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

67.

It is not to negligence alone that we must attribute the loss of
many of the epistles: " Quod nephas est cogitare, in provincia
Marchie et in pluribus aliis locis testamentum beati Francisci
mandaverunt (prelati ordinis) districte per obedientiam ab
omnibus auferi et comburi. Et uni fratri devoto et sancto, cujus
nomen est N. de Rocanato combuxerunt dicum testamentum super
caput suum. Et toto conatu fuerunt solliciti, annulare scripta
beati patris nostri Francisci, in quibus sua intentio de
observantia regule declaratur. " Ubertino di Casali, apud
Archiv. , iii., pp. 168-169.

[5] Italy is too obliging to artists, archæologists, and
scholars not to do them the favor of disposing in a more
practical manner this trust, the most precious of all Umbria.
Even with the indefatigable kindness of the curator, M.
Alessandro, and of the municipality of Assisi, it is very
difficult to profit by these treasures heaped up in a dark room
without a table to write upon.

[6] In particular by Ehrle: Die historischen Handschriften von
S. Francesco in Assisi. Archiv. , t. i., p. 484.

[7] See pages 252 ff ... and 283.

[8] See pages 333 ff.

[9] See pages 259 ff.

[10] See page 325 ff.

[11] See pages 322 ff.

[12] See page 327.

[13] I give it entire: " Regina sapientia, Dominus te salvet,
cum tua sorore sancta pura simplicitate.--Domina sancta
paupertas, Domimus te salvet, cum tua sorore sancta
humilitate.--Domina sancta caritas, Dominus te salvet, cum tua
sorrore sancta obedientia. Sanctissimæ virtutes omnes, vos
salvet Dominus, a quo venitis et proceditis. " Its authenticity
is guaranteed by a citation by Celano: 2 Cel., 3, 119. Cf. 126b
and 127a.

[14] See pages 304 f.

[15] I shall not recur to this: the text is in the Conformities
138a 2.

[16] The authenticity of this service, to which there is not a
single allusion in the biographies of St. Francis, is rendered
certain by the life of St. Clara: " Officium crucis, prout
crucis amator Franciscus instituerat (Clara) didicit et affectu
simili frequentavit. " A. SS., Augusti, t. ii., p. 761a.

[17] It begins: Illi qui volunt stare in heremis . This text is
also found in the Conformities, 143a, 1. Cf. 2 Cel., 3, 43; see
p. 97.

[18] Nudis pedibus incedentes, funiculis cincti, tunicis
griseis et talaribus peciatis, insuto capucio utentes ... nihil
sibi ultra noctem reservantes ... libros continue suos ... in
forulis a collo dependentes bajulantes. Historia Anglorum,
Pertz: Script. , t. 28, p. 397. Cf. 2 Cel., 3, 135; Fior. , 5;
Spec. , 45b.

[19] See page 322 n.

[20] See page 252.

[21] See page 157.

[22] See pages 318 ff.

[23] See page 239.

[24] See page 327.

[25] See page 262.

[26] a. Sanctus Dominus Deus noster. Cf. Spec. , 126a;
Firmamentum , 18b, 2; Conform. , 202b, 1.

b. Ave Domina sancta. Cf. Spec. , 127a; Conform. , 138a, 2.

c. Sancta Maria virgo. Cf. Spec. , 126b; Conform. , 202b, 2.

[27] Vide S. François, in 4to, Paris. 1885 (Plon), p. 233. The
authenticity of this benediction appears to be well established,
since it was already jealously guarded during the life of Thomas
of Celano. No one has ever dreamed of requiring historical proof
of this writing. Is this perhaps a mistake? The middle of the
sheet is taken up with the benediction which was dictated to
Brother Leo: Benedicat tibi Dominus et custodiat te, ostendat
faciem suam tibi et misereatur tui convertat vultum suum ad te
et det tibi pacem. At the bottom, Francis added the letter
tau . ~[Greek: Tau]~, which was, so to speak, his signature
(Bon., 51; 308), and the words: Frater Leo Dominus benedicat te .

Then when this memorial became a part of the relics of the
Saint, Brother Leo, to authenticate it in a measure, added the
following notes: toward the middle: Beatus Franciscus
scripsit manu sua istam benedictionem mihi fratri Leoni ;
toward the close: Simili modo fecit istud signum thau cum
capite manu sua . But the most valuable annotation is found at
the top of the sheet: Beatus Franciscus duobus annis ante
mortem suam fecit quadragesimam in loco Alvernæ ad honorem
Beatæ Virginia Mariæ matris Dei et beati Michael archangeli a
festo assumptionis sanctæ Mariæ Virginis usque ad festum
sancti Michael septembris et facta est super eum manus Domini
per visionem et allucotionem seraphym et impressionem
stigmatum in corpore suo. Fecit has laudes ex alio latere
catule scriptas et manu, sua scripsit gratias agens Domino de
beneficio sibi collato. Vide 2 Cel., 2, 18.

[28] Wadding gives the text according to St. Bernardino da
Siena. Opera , t. iv., sermo 16, extraord. et sermo feriæ
sextæ Parasceves . Amoni: Legenda trium sociorum , p. 166.

[29] Wadding has drawn the text from St. Bernardino, loc.
cit. , sermo iv., extraord. It was also reproduced by Amoni,
loc. cit. , p. 165. Two very curious versions may be found in
the Miscellanea, 1888, pp. 96 and 190.

[30] 2 Cel., 3, 35. This took place under the vicariat of Pietro
di Catania; consequently between September 29, 1220, and March
10, 1221.

* * * * *


II

BIOGRAPHIES PROPERLY SO CALLED


I. PRELIMINARY NOTE

To form a somewhat exact notion of the documents which are to occupy us, we must put them back into the midst of the circumstances in which they appeared, study them in detail, and determine the special value of each one.

Here, more than anywhere else, we must beware of facile theories and hasty generalizations. The same life described by two equally truthful contemporaries may take on a very different coloring. This is especially the case if the man concerned has aroused enthusiasm and wrath, if his inmost thought, his works, have been the subject of discussion, if the very men who were commissioned to realize his ideals and carry on his work are divided, and at odds with one another.

This was the case with St. Francis. In his lifetime and before his own eyes divergences manifested themselves, at first secretly, then in the light of day.

In a rapture of love he went from cottage to cottage, from castle to castle, preaching absolute poverty; but that buoyant enthusiasm, that unbounded idealism, could not last long. The Order of the Brothers Minor in process of growth was open not only to a few choice spirits aflame with mystic fervor, but to all men who aspired after a religious reformation; pious laymen, monks undeceived as to the virtues of the ancient Orders, priests shocked at the vices of the secular clergy, all brought with them--unintentionally no doubt and even unconsciously--too much of their old man not by degrees to transform the institution.

Francis perceived the peril several years before his death, and made every effort to avert it. Even in his dying hour we see him summoning all his powers to declare his Will once again, and as clearly as possible, and to conjure his Brothers never to touch the Rule, even under pretext of commenting upon or explaining it. Alas! four years had not rolled away when Gregory IX., at the prayer of the Brothers themselves, became the first one of a long series of pontiffs who have explained the Rule.[1]

Poverty, as Francis understood it, soon became only a memory. The unexampled success of the Order brought to it not merely new recruits, but money. How refuse it when there were so many works to found? Many of the friars discovered that their master had exaggerated many things, that shades of meaning were to be observed in the Rule, for example, between counsels and precepts. The door once opened to interpretations, it became impossible to close it. The Franciscan family began to be divided into opposing parties often difficult to distinguish.

At first there were a few restless, undisciplined men who grouped themselves around the older friars. The latter, in