatever friar went with him on journeys.
Once he said to his companions:
"Among the many other things that the kindness of God has generously bestowed upon me, it has granted me this grace: that I would obey a novice of one hour, if he were given to me as my guardian, as diligently as I would obey the oldest and most discreet friar. A subject," he said, "should not consider the man in his superior but rather Christ, for whose love he is a subject. The more contemptible the superior, the more pleas7.
Major source:
II C 133-134; minor source: Jul.
33.
8. Out of humility Francis resigned the office of Minister General, probably at the General Chapter of 1220; cf.
II C 143.
Cf. Testamentum , 6; guardian, in Latin guardianus, is the term for the local superior
ST. BONAVENTURE
ing is the humility of the one who obeys."
On one occasion when he was asked who should be considered truly obedient, he gave as an example the comparison with a dead body. "Take a corpse," he said, "and put it where you will! You will see that it does not resist being moved, nor murmur about its position nor protest when it is cast aside. If it is placed on a throne, it will not raise its eyes up, but cast them down.
If it is clothed in purple, it will look twice as pale.
This," he said, "is a truly obedient man. He does not judge why he is moved; he does not care where he is placed; he does not insist on being transferred.
If he is raised to an office, he retains his customary humility. The more he is honored, the more unworthy he considers himself." 10
5. Once he told his companion:
"I would not seem to myself to be a Friar Minor unless I were in the state I will describe to you. Suppose, as superior of the friars,
I go to the chapter, preach and admonish the friars and at the end they answer back: 'You are not suitable for us because you are illiterate, without eloquence and an ignorant simpleton.' Finally
I am thrown out with reproaches and despised by all.
I tell you that if I did not listen to these words with the same expression on my face, with the same joy and with the same determination for holiness, I am in no way a Friar Minor." And he added: "In the office of superior there is danger of a fall, in praise a precipice and in the humility of being a subject profit for the soul.
Why, then, do we direct our attention to the dangers rather than to profit, when it is to gain profit that we have been given time?" 11
For this reason Francis, among Franciscans. The term prior seemed to Francis incompatible with the humility of a Friar
Minor; cf. Regula /, 6: "Let none receive the name prior , but let them be called lesser brothers
[fratres minores], and wash each other's feet."
10.
Major source:
II C 151-152.
11.
Major source:
II C 145.
THE LIFE OF ST. FRANCIS
the model of humility, wanted his friars to be called Minor 12 and the superiors of his Order to be called servants, 13 in order to use the very words of the Gospel 14 which he had promised to observe and in order that his followers might learn from this very name that they had come to the school of the humble Christ to learn humility.
Jesus Christ, the teacher of humility, instructed his disciples in true humility by saying: "Whoever wishes to become great among you , let him be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you will be your slave. " 15
When the cardinal of Ostia, the chief protector and promoter of the Order of Friars Minor (who afterwards, as the holy man had prophesied, 16 was elevated to the honor of the supreme pontificate, and was called Gregory IX) asked him whether he would allow his friars to be promoted to ecclesiastical offices, he responded: "Lord, my brothers are called Minors so that they will not presume to become great men. If you want them to bear fruit in the Church of God, hold them and preserve them in the state to which they have been called, and by no means permit them to rise to ecclesiastical offices." 17
Because he preferred humility to honors both in him12. Regula /, 6-7; Regula II, 1.
13. The Latin term is minister , which is usually translated as minister but which, in fact, means servant ; cf. Regula I, 4-5; Regula II ,
2, 10.
14.
Matt. 25:45: Amen I say to you, as long asyou did not do itfor one of these least ones, you did not do itfor me. For the phrasefor one of these least ones the Latin Vulgate has uni de minoribus his.
15.
Matt. 20:26-27; cf. Regula /, 5. Minor source:
I C 38; cf.
I C 30, 34; II C 21.
16.
Cardinal Hugolino; cf.
I C 75,
100-101; II C 25.
17.
Major source:
II C 148; minor source: Jul. 65.
ST. BONAVENTURE
self and in all his subjects, God, the lover of the humble, judged him worthy of the highest honors. This was shown in a vision from heaven to one of the friars, a man of outstanding virtue and devotion. When he was in the company of the man of God and was praying fervently with him in a deserted church, he was rapt in ecstasy and saw among the many thrones in heaven one more honorable than the rest, ornamented with precious stones and shining with the fulness of glory. He marveled within himself at the splendor of this lofty throne and began to wonder anxiously who would be raised to it. In the midst of these thoughts he heard a voice saying to him: "This throne belonged to one of the fallen angels 18 and now is reserved for the humble Francis." At length, when the friar came back to himself from his ecstasy, he followed the blessed man as usual when he left the church. As they went along the road talking together about God, the friar, not unmindful of his vision, skillfully asked Francis what he thought of himself. The humble servant of Christ said to him: "I see myself as the greatest of sinners." When the friar said to the contrary that he could not say or feel that with a good conscience, Francis continued:
"If Christ had shown as much mercy to the greatest criminal, I am convinced that he would be much more grateful to God than I." At hearing such remarkable humility, the friar was convinced of the truth of his vision, knowing from the testimony of the Gospel (Matt. 23:12;
Luke 1:52) that the truly humble will be exalted to the height of glory from which the proud have been cast out. 19
7. Another time, when he was praying in an abandoned church at Monte Casale in the province of Massa, he learned through the spirit that sacred relics had been left there. When he sadly reflected that they had been for a long time deprived of the honor due to them, he ordered the friars to bring them with reverence to their place. But when Francis for some reals.
Cf.
Isa.
14:9-15; Apoc.
12:7-9.
19.
Major source:
II C 123; minor source:
II C 122.
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son had gone away, his sons forgot about his command and neglected the merit of obedience. One day when they wanted to celebrate the sacred mysteries and removed the cover from the altar, they were astonished to find some very beautiful and fragrant bones. What they were looking upon were the relics which had been brought there by God's power, not by human hands. When the man devoted to God returned a little later, he began to diligently inquire if what he had ordered about the relics had been carried out. Humbly confessing the guilt of their neglected obedience, the friars merited pardon along with a penance. And the holy man said: "Blessed be my Lord and God who carried out himself what you should have done."
Consider diligently the care of divine providence for our dust, and the excellence of the virtue of the humble Francis in the eyes of God.
For when men neglected his commands, God himself obeyed his wishes. 20
8. One time when he came to Imola, he went to the bishop of the town and humbly asked his permission to call the people together and preach to them.
The bishop replied harshly: "My preaching should be quite enough for them, brother." This truly humble man bowed his head and went away, but in less than an hour he came back. The bishop was annoyed and asked him what he was looking for a second time.
Then Francis replied with a humble heart and a humble tone of voice: "My lord, if a father throws his son out one door, he has to come in another." Conquered by this humility, the bishop embraced him enthusiastically and said: "From now on you 20.
Major source:
II C 202.
ST. BONAVENTURE
and all your friars may preach in my diocese with my general permission, because your holy humility has won this." 21
It happened once that he came to Arezzo at a time when the whole city was shaken by civil war and was on the brink of destruction. Given hospitality in the outskirts, he saw over the city devils rejoicing and inflaming the troubled citizens to mutual slaughter. In order to put to flight those seditious spiritual powers, he sent Brother Silvester, a man of dove-like simplicity, before him like a herald, saying: uGo before the gate of the city and on the part of Almighty God command the devils to leave immediately!" This truly obedient man hastened to carry out his father's orders and singing psalms ofpraise before the face of the Lord (Ps. 94:2), he began to shout out forcefully before the gate of the city: uOn the part of Almighty God and at the command of his servant Francis, depart far from here, all you devils." At once the city returned to peace and all the citizens reformed their civil statutes very peacefully. Once the raging pride of the devils, which had surrounded the city like a siege, had been driven out, the wisdom of a poor man, namely the humility of Francis, entered in, brought back peace and saved the city. By his lofty virtue of humble obedience, he had gained such powerful control over those rebellious and obstinate spirits that he could repress their ferocious brashness and drive back their savage violence. 22
10. The proud demons flee from the lofty virtues of the humble unless occasionally the divine goodness should permit the demons to buffet them in order to protect their humility, as the Apostle Paul writes about himself (2 Cor.
12:7) and Francis learned through his own experience. Once he had been asked by Lord Leo, cardinal of the church of the Holy Cross, to stay for a little while with him in Rome and he humbly accepted out
21.
Major source:
II C 147.
22.
Major source:
II C 108.
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of respect and affection. The first night he spent there, when he wanted to rest after his prayer, the devils came upon the soldier of Christ and attacked him fiercely. They beat him severely for a long time and in the end left him half dead. As they departed, the man of God called his companion and, when he came, told him what had happened, adding: "Brother,
I believe that the devils can do nothing that God's providence does not allow. Therefore they attacked me so fiercely now because my staying in the court of great personages does not present a good example. My friars who live in poor places, hearing that I am staying with cardinals, will perhaps suspect that I am involved in worldly affairs, puffed up by honors and wallowing in pleasure. Therefore I judge that it is better for one who is set as an example to avoid courts and to live humbly among the humble in humble places, in order to strengthen those who are bearing severe poverty by bearing the same himself."
In the morning, then, they went to the cardinal, excused themselves humbly and said goodbye. 23
11. The holy man abhorred pride, the source of all evil, and disobedience, its worst offspring, but he welcomed the humility of repentance with no less intensity. It happened once that a friar who had done something against the law of obedience was brought to him to be punished according to justice.
Seeing that the friar showed clear signs of being truly sorry, the man of God was drawn to be easy on him out of love of humility. However, lest this easy forgiveness be an incentive for others to fail in their duty, he ordered that the friar's hood be taken off and thrown into the fire so that all could see what and how harsh a punishment the offense of disobedience deserved. When the hood had been within the fire for a while, he ordered that it be taken out of the flames and returned to the humbly repentant friar. What a marvel! The hood was taken out of the middle of the flames, but showed no trace of a burn.
23.
Major source:
II C 119-120.
ST. BONAVENTURE
Thus with this one miracle God showed his approval both of the holy man's virtue and of the humility of repentance . 24
Francis's humility, therefore, is worthy of imitation.
It merited such marvelous honor even on earth that it inclined God to his wishes and changed the attitude of men, repulsed the obstinacy of demons at his command, and held in check voracious flames at his mere nod.
Truly this is the humility which exalts those who possess it, while it shows reverence to all and deserves honor from all.
24.
Major source:
II C 154.