Life of St. Francis of Assisi by Paul Sabatier (best historical biographies txt) 📕

legate in Lombardy toward the
close of September, 1221 (see his register; cf. Böhmer, Acta
imp. sel. doc. , 951). In the spring of 1222 we find him
continually near the pope at Anagni, Veroli, Alatri (Potthast,
6807, 6812, 6849). The Holy See had still at that time a marked
predilection for the Preachers; the very trite privilege of
power to celebrate the offices in times of interdict had been
accorded them March 7, 1222, but instead of the formula usual in
such cases, a revised form had been made expressly for them,
with a handsome eulogy. Ripolli, Bull. Præd. , t. i., p. 15.

[5] 2 Cel., 3, 93: Subtrahebat se a consortio fratrum.

[6] It is needless to say that local traditions, in this case,
though as to detail they must be accepted only with great
reserve, yet on the whole are surely true. The geography of St.
Francis's life is yet to be made.

[7] 2 Cel., 3, 59; Bon., 60; Conform. , 122b, 2.

[8] 2 Cel., 3, 5; Spec. , 12a; Conform. , 169b, 2.

[9] Eccl., 6. Vide Liebermann's text, Mon. Germ. hist.
Script. , t. 28, p. 663.

[10] 2 Cel., 3, 93; Bon., 104 and 105; Conform. , 101a, 2.

[11] 2 Cel., 3, 93; Spec. , 49b; 182a; Conform. , 182a, 1;
Tribul. , f^o 5a; 2 Cel., 3, 98; 113; 115; 1 Cel., 28, 50; 96;
103; 104; 108; 111; 118.

[12] 2 Cel., 3, 27; Spec. , 38b; Conform. , 181b, 1;
Tribul. , 7b. Cf. Spec. , 220b; Conform. , 103b.

[13] Francis's successors were nearly all without exception
students of Bologna. Pietro di Catana was doctor of laws, as
also Giovanni Parenti (Giord., 51).--Elias had been scriptor
at Bologna.--Alberto of Pisa had been minister there (Eccl.,
6).--Aymon had been reader there (Eccl., 6).--Crescentius wrote
works on jurisprudence ( Conform. , 121b, 1, etc., etc.).

[14] This name cannot be warranted; he is called Giovanni di
Laschaccia in a passage of the Conformities (104a, 1); Pietro
Schiaccia in the Italian MS. of the Tribulations (f^o 75a);
Petrus Stacia in the Laurentinian MS. (13b; cf. Archiv. , ii.,
p. 258). Tribul. , 13b; Spec. , 184b. This story has been much
amplified in other places. Spec. , 126a; Conform. , 104b, 1.

[15] Vide Eccl., 3: History of the entrance of Adam of Oxford
into the Order. Cf., Chartularium Univ. Par. , t. i., nos. 47
and 49.

[16] Eccleston's entire chronicle is a living witness to this.

[17] Admonitio , v.; cf. Conform. , 141a.

Compare the Constitutiones antiquæ ( Speculum , Morin, iii.,
f^o 195b-206) with the Rule. From the opening chapters the
contradiction is apparent: Ordinamus quod nullus recipiatur in
ordine nostro nisi sit talis clericus qui sit competenter
instructus in grammatica vel logica; aut nisi sit talis laicus
de cujus ingressu esset valde celebris et edificatio in populo
et in clero . This is surely far from the spirit of him who
said: Et quicumque venerit amicus vel adversarius fur vel latro
benigne recipiatur . Rule of 1221, cap. vii. See also the
Exposition of the Rule of Bonaventura. Speculum , Morin, iii.,
f^o 21-40.

[18] Upon Francis's attitude toward learning see Tribul. ,
Laur., 14b; Spec. , 184a; 2 Cel., 3, 8; 48; 100; 116; 119;
120-124. Bon., chap. 152, naturally expresses only Bonaventura's
views. See especially Rule of 1221, cap. xvii.; of 1223, cap. x.

[19] Spec. , 7b: Fecit Franciscus regulam quam papa Honorius
confirmavit cum bulla, de qua regula multa fuerunt extracta per
ministros contra voluntatem b. Francisci . Cf. 2 Cel., 3, 136.

[20] Bull Quo elongati of September 28, 1230; Sbaralea, i., p.
56.

[21] Bon., 55 and 56 [3 Soc., 62]; Spec. , 76; 124a; Tribul. ,
Laur., 17b-19b; Ubertini, Arbor. V. , 5; Conform. , 88a, 2.

[22] Tribul. , Laur., 19a; Archiv. , t. iii., p. 601. Cf. A.
SS., p. 638e.

[23] Potthast, 7108.--The work of this bull was completed by
that of December 18, 1223. (The original of the Sacro Convento
bears Datum Laterani XV. Kal. jan. ) Fratrem Minorum :
Potthast, 7123.

[24] 2 Cel., 3, 19; Bon., 95; Spec. , 18b; Conform. , 171a, 1.

[25] 2 Cel., 3, 61 and 62. Cf. Eccl., 6, the account of Rod. de
Rosa.

[26] Spec. , 47b ff.; 2 Cel., 3, 61; Bon., 84 and 85.

[27] 1 Cel., 84-87; Bon., 149.

[28] This little poem was published entire by M. Ozanam in vol.
v. of his works, p. 184.

* * * * *


CHAPTER XVII

THE STIGMATA

1224


The upper valley of the Arno forms in the very centre of Italy a country apart, the Casentino, which through centuries had its own life, somewhat like an island in the midst of the ocean.

The river flows out from it by a narrow defile at the south, and on all other sides the Apennines encircle it with a girdle of inaccessible mountains.[1]

This plain, some ten leagues in diameter, is enlivened with picturesque villages, finely posted on hillocks at the base of which flows the stream; here are Bibbiena, Poppi, the antique Romena sung by Dante, the Camaldoli, and up there on the crest Chiusi, long ago the capital of the country, with the ruins of Count Orlando's castle.

The people are charming and refined; the mountains have sheltered them from wars, and on every side we see the signs of labor, prosperity, a gentle gayety. At any moment we might fancy ourselves transported into some valley of the Vivarais or Provence. The vegetation on the borders of the Arno is thoroughly tropical; the olive and the mulberry marry with the vine. On the lower hill-slopes are wheat fields divided by meadows; then come the chestnuts and the oaks, higher still the pine, the fir, the larch, and above all the bare rock.

Among all the peaks there is one which especially attracts the attention; instead of a rounded and so to say flattened top, it uplifts itself slender, proud, isolated; it is the Verna.[2]

One might think it an immense rock fallen from the sky. It is in fact an erratic block set there, a little like a petrified Noah's ark on the summit of Mount Ararat. The basaltic mass, perpendicular on all sides, is crowned with a plateau planted with pines and gigantic beeches, and accessible only by a footpath.[3]

Such was the solitude which Orlando had given to Francis, and to which Francis had already many a time come for quiet and contemplation.

Seated upon the few stones of the Penna,[4] he heard only the whispering of the wind among the trees, but in the splendor of the sunrise or the sunset he could see nearly all the districts in which he had sown the seed of the gospel: the Romagna and the March of Ancona, losing themselves on the horizon in the waves of the Adriatic; Umbria, and farther away, Tuscany, vanishing in the waters of the Mediterranean.

The impression on this height is not crushing like that which one has in the Alps: a feeling infinitely calm and sweet flows over you; you are high enough to judge of men from above, not high enough to forget their existence.

Besides the wide horizons, Francis found there other objects of delight; in this forest, one of the noblest in Europe, live legions of birds, which never having been hunted are surprisingly tame.[5] Subtile perfumes arise from the ground, and in the midst of borage and lichens frail and exquisite cyclamens blossom in fantastic variety.

He desired to return thither after the chapter of 1224. This meeting, held in the beginning of June, was the last at which he was present. The new Rule was there put into the hands of the ministers, and the mission to England decided upon.

It was in the early days of August that Francis took his way toward Verna. With him were only a few Brothers, Masseo, Angelo, and Leo. The first had been charged to direct the little band, and spare him all duties except that of prayer.[6]

They had been two days on the road when it became necessary to seek for an ass for Francis, who was too much enfeebled to go farther on foot.

The Brothers, in asking for this service, had not concealed the name of their master, and the peasant, to whom they had addressed themselves respectfully, asked leave to guide the beast himself. After going on a certain time, "Is it true," he said, "that you are Brother Francis of Assisi?" "Very well," he went on, after the answer in the affirmative, "apply yourself to be as good as folk say you