Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 6.djvu/257

 FRANCIS

211

FRANCIS

from the feast of All Saints until the Nativity of the Lord", during Lent, and every Friday. The forty days' fast (obligatory in the rule of 1221), which begins from Epiphany, is left free to the good will of the brothers. Beautiful exhortations follow on the be- haviour of the brothers when they go through the world. They are forbidtlen to ride on horsebaciv, un- less compelled by manifest necessity or infirmity (c. iii). The next chapter "strictly enjoins on all the brothers that in no wise they receive coins or money, either themselves or through an interposed person". How- ever, the ministers anti custodes have to take the great- est care of their subjects through spiritual friends, ac- cording to places and times and other circumstances, saving always that, as has been said, they shall not " receive coins or money" (c. iv). To banish idleness and to provide for their support, St. Francis insists on the duty of working for " those brothers to whom the Lord has given the grace of working". But they must work in such a way that " they do not extinguish the spirit of prayer and devotion, to which all tem- poral things nmst be subservient". As a reward of their labour they may receive things needed, with the exception of coins or money (c. v). Of the highest importance is chapter vi. It contains the prescrip- tions of the most ideal poverty: "The brothers shall appropriate nothing to themselves, neither a house nor place nor anything. And as pilgrims and strangers in this world ... let them go confidently in quest of alms. " " 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 ..." Then follows an appeal for fraternal love and mutual confidence, " for if a mother nourishes and loves her carnal son, how much more earnestly ought one to love and nourish his spiritual brother!" (c. vi). The following chapter treats of penance to be inflicted on brothers who have sinned. In some cases they must recur to their ministers, who " should beware lest they be angry or troubled on ac- count of the sins of others, because anger and trouble impede charity in themselves and in others" (c. vii). Chapter viii charges all the brothers "always to have one of the brothers of this religion (order) as Minister General and servant of the whole brother- hood". At his death the provincial ministers and cus- todes must elect a successor in the Whitsun chapter. The general chapter, at which the provincial ministers are always bound to convene, is to be held every three years, or at a longer or shorter interval, where the general so wishes. After the Whitsun chapter, pro- vincial chapters may be convoked by the ministers (c. viii). A special cliapter on preachers follows next. The brothers are forbidden to preach in any diocese against the will of the bishop, and unless they are ap- proved by the minister general. The brothers must preach " for the utility and edification of the people, announcing to them vices and virtues, punishment and glory. . ."(c. ix). " Of the admonition and cor- rection of the Brothers " is the title of chapter x. The ministers "shall visit and admonish their brothers, and shall humbly and charitably correct them, not commaniling 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." If any brother cannot observe the rule spiritually, he must recur to his minister, who is bound to receive him kindly (c. x). In chapter xi the brothers are forbidden to have suspicious intimacy with women, nor are they allowed to "enter monas- teries of nuns, except those to whom special permis- sion has been granted by the Apostolic See". Nor may they " be godfathers of men or women ". The twelfth and last chapter treats of those who wish to go among the Saracens and other infidels, for which purpose they must obtain leave from their provincial ministers. The ministers are bound to ask of the

pope a cardinal-protector, "so that" — with these touching words St. Francis concludes his rule — " being always sulijcci- and submissive at the feet of the same holy Church, grounded in the Catholic faith, we may observe poverty and humility and the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, which we have firmly promised " (c. xii).

As may be seen from this short survey the Francis- can rule contains many commandments, tempered by the sweet exhortations of St. Francis. It is the tender voice of a loving father that speaks to his children through the rule. This rule has been praised in the highest terms by different authorities. First of all St. Francis himself had a high idea of it: "This Rule he declared to be for his brethren the book of life, the hope of salvation, the marrow of the Gospel, the way of perfection, the key of Paradise and the covenant of an eternal alliance ..." (II Cel., ii, 158). Nicholas III (Exiit) speaks in the same way: "This Rule is founded on the words of the Gospel, it has its force from the example of ( 'lirist's life, it is confirmed by the words and deeils of the founders of the Church, the Apostles". Angelo Clareno (Expositio) calls it "the Rule of charity and piety", " the Rule of peace, truth and piety ". " The Evangelical Rule " is a much-used expression for it in old Franciscan literature. The in- fluence which the Rule of St. Francis has exercised for now seven himtlred years is immeasurable. Millions have followed it, finding in it peace of heart, and the means of their own and other men's sanctification. Nor has the rule had less important effects in a more general way. Unlike all former rules, it established poverty not only for the individual members, but for the order as a whole. On this point St. Francis in- fluenced even the Order of St. Dominic and many sub- sequent institutions. As early as the thirteenth cen- tury, Salimbene (ed. Holder-Egger, Mon. Germ. Hist.: Script., XXXII, 2.56) wrote: " Whoever wants to found a new congregation, always take something from the Order of blessed Francis." For the general influence of Franciscan poverty see Dubois, " St. Francis of As- sist, social reformer" (New York, 1906). The con- stitution of the order is likewise different from that of the monastic orders. It is strictly hierarchical, the convents being grouped into provinces which are gov- erned by the provincials, who in turn are under the jurisdiction of the minister general, the head ami ruler of the whole order. — The words of St. Francis (c. iii Reg.) : " Let the clerics perform the Divine office ac- cording to the order of the holy Roman Church, with the exception of the Psalter", have had a singular re- sult. Through adopting the shorter breviary of the papal Curia the Franciscans made this breviary popu- lar, reformed it in many points and led to its being practically received by the whole secular clergy. (See Baumer, "Geschichtedes Breviers", Freiburg im Br., 1895, p. 318 sqq.; Batiffol, " Histoire du Br^viaire Ro- main", Paris, 1893, p. 142 sqq.) The principles con- cerning preaching as laid down by St. Francis inc. ix of his Rule contain the secret of the great Franciscan preachers, who have always been among the most suc- cessful and popular. Finally, chap, xii on missions amongst the infidels is a happy innovation in religious rules, as Angelo Clareno in his exposition wisely observed. There can be no doubt that the great im- pulse given to foreign missions in the thirteenth cen- tury is due to St. Francis, who was himself a mission- ary in the East and saw some of his brethren martyred for the Faith.

II. Interpretation. — The ideal that St. Francis laid down in his rule is very high ; the apostolical life was to be put in practice by his brethren, and indeed we see that St. Francis and his companions lived per- fectly according to that standard. But the number of the friars rapidly increasing, and on the other hand, some being received into the order who had not the pure intentions and the great zeal of Francis, the rule