The Writings of St. Francis of Assisi - + Saints' Works

More documents

Recommendations

Info

THE WRITINGS OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI The Testament of Saint Francis [Test] St. Francis dictated his last will and testament, at the Portiuncula, just a few days before he passed from this world to the Father, in the evening of the first Saturday of October, 1226 A.D.. 465 In this writing St. Francis strove to explain to his friar-sons the spirit of the Franciscan vocation, so that throughout the centuries they would have no doubts as to how to imitate him in his following of the poor Crucified Christ. 466 Traditionally the Testament of St. Francis is read by Franciscans immediately after the reading of the Regula Bullata, as St. Francis himself requested at the end of this his Testament. 467 I. Thus did the Lord grant to me, Friar Francis, to begin to do penance: that when I was exceedingly in (my) sins, to see the lepers seemed a bitter thing to me. · And the Lord Himself led 468 me among them and I worked mercy with them. · And when I was fleeing from them, because that seemed to me a bitter thing, it was changed for me into sweetness of soul and body; and afterwards I stayed for a little while and (then) I went forth from the world (saeculum). 469 · And the Lord granted me such faith in churches, that thus I would pray simply and say: · We adore Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, and for 470 all Thy churches, which are in the whole world, 471 we also bless Thee, because by Thy Holy Cross Thou has redeemed the world. · Afterwards the Lord 465 cf. K. Esser, p. 583. 466 There was such a reverence for this last will and testament of St. Francis that the Order itself requested a papal decision regarding its status. Pope Gregory IX in Quo elongati (Sept. 28, 1230 A.D.) declared it to bind the friars spiritually, not canonically. 467 Although in the General Constitutions of 1506 A.D. the weekly reading of the Testament was prescribed, it had long been the custom; cf. K. Esser, p. 567. 468 lit. conduxit, "to lead" by one's personal presence; hence St. Francis is confessing that the Lord led him by traveling with him among the lepers. Similarly the Latin phrase cum illis translated here as "with them," is not an ablative of means, but of accompaniment; hence St. Francis is confessing that without the lepers he could not have practiced mercy. 469 "To forsake the world" is an ancient Christian theme referring to the abandonment of the manner of living common among human society and the setting out to follow Christ as a religious, by observing the evangelical counsels; in this regard cf. also the note in Translator's Forward regarding saeculum. 470 The Latin text of this prayer is: Adoremus te, Domine Jesu Christe, et ad omnes ecclesias tuas, quae sunt in toto mundo, et benedicimus tibi, quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum . Here the Latin preposition ad, can mean either: "facing" or "at". Likewise the Latin conjunction et, can mean "and", "even" or "also". Some manuscripts insert hic before the first et, while others omit the second et. The customary rendering of this prayer in English is We adore Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, here and at all Thy churches which are in the whole world, and we bless Thee, because by Thy Holy Cross Thou has redeemed the world. Other possibilities arise from the various usages of et and ad in this prayer: We adore Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, (here) (even/and) (at/facing) all Thy churches, which are in the whole world, (and/also) we bless Thee, because by Thy Holy Cross Thou has redeemed the world. The rich meaning of this prayer is thus very fruitful for devotion; cf. Breviarum Romanum (1961): Festo in Exaltatione sanctae Crucis, ad Matutinum, Antiphona VII. 471 see fn. 145 for the usage of "world" in this prayer. Page - 104
THE WRITINGS OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI granted me and grants so much faith in priests, who live according to the form of the Holy Roman Church, on account of their state (in life), that if they would stir up a persecution against me, I want to have recourse to them. · Even if I would have as much wisdom, as Solomon had, and would come upon the little poor priests of this age, in the parishes, where they linger, I do not wish to preach beyond their will. · And they and all other (clerics) I want to fear, love ( amor), and honor, as my lords. · And I do not want to consider sin in them, because I discern 472 in them the Son of God, and they are my lords. · And I do (that) on account of this, because I see nothing corporally in this age of the Most High Son of God Himself, except His Most Holy Body and Most Holy Blood, which they receive and which they alone minister to others. · And these Most Holy Mysteries 473 I want above all things to honor, to venerate and to be placed in precious places. · Wherever I will have found written the Most Holy Names and His words in unlawful places, I want to gather them together and I beg, that they are gathered together and placed together in an honorable place. · And all theologians 474 and those, who minister the most sacred divine words, we ought to honor and venerate, as those who minister to us spirit and life (cf. Jn 6:64). II. And after the Lord gave me some friars, 475 no one showed me, what I ought to do, but the Most High Himself revealed to me, that I ought to live according the form of the Holy Gospel. · And I had it written in a few words and simply and the Lord Pope 476 confirmed it for me. · And those who were coming to receive life, used to give "all that they possibly had" (Tob 1,3) to the poor; and they used to be content with one tunic, patched inside and out, with a cord and breeches. · And we did not use to want to have more. · We clerics used to say the Office along with the other clergy, 477 the lay brothers used to say the Pater Noster; 478 and we used to remain 479 quite freely in the churches. · And we used to be idiots and subject to all. · And I used to work with my hands, and I want to work; and all the other brothers I firmly want, that they work at their job, because this pertains to honesty. · Those who do not know how, let them learn, not for the sake of the cupidity to receive a price 480 for work, but for the sake of the example (it gives) and to repel idleness. · And when the price for the work would not be given to us, let us have recourse to the table of the Lord, 481 by asking for alms door to door. · The Lord revealed to 472 On account of the sacramental character of Sacred Orders. 473 In general "the Holy Mysteries" refer to the Sacraments; here St. Francis is speaking of the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. 474 In St. Francis' day theologians were the men who both believed and studied Catholic teaching. 475 lit dedit mihi de fratribus, an latinized Italian idiom, equivalent to "gave me some friars." This phrase recalls St. Francis' identification of God as King, and of himself as God's vassal. 476 Pope Innocent III, who died in 1216 A.D.. 477 lit secundum alios clericos, a phrase that can be rendered "according to the manner of the other clergy" or "along with the other clergy." The former would refer to the use of the Gallican Psalter, which prevailed in the earliest years of the Order, before changing to the Roman Psalter in accordance with the Rule; the later would refer to the friar's lack of liturgical books, which were very costly. 478 The "Our Father;" because the lay brothers usually did not know how to read. 479 On account of the poverty and small numbers of the first friars, they lived in local churches. 480 The early Franciscans received food and other necessities in exchange for their work. 481 To resort to begging is to "have recourse to table of the Lord," because Our Lord himself was fed by others during His public ministry. St. Francis' construction of this sentence, which Page - 105
Page 1 and 2:
The Writings of St. Francis of Assi
Page 3 and 4:
THE WRITINGS OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSI
Page 5 and 6:
Page 7 and 8:
Page 9 and 10:
Page 11 and 12:
Page 13 and 14:
Page 15 and 16:
Translator's Forward THE WRITINGS O
Page 17 and 18:
Page 19 and 20:
Page 21 and 22:
Page 23 and 24:
Page 25 and 26:
22:21). Chapter XII. On recognizing
Page 27 and 28:
Page 29 and 30:
The Canticle of Brother Son or The
Page 31 and 32:
Page 33 and 34:
A Letter to Clerics [EpCler I] Firs
Page 35 and 36:
A Letter to Clerics [EpCler II] Lat
Page 37 and 38:
Page 39 and 40:
Page 41 and 42:
Page 43 and 44:
Page 45 and 46:
Page 47 and 48:
Page 49 and 50:
Page 51 and 52:
Page 53 and 54: THE WRITINGS OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSI
Page 73 and 74: A Prayer before the Crucifix [OrCru
Page 81 and 82: Chapter X On the admonition and cor
Page 83 and 84: eighth year of Our Pontificate. 347
Page 93 and 94: Chapter XV That the friars are not
Page 101 and 102: things throughout the ages. Amen. C
Page 103: THE WRITINGS OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSI
Page 111 and 112: Fragments of other rules [Frag] THE
Page 115 and 116: II. From the writings of Hugo of Di
show all

The Writings of St. Francis of Assisi - + Saints' Works

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?