SPIRITUAL WARFARE - Franciscan Institute Publications

Introduction
People generally identify Peter of John Olivi (d. 1298) as a
theologian or philosopher. Some might also characterize him
as a Franciscan reformer who ran afoul of the Roman authorities
after his death. Few would venture to call him a
Spiritual Director. Yet there are short works under his name
that demonstrate that he was indeed a Spiritual Director.
The audience for these works generally consisted of lay people
who wanted to make progress on the road to perfection. 1
Louisa A. Burnham gets more specific and relates them to
Beguins who soon may have their lives interrupted by persecution
from the Inquisition. She writes: “… for Olivi and for
his followers, the last times were not merely the trope that
had been evoked since evangelical times … but were earnestly
and urgently felt to be upon them. All of these texts (Olivi’s
four spiritual writings) helped the Beguins … and prepared
them to interpret the cosmic significance of the persecuting
events soon to interrupt their lives.” 2
1
See Antonio Montefusco, “Structure and Tradition of Pierre de Jean
Olieu’s Opuscula: Inner Experience and Devotional Writing,” Franciscan
Studies 69 (2011): 153-74. See also Antonio Montefusco, “L’opuscolo Miles
armatus di Pierre de Jean Olieu: Edizione critica e commento,” Studi Francescani
108 (2011): 51-170. See further Raoul Manselli, “Les opuscules spirituels
de Pierre Jean-Olivi et la piété des béguins de Langue d’Oc,” in
Raoul Manselli, Da Gioacchino da Fiore a Cristoforo Colombo: Studi sul
Francescanesimo spiritual, sull’ecclesiologia e sull’escatologismo bassomedievali,
ed. with an Introduction by Paulo Vian, Istituto Storico Italiano
per il Medio Evo, Nuovi Studi Storici 36 (Rome: Nella Sede dell’Istituto,
1997), 401-25. The four small spiritual works of Peter of John Olivi (The
Armed Soldier; The Prayer of Thanksgiving; Lessons on Growth in the
Spiritual Life; Remedies against Spiritual Temptations) are perfect examples
of “popular religion.”
2
See her So Great a Light, So Great a Smoke: The Beguin Heretics of
Languedoc (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2008), 62.