To the Reverend Father in Christ, N ..., Minister-General of the entire Order of the Brothers Minor. May God bless thee and keep thee in his holy love.Patience in all things and everywhere, this, my Brother, is what I specially recommend. Even if they oppose thee, if they strike thee, thou shouldst be grateful to them and desire that it should be thus and not otherwise.In this will be manifest thy love for God and for me, his servant and thine; that there shall not be a single friar in the world who, having sinned as much as one can sin, and coming beforethee, shall go away without having received thy pardon. And if he does not ask it, do thou ask it for him, whether he wills or not.And if he should return again a thousand times before thee, love him more than myself, in order to lead him to well-doing. Have pity always on these Brothers.
To the Reverend Father in Christ, N ..., Minister-General of the entire Order of the Brothers Minor. May God bless thee and keep thee in his holy love.
Patience in all things and everywhere, this, my Brother, is what I specially recommend. Even if they oppose thee, if they strike thee, thou shouldst be grateful to them and desire that it should be thus and not otherwise.
In this will be manifest thy love for God and for me, his servant and thine; that there shall not be a single friar in the world who, having sinned as much as one can sin, and coming beforethee, shall go away without having received thy pardon. And if he does not ask it, do thou ask it for him, whether he wills or not.
And if he should return again a thousand times before thee, love him more than myself, in order to lead him to well-doing. Have pity always on these Brothers.
These words show plainly enough how in former days Francis had directed the Order; in his dream the ministers-general were to stand in a relation of pure affection, of tender devotion toward those under them; but was this possible for one at the head of a family whose branches extended over the entire world? It would be hazardous to say, for among his successors have not been wanting distinguished minds and noble hearts; but save for Giovanni di Parma and two or three others, this ideal is in sharp contrast with the reality. St. Bonaventura himself will drag his master and friend, this very Giovanni of Parma, before an ecclesiastical tribunal, will cause him to be condemned to perpetual imprisonment, and it will need the intervention of a cardinal outside of the Order to secure the commutation of this sentence.25
The agonies of grief endured by the dying Francis over the decadence of the Order would have been less poignant if they had not been mingled with self-reproaches for his own cowardice. Why had he deserted his post, given up the direction of his family, if not from idleness and selfishness? And now it was too late to take back this step; and in hours of frightful anguish he asked himself if God would not hold him responsible for this subversion of his ideal.
"Ah, if I could go once again to the chapter-general," he would sigh, "I would show them what my will is."
Shattered as he was by fever, he would suddenly rise up in his bed, crying with a despairing intensity:"Where are they who have ravished my brethren from me? Where are they who have stolen away my family?"
Alas, the real criminals were nearer to him than he thought. The provincial ministers, of whom he appears to have been thinking when he thus spoke, were only instruments in the hands of the clever Brother Elias; and he—what else was he doing but putting his intelligence and address at Cardinal Ugolini's service?
Far from finding any consolation in those around him, Francis was constantly tortured by the confidences of his companions, who, impelled by mistaken zeal, aggravated his pain instead of calming it.26
"Forgive me, Father," said one of them to him one day, "but many people have already thought what I am going to say to you. You know how, in the early days, by God's grace the Order walked in the path of perfection; for all that concerns poverty and love, as well as for all the rest, the Brothers were but one heart and one soul. But for some time past all that is entirely changed: it is true that people often excuse the Brothers by saying that the Order has grown too large to keep up the old observances; they even go so far as to claim that infidelities to the Rule, such as the building of great monasteries, are a means of edification of the people, and so the primitive simplicity and poverty are held for nothing. Evidently all these abuses are displeasing to you; but then, people ask, why do you tolerate them?""God forgive you, brother." replied Francis. "Why do you lay at my door things with which I have nothing to do? So long as I had the direction of the Order, and the Brothers persevered in their vocation I was able, in spite of weakness, to do what was needful. But when I saw that, without caring for my example or my teaching, they walked in the way you have described, I confided them to the Lord and to the ministers. It is true that when I relinquished the direction, alleging my incapacity as the motive, if they had walked in the way of my wishes I should not have desired that before my death they should have had any other minister than myself; though ill, though bedridden, even, Ishould have found strength to perform the duties of my charge. But this charge is wholly spiritual; I will not become an executioner to strike and punish as political governors must."27
"Forgive me, Father," said one of them to him one day, "but many people have already thought what I am going to say to you. You know how, in the early days, by God's grace the Order walked in the path of perfection; for all that concerns poverty and love, as well as for all the rest, the Brothers were but one heart and one soul. But for some time past all that is entirely changed: it is true that people often excuse the Brothers by saying that the Order has grown too large to keep up the old observances; they even go so far as to claim that infidelities to the Rule, such as the building of great monasteries, are a means of edification of the people, and so the primitive simplicity and poverty are held for nothing. Evidently all these abuses are displeasing to you; but then, people ask, why do you tolerate them?"
"God forgive you, brother." replied Francis. "Why do you lay at my door things with which I have nothing to do? So long as I had the direction of the Order, and the Brothers persevered in their vocation I was able, in spite of weakness, to do what was needful. But when I saw that, without caring for my example or my teaching, they walked in the way you have described, I confided them to the Lord and to the ministers. It is true that when I relinquished the direction, alleging my incapacity as the motive, if they had walked in the way of my wishes I should not have desired that before my death they should have had any other minister than myself; though ill, though bedridden, even, Ishould have found strength to perform the duties of my charge. But this charge is wholly spiritual; I will not become an executioner to strike and punish as political governors must."27
Francis's complaints became so sharp and bitter that, to avoid scandal, the greatest prudence was exercised with regard to those who were permitted to see him.28
Disorder was everywhere, and every day brought its contingent of subjects for sorrow. The confusion of ideas as to the practice of the Rule was extreme; occult influences, which had been working for several years, had succeeded in veiling the Franciscan ideal, not only from distant Brothers, or those who had newly joined the Order, but even from those who had lived under the influence of the founder.29
Under circumstances such as these, Francis dictated the letter to all the members of the Order, which, as he thought would be read at the opening of chapters and perpetuate his spiritual presence in them.30
In this letter he is perfectly true to himself; as in thepast, he desires to influence the Brothers, not by reproaches but by fixing their eyes on the perfect holiness.
To all the revered and well-beloved Brothers Minor, to Brother A ...,31minister-general, its Lord, and to the ministers-general who shall be after him, and to all the ministers, custodians, and priests of this fraternity, humble in Christ, and to all the simple and obedient Brothers, the oldest and the most recent, Brother Francis, a mean and perishing man, your little servant, gives greeting!Hear, my Lords, you who are my sons and my brothers, give ear to my words. Open your hearts and obey the voice of the Son of God. Keep his commandments with all your hearts, and perfectly observe his counsels. Praise him, for he is good, and glorify him by your works.God has sent you through all the world, that by your words and example you may bear witness of him, and that you may teach all men that he alone is all powerful. Persevere in discipline and obedience, and with an honest and firm will keep that which you have promised.
To all the revered and well-beloved Brothers Minor, to Brother A ...,31minister-general, its Lord, and to the ministers-general who shall be after him, and to all the ministers, custodians, and priests of this fraternity, humble in Christ, and to all the simple and obedient Brothers, the oldest and the most recent, Brother Francis, a mean and perishing man, your little servant, gives greeting!
Hear, my Lords, you who are my sons and my brothers, give ear to my words. Open your hearts and obey the voice of the Son of God. Keep his commandments with all your hearts, and perfectly observe his counsels. Praise him, for he is good, and glorify him by your works.
God has sent you through all the world, that by your words and example you may bear witness of him, and that you may teach all men that he alone is all powerful. Persevere in discipline and obedience, and with an honest and firm will keep that which you have promised.
After this opening Francis immediately passes to the essential matter of the letter, that of the love and respect due to the Sacrament of the altar; faith in this mystery of love appeared to him indeed as the salvation of the Order.
Was he wrong? How can a man who truly believes in the real presence of the God-Man between the fingers of him who lifts up the host, not consecrate his life to this God and to holiness? One has some difficulty in imagining.
It is true that legions of devotees profess the most absolute faith in this dogma, and we do not see that they are less bad; but faith with them belongs in the intellectualsphere; it is the abdication of reason, and in sacrificing their intelligence to God they are most happy to offer to him an instrument which they very much prefer not to use.
To Francis the question presented itself quite differently; the thought that there could be any merit in believing could never enter his mind; the fact of the real presence was for him of almost concrete evidence. Therefore his faith in this mystery was an energy of the heart, that the life of God, mysteriously present upon the altar, might become the soul of all his actions.
To the eucharistic transubstantiation, effected by the words of the priest, he added another, that of his own heart.
God offers himself to us as to his children. This is why I beg you, all of you, my brothers, kissing your feet, and with all the love of which I am capable, to have all possible respect for the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God offers himself to us as to his children. This is why I beg you, all of you, my brothers, kissing your feet, and with all the love of which I am capable, to have all possible respect for the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Then addressing himself particularly to the priests:
Hearken, my brothers, if the blessed Virgin Mary is justly honored for having carried Jesus in her womb, if John the Baptist trembled because he dared not touch the Lord's head, if the sepulchre in which for a little time he lay is regarded with such great adoration, oh, how holy, pure, and worthy should be the priest who touches with his hands, who receives into his mouth and into his heart, and who distributes to others the living, glorified Jesus, the sight of whom makes angels rejoice! Understand your dignity, brother priests, and be holy, for he is holy. Oh! what great wretchedness and what a frightful infirmity to have him there present before you and to think of other things. Let each man be struck with amazement, let the whole earth tremble, let the heavens thrill with joy when the Christ, the Son of the living God, descends upon the altar into the hands of the priest. Oh, wonderful profundity! Oh, amazing grace! Oh, triumph of humility! See, the Master of all things, God, and the Son of God, humbles himself for our salvation, even to disguising himself under the appearance of a bit of bread.Contemplate, my brothers, this humility of God, and enlarge your hearts before him; humble yourselves as well, that you, evenyou, may be lifted up by him. Keep nothing for yourselves, that he may receive you without reserve, who has given himself to you without reserve.
Hearken, my brothers, if the blessed Virgin Mary is justly honored for having carried Jesus in her womb, if John the Baptist trembled because he dared not touch the Lord's head, if the sepulchre in which for a little time he lay is regarded with such great adoration, oh, how holy, pure, and worthy should be the priest who touches with his hands, who receives into his mouth and into his heart, and who distributes to others the living, glorified Jesus, the sight of whom makes angels rejoice! Understand your dignity, brother priests, and be holy, for he is holy. Oh! what great wretchedness and what a frightful infirmity to have him there present before you and to think of other things. Let each man be struck with amazement, let the whole earth tremble, let the heavens thrill with joy when the Christ, the Son of the living God, descends upon the altar into the hands of the priest. Oh, wonderful profundity! Oh, amazing grace! Oh, triumph of humility! See, the Master of all things, God, and the Son of God, humbles himself for our salvation, even to disguising himself under the appearance of a bit of bread.
Contemplate, my brothers, this humility of God, and enlarge your hearts before him; humble yourselves as well, that you, evenyou, may be lifted up by him. Keep nothing for yourselves, that he may receive you without reserve, who has given himself to you without reserve.
We see with what vigor of love Francis's heart had laid hold upon the idea of the communion.
He closes with long counsels to the Brothers, and after having conjured them faithfully to keep their promises, all his mysticism breathes out and is summed up in a prayer of admirable simplicity.
God Almighty, eternal, righteous, and merciful, give to us poor wretches to do for thy sake all that we know of thy will, and to will always what pleases thee; so that inwardly purified, enlightened, and kindled by the fire of the Holy Spirit, we may follow in the footprints of thy well-beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
God Almighty, eternal, righteous, and merciful, give to us poor wretches to do for thy sake all that we know of thy will, and to will always what pleases thee; so that inwardly purified, enlightened, and kindled by the fire of the Holy Spirit, we may follow in the footprints of thy well-beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
What separates this prayer from the effort to discern duty made by choice spirits apart from all revealed religion? Very little in truth; the words are different, the action is the same.
But Francis's solicitudes reached far beyond the limits of the Order. His longest epistle is addressed to all Christians; its words are so living that you fancy you hear a voice speaking behind you; and this voice, usually as serene as that which from the mountain in Galilee proclaimed the law of the new times, becomes here and there unutterably sweet, like that which sounded in the upper chamber on the night of the first eucharist.
As Jesus forgot the cross that was standing in the shadows, so Francis forgets his sufferings, and, overcome with a divine sadness, thinks of humanity, for each member of which he would give his life; he thinks of his spiritual sons, the Brothers of Penitence, whom he is about to leave without having been able to make them feel, as he would have had them feel, the love for them with which he burns: "Father, I have given them thewords which thou hast given me.... For them I pray!"
The whole Franciscan gospel is in these words, but to understand the fascination which it exerted we must have gone through the School of the Middle Ages, and there listened to the interminable tournaments of dialectics by which minds were dried up; we must have seen the Church of the thirteenth century, honeycombed by simony and luxury, and only able, under the pressure of heresy or revolt, to make a few futile efforts to scotch the evil.
To all Christians, monks, clerics, or laymen, whether men or women, to all who dwell in the whole world, Brother Francis, their most submissive servitor, presents his duty and wishes the true peace of heaven, and sincere love in the Lord.Being the servitor of all men, I am bound to serve them and to dispense to them the wholesome words of my Master. This is why, seeing I am too weak and ill to visit each one of you in particular, I have resolved to send you my message by this letter, and to offer you the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, and of the Holy Spirit, which are spirit and life.
To all Christians, monks, clerics, or laymen, whether men or women, to all who dwell in the whole world, Brother Francis, their most submissive servitor, presents his duty and wishes the true peace of heaven, and sincere love in the Lord.
Being the servitor of all men, I am bound to serve them and to dispense to them the wholesome words of my Master. This is why, seeing I am too weak and ill to visit each one of you in particular, I have resolved to send you my message by this letter, and to offer you the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, and of the Holy Spirit, which are spirit and life.
It would be puerile to expect here new ideas either in fact or form. Francis's appeals are of value only by the spirit which animates them.
After having briefly recalled the chief features of the gospel, and urgently recommended the communion, Francis addresses himself in particular to certain categories of hearers, with special counsels.
Let the podestàs, governors, and those who are placed in authority, exercise their functions with mercy, as they would be judged with mercy by God....Monks in particular, who have renounced the world, are bound to do more and better than simple Christians, to renounce all that is not necessary to them, and to have in hatred the vices and sins of the body.... They should love their enemies, do good to them who hate them, observe the precepts and counsels of ourRedeemer, renounce themselves, and subdue their bodies. And no monk is bound to obedience, if in obeying he would be obliged to commit a fault or a sin....Let us not be wise and learned according to the flesh, but simple, humble, and pure.... We should never desire to be above others, but rather to be below, and to obey all men.
Let the podestàs, governors, and those who are placed in authority, exercise their functions with mercy, as they would be judged with mercy by God....
Monks in particular, who have renounced the world, are bound to do more and better than simple Christians, to renounce all that is not necessary to them, and to have in hatred the vices and sins of the body.... They should love their enemies, do good to them who hate them, observe the precepts and counsels of ourRedeemer, renounce themselves, and subdue their bodies. And no monk is bound to obedience, if in obeying he would be obliged to commit a fault or a sin....
Let us not be wise and learned according to the flesh, but simple, humble, and pure.... We should never desire to be above others, but rather to be below, and to obey all men.
He closes by showing the foolishness of those who set their hearts on the possession of earthly goods, and concludes by the very realistic picture of the death of the wicked.
His money, his title, his learning, all that he believed himself to possess, all are taken from him; his relatives and his friends to whom he has given his fortune will come to divide it among themselves, and will end by saying: "Curses on him, for he might have given us more and he has not done it; he might have amassed a larger fortune, and he has done nothing of the kind." The worms will eat his body and the demons will consume his soul, and thus he will lose both soul and body.I, Brother Francis, your little servitor, I beg and conjure you by the love that is in God, ready to kiss your feet, to receive with humility and love these and all other words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to conform your conduct to them. And let those who devoutly receive them and understand them pass them on to others. And if they thus persevere unto the end, may they be blessed by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.32
His money, his title, his learning, all that he believed himself to possess, all are taken from him; his relatives and his friends to whom he has given his fortune will come to divide it among themselves, and will end by saying: "Curses on him, for he might have given us more and he has not done it; he might have amassed a larger fortune, and he has done nothing of the kind." The worms will eat his body and the demons will consume his soul, and thus he will lose both soul and body.
I, Brother Francis, your little servitor, I beg and conjure you by the love that is in God, ready to kiss your feet, to receive with humility and love these and all other words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to conform your conduct to them. And let those who devoutly receive them and understand them pass them on to others. And if they thus persevere unto the end, may they be blessed by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.32
If Francis ever made a Rule for the Third Order it must have very nearly resembled this epistle, and until this problematical document is found, the letter shows what were originally these associations of Brothers of Penitence. Everything in these long pages looks toward the development of the mystic religious life in the heart of each Christian. But even when Francis dictated them, this high view had become a Utopia, and the Third Order was only one battalion more in the armies of the papacy.
We see that the epistles which we have just examinedproceed definitely from a single inspiration. Whether he is leaving instructions for his successors, the ministers-general, whether he is writing to all the present and future members of his Order, to all Christians or even to the clergy,33Francis has only one aim, to keep on preaching after his death, and perhaps, too, by putting into writing his message of peace and love, to provide that he shall not be entirely travestied or misunderstood.
Considered in connection with those sorrowful hours which saw their birth, they form a whole whose import and meaning become singularly energetic. If we would find the Franciscan spirit, it is here, in the Rule of 1221, and in the Will that we must seek for it.
Neglect, and especially the storms which later overwhelmed the Order, explain the disappearance of several other documents which would cast a glimmer of poetry and joy over these sad days;34Francis had not forgotten his sister-friend at St. Damian. Hearing that she had been greatly disquieted by knowing him to be so ill, he desired to reassure her: he still deceived himself as to his condition, and wrote to her promising soon to go to see her.
To this assurance he added some affectionate counsels, advising her and her companions not to go to extremes with their macerations. To set her an example of cheerfulnesshe added to this letter a Laude in the vulgar tongue which he had himself set to music.35
In that chamber of the episcopal palace in which he was as it were imprisoned he had achieved a new victory, and it was doubtless that which inspired his joy. The Bishop of Assisi, the irritable Guido, always at war with somebody, was at this time quarrelling with the podestà of the city; nothing more was needed to excite in the little town a profound disquiet. Guido had excommunicated the podestà, and the latter had issued a prohibition against selling and buying or making any contract with ecclesiastics.
The difference grew more bitter, and no one appeared to dream of attempting a reconciliation. We can the better understand Francis's grief over all this by remembering that his very first effort had been to bring peace into his native city, and that he considered the return of Italy to union and concord to be the essential aim of his apostolate.
War in Assisi would be the final dissolution of his dream; the voice of events crying brutally to him, "Thou hast wasted thy life!"
The dregs of this cup were spared him, thanks to an inspiration in which breaks forth anew his natural play of imagination. To the Canticle of the Sun he added a new strophe:
Be praised, Lord, for those who forgive for love of thee,and bear trials and tribulations;happy they who persevere in peace,by thee, Most high, shall they be crowned.
Then, calling a friar, he charged him to beg the governor to betake himself, with all the notables whom he could assemble, to the paved square before the bishop'spalace. The magistrate, to whom legend gives the nobler part in the whole affair, at once yielded to the saint's request.
When he arrived and the bishop had come forth from the palace, two friars came forward and said: "Brother Francis has made to the praise of God a hymn to which he prays you to listen piously," and immediately they began to sing the Hymn of Brother Sun, with its new strophe.The governor listened, standing in an attitude of profound attention, copiously weeping, for he dearly loved the blessed Francis.When the singing was ended, "Know in truth," said he, "that I desire to forgive the lord bishop, that I wish and ought to look upon him as my lord, for if one had even assassinated my brother I should be ready to pardon the murderer." With these words he threw himself at the bishop's feet, and said: "I am ready to do whatsoever you would, for the love of our Lord Jesus Christ and his servant Francis."Then the bishop, taking him by the hand, lifted him up and said, "With my position it would become me to be humble, but since I am naturally too quick to wrath, thou must pardon me."36
When he arrived and the bishop had come forth from the palace, two friars came forward and said: "Brother Francis has made to the praise of God a hymn to which he prays you to listen piously," and immediately they began to sing the Hymn of Brother Sun, with its new strophe.
The governor listened, standing in an attitude of profound attention, copiously weeping, for he dearly loved the blessed Francis.
When the singing was ended, "Know in truth," said he, "that I desire to forgive the lord bishop, that I wish and ought to look upon him as my lord, for if one had even assassinated my brother I should be ready to pardon the murderer." With these words he threw himself at the bishop's feet, and said: "I am ready to do whatsoever you would, for the love of our Lord Jesus Christ and his servant Francis."
Then the bishop, taking him by the hand, lifted him up and said, "With my position it would become me to be humble, but since I am naturally too quick to wrath, thou must pardon me."36
This unexpected reconciliation was immediately looked upon as miraculous, and increased still more the reverence of the Assisans for their fellow-citizen.
The summer was drawing to a close. After a few days of relative improvement Francis's sufferings became greater than ever: incapable of movement, he even thought that he ought to give up his ardent desire to see St. Damian and Portiuncula once more, and gave the brothers all his directions about the latter sanctuary: "Never abandon it," he would repeat to them, "for that place is truly sacred: it is the house of God."37
It seemed to him that if the Brothers remained attached to that bit of earth, that chapel ten feet long, those thatched huts, they would there find the living reminder of the poverty of the early days, and could never wander far from it.
One evening he grew worse with frightful rapidity; all the following night he had hemorrhages which left not the slightest hope; the Brothers hastening to him, he dictated a few lines in form of a Will and gave them his blessing: "Adieu, my children; remain all of you in the fear of God, abide always united to Christ; great trials are in store for you, and tribulation draws nigh. Happy are they who persevere as they have begun; for there will be scandals and divisions among you. As for me, I am going to the Lord and my God. Yes, I have the assurance that I am going to him whom I have served."38
During the following days, to the great surprise of those who were about him, he again grew somewhat better; no one could understand the resistance to death offered by this body so long worn out by suffering.
He himself began to hope again. A physician of Arezzo whom he knew well, having come to visit him, "Good friend," Francis asked him, "how much longer do you think I have to live?"
"Father," replied the other reassuringly, "this will all pass away, if it pleases God."
"I am not a cuckoo,"39replied Francis smiling, using a popular saying, "to be afraid of death. By the grace of the Holy Spirit I am so intimately united to God that I am equally content to live or to die."
"In that case, father, from the medical point of view,your disease is incurable, and I do not think that you can last longer than the beginning of autumn."
At these words the poor invalid stretched out his hands as if to call on God, crying with an indescribable expression of joy, "Welcome, Sister Death!" Then he began to sing, and sent for Brothers Angelo and Leo.
On their arrival they were made, in spite of their emotion, to sing the Canticle of the Sun. They were at the last doxology when Francis, checking them, improvised the greeting to death:
Be praised, Lord, for our Sister the Death of the body,whom no man may escape;alas for them who die in a state of mortal sin;happy they who are found conformed to thy most holy will,for the second death will do to them no harm.
From this day the palace rang unceasingly with his songs. Continually, even through the night, he would sing the Canticle of the Sun or some other of his favorite compositions. Then, when wearied out, he would beg Angelo and Leo to go on.
One day Brother Elias thought it his duty to make a few remarks on the subject. He feared that the nurses and the people of the neighborhood would be scandalized; ought not a saint to be absorbed in meditation in the face of death, to await it with fear and trembling instead of indulging in a gayety that might be misinterpreted?40Perhaps Bishop Guido was not entirely a stranger to these reproaches; it seems not improbable that to have his palace crowded with Brothers Minor all these long weeks had finally put him a little out of humor. But Francis would not yield; his union with God was too sweet for him to consent not to sing it.
They decided at last to remove him to Portiuncula. His desire was to be fulfilled; he was to die beside the humble chapel where he had heard God's voice consecrating him apostle.
His companions, bearing their precious burden, took the way through the olive-yards across the plain. From time to time the invalid, unable to distinguish anything, asked where they were. When they were half way there, at the hospital of the Crucigeri, where long ago he had tended the leper, and from whence there was a full view of all the houses of the city, he begged them to set him upon the ground with his face toward Assisi, and raising his hand he bade adieu to his native place and blessed it.
FOOTNOTES1.The following is the list of monasteries which, according to Rodolfo di Tossignano, accepted the ideas of Angelo Clareno before the end of the thirteenth century: Fermo, Spoleto, Camerino, Ascoli, Rieti, Foligno, Nursia, Aquila, Amelia:Historiarum seraphicæ religionis, libri tres, Venice, 1586, 1 vol., fo, 155a.2.Spec., 129b;Fior., 19. In some of the stories of this period the evidence is clear how certain facts have been, little by little, transformed into miracles. Compare, for example, the miracle of St. Urbano in Bon., 68, and 1 Cel., 61. See also 2 Cel., 2, 10; Bon., 158 and 159.3.1 Cel., 87; 2 Cel., 2, 11;Conform., 148a, 2; Bon., 99. Upon this visit see 2 Cel., 2, 10; Bon., 158 and 159; 2 Cel., 2, 11; 2 Cel., 3, 36.4.The present Italian name of the monastery which has also been calledMonte-RainerioandFonte-Palumbo.5.1 Cel., 101; 2 Cel., 3, 102; Bon., 67;Spec., 134a.6.2 Cel., 3, 66; Bon., 69.7.Fior. ii. consid.Cf. Roger Bacon, Opus tertium (ap. Mon. Germ. hist.,Script.t. 28, p. 577).B. Franciscus jussit fratri cythariste ut dulcius personaret, quatenus mens excitaretur ad harmonias cœlestes quas pluries andivit. Mira enim musicæ super omnes scientias et spectanda potestas.8.Village three hours' walk northward from Rieti. Francis's cell still remains on the mountain, three-quarters of an hour from the place.9.2 Cel., 3, 71; cf.Spec., 43a.10.Chapel still standing, a few minutes' walk from Rieti. 2 Cel., 3, 70;Spec., 15a, 43a.11.2 Cel., 2, 14; Bon., 167; 2 Cel., 3, 10; Bon., 58;Spec., 122b.12.Wadding,ann. 1213, n. 14, rightly places St. Urbano in the county of Narni.L'Eremo di S. Urbanois about half an hour from the village of the same name, on Mount San Pancrazio (1026 m.), three leagues south of Narni. The panorama is one of the finest in Central Italy. The Bollandists allowed themselves to be led into error by an interested assertion when they placed San Urbano near to Jesi (pp. 623f and 624a). 1 Cel., 61; Bon., 68. (Vide BullCum aliquaof May 15, 1218, where mention is made of San Urbano.)13.As much may be said of the apparition of the three virgins between Campilia and San Quirico. 2 Cel., 3, 37; Bon., 93.14.Spec., 12b;Conform., 169a, 1.15.2 Cel., 3, 46; Bon., 153;Spec., 31b; Ezek., xxxiii., 9.16.Two years after, the King of France and all his court kissed and revered the pillow which Francis had used during his illness. 1 Cel., 120.17.Bagnara is near the sources of the Topino, about an hour east of Nocera. These two localities were then dependents of Assisi.18.And not Sartiano. Balciano still exists, about half way between Nocera and Assisi.19.2 Cel., 3, 23; Bon., 98;Spec., 17b;Conform., 239a, 2f.20.2 Cel., 3, 33; 1 Cel., 105, is still more explicit: "The multitude hoped that he would die very soon, and that was the subject of their joy."21.1 Cel., 103 and 104.22.1 Cel., 102;Spec., 83b.23.2 Cel., 3, 116;Spec., 67a;Conform., 143b, 1, and 225b, 2; 2 Cel., 3, 117;Spec., 130a.24.For the text videConform., 136b, 2; 138b, 2; 142 b, 1.25.Tribul., Archiv., ii., pp. 285 ff.26.2 Cel., 3, 118.27.These words are borrowed from a long fragment cited by Ubertini di Casali, as coming from Brother Leo:Arbor vit. cruc., lib.v.,cap.3. It is surely a bit of the Legend of the Three Companions; it may be found textually in the Tribulations, Laur., fo16b, with a few more sentences at the end. Cf.Conform., 136a, 2; 143a, 2;Spec., 8b; 26b; 50a; 130b; 2 Cel., 3, 118.28.Tribul., Laur., 17b.29.See, for example, Brother Richer's question as to the books: Ubertini,Loc. cit.Cf.Archiv., iii., pp. 75 and 177;Spec., 8a;Conform., 71b, 2. See also: Ubertini,Archiv., iii., pp. 75 and 177;Tribul., 13a;Spec., 9a;Conform., 170a, 1. It is curious to compare the account as it found in the documents with the version of it given in 2 Cel., 3, 8.30.Assisi MS., 338, fo28a-31a, with the rubric:De lictera et ammonitione beatissimi patris nostri Francisci quam misit fratribus ad capitulum quando erat infirmus.This letter was wrongly divided into three by Rodolfo di Tossignano (fo237), who was followed by Wadding (Epistolæ x., xi., xii.). The text is found without this senseless division in the manuscript cited and inFirmamentum, fo21;Spec., Morin, iii., 217a; Ubertini,Arbor vit. cruc., v., 7.31.This initial (given only by the Assisi MS.) has not failed to excite surprise. It appears that there ought to have been simply an N ... This letter then would have been replaced by the copyist, who would have used the initial of the minister general in charge at the time of his writing. If this hypothesis has any weight it will aid to fix the exact date of the manuscript. (Alberto of Pisa minister from 1239-1240; Aimon of Faversham, 1240-1244.)32.This epistle also was unskilfully divided into two distinct letters by Rodolfo di Tossignano, fo174a, who was followed by Wadding. See Assisi MS., 338, 23a-28a;Conform., 137a, 1 ff.33.The letter to the clergy only repeats the thoughts already expressed upon the worship of the holy sacrament. We remember Francis sweeping out the churches and imploring the priests to keep them clean; this epistle has the same object: it is found in the Assisi MS., 338, fo31b-32b, with the rubric:De reverentia Corporis Domini et de munditia altaris ad omnes clericos. Incipit:Attendamus omnes. Explicit:fecerint exemplari. This, therefore, is the letter given by Wadding xiii., but without address or salutation.34.We need not despair of finding them. The archives of the monasteries of Clarisses are usually rudimentary enough, but they are preserved with pious care.35.Spec., 117b;Conform., 185a 1; 135b, 1. Cf.Test. B. Claræ, A. SS., Aug., ii., p. 747.36.This story is given in theSpec., 128b, as from eye-witnesses. Cf.Conform., 184b, 1; 203a, 1.37.1 Cel., 106. These recommendations as to Portiuncula were amplified by the Zelanti, when, under the generalship of Crescentius (BullIs qui ecclesiam, March 6, 1245), the Basilica of Assisi was substituted for Santa Maria degli Angeli asmater et caputof the Order. VideSpec., 32b, 69b-71a;Conform., 144a, 2; 218a, 1; 3 Soc., 56; 2 Cel., 1, 12 and 13; Bon., 24, 25; see the Appendix,the Study of the Indulgence of August 2.38.2 Cel., 108. As will be seen (below,p. 367) the remainder of Celano's narrative seems to require to be taken with some reserve. Cf.Spec., 115b;Conform., 225a, 2; Bon., 211.39.Non sum cuculus, in Italiancuculo.40.Spec., 136b;Fior. iv. consid.It is to be noted that Guido, instead of waiting at Assisi for the certainly impending death of Francis, went away to Mont Gargano. 2 Cel., 3, 142.
1.The following is the list of monasteries which, according to Rodolfo di Tossignano, accepted the ideas of Angelo Clareno before the end of the thirteenth century: Fermo, Spoleto, Camerino, Ascoli, Rieti, Foligno, Nursia, Aquila, Amelia:Historiarum seraphicæ religionis, libri tres, Venice, 1586, 1 vol., fo, 155a.2.Spec., 129b;Fior., 19. In some of the stories of this period the evidence is clear how certain facts have been, little by little, transformed into miracles. Compare, for example, the miracle of St. Urbano in Bon., 68, and 1 Cel., 61. See also 2 Cel., 2, 10; Bon., 158 and 159.3.1 Cel., 87; 2 Cel., 2, 11;Conform., 148a, 2; Bon., 99. Upon this visit see 2 Cel., 2, 10; Bon., 158 and 159; 2 Cel., 2, 11; 2 Cel., 3, 36.4.The present Italian name of the monastery which has also been calledMonte-RainerioandFonte-Palumbo.5.1 Cel., 101; 2 Cel., 3, 102; Bon., 67;Spec., 134a.6.2 Cel., 3, 66; Bon., 69.7.Fior. ii. consid.Cf. Roger Bacon, Opus tertium (ap. Mon. Germ. hist.,Script.t. 28, p. 577).B. Franciscus jussit fratri cythariste ut dulcius personaret, quatenus mens excitaretur ad harmonias cœlestes quas pluries andivit. Mira enim musicæ super omnes scientias et spectanda potestas.8.Village three hours' walk northward from Rieti. Francis's cell still remains on the mountain, three-quarters of an hour from the place.9.2 Cel., 3, 71; cf.Spec., 43a.10.Chapel still standing, a few minutes' walk from Rieti. 2 Cel., 3, 70;Spec., 15a, 43a.11.2 Cel., 2, 14; Bon., 167; 2 Cel., 3, 10; Bon., 58;Spec., 122b.12.Wadding,ann. 1213, n. 14, rightly places St. Urbano in the county of Narni.L'Eremo di S. Urbanois about half an hour from the village of the same name, on Mount San Pancrazio (1026 m.), three leagues south of Narni. The panorama is one of the finest in Central Italy. The Bollandists allowed themselves to be led into error by an interested assertion when they placed San Urbano near to Jesi (pp. 623f and 624a). 1 Cel., 61; Bon., 68. (Vide BullCum aliquaof May 15, 1218, where mention is made of San Urbano.)13.As much may be said of the apparition of the three virgins between Campilia and San Quirico. 2 Cel., 3, 37; Bon., 93.14.Spec., 12b;Conform., 169a, 1.15.2 Cel., 3, 46; Bon., 153;Spec., 31b; Ezek., xxxiii., 9.16.Two years after, the King of France and all his court kissed and revered the pillow which Francis had used during his illness. 1 Cel., 120.17.Bagnara is near the sources of the Topino, about an hour east of Nocera. These two localities were then dependents of Assisi.18.And not Sartiano. Balciano still exists, about half way between Nocera and Assisi.19.2 Cel., 3, 23; Bon., 98;Spec., 17b;Conform., 239a, 2f.20.2 Cel., 3, 33; 1 Cel., 105, is still more explicit: "The multitude hoped that he would die very soon, and that was the subject of their joy."21.1 Cel., 103 and 104.22.1 Cel., 102;Spec., 83b.23.2 Cel., 3, 116;Spec., 67a;Conform., 143b, 1, and 225b, 2; 2 Cel., 3, 117;Spec., 130a.24.For the text videConform., 136b, 2; 138b, 2; 142 b, 1.25.Tribul., Archiv., ii., pp. 285 ff.26.2 Cel., 3, 118.27.These words are borrowed from a long fragment cited by Ubertini di Casali, as coming from Brother Leo:Arbor vit. cruc., lib.v.,cap.3. It is surely a bit of the Legend of the Three Companions; it may be found textually in the Tribulations, Laur., fo16b, with a few more sentences at the end. Cf.Conform., 136a, 2; 143a, 2;Spec., 8b; 26b; 50a; 130b; 2 Cel., 3, 118.28.Tribul., Laur., 17b.29.See, for example, Brother Richer's question as to the books: Ubertini,Loc. cit.Cf.Archiv., iii., pp. 75 and 177;Spec., 8a;Conform., 71b, 2. See also: Ubertini,Archiv., iii., pp. 75 and 177;Tribul., 13a;Spec., 9a;Conform., 170a, 1. It is curious to compare the account as it found in the documents with the version of it given in 2 Cel., 3, 8.30.Assisi MS., 338, fo28a-31a, with the rubric:De lictera et ammonitione beatissimi patris nostri Francisci quam misit fratribus ad capitulum quando erat infirmus.This letter was wrongly divided into three by Rodolfo di Tossignano (fo237), who was followed by Wadding (Epistolæ x., xi., xii.). The text is found without this senseless division in the manuscript cited and inFirmamentum, fo21;Spec., Morin, iii., 217a; Ubertini,Arbor vit. cruc., v., 7.31.This initial (given only by the Assisi MS.) has not failed to excite surprise. It appears that there ought to have been simply an N ... This letter then would have been replaced by the copyist, who would have used the initial of the minister general in charge at the time of his writing. If this hypothesis has any weight it will aid to fix the exact date of the manuscript. (Alberto of Pisa minister from 1239-1240; Aimon of Faversham, 1240-1244.)32.This epistle also was unskilfully divided into two distinct letters by Rodolfo di Tossignano, fo174a, who was followed by Wadding. See Assisi MS., 338, 23a-28a;Conform., 137a, 1 ff.33.The letter to the clergy only repeats the thoughts already expressed upon the worship of the holy sacrament. We remember Francis sweeping out the churches and imploring the priests to keep them clean; this epistle has the same object: it is found in the Assisi MS., 338, fo31b-32b, with the rubric:De reverentia Corporis Domini et de munditia altaris ad omnes clericos. Incipit:Attendamus omnes. Explicit:fecerint exemplari. This, therefore, is the letter given by Wadding xiii., but without address or salutation.34.We need not despair of finding them. The archives of the monasteries of Clarisses are usually rudimentary enough, but they are preserved with pious care.35.Spec., 117b;Conform., 185a 1; 135b, 1. Cf.Test. B. Claræ, A. SS., Aug., ii., p. 747.36.This story is given in theSpec., 128b, as from eye-witnesses. Cf.Conform., 184b, 1; 203a, 1.37.1 Cel., 106. These recommendations as to Portiuncula were amplified by the Zelanti, when, under the generalship of Crescentius (BullIs qui ecclesiam, March 6, 1245), the Basilica of Assisi was substituted for Santa Maria degli Angeli asmater et caputof the Order. VideSpec., 32b, 69b-71a;Conform., 144a, 2; 218a, 1; 3 Soc., 56; 2 Cel., 1, 12 and 13; Bon., 24, 25; see the Appendix,the Study of the Indulgence of August 2.38.2 Cel., 108. As will be seen (below,p. 367) the remainder of Celano's narrative seems to require to be taken with some reserve. Cf.Spec., 115b;Conform., 225a, 2; Bon., 211.39.Non sum cuculus, in Italiancuculo.40.Spec., 136b;Fior. iv. consid.It is to be noted that Guido, instead of waiting at Assisi for the certainly impending death of Francis, went away to Mont Gargano. 2 Cel., 3, 142.
1.The following is the list of monasteries which, according to Rodolfo di Tossignano, accepted the ideas of Angelo Clareno before the end of the thirteenth century: Fermo, Spoleto, Camerino, Ascoli, Rieti, Foligno, Nursia, Aquila, Amelia:Historiarum seraphicæ religionis, libri tres, Venice, 1586, 1 vol., fo, 155a.
2.Spec., 129b;Fior., 19. In some of the stories of this period the evidence is clear how certain facts have been, little by little, transformed into miracles. Compare, for example, the miracle of St. Urbano in Bon., 68, and 1 Cel., 61. See also 2 Cel., 2, 10; Bon., 158 and 159.
3.1 Cel., 87; 2 Cel., 2, 11;Conform., 148a, 2; Bon., 99. Upon this visit see 2 Cel., 2, 10; Bon., 158 and 159; 2 Cel., 2, 11; 2 Cel., 3, 36.
4.The present Italian name of the monastery which has also been calledMonte-RainerioandFonte-Palumbo.
5.1 Cel., 101; 2 Cel., 3, 102; Bon., 67;Spec., 134a.
6.2 Cel., 3, 66; Bon., 69.
7.Fior. ii. consid.Cf. Roger Bacon, Opus tertium (ap. Mon. Germ. hist.,Script.t. 28, p. 577).B. Franciscus jussit fratri cythariste ut dulcius personaret, quatenus mens excitaretur ad harmonias cœlestes quas pluries andivit. Mira enim musicæ super omnes scientias et spectanda potestas.
8.Village three hours' walk northward from Rieti. Francis's cell still remains on the mountain, three-quarters of an hour from the place.
9.2 Cel., 3, 71; cf.Spec., 43a.
10.Chapel still standing, a few minutes' walk from Rieti. 2 Cel., 3, 70;Spec., 15a, 43a.
11.2 Cel., 2, 14; Bon., 167; 2 Cel., 3, 10; Bon., 58;Spec., 122b.
12.Wadding,ann. 1213, n. 14, rightly places St. Urbano in the county of Narni.L'Eremo di S. Urbanois about half an hour from the village of the same name, on Mount San Pancrazio (1026 m.), three leagues south of Narni. The panorama is one of the finest in Central Italy. The Bollandists allowed themselves to be led into error by an interested assertion when they placed San Urbano near to Jesi (pp. 623f and 624a). 1 Cel., 61; Bon., 68. (Vide BullCum aliquaof May 15, 1218, where mention is made of San Urbano.)
13.As much may be said of the apparition of the three virgins between Campilia and San Quirico. 2 Cel., 3, 37; Bon., 93.
14.Spec., 12b;Conform., 169a, 1.
15.2 Cel., 3, 46; Bon., 153;Spec., 31b; Ezek., xxxiii., 9.
16.Two years after, the King of France and all his court kissed and revered the pillow which Francis had used during his illness. 1 Cel., 120.
17.Bagnara is near the sources of the Topino, about an hour east of Nocera. These two localities were then dependents of Assisi.
18.And not Sartiano. Balciano still exists, about half way between Nocera and Assisi.
19.2 Cel., 3, 23; Bon., 98;Spec., 17b;Conform., 239a, 2f.
20.2 Cel., 3, 33; 1 Cel., 105, is still more explicit: "The multitude hoped that he would die very soon, and that was the subject of their joy."
21.1 Cel., 103 and 104.
22.1 Cel., 102;Spec., 83b.
23.2 Cel., 3, 116;Spec., 67a;Conform., 143b, 1, and 225b, 2; 2 Cel., 3, 117;Spec., 130a.
24.For the text videConform., 136b, 2; 138b, 2; 142 b, 1.
25.Tribul., Archiv., ii., pp. 285 ff.
26.2 Cel., 3, 118.
27.These words are borrowed from a long fragment cited by Ubertini di Casali, as coming from Brother Leo:Arbor vit. cruc., lib.v.,cap.3. It is surely a bit of the Legend of the Three Companions; it may be found textually in the Tribulations, Laur., fo16b, with a few more sentences at the end. Cf.Conform., 136a, 2; 143a, 2;Spec., 8b; 26b; 50a; 130b; 2 Cel., 3, 118.
28.Tribul., Laur., 17b.
29.See, for example, Brother Richer's question as to the books: Ubertini,Loc. cit.Cf.Archiv., iii., pp. 75 and 177;Spec., 8a;Conform., 71b, 2. See also: Ubertini,Archiv., iii., pp. 75 and 177;Tribul., 13a;Spec., 9a;Conform., 170a, 1. It is curious to compare the account as it found in the documents with the version of it given in 2 Cel., 3, 8.
30.Assisi MS., 338, fo28a-31a, with the rubric:De lictera et ammonitione beatissimi patris nostri Francisci quam misit fratribus ad capitulum quando erat infirmus.This letter was wrongly divided into three by Rodolfo di Tossignano (fo237), who was followed by Wadding (Epistolæ x., xi., xii.). The text is found without this senseless division in the manuscript cited and inFirmamentum, fo21;Spec., Morin, iii., 217a; Ubertini,Arbor vit. cruc., v., 7.
31.This initial (given only by the Assisi MS.) has not failed to excite surprise. It appears that there ought to have been simply an N ... This letter then would have been replaced by the copyist, who would have used the initial of the minister general in charge at the time of his writing. If this hypothesis has any weight it will aid to fix the exact date of the manuscript. (Alberto of Pisa minister from 1239-1240; Aimon of Faversham, 1240-1244.)
32.This epistle also was unskilfully divided into two distinct letters by Rodolfo di Tossignano, fo174a, who was followed by Wadding. See Assisi MS., 338, 23a-28a;Conform., 137a, 1 ff.
33.The letter to the clergy only repeats the thoughts already expressed upon the worship of the holy sacrament. We remember Francis sweeping out the churches and imploring the priests to keep them clean; this epistle has the same object: it is found in the Assisi MS., 338, fo31b-32b, with the rubric:De reverentia Corporis Domini et de munditia altaris ad omnes clericos. Incipit:Attendamus omnes. Explicit:fecerint exemplari. This, therefore, is the letter given by Wadding xiii., but without address or salutation.
34.We need not despair of finding them. The archives of the monasteries of Clarisses are usually rudimentary enough, but they are preserved with pious care.
35.Spec., 117b;Conform., 185a 1; 135b, 1. Cf.Test. B. Claræ, A. SS., Aug., ii., p. 747.
36.This story is given in theSpec., 128b, as from eye-witnesses. Cf.Conform., 184b, 1; 203a, 1.
37.1 Cel., 106. These recommendations as to Portiuncula were amplified by the Zelanti, when, under the generalship of Crescentius (BullIs qui ecclesiam, March 6, 1245), the Basilica of Assisi was substituted for Santa Maria degli Angeli asmater et caputof the Order. VideSpec., 32b, 69b-71a;Conform., 144a, 2; 218a, 1; 3 Soc., 56; 2 Cel., 1, 12 and 13; Bon., 24, 25; see the Appendix,the Study of the Indulgence of August 2.
38.2 Cel., 108. As will be seen (below,p. 367) the remainder of Celano's narrative seems to require to be taken with some reserve. Cf.Spec., 115b;Conform., 225a, 2; Bon., 211.
39.Non sum cuculus, in Italiancuculo.
40.Spec., 136b;Fior. iv. consid.It is to be noted that Guido, instead of waiting at Assisi for the certainly impending death of Francis, went away to Mont Gargano. 2 Cel., 3, 142.
The last days of Francis's life are of radiant beauty. He went to meet death, singing,1says Thomas of Celano, summing up the impression of those who saw him then.
To be once more at Portiuncula after so long a detention at the bishop's palace was not only a real joy to his heart, but the pure air of the forest must have been much to his physical well-being; does not the Canticle of the Creatures seem to have been made expressly to be sung in the evening of one of those autumn days of Umbria, so soft and luminous, when all nature seems to retire into herself to sing her own hymn of love to Brother Sun?
We see that Francis has come to that almost entire cessation of pain, that renewing of life, which so often precedes the approach of the last catastrophe.
He took advantage of it to dictate his Will.2
It is to these pages that we must go to find the true note for a sketch of the life of its author, and an idea of the Order as it was in his dreams.
In this record, which is of an incontestable authenticity, the most solemn manifestation of his thought, the Poverello reveals himself absolutely, with a virginal candor.
His humility is here of a sincerity which strikes one with awe; it is absolute, though no one could dream that it was exaggerated. And yet, wherever his mission is concerned, he speaks with tranquil and serene assurance. Is he not an ambassador of God? Does he not hold his message from Christ himself? The genesis of his thought here shows itself to be at once wholly divine and entirely personal. The individual conscience here proclaims its sovereign authority. "No one showed me what I ought to do, but the Most High himself revealed to me that I ought to live conformably to his holy gospel."
When a man has once spoken thus, submission to the Church has been singularly encroached upon. We may love her, hearken to her, venerate her, but we feel ourselves, perhaps without daring to avow it, superior to her. Let a critical hour come, and one finds himself heretic without knowing it or wishing it.
"Ah, yes," cries Angelo Clareno, "St. Francis promised to obey the pope and his successors, but they cannot and must not command anything contrary to the conscience or to the Rule."3
For him, as for all the spiritual Franciscans, when thereis conflict between what the inward voice of God ordains and what the Church wills, he has only to obey the former.4
If you tell him that the Church and the Order are there to define the true signification of the Rule, he appeals to common sense, and to that interior certitude which is given by a clear view of truth.
The Rule, as also the gospel, of which it is a summary, is above all ecclesiastical power, and no one has the right to say the last word in their interpretation.5
The Will was not slow to gain a moral authority superior even to that of the Rule. Giovanni of Parma, to explain the predilection of the Joachimites for this document, points out that after the impression of the stigmata the Holy Spirit was in Francis with still greater plenitude than before.6
Did the innumerable sects which disturbed the Church in the thirteenth century perceive that these two writings—the Rule and the Testament—the one apparently made to follow and support the other, substantially identical as it was said, proceeded from two opposite inspirations? Very confusedly, no doubt, but guided by a very sure instinct, they saw in these pages the banner of liberty.
They were not mistaken. Even to-day, thinkers, moralists, mystics may arrive at solutions very different from those of the Umbrian prophet, but the method which they employ is his, and they may not refuse to acknowledge in him the precursor of religious subjectivism.
The Church, too, was not mistaken. She immediately understood the spirit that animated these pages.
Four years later, perhaps to the very day, September 28, 1230, Ugolini, then Gregory IX., solemnly interpreted the Rule, in spite of the precautions of Francis, who had forbidden all gloss or commentary on the Rule or the Will, and declared that the Brothers were not bound to the observation of the Will.7
What shall we say of the bull in which the pope alleges his familiar relations with the Saint to justify his commentary, and in which the clearest passages are so distorted as to change their sense completely. "One is stupefied," cries Ubertini of Casali, "that a text so clear should have need of a commentary, for it suffices to have common sense and to know grammar in order to understand it." And this strange monk dares to add: "There is one miracle which God himself cannot do; it is to make two contradictory things true."8
Certainly the Church should be mistress in her own house; it would have been nothing wrong had Gregory IX. created an Order conformed to his views and ideas, but when we go through Sbaralea's folios and the thousands of bulls accorded to the spiritual sons of him who in the clearest and most solemn manner had forbidden them to ask any privilege of the court of Rome, we cannot but feel a bitter sadness.
Thus upheld by the papacy, the Brothers of the Common Observance made the Zelanti sharply expiate their attachment to Francis's last requests. Cæsar of Speyerdied of violence from the Brother placed in charge of him;9the first disciple, Bernardo di Quintavalle, hunted like a wild beast, passed two years in the forests of Monte-Sefro, hidden by a wood-cutter;10the other first companions who did not succeed in flight had to undergo the severest usage. In the March of Ancona, the home of the Spirituals, the victorious party used a terrible violence. The Will was confiscated and destroyed; they went so far as to burn it over the head of a friar who persisted in desiring to observe it.11