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

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THE WRITINGS OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI Moreover let those, who have received the power of judging others, exercise judgement with mercy, just as they themselves want to obtain mercy from the Lord. · "For" there shall be "judgment without mercy" for those "who" have shown "no mercy" (James 2:13). · And so let us have charity and humility; and let us give alms, because this washes souls 118 from the filth of their sins (cf. Tob 4:11; 12:9). · For men lose everything, which they abandon in this age; yet they carry with them the wages of charity and the alms, which they have given, because of which they will have from the Lord a reward and worthy recompense. We also ought to fast and abstain from vices and sins (cf. Sir 3:32) and from a superfluity of food and drink and we must be Catholics. · We also ought to frequently visit churches 119 and venerate clerics and revere them, not so much for their (own) sake, if they be sinners, but on account of (their) office and administration of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, which they sacrifice upon the altar and receive and administer to others. · And let us all know firmly, that no one can be saved, except through the words and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which the clerics speak, announce and minister. 120 · And they alone ought to minister and not others. 121 · Moreover the religious especially, who have renounced the world (saeculum), are bound to do more and greater things, but not to give up these (cf. Lk 11:42). We ought to hold our bodies in hatred 122 together with (our) vices and sins, because the Lord says in the Gospel: All wicked things, vices and sins, "come forth from the heart." (Mt 15:18-19; Mk 7:23) · We ought to love (dilectio) our "enemies" and do good "to them, who" regard us with hatred (cf. Mt 5:44; Lk 6:27). · We ought to observe the precepts and counsels of Our Lord Jesus Christ. · We also ought to deny our very selves (cf. Mt 16:24) and place our bodies under the yoke of servitude 123 and holy obedience, just as each one has promised the Lord. · And let no man be bound out of obedience to obey anyone in that, where crime or sin is committed. 124 However to him whom obedience has been committed and "who" is held (to be) "greater, 118 This is the teaching of Christ (cf. Lk 11:41) and of Sacred Scripture (cf. Tob 4:7,11-12; 12:8- 9; Ecclus 3:33; 7:36; 29:15-17; Is 58:7-11; Dan 4:24; Heb 13:16). The Roman Catholic Church in the Middle Ages offered indulgences in exchange for monetary alms, given for the building of churches and other pious works, so as to foster the practice of this very work of satisfaction, which Christ Jesus Himself had taught and commanded. For some examples of early grants of indulgences in exchange for alms cf. William E. Lunt, Papal Revenues in the Middle Ages, Octagon Books. Vol II. pp. 448-485. New York, 1965. For an explanation and list of indulgences which the Church offers today, cf. Enchiridion Indulgentiarum (1968). 119 In order to worship Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament, and to pray to Him, to Our Lady, and to the Saints for the graces to persevere in virtue. 120 A reference to the necessity of Faith in the teachings (words) of Christ and the acceptance of the Sacraments (blood) He instituted. St. Francis uses the metonym "Blood" for the Sacraments, since it is by the shedding of Christ's Blood on Golgotha, that He merited for us the grace of the Sacraments. Note too, that for St. Francis, both the teaching of Christ and His Sacraments are inseparable from the Sacred Hierarchy, which He instituted. 121 see fn. 43. 122 see fn. 100. 123 i.e. in humble service. 124 Thus St. Francis excludes that error arising from voluntarism, which holds that a superior should be obeyed even when he commands something sinful. Page - 42
THE WRITINGS OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI let him be as the lesser" (Lk 22:26) and the servant of the other brothers. 125 · And toward each of his brothers let him show and have mercy, as he would want done to himself, if he were in an exactly similar situation. · Nor from the crime of a brother is he to grow angry against a brother, but with all patience and humility let him kindly admonish and support him. We ought not be wise and prudent according to the flesh, but rather we ought to be simple, humble and pure. · And let us hold our bodies in opprobrium and contempt, since through our own fault we are all wretched and putrid, fetid and worms, just as the Lord says through the prophet: "I am a worm and no man, the opprobrium of men and the abject of the people." (Ps 21:7) · We ought to never desire to be above others, but rather we ought to be slaves and subjects "to every human creature for God's sake" (1 Pt 2:13). · And all those men and women, while they do such things and persevere (in them) until the end, "may the Spirit of the Lord rest upon" them (Is 11:2) and make a little dwelling and mansion in them (cf. Jn 14:23). · And they shall be the sons of the Heavenly Father (cf. Mt 5:45), whose works they do. · And they are spouses, brothers and mothers of Our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Mt 12:50). · We are spouses, 126 when the faithful soul is joined by the Holy Spirit to Jesus Christ. · For we are brothers, when we do the Will of His Father, who is in Heaven (cf. Mt 12:50); · mothers when we bear Him in our heart and body (1 Cor 6:20) by means of love (amor) and a pure and sincere conscience; we give birth to Him through holy work, which ought to shine upon others as an example (cf. Mt 5:16). O how glorious and holy and great to have in Heaven a Father! · O how holy, consoling, 127 beautiful and admirable, to have (such) a Spouse! · O how holy and how beloved (dilectio), well pleasing, humble, peaceable, sweet and lovable (amor) and above all things desirable to have such a Brother and Son, who laid down His life on behalf of His sheep (cf. Jn 10:15) and besought 128 the Father on our behalf saying: "Holy Father, save those in Thy Name, whom Thou has given Me" (Jn 17:11). · Father, all (those), "whom Thou has given Me" in "the world, were Thine and Thou has given them to Me." (Jn 17:6) · And "the words, which Thou has given to Me, I have given to them; and they have accepted these and know truly, that I have gone forth from Thee and they have believed, that Thou has sent Me" (Jn 17:8); I beg on their behalf and "not on behalf of the world" (cf. Jn 17:9); Bless and "sanctify them" (Jn 17:17). · "And on their behalf I sanctify My very self, so that they may be sanctified in" (Jn 17:19) "one just as We" are (cf. Jn 17:6). · And I wish, Father, "that where" I am "they also may be with Me, to see My splendor" 129 (Jn 17:24) "in Thy Kingdom" (Mt 20:21). Moreover, to Him who endured such great things on our behalf, conferred all good things and (who) will confer them in the future, let every creature, which is in Heaven, on earth, in the seas, and in the abyss render praise, glory, honor, and blessing to God (cf. Apoc 5:13), · since He Himself is our virtue and fortitude, who alone is good, alone the Most High, alone the Omnipotent, admirable, glorious and alone holy, worthy of praise and blest throughout the infinite ages of ages. Amen. 130 125 Here "brothers" refers to the Christian faithful; "lesser" (Latin: minor) recalls the name of the Franciscan Order: the Friars Minor. 126 cf. EpFid I,51, fn. 102. 127 cf. EpFid I, 55, fn. 103. 128 lit. oravit Patrem, "prayed the Father," a usage still admissible in English, if not already obsolete. 129 lit. claritatem, "brightness, fame, glory;" a reference to the Beatific Vision. 130 cf. Breviarum Romanum (1961): Hymnus: Ubi caritas et amor, Feriae V hebdomadae sanctae. Page - 43
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Fragments of other rules [Frag] THE
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II. From the writings of Hugo of Di
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