Life of St. Francis of Assisi by Paul Sabatier (best historical biographies txt) π
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forget the nightmare of Catharist ideas, and rescued her from pessimism. By it Francis became the forerunner of the artistic movement which preceded the Renaissance, the inspirer of that group of Pre-Raphaelites, awkward, grotesque in drawing though at times they were, to whom we turn to-day with a sort of piety, finding in their ungraceful saints an inner life, a moral feeling which we seek for elsewhere in vain.
If the voice of the Poverello of Assisi was so well understood it was because in this matter, as in all others, it was entirely unconventional. How far we are, with him, from the fierce or Pharisaic piety of those monks which forbids even the females of animals to enter their convent! His notion of chastity in no sense resembles this excessive prudery. One day at Sienna he asked for some turtle-doves, and holding them in the skirt of his tunic, he said: "Little sisters turtle-doves, you are simple, innocent, and chaste; why did you let yourselves be caught? I shall save you from death, and have nests made for you, so that you may bring forth young and multiply according to the commandment of our Creator."
And he went and made nests for them all, and the turtle-doves began to lay eggs and bring up their broods under the eyes of the Brothers.[20]
At Rieti a family of red-breasts were the guests of the monastery, and the young birds made marauding expeditions on the very table where the Brothers were eating.[21] Not far from there, at Greccio,[22] they brought to Francis a leveret that had been taken alive in a trap. "Come to me, brother leveret," he said to it. And as the poor creature, being set free, ran to him for refuge, he took it up, caressed it, and finally put it on the ground that it might run away; but it returned to him again and again, so that he was obliged to send it to the neighboring forest before it would consent to return to freedom.[23]
One day he was crossing the Lake of Rieti. The boatman in whose bark he was making the passage offered him a tench of uncommon size. Francis accepted it with joy, but to the great amazement of the fisherman put it back into the water, bidding it bless God.[24]
We should never have done if we were to relate all the incidents of this kind,[25] for the sentiment of nature was innate with him; it was a perpetual communion which made him love the whole creation.[26] He is ravished with the witchery of great forests; he has the terrors of a child when he is alone at prayer in a deserted chapel, but he tastes ineffable joy merely in inhaling the perfume of a flower, or gazing into the limpid water of a brook.[27]
This perfect lover of poverty permitted one luxury--he even commanded it at Portiuncula--that of flowers; the Brother was bidden not to sow vegetables and useful plants only; he must reserve one corner of good ground for our sisters, the flowers of the fields. Francis talked with them also, or rather he replied to them, for their mysterious and gentle language crept into the very depth of his heart.[28]
The thirteenth century was prepared to understand the voice of the Umbrian poet; the sermon to the birds[29] closed the reign of Byzantine art and of the thought of which it was the image. It is the end of dogmatism and authority; it is the coming in of individualism and inspiration; very uncertain, no doubt, and to be followed by obstinate reactions, but none the less marking a date in the history of the human conscience.[30] Many among the companions of Francis were too much the children of their century, too thoroughly imbued with its theological and metaphysical methods, to quite understand a sentiment so simple and profound.[31] But each in his degree felt its charm. Here Thomas of Celano's language rises to an elevation which we find in no other part of his works, closing with a picture of Francis which makes one think of the Song of Songs.[32]
Of more than middle height, Francis had a delicate and kindly face, black eyes, a soft and sonorous voice. There was in his whole person a delicacy and grace which made him infinitely lovely. All these characteristics are found in the most ancient portraits.[33]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] 3 Soc., 57; cf. An. Perus. , A. SS., p. 599.
[2] Rev. xxi.; 1 Cel., 46; 3 Soc., 57-59; An. Perus. , A. SS.,
p. 600.
[3] 1 Cel., 55 and 56; Bon., 129-132.
[4] Fior. , 7; Spec. , 96; Conform. , 223a, 2. The fact of
Francis's sojourn on an island in this lake is made certain by 1
Cel., 60.
[5] Vide below, p. 400. Cf. A. SS., pp. 823 f.
[6] At present Sasso-Feltrio, between Conca and Marecchio, south
of and about two hours' walk from San Marino.
[7] The happiness that I expect is so great that all pain is
joyful to me. All the documents give Francis's text in Italian,
which is enough to prove that it was the language not only of
his poems but also of his sermons. Spec. 92a ff. Conform.
113a, 2; 231a, 1; Fior., Prima consid.
[8] See p. 400.
[9] 2 Cel., 3, 85; Bon., 82.
[10] 1 Cel., 56; Bon., 132.
[11] Vide Wadding, ann. 1213-1215 . Cf. A. SS., pp. 602, 603,
825-831. Mark of Lisbon, lib. i., cap. 45, pp. 78-80;
Papini, Storia di S. Francesco , i., p. 79 ff. (Foligno, 1825,
2 vols., 4to). It is surprising to see Father Suysken giving so
much weight to the argumentum a silentio .
[12] From Pentecost, 1213, to that of 1214.-- Post non multum
vero temporis versus Marochium iter arripuit , says Thomas of
Celano (1 Cel., 56), after having mentioned the return from
Slavonia. Taking into account the author's usus loquendi the
phrase appears to establish a certain interval between the two
missions.
[13] Conform. , 110b, 1; Spec. , 62b; Fior. , 16; Bon.,
170-174.
[14] Village about two leagues S. W. from Assisi. The time is
indirectly fixed by Bon., 173, and 1 Cel., 58.
[15] 1 Cel. 58; Bon., 109 and 174; Fior. , 16; Spec. , 62b;
Conform. , 114b, 2.
[16] About halfway between Orvieto and Narni.
[17] 1 Cel., 59; Bon., 175.
[18] Ad hæc, ut ipse dicebat ... 1 Cel., 58.
[19] Francis has been compared in this regard to certain of his
contemporaries, but the similarity of the words only makes more
evident the diversity of inspiration. Honorius III. may say:
Forma rosæ est inferius angusta, superius ampla et significat
quod Christus pauper fuit in mundo, sed est Dominus super omnia
et implet universa. Nam sicut forma rosæ , etc. (Horoy, t. i.,
col. xxiv. and 804), and make a whole sermon on the symbolism of
the rose; these overstrained dissertations have nothing to do
with the feeling for nature. It is the arsenal of mediæval
rhetoric used to dissect a word. It is an intellectual effort,
not a song of love. The Imitation would say: If thy heart were
right all creatures would be for thee a mirror of life and a
volume of holy doctrine , lib. ii., cap. 2. The simple sentiment
of the beauty of creation is absent here also; the passage is a
pedagogue in disguise.
[20] Spec. , 157. Fior. ; 22.
[21] 2 Cel., 2, 16; Conform. , 148a, 1, 183b, 2. Cf. the story
of the sheep of Portiuncula: Bon., 111.
[22] Village in the valley of Rieti, two hours' walk from that
town, on the road to Terni.
[23] 1 Cel., 60; Bon., 113.
[24] 1 Cel., 61; Bon., 114.
[25] 2 Cel., 3, 54; Bon., 109; 2 Cel., 3; 103 ff.; Bon., 116
ff.; Bon., 110; 1 Cel., 61; Bon., 114, 113, 115; 1 Cel., 79;
Fior. , 13, etc.
[26] 2 Cel., 3, 101 ff.; Bon., 123.
[27] 2 Cel., 3, 59; 1 Cel., 80 and 81.
[28] 2 Cel., 3, 101; Spec. , 136a; 1 Cel., 81.
[29] This is the scene in his life most often reproduced by the
predecessors of Giotto. The unknown artist who (before 1236)
decorated the nave of the Lower Church of Assisi gives five
frescos to the history of Jesus and five to the life of St.
Francis. Upon the latter he represents: 1, the renunciation of
the paternal inheritance; 2, Francis upholding the Lateran
church; 3, the sermon to the birds; 4, the stigmata; 5, the
funeral. This work, unhappily very badly lighted, and about half
of it destroyed at the time of the construction of the chapels
of the nave, ought to be engraved before it completely
disappears. The history of art in the time of Giunta Pisano is
still too much enveloped in obscurity for us to neglect such a
source of information. M. Thode ( Franz von Assisi und die
If the voice of the Poverello of Assisi was so well understood it was because in this matter, as in all others, it was entirely unconventional. How far we are, with him, from the fierce or Pharisaic piety of those monks which forbids even the females of animals to enter their convent! His notion of chastity in no sense resembles this excessive prudery. One day at Sienna he asked for some turtle-doves, and holding them in the skirt of his tunic, he said: "Little sisters turtle-doves, you are simple, innocent, and chaste; why did you let yourselves be caught? I shall save you from death, and have nests made for you, so that you may bring forth young and multiply according to the commandment of our Creator."
And he went and made nests for them all, and the turtle-doves began to lay eggs and bring up their broods under the eyes of the Brothers.[20]
At Rieti a family of red-breasts were the guests of the monastery, and the young birds made marauding expeditions on the very table where the Brothers were eating.[21] Not far from there, at Greccio,[22] they brought to Francis a leveret that had been taken alive in a trap. "Come to me, brother leveret," he said to it. And as the poor creature, being set free, ran to him for refuge, he took it up, caressed it, and finally put it on the ground that it might run away; but it returned to him again and again, so that he was obliged to send it to the neighboring forest before it would consent to return to freedom.[23]
One day he was crossing the Lake of Rieti. The boatman in whose bark he was making the passage offered him a tench of uncommon size. Francis accepted it with joy, but to the great amazement of the fisherman put it back into the water, bidding it bless God.[24]
We should never have done if we were to relate all the incidents of this kind,[25] for the sentiment of nature was innate with him; it was a perpetual communion which made him love the whole creation.[26] He is ravished with the witchery of great forests; he has the terrors of a child when he is alone at prayer in a deserted chapel, but he tastes ineffable joy merely in inhaling the perfume of a flower, or gazing into the limpid water of a brook.[27]
This perfect lover of poverty permitted one luxury--he even commanded it at Portiuncula--that of flowers; the Brother was bidden not to sow vegetables and useful plants only; he must reserve one corner of good ground for our sisters, the flowers of the fields. Francis talked with them also, or rather he replied to them, for their mysterious and gentle language crept into the very depth of his heart.[28]
The thirteenth century was prepared to understand the voice of the Umbrian poet; the sermon to the birds[29] closed the reign of Byzantine art and of the thought of which it was the image. It is the end of dogmatism and authority; it is the coming in of individualism and inspiration; very uncertain, no doubt, and to be followed by obstinate reactions, but none the less marking a date in the history of the human conscience.[30] Many among the companions of Francis were too much the children of their century, too thoroughly imbued with its theological and metaphysical methods, to quite understand a sentiment so simple and profound.[31] But each in his degree felt its charm. Here Thomas of Celano's language rises to an elevation which we find in no other part of his works, closing with a picture of Francis which makes one think of the Song of Songs.[32]
Of more than middle height, Francis had a delicate and kindly face, black eyes, a soft and sonorous voice. There was in his whole person a delicacy and grace which made him infinitely lovely. All these characteristics are found in the most ancient portraits.[33]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] 3 Soc., 57; cf. An. Perus. , A. SS., p. 599.
[2] Rev. xxi.; 1 Cel., 46; 3 Soc., 57-59; An. Perus. , A. SS.,
p. 600.
[3] 1 Cel., 55 and 56; Bon., 129-132.
[4] Fior. , 7; Spec. , 96; Conform. , 223a, 2. The fact of
Francis's sojourn on an island in this lake is made certain by 1
Cel., 60.
[5] Vide below, p. 400. Cf. A. SS., pp. 823 f.
[6] At present Sasso-Feltrio, between Conca and Marecchio, south
of and about two hours' walk from San Marino.
[7] The happiness that I expect is so great that all pain is
joyful to me. All the documents give Francis's text in Italian,
which is enough to prove that it was the language not only of
his poems but also of his sermons. Spec. 92a ff. Conform.
113a, 2; 231a, 1; Fior., Prima consid.
[8] See p. 400.
[9] 2 Cel., 3, 85; Bon., 82.
[10] 1 Cel., 56; Bon., 132.
[11] Vide Wadding, ann. 1213-1215 . Cf. A. SS., pp. 602, 603,
825-831. Mark of Lisbon, lib. i., cap. 45, pp. 78-80;
Papini, Storia di S. Francesco , i., p. 79 ff. (Foligno, 1825,
2 vols., 4to). It is surprising to see Father Suysken giving so
much weight to the argumentum a silentio .
[12] From Pentecost, 1213, to that of 1214.-- Post non multum
vero temporis versus Marochium iter arripuit , says Thomas of
Celano (1 Cel., 56), after having mentioned the return from
Slavonia. Taking into account the author's usus loquendi the
phrase appears to establish a certain interval between the two
missions.
[13] Conform. , 110b, 1; Spec. , 62b; Fior. , 16; Bon.,
170-174.
[14] Village about two leagues S. W. from Assisi. The time is
indirectly fixed by Bon., 173, and 1 Cel., 58.
[15] 1 Cel. 58; Bon., 109 and 174; Fior. , 16; Spec. , 62b;
Conform. , 114b, 2.
[16] About halfway between Orvieto and Narni.
[17] 1 Cel., 59; Bon., 175.
[18] Ad hæc, ut ipse dicebat ... 1 Cel., 58.
[19] Francis has been compared in this regard to certain of his
contemporaries, but the similarity of the words only makes more
evident the diversity of inspiration. Honorius III. may say:
Forma rosæ est inferius angusta, superius ampla et significat
quod Christus pauper fuit in mundo, sed est Dominus super omnia
et implet universa. Nam sicut forma rosæ , etc. (Horoy, t. i.,
col. xxiv. and 804), and make a whole sermon on the symbolism of
the rose; these overstrained dissertations have nothing to do
with the feeling for nature. It is the arsenal of mediæval
rhetoric used to dissect a word. It is an intellectual effort,
not a song of love. The Imitation would say: If thy heart were
right all creatures would be for thee a mirror of life and a
volume of holy doctrine , lib. ii., cap. 2. The simple sentiment
of the beauty of creation is absent here also; the passage is a
pedagogue in disguise.
[20] Spec. , 157. Fior. ; 22.
[21] 2 Cel., 2, 16; Conform. , 148a, 1, 183b, 2. Cf. the story
of the sheep of Portiuncula: Bon., 111.
[22] Village in the valley of Rieti, two hours' walk from that
town, on the road to Terni.
[23] 1 Cel., 60; Bon., 113.
[24] 1 Cel., 61; Bon., 114.
[25] 2 Cel., 3, 54; Bon., 109; 2 Cel., 3; 103 ff.; Bon., 116
ff.; Bon., 110; 1 Cel., 61; Bon., 114, 113, 115; 1 Cel., 79;
Fior. , 13, etc.
[26] 2 Cel., 3, 101 ff.; Bon., 123.
[27] 2 Cel., 3, 59; 1 Cel., 80 and 81.
[28] 2 Cel., 3, 101; Spec. , 136a; 1 Cel., 81.
[29] This is the scene in his life most often reproduced by the
predecessors of Giotto. The unknown artist who (before 1236)
decorated the nave of the Lower Church of Assisi gives five
frescos to the history of Jesus and five to the life of St.
Francis. Upon the latter he represents: 1, the renunciation of
the paternal inheritance; 2, Francis upholding the Lateran
church; 3, the sermon to the birds; 4, the stigmata; 5, the
funeral. This work, unhappily very badly lighted, and about half
of it destroyed at the time of the construction of the chapels
of the nave, ought to be engraved before it completely
disappears. The history of art in the time of Giunta Pisano is
still too much enveloped in obscurity for us to neglect such a
source of information. M. Thode ( Franz von Assisi und die
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