The Online Library of Liberty

A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.

• Introduction.
• Part I: Admonitions, Rules, Etc
• I.: Words of Admonition of Our Holy Father St. Francis.
• II.: Salutation of the Virtues.
• III.: On Reverence For the Lord’s Body and On the Cleanliness of the Altar.
• IV.: Rules of the Friars Minor.
• V. Fragments From the Rule of the Sisters of St Clare.
• VI.: Testament of the Holy Father St Francis.
• VII: Of Living Religiously In a Hermitage
• Part II.: Six Letters of St. Francis
• I.: Letter to All the Faithful.
• II.: Letter to All the Friars.
• III: To a Certain Minister.
• IV.: To the Rulers of the People.
• V.: To All the Custodes
• VI.: To Brother Leo.
• Part III: Prayers of St. Francis
• I.: The Praises.
• II.: Salutation of the Blessed Virgin.
• III.: Prayer to Obtain Divine Love.
• Praises of God.
• The Blessing of Brother Leo.
• V.: The Canticle of the Sun
• VI.: The Office of the Passion.
• Appendix Some Lost, Doubtful, and Spurious Writings
• Bibliography

PART I

ADMONITIONS, RULES, ETC

I.

Words of Admonition of our Holy Father St. Francis.

UNDER this title a precious series of spiritual counsels on the religious life has come down to us from the pen of St Francis The early Legends afford no indication of the time or circumstances of the composition of these Admonitions; nor is it possible to determine by whom they were collected. But they accord so completely with the Saint’s genuine works and are so redolent of his spirit that their authenticity is admitted by all.1 Moreover, the various codices in which these Admonitions may be found are unanimous in attributing them to St. Francis, while the number of the Admonitions2 and the order in which they are given in the different codices are almost the same as in the Laurentian codex at Florence, dating from the thirteenth century.

Codices containing the Admonitions of St. Francis are to be found at the following places 1. Assist (Munic. lib. cod. 338, fol. 18),—2. Berlin (Royal lib. cod. lat. 196, fol. 101);—3. Florence (Laurentian lib. cod. X. Plut XIX dextr., fol. 448),—4. Florence (cod. of the Convent of Ognissanti, fol. 5);—5. St. Floriano (monast lib. cod XI 148, fol 38);—6. Foligno (cod. of Capuchin Conv., fol. 21),—7. Lemberg (Univ. lib. cod. 131, fol 331),—8 Liegnitz1 (lib. of SS Peter and Paul cod. 12, fol 131),—9. Luttich (Munic. lib. cod. 343, fol. 154),—10. Munich (Royal lib. cod. lat. 11354, fol 25, number 1 only);—11. Naples (Nation lib. cod XII. F. 32, folio antepaen. numbers 6-27),—12 Oxford2 (Bodl. lib. cod. Canon miscell. 525, fol. 93);—13 Paris (Nat. lib. cod 18327, fol. 154),—14, 15. Paris (Mazarin lib. cod 1743, fol. 134, and cod. 989, fol 191),—16. Paris (codex at lib. of the Prot. theol faculty, fol. 86);—17. Prague (Metrop. lib. cod B XC., fol. 244),—18. Rome (codex at St. Antony’s Coll.,3 fol. 77),—19, 20. Rome (archiv. of St Isidore’s College, cod. 1/25, fol. 14, and cod. 1/78, fol 11);—21, 22. Rome (Vatic. lib. cod. 4354, fol. 39, and cod. 7650, fol. 10);—23. Toledo (capit. lib. cod. Cai. 25, no. 11, fol. 65) and—24 Volterra (Guarnacci lib. cod 225, fol. 141).

Of the foregoing codices that in the Laurentian Library at Florence dates from the thirteenth century; those at Ognissanti, Florence, at Assisi, Berlin, St Floriano, Oxford, Rome (St. Antony’s, St. Isidore’s, and the Vatican codex 4354), Toledo, and Volterra date from the fourteenth, and the others from the fifteenth century.

For the Quaracchi edition of the Admonitions, upon which the present translation is based, the two oldest of all these codices, to wit, those of the Laurentian Library at Florence and of the Municipal Library at Assisi,1 have been used Those at St Isidore’s, Rome, and Ognissanti, Florence, have also been consulted, besides the editions of the Admonitions found in the Monumenta Ordinis Minorum (Salamanca, 1511, tract. 11, fol. 276 r), the Firmamenta Trium Ordinum2 (Paris, 1512, P. I, fol. 19 r), and the Liber Conformitatum of Bartholomew of Pisa (Milan, 1510, fruct. XII, P. 11). But for the titles and paragraphing, which differ more or less in different codices, the Laurentian codex has been followed3

So much by way of preface to the

ADMONITIONS.

1.

Of the Lord’s Body.

The Lord Jesus said to His disciples: “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No man cometh to the Father, but by Me. If you had known Me you would, without doubt, have known My Father also: and from henceforth you shall know Him, and you have seen Him. Philip saith to Him: Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us. Jesus saith to him: Have I been so long a time with you and have you not known Me? Philip, he that seeth Me seeth [My] Father also. How sayest thou, Shew us the Father?”1 The Father “inhabiteth light inaccessible,”2 and “God is a spirit,”3 and “no man hath seen God at any time.”4 Because God is a spirit, therefore it is only by the spirit He can be seen, for “it is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing.”5 For neither is the Son, inasmuch as He is equal to the Father, seen by any one other than by the Father, other than by the Holy Ghost. Wherefore, all those who saw the Lord Jesus Christ according to humanity and did not see and believe according to the Spirit and the Divinity, that He was the Son of God, were condemned. In like manner, all those who behold the Sacrament of the Body of Christ which is sanctified by the word of the Lord upon the altar by the hands of the priest in the form of bread and wine, and who do not see and believe according to the Spirit and Divinity that It is really the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, are condemned, He the Most High having declared it when He said, “This is My Body, and the Blood of the New Testament,”6 and “he that eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood hath everlasting life.”1

Wherefore [he who has]2 the Spirit of the Lord which dwells in His faithful, he it is who receives the most holy Body and Blood of the Lord: all others who do not have this same Spirit and who presume to receive Him, eat and drink judgment to themselves.3 Wherefore, “O ye sons of men, how long will you be dull of heart?”4 Why will you not know the truth and “believe in the Son of God?”5 Behold daily He humbles Himself as when from His “royal throne”6 He came into the womb of the Virgin; daily He Himself comes to us with like humility; daily He descends from the bosom of His Father upon the altar in the hands of the priest. And as He appeared in true flesh to the Holy Apostles, so now He shows Himself to us in the sacred Bread; and as they by means of their fleshly eyes saw only His flesh, yet contemplating Him with their spiritual eyes, believed Him to be God, so we, seeing bread and wine with bodily eyes, see and firmly believe it to be His most holy Body and true and living Blood And in this way our Lord is ever with His faithful, as He Himself says: “Behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.”7

2.

The Evil of Self-will.

The Lord God said to Adam: “Of every tree of paradise thou shalt eat. But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat.”1 Adam therefore might eat of every tree of paradise and so long as he did not offend against obedience he did not sin. For one eats of the tree of knowledge of good who appropriates to himself his own will2 and prides himself upon the goods which the Lord publishes and works in him and thus, through the suggestion of the devil and transgression of the commandment, he finds the apple of the knowledge of evil; wherefore, it behooves that he suffer punishment.

3.

Of Perfect and Imperfect Obedience.

The Lord says in the Gospel: he “that doth not renounce all that he possesseth cannot be” a “disciple”3 and “he that will save his life, shall lose it.”4 That man leaves all he possesses and loses his body and his soul who abandons himself wholly to obedience in the hands of his superior, and whatever he does and says—provided he himself knows that what he does is good and not contrary to his [the superior’s] will—is true obedience. And if at times a subject sees things which would be better or more useful to his soul than those which the superior commands him, let him sacrifice his will to God, let him strive to fulfil the work enjoined by the superior. This is true and charitable obedience which is pleasing to God and to one’s neighbor.

If, however, a superior command anything to a subject that is against his soul it is permissible for him to disobey, but he must not leave him [the superior], and if in consequence he suffer persecution from some, he should love them the more for God’s sake. For he who would rather suffer persecution than wish to be separated from his brethren, truly abides in perfect obedience because he lays down his life for his brothers.1 For there are many religious who, under pretext of seeing better things than those which their superiors command, look back2 and return to the vomit of their own will.3 These are homicides and by their bad example cause the loss of many souls.

4.

That no one should take Superiorship upon himself.

I did “not come to be ministered unto, but to minister,” says the Lord.4 Let those who are set above others glory in this superiority only as much as if they had been deputed to wash the feet of the brothers; and if they are more perturbed by the loss of their superiorship than they would be by losing the office of washing feet, so much the more do they lay up treasures to the peril of their own soul.

5.

That no one should glory save in the Cross of the Lord.

Consider, O man, how great the excellence in which the Lord has placed you because He has created and formed you to the image of His beloved Son according to the body and to His own likeness according to the spirit.1 And all the creatures that are under heaven serve and know and obey their Creator in their own way better than you And even the demons did not crucify Him, but you together with them crucified Him and still crucify Him by taking delight in vices and sins. Wherefore then can you glory? For if you were so clever and wise that you possessed all science, and if you knew how to interpret every form of language and to investigate heavenly things minutely, you could not glory in all this, because one demon has known more of heavenly things and still knows more of earthly things than all men, although there may be some man who has received from the Lord a special knowledge of sovereign wisdom. In like manner, if you were handsomer and richer than all others, and even if you could work wonders and put the demons to flight, all these things are hurtful to you and in nowise belong to you, and in them you cannot glory; that, however, in which we may glory is in our infirmities,2 and in bearing daily the holy cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

6.

Of the Imitation of the Lord.

Let us all, brothers, consider the Good Shepherd who to save His sheep bore the suffering of the Cross. The sheep of the Lord followed Him in tribulation and persecution and shame, in hunger and thirst, in infirmity and temptations and in all other ways;1 and for these things they have received everlasting life from the Lord. Wherefore it is a great shame for us, the servants of God, that, whereas the Saints have practised works, we should expect to receive honor and glory for reading and preaching the same.

7.

That Good Works should accompany Knowledge.

The Apostle says, “the letter killeth, but the spirit quickeneth.”2 They are killed by the letter who seek only to know the words that they may be esteemed more learned among others and that they may acquire great riches to leave to their relations and friends. And those religious are killed by the letter who will not follow the spirit of the Holy Scriptures, but who seek rather to know the words only and to interpret them to others. And they are quickened by the spirit of the Holy Scriptures who do not interpret materially every text they know or wish to know, but who by word and example give them back to God from whom is all good.

8.

Of avoiding the Sin of Envy.

The Apostle affirms that “no man can say the Lord Jesus but by the Holy Ghost,”1 and “there is none that doth good, no not one.”2 Whosoever, therefore, envies his brother on account of the good which the Lord says or does in him, commits a sin akin to blasphemy, because he envies the Most High Himself who says and does all that is good.

9.

Of Love.

The Lord says in the Gospel, “Love your enemies,” etc.3 He truly loves his enemy who does not grieve because of the wrong done to himself, but who is afflicted for love of God because of the sin on his [brother’s] soul and who shows his love by his works.

10.

Of Bodily Mortification.

There are many who if they commit sin or suffer wrong often blame their enemy or their neighbor. But this is not right, for each one has his enemy in his power,—to wit, the body by which he sins. Wherefore blessed is that servant who always holds captive the enemy thus given into his power and wisely guards himself from it, for so long as he acts thus no other enemy visible or invisible can do him harm.

11.

That one must not be seduced by Bad Crample.1

To the servant of God nothing should be displeasing save sin. And no matter in what way any one may sin, if the servant of God is troubled or angered—except this be through charity—he treasures up guilt to himself.2 The servant of God who does not trouble himself or get angry about anything lives uprightly and without sin. And blessed is he who keeps nothing for himself, rendering “to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s and to God the things that are God’s.”3

12.

Of Knowing the Spirit of God.

Thus may the servant of God know if he has the Spirit of God: if when the Lord works some good through him, his body—since it is ever at variance with all that is good—is not therefore puffed up; but if he rather becomes viler in his own sight and if he esteems himself less than other men.4

13.

Of Patience.

How much interior patience and humility a servant of God may have cannot be known so long as he is contented1 But when the time comes that those who ought to please him go against him, as much patience and humility as he then shows, so much has he and no more.

14.

Of Poverty of Spirit.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”2 Many apply themselves to prayers and offices, and practise much abstinence and bodily mortification, but because of a single word which seems to be hurtful to their bodies or because of something being taken from them, they are forthwith scandalized and troubled. These are not poor in spirit: for he who is truly poor in spirit, hates himself and loves those who strike him on the cheek.3

15.

Of Peacemakers.

“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”4 They are truly peacemakers who amidst all they suffer in this world maintain peace in soul and body for the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.

16.

Of Cleanness of Heart.

“Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God.”1 They are clean of heart who despise earthly things and always seek those of heaven, and who never cease to adore and contemplate the Lord God Living and True, with a pure heart and mind.

17.

Of the Humble Servant of God.

Blessed is that servant who is not more puffed up because of the good the Lord says and works through him than because of that which He says and works through others. A man sins who wishes to receive more from his neighbor than he is himself willing to give to the Lord God.

18.

Of Compassion toward one’s Neighbor.

Blessed is the man who bears with his neighbor according to the frailty of his nature as much as he would wish to be borne with by him if he should be in a like case.

19.

Of the Happy and Unhappy Servant.

Blessed is the servant who gives up all his goods to the Lord God, for he who retains anything for himself hides “his Lord’s money,”2 and that “which he thinketh he hath shall be taken away from him.”3

20.

Of the Good and Humble Religious.

Blessed is the servant who does not regard himself as better when he is esteemed and extolled by men than when he is reputed as mean, simple, and despicable: for what a man is in the sight of God, so much he is, and no more.1 Woe to that religious who is elevated in dignity by others, and who of his own will is not ready to descend. And blessed is that servant who is raised in dignity not by his own will and who always desires to be beneath the feet of others.

21.

Of the Happy and the Vain Religious.

Blessed is that religious who feels no pleasure or joy save in most holy conversation and the works of the Lord, and who by these means leads men2 to the love of God in joy and gladness. And woe to that religious who takes delight in idle and vain words and by this means provokes men to laughter.

22.

Of the Frivolous and Talkative Religious.3

Blessed is that servant who does not speak through hope of reward and who does not manifest everything and is not “hasty to speak,”4 but who wisely foresees what he ought to say and answer. Woe to that religious who not concealing in his heart the good things which the Lord has disclosed to him and who not manifesting them to others by his work, seeks rather through hope of reward to make them known to men by words: for now he receives his recompense and his hearers bear away little fruit.

23.

Of True Correction.

Blessed is the servant who bears discipline, accusation, and blame from others as patiently as if they came from himself. Blessed is the servant who, when reproved, mildly submits, modestly obeys, humbly confesses, and willingly satisfies. Blessed is the servant who is not prompt to excuse himself and who humbly bears shame and reproof for sin when he is without fault.

24.

Of True Humility.1

Blessed is he2 who shall be found as humble among his subjects as if he were among his masters. Blessed is the servant who always continues under the rod of correction. He is “a faithful and wise servant”3 who does not delay to punish himself for all his offences, interiorly by contrition and exteriorly by confession and by works of satisfaction.

25.

Of True Love.

Blessed is that brother who would love his brother as much when he is ill and not able to assist him as he loves him when he is well and able to assist him. Blessed is the brother who would love and fear his brother as much when he is far from him as he would when with him, and who would not say anything about him behind his back that he could not with charity say in his presence.

26.

That the Servants of God should honor Clerics.

Blessed is the servant of God who exhibits confidence in clerics who live uprightly according to the form of the holy Roman Church. And woe to those who despise them: for even though they [the clerics] may be sinners, nevertheless no one ought to judge them, because the Lord Himself reserves to Himself alone the right of judging them. For as the administration with which they are charged, to wit, of the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which they receive and which they alone administer to others—is greater than all others, even so the sin of those who offend against them is greater than any against all the other men in this world.

27.

Of the Virtues putting Vices to flight.

Where there is charity and wisdom there is neither fear nor ignorance Where there is patience and humility there is neither anger nor worry.1 Where there is poverty and joy there is neither cupidity nor avarice. Where there is quiet and meditation there is neither solicitude nor dissipation. Where there is the fear of the Lord to guard the house the enemy cannot find a way to enter. Where there is mercy and discretion there is neither superfluity nor hard-heartedness.

28.

Of hiding Good lest it be lost.

Blessed is the servant who treasures up in heaven2 the good things which the Lord shows him and who does not wish to manifest them to men through the hope of reward, for the Most High will Himself manifest his works to whomsoever He may please. Blessed is the servant who keeps the secrets of the Lord in his heart.3

II.

Salutation of the Virtues.

Thomas of Celano, St. Francis’ earliest biographer, bears witness to the authenticity of this exquisite Salutation in his Second Life, written about 12471 It is found in the codices of Assisi, Berlin, Florence (Ognissanti MS.), Foligno, Liegnitz, Naples, Paris (Mazarin MSS. and MS. of Prot. theol. fac.), and Rome (Vatican MSS.), above mentioned,2 as well as at Düsseldorf (Royal arch. cod B. 132), and is given by Bartholomew of Pisa in his Liber Conformitatum3 (fruct. XII, P. 11, Cap. 38). This Salutation was also published in the Speculum Vitae B. Francisci et Sociorum Ejus (fol. 126 v)4 and by Wadding,5 who followed the Assisian codex. This codex, which is the oldest one containing the Salutation, has been used for the Quaracchi edition, which I have here followed, as well as the Ognissanti MS. and the version given in the Conformities.

Now follows the

SALUTATION OF THE VIRTUES.6

Hail,7 queen wisdom! May the Lord save thee with thy sister holy pure simplicity! O Lady, holy poverty, may the Lord save thee with thy sister holy humility! O Lady, holy charity, may the Lord save thee with thy sister holy obedience! O all ye most holy virtues, may the Lord, from whom you proceed and come, save you! There is absolutely no man in the whole world who can possess one among you unless he first die. He who possesses one and does not offend the others, possesses all; and he who offends one, possesses none and offends all; and every one [of them] confounds vices and sins. Holy wisdom confounds Satan and all his wickednesses. Pure holy simplicity confounds all the wisdom of this world and the wisdom of the flesh. Holy poverty confounds cupidity and avarice and the cares of this world. Holy humility confounds pride and all the men of this world and all things that are in the world Holy charity confounds all diabolical and fleshly temptations and all fleshly fears. Holy obedience confounds all bodily and fleshly desires and keeps the body mortified to the obedience of the spirit and to the obedience of one’s brother and makes a man subject to all the men of this world and not to men alone, but also to all beasts and wild animals, so that they may do with him whatsoever they will, in so far as it may be granted to them from above by the Lord.

III.

On Reverence for the Lord’s Body and on the Cleanliness of the Altar.

The arguments already adduced to establish the authenticity of the Admonitions may also be used in behalf of this instruction addressed “to all clerics.” It is found in eight of the codices above mentioned—to wit, those of Assisi, Liegnitz, Paris (both Mazarin MSS. and at lib of Prot. theol. fac), Rome (St. Antony’s and St. Isidore’s MS. 1/73), and Dusseldorf. In Wadding’s edition of the Opuscula this instruction on the Blessed Sacrament is placed among the letters of St. Francis1 (No. XIII), but the early codices do not give it in an epistolary form,2 but rather as it is printed here without address or salutation. For the present edition the Assisian codex3 has been used as well as the codices of St. Antony’s and St. Isidore’s at Rome. The text is as follows

ON REVERENCE FOR THE LORD’S BODY AND ON THE CLEANLINESS OF THE ALTAR.

Let us all consider, O clerics, the great sin and ignorance of which some are guilty regarding the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and His most holy Name and the written words of consecration. For we know that the Body cannot exist until after these words of consecration. For we have nothing and we see nothing of the Most High Himself in this world except [His] Body and Blood, names and words by which we have been created and redeemed from death to life.

But let all those who administer such most holy mysteries, especially those who do so indifferently, consider among themselves how poor the chalices, corporals, and linens may be where the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ is sacrificed. And by many It is left in wretched places and carried by the way disrespectfully, received unworthily and administered to others indiscriminately. Again His Names and written words are sometimes trampled under foot, for the sensual man perceiveth not these things that are of God.1 Shall we not by all these things be moved with a sense of duty when the good Lord Himself places Himself in our hands and we handle Him and receive Him daily? Are we unmindful that we must needs fall into His hands?

Let us then at once and resolutely correct these faults and others; and wheresoever the most holy Body of our Lord Jesus Christ may be improperly reserved and abandoned, let It be removed thence and let It be put and enclosed in a precious place In like manner wheresoever the Names and written words of the Lord may be found in unclean places they ought to be collected and put away in a decent place. And we know that we are bound above all to observe all these things by the commandments of the Lord and the constitutions of holy Mother Church And let him who does not act thus know that he shall have to render an account therefor before our Lord Jesus Christ on the day of judgment. And let him who may cause copies of this writing to be made, to the end that it may be the better observed, know that he is blessed by the Lord.

IV.

Rules of the Friars Minor.

The early history of the Seraphic legislation, to wit, the Rules of the Friars Minor, the Poor Ladies and the Brothers and Sisters of Penance, is intricate beyond measure, as those at all conversant with the subject are but too well aware. Withal, as regards the Rule of the Friars Minor, with which we are now more particularly concerned, St Francis seems, on the whole, to have written it twice. We have the formal testimony of St Bonaventure and other trustworthy authorities to this effect Suffice it to say that in the third year after he underwent the great spiritual crisis we call conversion, “the servant of Christ, seeing that the number of his Friars was gradually increasing, wrote for himself and for them a form of life in simple words, laying as its irremovable foundation the observance of the holy Gospel and adding a few other things which seemed necessary for uniformity of life.”1 It was this “form of life,” which has become known as the first Rule, that Innocent III approved viva voce, April 23, 1209.2 Some fourteen years later on, when the Order had greatly increased, Francis “desiring to bring into a shorter form the Rule handed down in which the words of the Gospel were scattered somewhat diffusely . . . caused a Rule to be written. . . . And this Rule. he committed to the keeping of his Vicar, who, after a few days had elapsed, declared that he had carelessly lost it. Once more the holy man . . . rewrote the Rule as at the first . . . and by Pope Honorius obtained its confirmation”1 on November 29, 1223. Such in briefest outline is the genesis of the first and second Rules written by St. Francis for the Friars Minor.

To these two Rules Prof Karl Muller2 and M Paul Sabatier3 would fain add a third, written, as they aver, in 1221 Their opinion, however, seems to rest upon a misconception, for the Rule which they describe as dating from 1221, is not a new one, but the same that Innocent III approved, not indeed in its original form, which has not come down to us,4 but rather in the form it had assumed in the course of twelve years, as a consequence of many changes and additions.5

Early expositors of the Rule, such as Hugo de Digne1 and Angelo Clareno,2 in their works always represent the Rule of which we are now speaking as the first and original one Moreover, none of the thirteenth century writers make mention of any third rule; they speak only of the changes and accretions which the first Rule suffered between 1209 and 1223.3

For example Jordan a Giano tells us that St. Francis chose Brother Cæsar of Spires, a profound student of Scripture and a devoted friend, to assist him in putting this Rule into shape,1 and Jacques de Vitry, writing about 1217, relates that the Friars “meet once a year . . . and then with the help of good men adopt and promulgate holy institutions approved by the Pope”2 One of these institutions has been recorded for us by Thomas of Celano in his Second Life. It appears that “on account of a general commotion in a certain chapter, St. Francis caused these words to be written ‘Let the friars take care not to appear gloomy and sad like hypocrites, but let them be jovial and merry, showing that they rejoice in the Lord, and becomingly courteous,’ ”3 words which may be found in the seventh chapter of the first Rule.4 Honorius III, on September 22, 1220, issued a decree forbidding the Friars to leave the Order after having made profession, or to roam about “beyond the bounds of obedience,” and this ordinance was added to the second chapter of the Rule.5

All permanent and powerful rules grow, as a recent writer6 has justly remarked, and it was thuswise that the first Rule of the Friars Minor received constant additions in the form of constitutions enacted at the Chapters held at Portiuncula after 1212 or otherwise—it is necessary to insist on this point1 —during the fourteen years it was in force. It is not hard therefore to understand why the texts we have of this Rule do not always agree, since these changes and additions did not come to the knowledge of all through the same channel. For example, in the tenth chapter, which deals with “the sick brothers,” we have two different readings the one followed in the present translation is that found in the majority of the codices;2 the other, which has been incorporated by Celano in his Second Life,3 has been used by Hugo de Digne in his exposition of the Rule4 So too in the twelfth chapter, which prescribes that the friars should avoid the company of women, we find the following addition in the exposition of Angelo Clareno5 and the Speculum Vitae B Francisci.6 “Let no one walk abroad with them alone or eat out of the same plate with them at table,”—words not to be found in the more common form of the Rule

It remains to say a word about the relation of this first Rule to the second and definitive one approved in 1223. In treating of the difference between these two Rules, M. Sabatier errs still more strangely They had little in common, he avers, except the name, the second being the very antithesis of the first, which alone was truly Franciscan.7 To say the truth this assertion is less conformable to reality than it is to the theories and prejudices of the French writer. In so far as the first and second Rules written by St. Francis for the Friars Minor may be said to differ, the difference lies in this that the second Rule is shorter, more precise, and more orderly;1 but essentially and in substance it is clearly and truly the same as the first Rule. Indeed, the very wording of the second Rule already exists in great part in the first one, as any one must observe who makes an unbiassed comparison of the two So true is this agreement between the two Rules that they are often regarded as one and the same. Thus Pope Honorius III himself in his bull of 1223 confirming the second Rule makes no distinction between the two. “We confirm,” he says, “the Rule of your Order approved by Pope Innocent, our predecessor, of happy memory.”2 And Brother Elias, in a letter addressed to the friars “living near Valenciennes,” exhorts them to observe purely, inviolably, unweariedly the “holy Rule approved by Pope Innocent and confirmed by Pope Honorius.”3 Rightly then does Hugo de Digne (“spiritualis homo ultra modum”) describe the difference between the two Rules in his Exposition,4 when he says: “Some things were afterwards omitted for the sake of brevity from the Rule approved by Pope Innocent before it was confirmed by the bull of Pope Honorius.”1

For the rest, M Sabatier’s assertion that the “Spiritual” friars at the beginning of the fourteenth century did not dream of using the first Rule2 can hardly be admitted. To refute it, it suffices to cite Angelo Clareno, the leader of the “Spiritual” friars, who so very often mentions the first Rule in his exposition and whose citations prove that in the first quarter of the fourteenth century there was no memory of any other Rule, even in the camp of the rigorists. In a word, “the opposition which the distinguished French critic would fain set up between the two Rules, does not exist, and Chapter XV of his Life of St. Francis is not at all consonant with history.” Such is the assertion of the Quaracchi editors. Its truth will be best demonstrated by an examination of the text of both Rules, which now follow:

FIRST RULE OF THE FRIARS MINOR
Which St. Francis made and which Pope Innocent III confirmed without a Bull.3

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. This is the life that Brother Francis begged might be conceded to him and confirmed by the Lord Pope Innocent. And he [the Pope] has conceded and confirmed it to him and to his brothers present and future.

Brother Francis, and whoever may be at the head of this religion, promises obedience and reverence to our Lord Pope Innocent and to his successors. And the other brothers shall be bound to obey Brother Francis and his successors.1

1.—

That the Brothers ought to live in Obedience, without Property and in Chastity.

The Rule and life of these brothers is this: namely, to live in obedience and chastity, and without property, and to follow the doctrine and footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ, who says: “If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, follow Me.”2 And: “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me;”3 in like manner: “If any man come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple”1 “And everyone that hath left father or mother, brothers or sisters, or wife, or children or lands, for My sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting.”2

2.—

Of the Reception and Clothing of the Brothers.

If any one, wishing by divine inspiration to embrace this manner of life, comes to our brothers, let him be kindly received by them. And if he be firmly resolved to undertake our life, let the brothers take great care not to meddle with his temporal affairs, but let them present him as soon as possible to their minister. Let the minister receive him kindly, and encourage him, and diligently explain to him the tenor of our life. This being done, if he be willing and able, with safety of conscience and without impediment, let him sell all his goods and endeavor to distribute them to the poor. But let the brothers and the ministers of the brothers be careful not to interfere in any way in his affairs, and let them not receive any money, either themselves or through any person acting as intermediary; if however they should be in want, the brothers may accept other necessaries for the body, money excepted, by reason of their necessity, like other poor. And when he [the candidate] shall have returned, let the minister grant him the habit of probation for a year; that is to say, two tunics without a hood and cord and breeches and a chaperon1 reaching to the girdle. The year of probation being finished, let him be received to obedience. Afterwards it shall not be lawful for him to pass to another Order, nor to “wander about beyond obedience,” according to the commandment of the Lord Pope.2 For according to the Gospel “no man putting his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”3 If, however, anyone should present himself who cannot without difficulty give away his goods, but has the spiritual will to relinquish them, it shall suffice. No one shall be received contrary to the form and institution of the holy Church.

But the other brothers who have promised obedience may have one tunic with a hood, and another without a hood, if necessity require it, and a cord and breeches. And let all the brothers be clothed with mean garments, and they may mend them with sackcloth and other pieces, with the blessing of God, for the Lord says in the Gospel: they that are in costly apparel and live delicately and they that are clothed in soft garments are in the houses of kings.4 And although they should be called hypocrites, let them not cease to do good; let them not desire rich clothes in this world, that they may possess a garment in the kingdom of heaven.

3.—

Of the Divine Office and of the Fast.

The Lord says: “This kind [of devil] can go out by nothing but by fasting and prayer”;1 and again: “When you fast be not as the hypocrites, sad.”2 For this reason let all the brothers, whether clerics or laics, say the Divine Office, the praises and prayers which they ought to say. The clerics shall say the Office, and say it for the living and the dead, according to the custom of clerics; but to satisfy for the defect and negligence of the brothers, let them say every day Miserere mei, with the Pater noster; for the deceased brothers let them say De profundis, with Pater noster. And they may have only the books necessary to perform their Office; and the lay-brothers who know how to read the Psalter may also have one; but the others who do not know how to read may not have a book. The lay-brothers however shall say: Credo in Deum, and twenty-four Paternosters with Gloria Patri for Matins, but for Lauds, five; for Prime, Tierce, Sext, and Nones, for each, seven Paternosters with Gloria Patri; for Vespers, twelve; for Compline, Credo in Deum and seven Paternosters with Gloria Patri; for the dead, seven Paternosters with Requiem aeternam; and for the defect and negligence of the brothers, three Paternosters every day.

And all the brothers shall likewise fast from the feast of All Saints until the Nativity of our Lord, and from Epiphany, when our Lord Jesus Christ began to fast, until Easter; but at other times let them not be bound to fast according to this life except on Fridays. And they may eat of all foods which are placed before them, according to the Gospel.1

4.—

Of the Ministers and the other Brothers: how they shall be ranged.

In the Name of the Lord let all the brothers who are appointed ministers and servants of the other brothers place their brothers in the provinces or places where they may be, and let them often visit and spiritually admonish and console them. And let all my other blessed brothers diligently obey them in those things which look to the salvation of the soul and are not contrary to our life. Let them observe among themselves what the Lord says: “Whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you also to them,”2 and “what you do not wish done to you, do it not to others”3 And let the ministers and servants remember that the Lord says: I have not “come to be ministered unto, but to minister,”4 and that to them is committed the care of the souls of their brothers, of whom, if any should be lost through their fault and bad example, they will have to give an account before the Lord Jesus Christ in the day of judgment.

5.—

Of the Correction of the Brothers who offend.

Therefore take care of your souls and of those of your brothers, for “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”1 If however one of the ministers should command some one of the brothers anything contrary to our life or against his soul, the brother is not bound to obey him, because that is not obedience in which a fault or sin is committed. Nevertheless, let all the brothers who are subject to the ministers and servants consider reasonably and carefully the deeds of the ministers and servants. And if they should see any one of them walking according to the flesh and not according to the spirit, according to the right way of our life, after the third admonition, if he will not amend, let him be reported to the minister and servant of the whole fraternity in the Whitsun Chapter, in spite of any obstacle that may stand in the way. If however among the brothers, wherever they may be, there should be some brother who desires to live according to the flesh, and not according to the spirit, let the brothers with whom he is admonish, instruct, and correct him humbly and diligently. And if after the third admonition he will not amend, let them as soon as possible send him, or make the matter known to his minister and servant, and let the minister and servant do with him what may seem to him most expedient before God.

And let all the brothers, the ministers and servants as well as the others, take care not to be troubled or angered because of the fault or bad example of another, for the devil desires to corrupt many through the sin of one; but let them spiritually help him who has sinned, as best they can; for he that is whole needs not a physician, but he that is sick.1

In like manner let not all the brothers have power and authority, especially among themselves, for as the Lord says in the Gospel: “The princes of the Gentiles lord it over them: and they that are the greater exercise power upon them.”2 It shall not be thus among the brothers, but whosoever will be the greater among them, let him be their minister and servant,3 and he that is the greater among them let him be as the younger,4 and he who is the first, let him be as the last. Let not any brother do evil or speak evil to another; let them rather in the spirit of charity willingly serve and obey each other: and this is the true and holy obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ. And let all the brothers as often soever as they may have declined from the commandments of God, and wandered from obedience, know that, as the prophet says,5 they are cursed out of obedience as long as they continue consciously in such a sin. And when they persevere in the commandments of the Lord, which they have promised by the holy Gospel and their life, let them know that they abide in true obedience, and are blessed by God.

6—

Of the Recourse of the Brothers to their Ministers and that no Brother may be called Prior

Let the brothers, in whatsoever places they may be, if they cannot observe our life, have recourse as soon as possible to their minister, making this known to him. But let the minister endeavor to provide for them in such a way as he would wish to be dealt with himself if he were in the like case. And let no one be called Prior, but let all in general be called Friars Minor. And let one wash the feet of the other.

7.—

Of the Manner of serving and working.

Let the brothers in whatever places they may be among others to serve or to work, not be chamberlains, nor cellarers, nor overseers in the houses of those whom they serve, and let them not accept any employment which might cause scandal, or be injurious to their soul,1 but let them be inferior and subject to all who are in the same house.

And let the brothers who know how to work, labor and exercise themselves in that art they may understand, if it be not contrary to the salvation of their soul, and they can exercise it becomingly For the prophet says: “For thou shalt eat the labors of thy hands; blessed art thou, and it shall be well with thee”;1 and the Apostle: “If any man will not work, neither let him eat.”2 And let every man abide in the art or employment wherein he was called.3 And for their labor they may receive all necessary things, except money. And if they be in want, let them seek for alms like other brothers. And they may have the tools and implements necessary for their work. Let all the brothers apply themselves with diligence to good works, for it is written: “Be always busy in some good work, that the devil may find thee occupied;”4 and again: “Idleness is an enemy to the soul.”5 Therefore the servants of God ought always to continue in prayer or in some other good work.

Let the brothers take care that wherever they may be, whether in hermitages or in other places, they never appropriate any place to themselves, or maintain it against another. And whoever may come to them, either a friend or a foe, a thief or a robber, let them receive him kindly. And wherever the brothers are and in whatsoever place they may find themselves, let them spiritually and diligently show reverence and honor toward one another without murmuring.1 And let them take care not to appear exteriorly sad and gloomy like hypocrites, but let them show themselves to be joyful and contented in the Lord, merry and becomingly courteous.2

8.—

That the Brothers must not receive Money.

The Lord commands in the Gospel: “Take heed, beware of all malice and avarice and guard yourselves from the solicitudes of this world, and the cares of this life.”3 Therefore let none of the brothers, wherever he may be or whithersoever he may go, carry or receive money or coin in any manner, or cause it to be received, either for clothing, or for books, or as the price of any labor, or indeed for any reason, except on account of the manifest necessity of the sick brothers. For we ought not to have more use and esteem of money and coin than of stones. And the devil seeks to blind those who desire or value it more than stones. Let us therefore take care lest after having left all things we lose the kingdom of heaven for such a trifle. And if we should chance to find money in any place, let us no more regard it than the dust we tread under our feet,4 for it is “vanity of vanities, and all is vanity.”5 And if perchance, which God forbid, it should happen that any brother should collect or have money or coin, except only because of the aforesaid necessity of the sick, let all the brothers hold him for a false brother, a thief, a robber, and one having a purse, unless he should become truly penitent. And let the brothers in nowise receive money for alms1 or cause it to be received, seek it or cause it to be sought, or money for other houses or places; nor let them go with any person seeking money or coin for such places. But the brothers may perform all other services which are not contrary to our life, with the blessing of God. The brothers may however for the manifest necessity of the lepers ask alms for them But let them be very wary of money. But let all the brothers likewise take great heed not to search the world for any filthy lucre.

9—

Of asking for Alms.

Let all the brothers strive to follow the humility and poverty of our Lord Jesus Christ, and let them remember that we ought to have nothing else in the whole world, except as the Apostle says: “Having food and wherewith to be covered, with these we are content.2 ” And they ought to rejoice when they converse with mean and despised persons, with the poor and the weak, with the infirm and lepers, and with those who beg in the streets. And when it may be necessary, let them go for alms. And let them not be ashamed thereof, but rather remember that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living and Omnipotent God, set His face “as a hard rock,”1 and was not ashamed, and was poor, and a stranger, and lived on alms, He Himself and the Blessed Virgin and His disciples. And when men may treat them with contempt, and refuse to give them an alms, let them give thanks for this to God, because for these shames they shall receive great honor before the tribunal of our Lord Jesus Christ. And let them know that the injuries shall not be imputed to those who suffer them, but to those who offer them. And alms is an inheritance and a right which is due to the poor, which our Lord Jesus Christ purchased for us. And the brothers who labor in seeking it will have a great recompense, and they will procure and acquire a reward for those who give; for all that men leave in this world shall perish, but for the charity and alms-deeds they have done they will receive a reward from God.

And let one make known clearly his wants to another, in order that he may find and receive what are necessary for him. And let everyone love and nourish his brother as a mother loves and nourishes her son, in so far as God gives them grace. And “let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and he that eateth not, let him not judge him that eateth.”1 And whensoever a necessity shall arise, it is lawful for all the brothers, wherever they may be, to eat of all food that men can eat, as our Lord said of David, who “did eat the loaves of proposition, which was not lawful to eat but for the priests.”2 And let them remember what the Lord says: “and take heed to yourselves, lest perhaps your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and the cares of this life: and that they come upon you suddenly. For as a snare shall it come upon all that sit upon the face of the whole earth.”3 And in like manner in time of manifest necessity let all the brothers act in their needs, as our Lord shall give them grace, for necessity has no law.

10.—

Of the sick Brothers.

If any of the brothers fall into sickness, wherever he may be, let the others not leave him, unless one of the brothers, or more if it be necessary, be appointed to serve him as they would wish to be served themselves; but in urgent necessity they may commit him to some person who will take care of him in his infirmity. And I ask the sick brother that he give thanks to the Creator for all things, and that he desire to be as God wills him to be, whether sick or well; for all whom the Lord has predestined to eternal life1 are disciplined by the rod of afflictions and infirmities, and the spirit of compunction; as the Lord says: “Such as I love I rebuke and chastise.”2 If, however, he be disquieted and angry, either against God or against the brothers, or perhaps ask eagerly for remedies, desiring too much to deliver his body which is soon to die, which is an enemy to the soul, this comes to him from evil and he is fleshly, and seems not to be of the brothers, because he loves his body more than his soul.3

11.—

That the Brothers ought not to speak evil or detract, but ought to love one another.

And let all the brothers take care not to calumniate anyone, nor to contend in words;4 let them indeed study to maintain silence as far as God gives them grace. Let them also not dispute among themselves or with others, but let them be ready to answer with humility, saying: “we are unprofitable servants.”5 And let them not be angry, for “whosoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council. And whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.”6 And let them love one another, as the Lord says: “This is My commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you.1 ” And let them show their love by the works2 they do for each other, according as the Apostle says: “let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.”3 Let them “speak evil of no man,”4 nor murmur, nor detract others, for it is written: “Whisperers and detractors are hateful to God.”5 And let them be “gentle, showing all mildness toward all men.”6 Let them not judge and not condemn, and, as the Lord says, let them not pay attention to the least sins of others, but rather let them recount their own in the bitterness of their soul.7 And let them “strive to enter by the narrow gate,”8 for the Lord says: “How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth to life, and few there are that find it!”9

12.—

Of avoiding unbecoming Looks and the Company of Women.

Let all the brothers, wherever they are or may go, carefully avoid unbecoming looks, and company of women, and let no one converse with them alone.10 Let the priests speak to them honestly, giving them penance or some spiritual counsel. And let no woman whatsoever be received to obedience by any brother,1 but spiritual counsel being given to her let her do penance where she wills. Let us all carefully watch over ourselves, and hold all our members in subjection, for the Lord says: “Whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart.”2

13.—

Of the Punishment of Fornicators.

If any brother by the instigation of the devil should commit fornication, let him be deprived of the habit of the Order which he has lost by his base iniquity and let him put it aside wholly, and let him be altogether expelled from our religion. And let him afterwards do penance for his sins.

14.—

How the Brothers should go through the World.

When the brothers travel through the world, let them carry nothing by the way, neither bag, nor purse, nor bread, nor money, nor a staff. And whatsoever house they shall enter, let them first say, “Peace be to this house,” and remaining in the same house, let them eat and drink what things they have.3 Let them not resist evil,4 but if anyone should strike them on the cheek, let them turn to him the other; and if anyone take away their garment, let them not forbid him the tunic also. Let them give to everyone that asketh them, and if anyone take away their goods, let them not ask them again.1

15—

That the Brothers may not keep Beasts nor ride.

I enjoin all the brothers, both clerics and laics, that when they travel through the world, or reside in places, they in no wise, either with them or with others or in any other way, have any kind of beast of burden. Nor is it lawful for them to ride on horseback unless they are compelled by infirmity or great necessity.

16.—

Of those who go among the Saracens and other Infidels.

The Lord says: “Behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents and simple as doves.”2 Wherefore, whoever of the brothers may wish, by divine inspiration, to go among the Saracens and other infidels, let them go with the permission of their minister and servant. But let the minister give them leave and not refuse them, if he sees they are fit to be sent; he will be held to render an account to the Lord if in this or in other things he acts indiscreetly. The brothers, however, who go may conduct themselves in two ways spiritually among them. One way is not to make disputes or contentions; but let them be “subject to every human creature for God’s sake,”1 yet confessing themselves to be Christians. The other way is that when they see it is pleasing to God, they announce the Word of God, that they may believe in Almighty God,—Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost, the Creater of all, our Lord the Redeemer and Saviour the Son, and that they should be baptized and be made Christians, because, “unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”2

These and other things which please God they may say to them, for the Lord says in the Gospel: “Everyone that shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven;”3 and “he that shall be ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man shall be ashamed, when He shall come in His majesty and that of His Father, and of the holy angels.”4

And let all the brothers, wherever they may be, remember that they have given themselves, and have relinquished their bodies to our Lord Jesus Christ; and for love of Him they ought to expose themselves to enemies both visible and invisible, for the Lord says: “Whosoever shall lose his life for My sake, shall save it”5 in eternal life. “Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”1 “If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.”2 If however they should persecute you in one city, flee to another.3 “Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for My sake.”4 “Be glad in that day and rejoice, for your reward is great in heaven.”5 “I say to you, my friends, be not afraid of them who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.”6 “See that ye are not troubled.”7 “In your patience you shall possess your souls.”8 “But he that shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved.”9

17.—

Of Preachers.

Let none of the brothers preach contrary to the form and institution of the holy Roman Church, and unless this has been conceded to him by his minister. But let the minister take care that he does not grant this leave indiscreetly to anyone. Nevertheless, let all the brothers preach by their works. And let no minister or preacher appropriate to himself the ministry of brothers or the office of preaching, but let him give up his office without any contradiction at whatever hour it may be enjoined him. Wherefore I beseech in the charity which God is10 all my brothers, preachers, prayers, or laborers, both clerics and laics, that they study to humble themselves in all things and that they glory not, nor rejoice, nor inwardly exalt themselves on account of good words and works, nor indeed for any good which God may sometimes say or do and operate in them or by them, according to what the Lord says: “But yet rejoice not, in this that spirits are subject unto you”1 And let us know for certain that nothing belongs to us but vices and sins. And we ought rather to rejoice when we “fall into divers temptations,”2 and when we bear some afflictions or sorrows of soul or body in this world for the sake of eternal life Let us then all, brothers, avoid all pride and vainglory. Let us keep ourselves from the wisdom of this world, and the prudence of the flesh; for the spirit of the world wishes and cares much for words, but little for work; and it seeks not religion and interior sanctity of spirit, but wishes and desires a religion and sanctity appearing from without to men. And these are they of whom the Lord says: “Amen, I say unto you, they have received their reward.”3 But the spirit of the Lord wishes the flesh to be mortified and despised, and to be considered vile, abject, and contemptible; and it studies humility and patience, pure simplicity, and true peace of mind, and always desires above all things divine fear and divine wisdom, and the divine love of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

And let us refer all good to the Lord God most High and Supreme; let us acknowledge that all good belongs to Him, and let us give thanks for all to Him from whom all good proceeds And may He, the most High and Supreme, only True God, have, and may there be rendered to Him and may He receive, all honors and reverences, all praises and benedictions, all thanks and all glory, to whom all good belongs, who alone is good.1 And when we see or hear evil said or God blasphemed, let us bless and thank and praise the Lord who is blessed for ever. Amen.

18.—

How the Ministers should meet together.

Each minister may assemble with his brothers every year wherever he may please on the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel, to treat of those things which belong to God. And let all the ministers who are in parts beyond the sea and beyond the mountains come once in three years, and the other ministers once every year to the chapter on Whit Sunday, at the Church of St. Mary of the Portiuncula, unless it be otherwise ordered by the minister and servant of the whole brotherhood.

19—

That all the Brothers must live in a Catholic way.

Let all the brothers be Catholics, and live and speak in a Catholic manner. But if anyone should err from the Catholic faith and life in word or in deed, and will not amend, let him be altogether expelled from our fraternity. And let us hold all clerics and religious as our masters in those things which regard the salvation of souls, if they do not deviate from our religion, and let us reverence their office and order and administration in the Lord.

20—

Of the Confession of the Brothers and of the Reception of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let my blessed brothers, both clerics and laics, confess their sins to priests of our religion. And if they cannot do this, let them confess to other discreet and Catholic priests, knowing firmly and hoping that from whatever Catholic priests they may receive penance and absolution, they will undoubtedly be absolved from these sins if they take care to observe humbly and faithfully the penance enjoined them. If however they cannot then have a priest, let them confess to their brother, as the Apostle James says: “Confess your sins to one another;”1 but let them not on this account fail to have recourse to priests, for to priests alone the power of binding and loosing has been given. And thus contrite and having confessed, let them receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ with great humility and veneration, calling to mind what the Lord Himself says: “He that eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood hath everlasting life,”1 and “Do this for a commemoration of Me.”2

21—

Of the Praise and Exhortation which all the Brothers may make.

And this or the like exhortation and praise all my brothers may announce with the blessing of God, whenever it may please them among whatever men they may be: Fear and honor, praise and bless God, give thanks3 and adore the Lord God Almighty in Trinity and Unity, Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost, the Creator of all. “Do penance,”4 bring forth fruits worthy of penance,5 for know that we must soon die. “Give and it shall be given to you;”6 “Forgive, and you shall be forgiven.”7 And if you do not forgive men their sins, the Lord will not forgive you your sins.8 Confess all your sins.9 Blessed are they who shall die in penitence, for they shall be in the kingdom of heaven. Woe to those who do not die in penitence, for they shall be the children of the devil, whose works they do,10 and they shall go into eternal fire Beware and abstain from all evil, and persevere in good until the end.

22—

Of the Admonition of the Brothers.

Let us all, brothers, give heed to what the Lord says: “Love your enemies, and do good to them that hate you.”1 For our Lord Jesus, whose footsteps we ought to follow,2 called His betrayer friend,3 and offered Himself willingly to His crucifiers. Therefore all those who unjustly inflict upon us tribulations and anguishes, shames and injuries, sorrows and torments, martyrdom and death, are our friends whom we ought to love much, because we gain eternal life by that which they make us suffer. And let us hate our body with its vices and sins, because by living carnally it wishes to deprive us of the love of our Lord Jesus Christ and eternal life, and to lose itself with all else in hell; for we by our own fault are corrupt, miserable, and averse to good, but prompt and willing to evil; because, as the Lord says in the Gospel: from the heart of men proceed and come evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, false testimonies, blasphemy, foolishness.4 All these evils come from within, from the heart of man, and these are what defile a man.

But now, after having renounced the world, we have nothing else to do but to be solicitous, to follow the will of God, and to please Him. Let us take much care that we be not the wayside, or the stony or thorny ground, according to what the Lord says in the Gospel: The seed is the word of God. And that which fell by the wayside and was trampled under foot are they that hear the word and do not understand, then the devil cometh, and snatcheth that which has been sown in their hearts and taketh the word out of their hearts, lest believing they should be saved. But that which fell upon the rock are they who, when they hear the word, at once receive it with joy; but when tribulation and persecution arise on account of the word, they are immediately scandalized, and these have no roots in themselves, but are for a while, for they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away But that which fell among thorns are they who hear the word of God, and the solicitude and cares of this world, the fallacies of riches, and the desire of other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. But that sown on good ground are they who, in a good and best heart, hearing the word understand and keep it, and bring forth fruit in patience.1

And for this reason, brothers, let us, as the Lord says, “let the dead bury their dead.”2 And let us be much on our guard against the malice and cunning of Satan, who desires that man should not give his heart and mind to the Lord God, and who going about seeks to seduce the heart of man under pretext of some reward or benefit, to smother the words and precepts of the Lord from memory, and who wishes to blind the heart of man by wordly business and cares, and to dwell there, as the Lord says: “When an unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places seeking rest and findeth none; then he saith: ‘I will return into my house whence I came out.’ And coming he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then he goeth and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in, and dwell there; and the last state of that man is made worse than the first.”1 Wherefore let us all, brothers, watch much, lest under pretext of some reward or labor or aid we lose or separate our mind and heart from the Lord. But I beseech all the brothers, both the ministers and others, in the charity which God is,2 that, overcoming all obstacles and putting aside all care and solicitude, they strive in the best manner they are able, to serve, love, and honor the Lord God with a clean heart and a pure mind, which He seeks above all. And let us always make in us a tabernacle and dwelling-place for Him, who is the Lord God Omnipotent, Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost, who says: “Watch, therefore, praying at all times, that you may be accounted worthy to escape” all the evils “that are to come, and to stand before the Son of Man.”1 And when you stand to pray,2 say, “Our Father, who art in heaven.” And let us adore Him with a pure heart, for “we ought always to pray, and not to faint,”3 for the Father seeks such adorers. “God is a Spirit, and they that adore Him, must adore Him in spirit and in truth”4 And let us have recourse to Him as the “Shepherd and Bishop of our souls,”5 who says: “I am the Good Shepherd,” who feed My sheep, “and I lay down My life for My flock.”6 But all you are brothers. “And call none your father upon earth; for one is your Father who is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters, for one is your master, who is in heaven, Christ.”7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you”8 “Where there are two or three gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them.”9 “Behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.”10 “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”11 “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”12

Let us therefore hold fast the words, the life and doctrine and holy Gospel of Him who deigned for us to ask His Father to manifest to us His Name, saying: Father, I have manifested Thy Name to the men whom Thou hast given Me because the words which Thou gavest Me I have given to them, and they have received them, and have known in very deed that I came forth out of Thee, and they have believed that Thou didst send Me. I pray for them, I pray not for the world, but for them whom Thou hast given Me, because they are Thine and all My things are Thine. Holy Father, keep them in Thy Name whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, as We also are. These things I speak in the world that they may have joy filled in themselves. I have given them Thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, as I also am not of the world. I pray not that Thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldst keep them from evil. Sanctify them in truth. Thy word is truth As Thou hast sent Me into the world, I have sent them into the world. And for them I do sanctify Myself, that they may be sanctified in truth. Not for them only do I pray, but for them also who through their word shall believe in Me, that they may be consummated in one, and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast also loved Me. And I have made known Thy Name to them, that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them. Father, I will that where I am, they also whom Thou hast given Me may be with Me, that they may see Thy glory in Thy kingdom.1

23—

Prayer, Praise, and Thanksgiving2

Almighty, most Holy, most High and Supreme God, Holy and Just Father, Lord King of heaven and earth, for Thyself we give thanks to Thee because by Thy holy will, and by Thine only Son, Thou hast created all things spiritual and corporal in the Holy Ghost and didst place us made to Thine image and likeness3 in paradise, whence we fell by our own fault. And we give Thee thanks because, as by Thy Son Thou didst create us, so by the true and holy love with which Thou hast loved us,4 Thou didst cause Him, true God and true Man, to be born of the glorious and ever-Virgin, most Blessed holy Mary, and didst will that He should redeem us captives by His Cross and Blood and Death. And we give thanks to Thee because Thy Son Himself is to come again in the glory of His Majesty to put the wicked who have not done penance for their sins, and have not known Thee, in eternal fire, and to say to all who have known Thee and adored Thee, and served Thee in penance: “Come, ye blessed of My Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world.”5

And since all we wretches and sinners are not worthy to name Thee, we humbly beseech Thee, that our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy beloved Son, in whom Thou art well pleased,1 together with the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete, may give thanks to Thee as it is pleasing to Thee and Them, for all; He suffices Thee always for all through whom Thou hast done so much for us. Alleluia. And we earnestly beg the glorious Mother, the most Blessed Mary ever-Virgin, Blessed Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and all the choirs of the blessed spirits, seraphim, cherubim, and thrones, dominations, principalities and powers, virtues, angels and archangels, blessed John the Baptist, John the Evangelist, Peter, Paul, the blessed patriarchs and prophets, innocents, apostles, evangelists, disciples, martyrs, confessors, virgins, blessed Elias and Enoch, and all the Saints who have been and are, and shall be, for Thy love, that they may, as it is pleasing to Thee, give thanks for these things to the most high, true God, eternal and living, with Thy most dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete, for ever and ever. Amen. Alleluia.

And all we, brothers minor, useless servants, humbly entreat and beseech all those within the holy Catholic and Apostolic Church wishing to serve God, and all ecclesiastical Orders, priests, deacons, subdeacons, acolytes, exorcists, lectors, door-keepers, and all clerics; all religious men and women, all boys and children, poor and needy, kings and princes, laborers, husbandmen, servants and masters, all virgins, continent, and married people, laics, men and women, all infants, youths, young men and old, healthy and sick, all small and great, and all peoples, clans, tribes, and tongues, all nations and all men in all the earth, who are and shall be, that we may persevere in the true faith and in doing penance, for otherwise no one can be saved. Let us all love with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, with all our strength and fortitude, with all our understanding and with all our powers,1 with our whole might and whole affection, with our innermost parts, our whole desires, and wills, the Lord God, who has given, and gives to us all, the whole body, the whole soul, and our life; who has created and redeemed us, and by His mercy alone will save us; who has done and does all good to us, miserable and wretched, vile, unclean, ungrateful, and evil.

Let us therefore desire nothing else, wish for nothing else, and let nothing please and delight us except our Creator and Redeemer, and Saviour, the only true God, who is full of good, all good, entire good, the true and supreme good, who alone is good,2 merciful and kind, gentle and sweet, who alone is holy, just, true, and upright, who alone is benign, pure, and clean, from whom, and through whom, and in whom is all mercy, all grace, all glory of all penitents and of the just, and of all the blessed rejoicing in heaven. Let nothing therefore hinder us, let nothing separate us, let nothing come between us. Let us all, everywhere, in every place, at every hour, and at all times, daily and continually believe, truly and humbly, and let us hold in our hearts, and love, honor, adore, serve, praise and bless, glorify and exalt, magnify and give thanks to the most High and Supreme, Eternal God, in Trinity and Unity, to the Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost, to the Creator of all, to the Saviour of all who believe and hope in Him, and love Him, who, without beginning or end, is inmutable, invisible, unerring, ineffable, incomprehensible, unfathomable, blessed, praiseworthy, glorious, exalted, sublime, most high, sweet, amiable, lovable, and always wholly desirable above all forever and ever.

In the Name of the Lord, I beseech all the brothers that they learn the tenor and sense of those things that are written in this life for the salvation of our souls, and frequently recall them to mind. And I pray God that He who is Almighty, Three in One, may bless all who teach, learn, hold, remember, and fulfil those things as often as they repeat and do what is there written for our salvation. And I entreat all, kissing their feet, to love greatly, keep and treasure up these things. And on the part of Almighty God and of the Lord Pope, and by obedience, I, Brother Francis, strictly command and enjoin that no one subtract from those things that are written in this life, or add anything written to it over and above, and that the brothers have no other Rule.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

SECOND RULE OF THE FRIARS MINOR.1

1—

In the Name of the Lord begins the life of the Minor Brothers.

The Rule and life of the Minor Brothers is this, namely, to observe the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, by living in obedience, without property and in chastity. Brother Francis promises obedience and reverence to the Lord Pope Honorius and to his successors canonically elected and to the Roman Church. And let the other brothers be bound to obey Brother Francis and his successors.

2.—

Of those who wish to embrace this Life and how they ought to be received.

If any wish to embrace this life and come to our brothers, let them send them to their provincial ministers, to whom alone and not to others is accorded the power of receiving brothers. But let the ministers diligently examine them regarding the Catholic faith and the Sacraments of the Church. And if they believe all these things, and if they will confess them faithfully and observe them firmly to the end, and if they have no wives, or, if they have and their wives have already entered a monastery, or have, with the authority of the diocesan bishop, given them permission after having made a vow of continence, and if the wives be of such an age that no suspicion may arise concerning them, let them [the ministers] say to them the word of the holy Gospel,1 that they go and sell all their goods and strive to distribute them to the poor. If they should not be able to do this, their good will suffices. And the brothers and their ministers must take care not to be solicitous about their temporal affairs, that they may freely do with their affairs whatsoever the Lord may inspire them. If, however, counsel should be required, the ministers shall have power of sending them to some God-fearing men by whose advice their goods may be distributed to the poor. Afterwards, let them give them clothes of probation, to wit, two tunics without a hood and a cord and breeches and a chaperon reaching to the cord, unless at some time the same ministers may decide otherwise according to God. The year of probation being finished, they shall be received to obedience, promising to observe always this life and rule. And according to the command of the Lord Pope1 in no wise shall it be allowed them to go out of this religion, because, according to the holy Gospel: “No man putting his hand to the plough and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.”2 And let those who have already promised obedience have one tunic with a hood, and if they wish it another without a hood. And those who are obliged by necessity may wear shoes. And let all the brothers be clothed in poor garments and they may patch them with pieces of sackcloth and other things, with the blessing of God. I admonish and exhort them not to despise or judge men whom they see clothed in fine and showy garments using dainty meats and drinks, but rather let each one judge and despise himself.

3.—

Of the Divine Office, and of Fasting; and how the Brothers must go through the world.

Let the clerics perform the Divine Office according to the order of the holy Roman Church, with the exception of the Psalter; wherefore they may have breviaries.3 But let the laics say twenty-four Paternosters for Matins; five for Lauds; for Prime, Tierce, Sext and Nones,—for each of these, seven; for Vespers, however, twelve, for Compline seven; and let them pray for the dead.

And let them fast from the feast of All Saints until the Nativity of the Lord. But the holy Lent which begins from Epiphany and continues for forty days, which the Lord has consecrated by His holy fast,1 —may those who keep it voluntarily be blessed by the Lord and those who do not wish may not be constrained. But they must fast during the other one until the Resurrection of the Lord. At other times, however, they shall not be obliged to fast, except on Fridays. But in time of manifest necessity the brothers shall not be bound to corporal fasting.

I indeed counsel, warn, and exhort my brothers in the Lord Jesus Christ that when they go through the world they be not litigious nor contend in words,2 nor judge others; but that they be gentle, peaceful, and modest, meek and humble, speaking honestly to all as is fitting. And they must not ride on horseback unless compelled by manifest necessity or infirmity. Into whatsoever house they may enter let them first say: Peace be to this house! And, according to the holy Gospel, it is lawful to eat of all foods which are set before them.3

4—

That the Brothers must not receive money.

I strictly enjoin on all the brothers that in no wise they receive coins or money, either themselves or through an interposed person. Nevertheless, for the necessities of the sick and for clothing the other brothers, let the ministers and custodes alone take watchful care through spiritual friends, according to places and times and cold climates, as they shall see expedient in the necessity, saving always that, as has been said, they shall not receive coins or money.

5.—

Of the manner of working.

Let those brothers to whom the Lord has given the grace of working labor faithfully and devoutly, so that in banishing idleness, the enemy of the soul, they do not extinguish the spirit of holy prayer and devotion, to which all temporal things must be subservient. They may, however, receive as the reward of their labor, the things needful for the body for themselves and their brothers, with the exception of coins or money, and that humbly, as befits the servants of God and the followers of most holy poverty

6.—

That the Brothers shall appropriate nothing to themselves: and of seeking Alms and of the Sick Brothers.

The brothers shall appropriate nothing to themselves, neither a house nor place nor anything. And as pilgrims and strangers1 in this world, serving the Lord in poverty and humility, let them go confidently in quest of alms, nor ought they to be ashamed, because the Lord made Himself poor for us in this world. This, my dearest brothers, is the height of the most sublime poverty which has made you heirs and kings of the kingdom of heaven: poor in goods, but exalted in virtue. Let that be your portion, for it leads to the land of the living;2 cleaving to it unreservedly, my best beloved brothers, for the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, never desire to possess anything else under heaven.

And wheresoever the brothers are and may find themselves, let them mutually show among themselves that they are of one household. And let one make known his needs with confidence to the other, for, if a mother nourishes and loves her carnal son, how much more earnestly ought one to love and nourish his spiritual brother! And if any of them should fall into illness, the other brothers must serve him as they would wish to be served themselves.

7.—

Of the Penance to be imposed on Brothers who sin.

If any of the brothers, at the instigation of the enemy, sin mortally by those sins for which it has been ordained among the brothers that recourse should be had to the provincial ministers alone, the aforesaid brothers are bound to have recourse to them as soon as possible, without delay. But let the ministers themselves, if they are priests, impose penance on them with mercy; if however they are not priests, let them have it imposed by other priests of the Order, as it may seem to them most expedient, according to God. And they must beware lest they be angry or troubled on account of the sins of others, because anger and trouble impede charity’ in themselves and in others.

8.—

Of the Election of the Minister General of this Brotherhood, and of the Whitsun Chapter.

All the brothers are bound always to have one of the brothers of this religion as minister general and servant of the whole brotherhood, and they are strictly bound to obey him. At his death the election of a successor must be made by the provincial ministers and custodes in the Whitsun Chapter, in which the provincial ministers are always bound to convene at the same time, wheresoever it may be appointed by the minister general, and that once in three years or at a longer or shorter interval as may be ordained by the said minister And if at any time it should be apparent to the whole of the provincial ministers that the aforesaid minister general is not sufficient for the service and the common welfare of the brothers, let the aforesaid ministers, to whom the election has been committed, be bound to elect for themselves another as custos in the name of the Lord. But after the Whitsun Chapter the ministers and custodes may each, if they wish and it seem expedient to them, convoke their brothers to a chapter in their custodies once in the same year.

9.—

Of Preachers.

The brothers must not preach in the diocese of any bishop when their doing so may be opposed by him. And let no one of the brothers dare to preach in any way to the people, unless he has been examined and approved by the minister general of this brotherhood, and the office of preaching conceded to him by the latter. I also warn and exhort the same brothers that in the preaching they do their words be fire-tried and pure1 for the utility and edification of the people, announcing to them vices and virtues, punishment and glory, with brevity of speech because the Lord made His word short upon earth.2

10.—

Of the Admonition and Correction of the Brothers.

Those brothers who are ministers and servants of the other brothers, shall visit and admonish their brothers, and shall humbly and charitably correct them, not commanding them anything against their souls and our Rule. The brothers however who are subject must remember that, for God, they have renounced their own will. Wherefore I order them strictly to obey their ministers in all things which they have promised the Lord to observe and are not against their souls and our Rule. And wheresoever there are brothers who see and know that they are not able to observe the rule spiritually, they ought to and can recur to their ministers. And let the ministers receive them charitably and kindly and show so great familiarity toward them that they [the culprits] may speak and act with them as masters with their servants, for thus it ought to be, since the ministers are the servants of all the brothers.

I also warn and exhort the brothers in the Lord Jesus Christ that they beware of all pride, vainglory, envy, covetousness,1 the cares and solicitudes of this world, of detraction and murmuring. Let not those who are ignorant of letters care to learn letters, but let them consider that, beyond all, they should desire to possess the spirit of the Lord and His holy operation, to pray always to Him with a pure heart and to have humility, patience in persecution and in infirmity and to love those who persecute, reprove, and accuse us, because the Lord has said: “Love your enemies . . . and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you”2 “Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”1 “But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved.”2

11.—

That the Brothers must not enter the Monasteries of Nuns.

I strictly command all the brothers not to have suspicious intimacy, or conferences with women, and let none enter the monasteries of nuns except those to whom special permission has been granted by the Apostolic See. And let them not be godfathers of men or women, that3 scandal may not arise on this account among the brothers or concerning the brothers.

12.—

Of those who go among the Saracens and other Infidels.

Let all of the brothers who by divine inspiration desire to go amongst the Saracens or other infidels, ask leave therefor from their provincial ministers. But the ministers must give permission to go to none except to those whom they see are fitted to be sent.

Moreover, I enjoin on the ministers, by obedience, that they ask of the Lord Pope one of the Cardinals of the holy Roman Church to be governor, protector, and corrector of this brotherhood, so that being always subject and submissive at the feet of the same holy Church, grounded in the Catholic faith,1 we may observe poverty and humility and the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, which we have firmly promised.

V.

Fragments from the Rule of the Sisters of St Clare.

Of the “many writings”1 left by St. Francis to the Poor Ladies at St Damian’s, only two fragments are known to exist, and these have been preserved to us through St. Clare herself, in so far as she incorporated them in the sixth chapter of her Rule. We have it on the authority of Pope Gregory IX that St Francis wrote for St. Clare and her first companions a formula vitae, or “little rule,” at the beginning of their religious life.2 But it was this same Pope Gregory IX, then known as Cardinal Ugolino, who about 1219 composed a Rule for the Poor Ladies, which was accepted by St. Francis and confirmed by Honorius III3 This Rule, as the Pontiff himself declares, was solemnly professed by Clare and her Sisters and observed by them for many years in a praiseworthy manner.4 Pope Innocent IV bears witness to the same effect. Writing to Blessed Agnes, Princess of Bohemia (who had founded a house of the Second Order at Prague), of this Rule, written by Cardinal Ugolino, he says “The Sisters of the Monastery of St. Damian and all others of your Order have laudably observed it from the time of its profession until now.”1 These words were written on November 13, 1243

In view of such testimony it is obviously a mistake to assert, as Wadding and some other writers do, that St Clare abandoned this Rule in 1224, and professed another one written by St. Francis. It is also erroneous to suppose that St. Francis ever wrote a Rule for the Poor Ladies.2 The one written about 1219, by Cardinal Ugolino, was recast by St Clare herself toward the close of her life, and made to conform as far as possible to the Second Rule written by St. Francis for the Friars Minor. The Rule of the Poor Ladies, thus recast by St Clare in a new form, was confirmed by Innocent IV, August 9, 1253, just two days before the death of the holy abbess3

In the sixth chapter of this Rule, St Clare describes the circumstances under which the two fragments of St Francis’ writings here given were composed. “After the Most High Heavenly Father deigned by His grace to enlighten my heart,” St. Clare tells us, “to do penance after the example and teaching of our most blessed father, St. Francis, a little while after his own conversion, I, together with my sisters, voluntarily promised him obedience. But, seeing that we feared no poverty, toil, sorrow, abasement and contempt of the world, nay rather that we held them in great delight, the blessed father, moved by compassion, wrote us a rule of life1 in this form . . . .” Then follows the first of the two fragments given below. Further on in the same chapter of her Rule, the holy abbess adds: “To the end that we and also those who might come after us should never fall away from the most holy poverty which we had undertaken, he again wrote to us shortly before his death2 his last wish, saying . . . .”3 Then follows the second of the two fragments here given.

Both these pieces, which Wadding took for letters4 addressed to St. Clare, are here translated according to the text of the Rule contained in the original bull of Innocent IV5 They are as follows

1.

FORM OF LIFE WHICH ST. FRANCIS WROTE FOR ST. CLARE.6

Since, by divine inspiration, you have made yourselves daughters and handmaids of the Most High Sovereign King, the Heavenly Father, and have espoused yourselves to the Holy Ghost, choosing to live according to the perfection of the holy Gospel, I will, and I promise to have always, by myself and my brothers, a diligent care and special solicitude for you, as for them.1

2

LAST WISH WHICH ST. FRANCIS WROTE TO ST CLARE.

I, little brother Francis, wish to follow the life and poverty of Jesus Christ our Most High Lord and of His Most Holy Mother and to persevere therein until the end. And I beseech you all, my ladies, and counsel you, to live always in this most holy life and poverty. And watch yourselves well that you in no wise depart from it through the teaching or advice of any one.

VI.

Testament of the Holy Father St Francis.

The opuscule which St Francis called his Testament is a precious document of the highest authority. Renan forsooth denied its authenticity, but rashly, for, as M Sabatier rightly remarks,1 this is not to be questioned.2 The Testament corresponds throughout with the other writings of St Francis, and moreover reveals his character and spirit in every line. But we are not reduced to internal proofs for its genuinity All the historians, including Thomas of Celano,3 and St. Bonaventure,4 mention it,5 while Gregory IX cites it textually in his bull Quo elongati of September 28, 1230. We know from this bull that the Saint’s Testament was published a few days only before his death6 Everything seems to point to its having been written at the hermitage of the Celle near Cortona, during St Francis’ last visit there (summer of 1226), though some think it was dictated to Angelo Tancredi, one of the Three Companions, in the little hut nearest the Portiuncula which served as an infirmary and in which St. Francis died.

According to M. Sabatier, St. Francis wrote more than one testament. Indeed, the French critic goes so far as to say that at the end of each of his crises the Saint made his will anew,7 and in support of this assertion cites Chapter 87 of his own edition of the Speculum Perfectionis, in which we read that during an illness (seemingly in April, 1226), St. Francis caused Brother Benedict of Prato to write down a blessing and some words of advice “in token of memory and benediction and testament.” But surely from this narration we may not deduce the general proposition that St. Francis wrote “several testaments.” The early Legends are silent except as to the one Testament here given, and all the passages which different writers quote “from the Testament” may be found in this one,—if we except two passages in M. Sabatier’s edition of the Speculum Perfectionis But it is not difficult to see that in both these places the Speculum is in error. In the ninth chapter it repeats incorrectly what Brother Leo elsewhere1 relates, and in the fifty-fifth chapter the compiler of the Speculum is still more astray, as a comparison of this chapter with chapter twenty-seventh of Father Lemmens’ edition of the Speculum clearly indicates. Both editions of the Speculum tell in almost the same words of St. Francis’ love for the Church of the Portiuncula. M Sabatier’s edition says “At his death he caused it to be written in the Testament that all the brothers should do likewise;” whereas Father Lemmens’ edition reads as follows. “Toward his death he bequeathed this Church to the brothers as a testament.”2

The Testament is to be found among St. Francis’ works in twelve of the codices above described,3 to wit, those at Assisi,1 Berlin, Florence (Ognissanti MSS), St. Floriano, Liegnitz, Paris (Nat. lib and Mazarin MSS. 989), Prague and Rome (St. Antony’s and both Vatican MSS), as well as in a fifteenth century MS at the Hague (Municip. lib cod. K. 54, fol 3 v). The text here translated is that of the Assisi codex collated with those of Ognissanti, Florence, and St Antony’s, Rome, and with the versions of the Testament contained in the Monumenta (fol. 274 v) and Firmamenta2 (fol. 16 v). Here begins the.

TESTAMENT OF THE HOLY FATHER ST. FRANCIS.

The Lord gave to me, Brother Francis, thus to begin to do penance; for when I was in sin it seemed to me very bitter to see lepers, and the Lord Himself led me amongst them and I showed mercy to them3 And when I left them, that which had seemed to me bitter was changed for me into sweetness of body and soul. And afterwards I remained a little and I left the world. And the Lord gave me so much4 faith in churches that I would simply pray and say thus: “We adore Thee Lord Jesus Christ here1 and in all Thy churches which are in the whole world, and we bless Thee because by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.”

After that the Lord gave me, and gives me, so much faith in priests who live according to the form of the holy Roman Church, on account of their order,2 that if they should persecute me, I would have recourse to them. And if I had as much wisdom as Solomon had, and if I should find poor priests of this world,3 I would not preach against their will in the parishes in which they live. And I desire to fear, love, and honor them and all others as my masters; and I do not wish to consider sin in them, for in them I see the Son of God and they are my masters. And I do this because in this world, I see nothing corporally of the most high Son of God Himself except His most holy Body and Blood, which they receive and they alone administer to others. And I will that these most holy mysteries be honored and revered above all things and that they be placed in precious places. Wheresoever I find His most holy Names and written words in unseemly places, I wish to collect them, and I ask that they may be collected and put in a becoming place. And we ought to honor and venerate all theologians and those who minister to us the most holy Divine Words as those who minister to us spirit and life.1

And when the Lord gave me some brothers, no one showed me what I ought to do, but the Most High Himself revealed to me that I should live according to the form of the holy Gospel.2 And I caused it to be written in few words and simply, and the Lord Pope confirmed it for me. And those who came to take this life upon themselves gave to the poor all that they might have and they3 were content with one tunic, patched within and without, by those who wished,4 with a cord and breeches, and we wished for no more.

We clerics said the Office like other clerics; the laics said the Paternoster, and we remained in the churches5 willingly enough. And we were simple and subject to all. And I worked with my hands and I wish to work and I wish firmly that all the other brothers should work at some labor which is compatible with honesty. Let those who know not [how to work] learn, not through desire to receive the price of labor but for the sake of example and to repel idleness. And when the price of labor is not given to us, let us have recourse to the table of the Lord, begging alms from door to door.

The Lord revealed to me this salutation, that we should say: “The Lord give thee peace.”1 Let the brothers take care not to receive on any account churches, poor dwelling-places, and all other things2 that are constructed for them, unless they are as is becoming the holy poverty which we have promised in the Rule, always dwelling there as strangers and pilgrims.3

I strictly enjoin by obedience4 on all the brothers that, wherever they may be, they should not dare, either themselves or by means of some interposed person,5 to ask any letter in the Roman curia either for a church6 or for any other place, nor under pretext of preaching, nor on account of their bodily persecution; but, wherever they are not received let them flee to another land to do penance, with the blessing of God. And I wish to obey the minister general of this brotherhood strictly and the guardian whom it may please him to give me. And I wish to be so captive in his hands that I cannot go or act beyond his obedience and his will because he is my master. And although I am simple and infirm, I desire withal always to have a cleric who will perform the office with me as it is contained in the Rule.

And let all the other brothers be bound to obey their guardian and to perform the office according to the Rule. And those who may be found not performing the office according to the Rule and wishing to change it in some way, or who are not Catholics, let all the brothers wherever they may be, if they find one of these, be bound by obedience to present him to the custos who is nearest to the place where they have found him. And the custos shall be strictly bound, by obedience, to guard him strongly day and night as a prisoner so that he cannot be snatched from his hands until he shall personally place him in the hands of his minister. And the minister shall be firmly bound by obedience to send him by such brothers as shall watch him day and night like a prisoner until they shall present him to the Lord of Ostia, who is master protector, and corrector of this brotherhood.1

And let not the brothers say: This is another Rule; for this is a remembrance, a warning, and an exhortation and my Testament which I, little Brother Francis, make for you, my blessed brothers, in order that we may observe in a more Catholic way the Rule which we have promised to the Lord. And let the minister general and all the other ministers and custodes be bound by obedience not to add to these words or to take from them. And let them always have this writing with them beside the Rule. And in all the Chapters they hold, when they read the Rule let them read these words also. And I strictly enjoin on all my brothers, clerics and laics, by obedience, not to put glosses on the Rule or on these words saying: Thus they ought to be understood; but as the Lord has given me to speak and to write the Rule and these words simply and purely, so shall you understand them simply and purely1 and with holy operation observe them until the end.

And whoever shall observe these things2 may he be filled in heaven with the blessing of the Most High Father and may he be filled on earth with blessing of His Beloved Son together with the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete, and all the Powers of heaven and all the saints. And I, Brother Francis, your little one and servant, in so far as I am able, I confirm to you within and without this most holy blessing.3 Amen.4

VII

Of Living Religiously in a Hermitage

We learn from St Bonaventure1 and the Fioretti2 that as companions began to flock to St. Francis, the man of God hesitated for a while between adopting a life of prayer or of preaching. Although, as we know, he finally decided in favor of the apostolate, yet withal he never altogether separated the contemplative from the active life. A precious witness to this fact is found in the Regulation for the brothers during their sojourn in hermitages with which we are now concerned. To understand the scope of this peculiar piece of legislation, it must be borne in mind that at the beginning of the Franciscan movement the friars had no settled domicile.3 The wide world was their cloister.4 Possessing nothing they wandered about like children careless of the day, teaching or preaching, passing the night in hay-lofts or under church porches, in lazarettos, or deserted huts and grottoes1 The need of having some kind of permanent retreat where they might retire at times to pray or rest, resulted in the institution of hermitages. These little solitudes, to which Francis loved to withdraw, may be found wherever the Saint went. The Celle near Cortona, the Carceri on Mount Subasio, Greccio in the valley of Rieti, and the more solitary hermitages, like Lo Speco, form, as some one has said, a series of documents, about St Francis’ life, quite as important as the written ones. And not a little of his spirit still lingers in such of these hermitages as yet remain. It was for the government of small loci2 like these that the present special little Rule was written. Its attribution to St. Francis has not been questioned. The quaint simplicity of its conception proclaims its authenticity, and in none of the codices does it bear the name of any other author than St. Francis. It may have been written about 1217; its composition certainly belongs to the first decade of the Order.

In the ancient collections of St. Francis’ writings found in the codices at Florence (Ognissanti), Foligno, Rome (St. Isidore’s MS. 1/25 and the Vatican MS. 7650), as well as in copies of the compilation which begins Fac secundum exemplar, this Instruction is found at the end of the Admonitions. But in the greater number of the early codices the Admonitions close as in the present translation, and the opuscule on hermitages is preferably separated from them, as it is in the Assisian codex and that of St. Isidore’s, Rome (MS. 1/73). The text which follows is based on the Assisi MS, which has been collated with that of Ognissanti and those at St. Isidore’s and with the version of this Regulation given by Bartholomew of Pisa in his Conformities.1 Here is the text

OF LIVING RELIGIOUSLY IN A HERMITAGE

Let those who wish to live religiously in hermitages, be three brothers or four at most. Let two of them be mothers and have two sons, or at least one. Let the two former lead the life of Martha and the other two the life of Mary Magdalene.2

Let those who lead the life of Mary have one cloister3 and each his own place, so that they may not live or sleep together. And let them always say Compline of the day toward sunset,4 and let them be careful to keep silence and to say their Hours and to rise for Matins, and let them seek first “the kingdom of God and His justice.”1 And let them say Prime and Tierce at the proper time, and, after the hour of Tierce, they may break silence and may speak and, when it is pleasing to them, they may go to their mothers and may ask an alms from them for the love of the Lord God, like little poor ones.2 And after that, let them say Sext and Nones and Vespers at the appointed time

And they must not allow any3 person to enter into the cloister where they live, or let them eat there. Let those brothers who are mothers endeavor to keep apart from every person and, by the obedience of their custos, let them guard their sons from every person, so that no one may speak with them. And let these sons not speak with any person except with their mothers and with their custos, when it shall please him to visit them with the blessing of God.4 But the sons must sometimes in turn assume the office of mothers, for a time, according as it may seem to them to dispose Let them strive to observe all the above diligently and earnestly.5

[1 ]See Goetz Quellen zur Geschichte des hl Franz von Assisi, in Zeitschrift fur Kirchengeschichte, t xxii, p 551, and Van Ortroy, S J., in Anal. Bolland, t xxiv, fasc. iii (1905), p 411.

[2 ]The codex of St Antony’s College, Rome, omits the Admonitions numbered 11 and 22 It may be noted, however, that both these numbers are found at the end of the Speculum Perfectionis, ed Lemmens. See Documenta Antiqua Franciscana, P. II, p 84

[1 ]On this MS see Sabatier, Opuscules, fasc. ii.

[2 ]On this MS. see Little, Opuscules, fasc. v.

[3 ]As to this codex see Lemmens Documenta Antiqua Franciscana, P. III, p 72.

[1 ]Mgr. Faloci has edited the first of the Admonitions from this codex in his Miscellanea Francescana, t. vi, p 96

[2 ]In this edition, which Wadding has followed (fol 21 v.), nos 20, 21, and 23 are repeated.

[3 ]In places where variants are noted at the foot of the page the following abbreviations will be used.

[1 ]John 14. 6-9

[2 ]I Tim 6. 16.

[3 ]John 4 24.

[4 ]John 1 18

[5 ]John 6 64.

[6 ]Mark 14. 22-24.

[1 ]John 6. 55.

[2 ]These words are added in the text given by Pis. and Wadd.

[3 ]See I Cor. 11 29

[4 ]Ps 4 3.

[5 ]John 9. 35.

[6 ]Wis. 18. 15.

[7 ]Matt. 28 20.

[1 ]Gen. 2. 16-17.

[2 ]To which, namely, he has no right after religious profession, having relinquished his will by the vow of obedience.

[3 ]Luke 14 33.

[4 ]Matt. 16 25.

[1 ]See John 15. 13.

[2 ]See Luke 9. 62

[3 ]See Prov. 26 11.

[4 ]Matt. 20 28.

[1 ]See Gen. 1. 26.

[2 ]See II Cor. 12. 5.

[1 ]See John 10. 11, Heb. 12. 2, John 10 4, Rom. 8 35

[2 ]II Cor. 3. 6

[1 ]I Cor. 12 3.

[2 ]Ps 52 4

[3 ]Matt 5. 44.

[1 ]This Admonition is wanting in codex An., but is found in the Speculum Perfectionis, ed Lemmens. See Documenta Antiqua Franciscana, P. II, p. 84

[2 ]See Rom. 2. 5

[3 ]Matt. 22: 21.

[4 ]Cod O and Is. read “If therefore his body is puffed up, he has not the Spirit of God. If, however, he becomes rather viler in his own sight, then he truly has the Spirit of God.”

[1 ]Cod O. reads “so long as he enjoys everything according to his wish and necessity.”

[2 ]Matt 5. 3

[3 ]See Matt. 5. 39

[4 ]Matt. 5. 9.

[1 ]Matt. 5 8.

[2 ]See Matt 25 18

[3 ]Luke 8 18.

[1 ]See Bonav Leg Maj, VI, 1. “And he had these words continually in his mouth ‘what a man is in the eyes of God, so much he is, and no more’ ” See also Imitation of Christ, Bk III, Chap L, where the same saying of St Francis is quoted

[2 ]See Speculum Perfectionis, ed. Sabatier, p 189

[3 ]This Admonition (like No 11) is wanting in Cod An, but is found in the Speculum Perfectionis, ed Lemmens See Doc Ant. Franc, P II, p 84.

[4 ]Prov 29 20

[1 ]In Cod. O. numbers 23 and 24 are not divided

[2 ]Cod An reads “Blessed is that superior . . . ”

[3 ]Matt 24 45.

[1 ]Cod. O omits this sentence.

[2 ]See Matt 6 20

[3 ]St Francis would often say to his brethren “When a servant of God receives any divine inspiration in prayer, he ought to say, ‘This consolation, O Lord, Thou hast sent from heaven to me, a most unworthy sinner, and I commit it to Thy care, for I know that I should be but a thief of Thy treasure.’ And when he returns to prayer, he ought to bear himself as a little one and a sinner, as if he had received no new grace from God”—St Bonaventure, Leg Maj., X, 4

[1 ]“Wherefore,” he writes of St. Francis, “in the praises of the virtues which he composed he says ‘Hall! queen wisdom, God save Thee with Thy sister pure, holy simplicity’ ” See 2 Cel 3, 119, for this Incipit

[2 ]See page 3.

[3 ]In the text of the Conformities (which for the most part agrees with that of the Ognissanti MS.) the Salutation is preceded by No 27 of the Admonitions and begins with the words “There is absolutely no man,” etc.

[4 ]Ed of Venice, 1504, and of Metz, 1509.

[5 ]Opuscula, Antwerp, 1623.

[6 ]In the Assisi codex (as in that of Liegnitz) the title reads “Of the virtues with which the Blessed Virgin Mary was adorned and with which a holy soul ought also to be adorned,” whereas in the Ognissanti codex and others of the same class, the title is “Salutation of the Virtues and of their efficacy in confounding Vice.” (See Introduction.)

[7 ]Cod. As omits “Hail.”

[1 ]Wadding, following Mariano of Florence, prefaces the letter with the following Salutation “To my reverend masters in Christ, to all the clerics who are in the world and live conformably to the rules of the Catholic faith brother Francis, their least one and unworthy servant, sends greeting with the greatest respect and kissing their feet. Since I am become the servant of all, but cannot, on account of my infirmities, address you personally and viva voce, I beg you to receive, with all love and charity, this remembrance of me and exhortation which I write briefly” Wadding also (p 45) adds at the end of this instruction the following words “May our Lord Jesus Christ fill all my masters with His holy grace and comfort them”

[2 ]Father Ubald d’Alençon (Opuscules de Saint François, p 21) is inclined, with M Sabatier, to regard this instruction as a kind of postscript to St Francis’ letter to the General Chapter and to all the Friars (See Speculum Perfections, ed. Sabatier, p clxvi)

[3 ]Mgr. Faloci has edited the Instruction after this codex, see Misc Francescana, t VI, p 95.

[1 ]See I Cor. 2 14.

[1 ]See Bonav Leg Maj, III, 8 See also 1 Cel. 1, 5, and the Vita S Francisci, by Julian of Spires, cap iv.

[2 ]Although M Sabatier (Vie de S François, p 100), following Wadding (Annales ad an 1210, n 220 seq.), fixes this event in the summer of 1210, it is far more probable that the approbation of the Rule took place on April 23, 1209, the date given by the Bollandists and the Seraphic Breviary This latter date is not only more conformable to the ancient tradition of the Order (see Anal Franciscana, t. III, p 713) but involves no historic difficulties (see Appunti critici sulla cronologia della Vita di S Francesco, by Father Leo Patrem, O F M, in the Oriente Serafico, Assisi, 1895, Vol. vii, nn. 4-12.

[1 ]See Bonav Leg Maj, IV, 11

[2 ]Muller Anfange des Minoriten-Ordens und der Bussbruderschaften (Freiburg, 1885), p 4, seq

[3 ]Sabatier Vie de S François d’Assise (Paris, 1894), p 288, seq

[4 ]More than a century ago—in 1768—Fr Suyskens demonstrated that the lengthy Rule of twenty-three chapters could not have been presented to Pope Innocent by St Francis in its present form (See Acta S. S, t ii, Oct) All agree that the first Rule in its original form was, very short and simple

[5 ]Prof Müller was therefore right in attempting to reconstruct the Rule in its original form out of this longer one He has almost conclusively demonstrated that the opening words of this original Rule were. “Regula et vita istorum fratrum haec est” (See Anfange, pp 14-25, 185-188.) Prof Boehmer has also attempted to reconstruct it from various writings See his Analekten, p 27 See also 2 Cel. 3, 110, Speculum Perfectionis (ed. Sabatier), c. 4, n 42

[1 ]His exposition of the Rule may be found in the Monumenta Ordinis Minorum (Salamanca, 1511, tract 11, fol 46 v) and in the Firmamenta (Paris, 1512, p iv, fol 34 v) In chapter 6 (Mon, fol 67v, Firm, fol 48r) he says “This he lays down at greater length in the original rule as follows ‘When it may be necessary let the friars go for alms,’ ” etc (see below, p 43) On Hugo de Digne see Sbaralea, Supplemenium, p 360; also Salimbene, Chron Parmensis, 1857, passim

[2 ]His exposition of the Rule has never been published, although a critical edition is promised by Fr Van Ortroy, S.J (See Anal Bolland, t xxi, p 441 seq) Meanwhile it may be found at St Isidore’s, Rome, in the codex 1/92, at the Vatican lib, in cod Ottob 522 (in part only) and Ottob 666, and at the Royal lib of Munich in cod 23648. In this exposition Clareno says (cod Ottob 666, fol 50 v) “In the Rule which Pope Innocent conceded to him and approved . . . it was written thus ‘The Lord commands in the Gospel,’ ” etc (see below, p. 41) Clareno died in 1337 On his writings see Fr Ehrle, S J, in the Archiv, vol I (1885), pp 509-69

[3 ]To be sure, the traditional Legend of the Three Companions says of St Francis “He made many rules and tried them, before he made that which at the last he left to the brothers” (See Legenda III Sociorum, n 35.) But unless these words are understood as referring to different versions of the same Rule, they only raise a new difficulty against the authenticity of this Legend

[1 ]“And the Blessed Francis seeing Brother Cæsar learned in the Scriptures commissioned him to embellish with evangelical language the Rule which he himself had put together in simple words.” Chron Fr Jordani a Jano Analecta Franc, t I, page 6, n 15 Brother Jordan also notes “that according to the first Rule the Friars fasted on Wednesday and Friday” (L. c, p. 4, n 11)

[2 ]See Speculum Perfectionis (ed Sabatier), Appendix, p 300, also Les Nouveaux mémoires de l’Académie de Bruxelles, t XXIII, pp 29-33 Jacques de Vitry died as Cardinal Bishop of Frascati in 1244, leaving a number of writings in which St Francis figures prominently

[3 ]2 Cel, 3, 90

[4 ]See below, p 41

[5 ]See below, p 34

[6 ]Canon Knox Little. St. Francis of Assisi (1904), Appendix, p. 321.

[1 ]See Van Ortroy, S J, Annal Bolland, t. xxiv, fasc iii, 1905, p 413.

[2 ]See below, p 44

[3 ]See 2 Cel, 3, 110

[4 ]See Mon, fol 68 v, Firm, fol 49 r.

[5 ]See Cod Ottob 666, fol. 99 v.

[6 ]See Speculum, fol. 193 v.

[7 ]“Celle de 1210 et celle qui fut approuvée par le pape le 29 Novembre, 1223,” he writes, “n’avaient guère de commun que le nom” . . . “Celle de 1210 seule est vraiment franciscaine Celle de 1223 est indirectement l’œuvre de l’Église”—Vie de S François, p 289

[1 ]See Le Monnier. History of St Francis, p 337

[2 ]See Seraphicæ Legislationis Textus Originales (Quarachi, 1897), p 35

[3 ]This letter, which is dated “in the tenth year of the Pontificate of Pope Honorius,” may be found in the Annalibus Hannoniæ Fr Jacobi de Guisia, lib. XXI, cap. xvii; see Monumenta Germaniæ Historica, Scriptores, t. XXX, P. I, p 294

[4 ]See Mon, fol 46 v, Firm, fol 34 v.

[1 ]See Ehrle “Controversen uber die Anfange des Minoritenordens” in the Zeitschrift fur Katholische Theologie, t XI, p 725, seq

[2 ]“À partir de Bonaventure,” he writes, “la règle primitive tombe dans l’oubli Les Franciscaines Spirituels du commencement du XIV siècle ne songèrent pas à l’en tirer” See Spec Perf. (ed Sab), p ix

[3 ]In preparing the Quaracchi text, which is the one I translate here, the codices at St Antony’s and St Isidore’s, and the Florentine codex at Ognissanti were used, besides the versions of this Rule found in the Speculum, Minorum, Monumenta, and Firmamenta (see Introduction for description of these codices and editions) The expositions of the Rule by Hugo de Digne and Angelo Clareno, already mentioned, have often been consulted, as well as the Conformities of Bartholomew of Pisa The text of the first Rule, given in part in the Conformities, often agrees with the MSS of Ognissanti and St Isidore’s

[1 ]This last sentence is omitted in Mon. and Firm, also by Wadding

[2 ]Matt 19 21

[3 ]Matt. 16 24.

[1 ]Luke 14. 26.

[2 ]See Matt. 19. 29.

[1 ]From the Latin caparo. See Du Cange, Glossar latin

[2 ]See the bull Cum secundum of Honorius III, dated September 22, 1220 (Bullarium Franciscanum, t 1, p 6)

[3 ]Luke 9: 62

[4 ]See Matt. 11 8, Luke 7. 25

[1 ]See Mark 9. 28.

[2 ]Matt 6 16.

[1 ]See Luke 10 8

[2 ]Matt 7 12

[3 ]See Tob 4 6

[4 ]Matt 20 28.

[1 ]Heb 10 31

[1 ]See Matt. 9 12

[2 ]Matt. 20. 25

[3 ]See Matt 23 11

[4 ]See Luke 22 26

[5 ]See Ps 118. 21

[1 ]See Mark 8 36

[1 ]Ps 127 2

[2 ]II Thess 3. 10

[3 ]See I Cor 7. 24.

[4 ]St Jerome says “Semper facito aliquid boni operis, ut diabolus te inveniat occupatum.” Epis. 125 (alias 4), n. 11.

[5 ]St Anselm says, “Otiositas inimica est animae.” Epist. 49.

[1 ]See I Peter 4 9.

[2 ]See above, page 28.

[3 ]See Luke 12. 15, and 21. 34

[4 ]See Leg III Soc., n 35.

[5 ]Eccle 1 2

[1 ]O, Is and Pis read “money for alms,” Clar and Spec read “alms of money,” An, Mon and Wadding read “money or alms”

[2 ]I Tim 6. 8

[1 ]Is 50. 7.

[1 ]Rom. 14 3

[2 ]Mark 2 26

[3 ]Luke 21 34-35.

[1 ]See Acts 13. 48

[2 ]Apoc 3 19

[3 ]See 2 Cel 3, 110, also Hugo de Digne, l [Editor: illegible word] fol 68 v and Spec Perf (ed Sabatier), chap 42

[4 ]See II Tim 2. 14

[5 ]Luke 17 10

[6 ]Matt 5 22

[1 ]John 15 12

[2 ]Jas 2 18

[3 ]I John 3 18

[4 ]Tit 3 2

[5 ]Rom 1 29-30

[6 ]Tit 3 2

[7 ]Is 38 15

[8 ]Luke 13 24

[9 ]Matt 7 14

[10 ]See above, p 29

[1 ]This prohibition refers to a vow of obedience made by a woman to her spiritual director, as Fr Van Ortroy points out See Anal Boll, t xxiv, fasc iv, p 523

[2 ]Matt 5 28

[3 ]See Luke 9. 3, 10 4-8

[4 ]See Matt. 5. 39.

[1 ]See Luke 6: 29-30.

[2 ]Matt 10. 16.

[1 ]I Pet 2 13

[2 ]John 3 5

[3 ]Matt 10 32

[4 ]Luke 9 26

[5 ]Mark 8 35, Luke 9 24

[1 ]Matt 5 10

[2 ]John 15 20

[3 ]See Matt 10 23

[4 ]Matt 5 11-12

[5 ]Luke 6 23

[6 ]Luke 12. 4

[7 ]Matt 24 6

[8 ]Luke 21 19

[9 ]Matt 10 22

[10 ]See I John 4 8

[1 ]Luke 10 20

[2 ]James 1 2

[3 ]Matt 6 2

[1 ]See Luke 18 19

[1 ]James 5. 16

[1 ]John 6 55

[2 ]Luke 22 19

[3 ]I Thess 5 18

[4 ]Matt 3 2

[5 ]Luke 3 8

[6 ]Luke 6 38.

[7 ]Luke 6 37

[8 ]See Mark 11. 26.

[9 ]See James 5 16

[10 ]See John 8. 44

[1 ]Matt 5: 44

[2 ]See I Peter 2 21.

[3 ]See Matt. 26. 50

[4 ]See Matt 15 19, and Mark 7 21-22

[1 ]See Matt 13 19-23, Mark 4 15-20, Luke 8 11-15.

[2 ]Matt 8 22.

[1 ]Matt 12 43-45; see Luke 11. 24-26.

[2 ]See I John 4 16

[1 ]Luke 21 36

[2 ]See Mark 11 25.

[3 ]Luke 18 1

[4 ]John 4. 24

[5 ]I Peter 2 25

[6 ]See John 10 11 and 15.

[7 ]See Matt. 23 8-10.

[8 ]John 15. 7.

[9 ]Matt. 18 20

[10 ]Matt. 28 20.

[11 ]John 6 64.

[12 ]John 14 6.

[1 ]See John 17 6-26.

[2 ]The Speculum Minorum condenses this chapter.

[3 ]See Gen. 1 26; 2 15.

[4 ]See John 17 26.

[5 ]Matt. 25 34.

[1 ]See Matt. 17: 5.

[1 ]See Deut 6. 5; Mark 12: 30 and 33; Luke 10: 27.

[2 ]See Luke 18 19.

[1 ]This is the text of 1223 and represents the Rule at present observed throughout the first Franciscan Order It is here translated according to the text of the original Bull which is preserved at the Sacro Convento in Assisi A duplicate of this document, contained in the Pontifical Register at the Vatican Library, has been consulted for certain passages less legible in the original.

[1 ]See Matt. 19. 21.

[1 ]See above, page 34, note 2.

[2 ]Luke 9. 62.

[3 ]This passage ex quo habere poterunt breviaria, may also be rendered “as soon as they can have breviaries” (See Wadding, Opusc, p 179.) But the latter translation has less foundation.

[1 ]See Matt 4 2.

[2 ]See Tit 3 2 and II Tim 2 14.

[3 ]See Luke 10 5 and 8.

[1 ]See I Peter 2 11

[2 ]See Ps. 141 6 It was this Psalm that St Francis recited at the hour of death

[1 ]See Ps 11 7 and 17 31.

[2 ]See Rom 9. 28.

[1 ]See Luke 12 15

[2 ]Matt 5 44

[1 ]Matt. 5 10.

[2 ]Matt 10 22

[3 ]This is comformable to the original bull, which reads nec hac occasione, but most of the printed texts give ne, “lest scandal arise,” instead of nec.

[1 ]See Col. 1 23

[1 ]“Plura scripta tradidit nobis,” Test B Clarae See Seraphicae Legislationis textus originales, p 276.

[2 ]“When Clare,” he says, “and some other devout women in the Lord chose to serve under the same observance of religion, Blessed Francis gave them a little rule of life” (formulam vitae tradidit) See the bull Angelis gaudium of May 11, 1238 (Bullar Franc., t I, p 242)

[3 ]See Bullar, I, 11 and 13: the letters Prudentibus Virginibus Ann. Min I, 312 Gubernatis, Orb Seraph. II, 603. also Bullar. I, 4, n. (a) The Rule may be found in the bull Cum omnis vera of Gregory IX, of May 24, 1239 See Bullar., t I, p 263

[4 ]See Bullar., t. I, p. 242.

[1 ]See Bullar., t. I, p 315

[2 ]On the origin of the Second Order and the early Rule, see Lemmens “Die Anfange des Clarissenordens” in the Romische Quartalschrift, t XVI, 1902, pp 93-124, which is in the nature of a rejoinder to Dr. Lempp’s article with the same title, published in Brieger’s Zeitschrift fur Kirchengeschichte, XIII, 181-245

[3 ]This Rule is contained in the bull Solet annuere, of Innocent IV. See Seraphicae Legislationis textus originales, page 49 seq. See also Bullar, I, 167, Ann. Min., III, 287

[1 ]Forma vivendi. See Seraph. Legislat, p. 62.

[2 ]The biographers place the writing of this fragment in the autumn of 1220, after St. Francis returned from the East.

[3 ]See Seraph. Legislat., p. 63

[4 ]They are numbered IV and V among the Epistolae in his edition of the Opuscula

[5 ]This bull, which had been lost for several centuries, was brought to light early in 1893, after a protracted search in different countries, it was found wrapped within an old mantle of Saint Clare, preserved in the Monastery of Santa Chiara, at Assisi See Seraph. Legislat, pp 2, seq See also G Cozza-Luzi: Un autografo di Innocenzo IV e Memorie di S Chiara, ed 2da, Rome, 1895

[6 ]Some critics regard this fragment as a promise or engagement accompanying the formula vitae or as the beginning of the formula itself, and believe that the text of the latter, now lost, was also inserted originally in the sixth chapter of St Clare’s Rule. Be this as it may, it is certain that this chapter has been completely changed in several editions In the vernacular versions of it, based on Wadding, the two fragments here given do not appear at all See Fr Van Ortroy, S J, in Anal Boll, t xxiv, fasc iii, p 412

[1 ]See 2 Cel. 3, 132

[1 ]Sabatier. Vie de S François, Étude des Sources

[2 ]See also Goetz, l. c, t XXII, pp. 372 seq.

[3 ]See 1 Cel 17, 2 Cel 3, 99

[4 ]See Bonav, Leg. Maj, III, 2

[5 ]It is also expressly cited in the Leg III Soc 11 and 29

[6 ]“Circa ultimum vitae suae,” etc See Bullarium Franc, t I, p 68

[7 ]“À la fin de chacune de ces crises, il faisait de nouveau son testament” Speculum Perf (ed. Sabatier), p. xxxiii, note 2. See also Speculum (ed Lemmens), No. 30.

[1 ]See S Francisci Intentio regulae, nn. 14 and 15, in the Documenta Antiqua Franciscana, P. I, p 97.

[2 ]See Documenta Antiqua Franciscana, P. II, p 60

[3 ]See page 3.

[1 ]The text of the Testament given by M. Sabatier in his edition of the Speculum Perf. is that of this Assisi MS.

[2 ]It may also be found in the Speculum Minorum (Tract. III, 8 r) and in the Annales of Wadding (ad an. 1226, 35).

[3 ]See 1 Cel. 17, where this passage of the Testament is quoted. See also Bonav. Leg. Maj, II, 6, and Leg III Soc. 11 Some texts instead of “feci misericordiam cum illis” give “feci moram cum illis” “I made a sojourn with them” See Miscell. Franc, III (1888), p 70. It is interesting to note here how St Francis on the eve of his death, casting a backward glance over the ways by which he had been led, dwells on this incident which had marked a new era in his life.

[4 ]Cod. As. reads “talem fidem,” “such faith”

[1 ]Cod As. and O omit “here.” (See 1 Cel 45, and Bonav. Leg. Maj. 43, where this prayer may be found) Cod. An. Firm and Wadd. insert “here.”

[2 ]Order, i e, sacerdotal character.

[3 ]Priests of the world, i. e, secular priests

[1 ]See 2 Cel 3, 99, where this passage of the Testament is quoted, see also Bonav. Epis. de tribus quaestionibus in which it is also referred to (Opera Omnia, t. VIII, p 335.)

[2 ]See Leg. III Soc. 29, for reference to this passage

[3 ]Cod O. reads: eramus “we were content”

[4 ]Cod As omits qui volebant, “by those who wished.”

[5 ]Firm. and Wadd add: “poor and neglected churches”

[1 ]See Bonav Leg Maj, III, 2

[2 ]Cod As. omits “other things,” and O. omits “all other things”

[3 ]See Documenta antiqua Franciscana, P. I, page 98, n. 15, where this passage is cited among the Verba quae scripsit Frater Leo

[4 ]Cod O. omits “by obedience.”

[5 ]Cod An omits this clause.

[6 ]Cod. O omits “either for a church.”

[1 ]Cardinal Ugolino, afterward Gregory IX, was then Bishop of Ostia, and Protector of the Order.

[1 ]Cod As and Mon. for “purely” read “without gloss,” Firm and Wadd add “without gloss”

[2 ]Cod. An and O. read “this” for “these things”

[3 ]Cod. O adds “to him who caused these words to be written, be all honor, all praise and glory forever and ever”

[4 ]See 1 Cel. 38, for the blessing given by St. Francis on his deathbed to Elias and the Order.

[1 ]See Bonav Leg. Maj., XII, 1, where the Saint is represented as discoursing on the relative merits and advantages of the active and contemplative life. Wadding gives this discourse among the Monastic Conferences he attributes to St Francis. See Opuscula, Coll XIV, p 318

[2 ]See Floretum S. Francisci, ed Sabatier, cap 16, p 60 This chapter, which is one of the most interesting from a critical point of view, represents St. Francis as consulting St Clare and Brother Sylvester on the subject of his doubt.

[3 ]See First Rule, chap vii (above, p. 40), also Speculum Perf., ed. Sabatier, pp. 25-26

[4 ]As is most poetically described by the author of the Sacrum Commercium. Show me your cloister, asks the Lady Poverty of the friars And they, leading her to the summit of a hill, showed her the wide world, saying. This is our cloister, O Lady Poverty (See The Lady Poverty, by M. Carmichael, p. 128.)

[1 ]See 1 Cel 1, 17, and Leg. III Soc 55. Such grottoes may still be seen in St Francis’ country, they serve as a shelter for beggars and gypsies.

[2 ]St Francis habitually uses the word locus or place to designate the habitations of the friars (see above, Rule II, chap. vi, p. 68).

[1 ]See “Franciscus in admonitionibus suis” (fruct xii, P. 11, cap 30). It was from this text that Wadding took the Regulation for his edition of the Opuscula in which it figures under the heading Collationes Monasticae III

[2 ]The figure which presents Mary and Martha as types of the contemplative and active life was already a familiar one. See Gregor, VI Moral., c. 37, n 61. “Quid per Mariam, quae verba Domini residens audiebat, nisi contemplativa vita exprimitur? Quid per Martham exterioribus obsequiis occupatam nisi activa vita signatur?”

[3 ]Cod. As. after cloister reads: “in which each one shall have his own cell.”

[4 ]Cod. As. reads. “immediately after sunset”

[1 ]Luke 12 31

[2 ]This is the reading of the Cod As and Is, other texts read the “poorest beggars”

[3 ]Cod O adds. “any woman or person whatsoever.”

[4 ]The text in Cod. As ends here.

[5 ]See 2 Cel 3 113.