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

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THE WRITINGS OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI The Exposition of the Our Father [ExpPat] Expositions or commentaries on the Our Father were very common in the Middle Ages as an aid to meditation. For St. Francis the Our Father was a very important prayer, since it was his decision to take God as his Father that led him to dramatically renounce his own inheritance in the piazza of the Episcopal residence at Assisi. St. Francis' exposition of the Our Father manifests more clearly than any of his writings the clarity and profundity of his grasp of spiritual realities. According to some sources, St. Francis taught his friars to recite this prayer. 216 Indeed, it is most useful as an aid to recollection. The date of composition is unknown. 217 O Most Holy "Our Father:" Creator, Redeemer, Consoler and Our Savior. 218 "Who art in Heaven:" in the Angels and in the Saints; enlightening them unto knowledge, because Thou, Lord, art Light; inflaming them unto love (amor), because Thou, Lord, art Love; indwelling and filling them unto blessedness, because Thou, Lord, art the Highest Good, the Eternal One, from whom is every good, without whom nothing is good. "Hallowed be Thy Name:" may the knowledge of Thee in us be made bright, so that we may know, what is the breadth (cf. Ep 3:18) of Thy benefactions, 219 the length of Thy promises, the sublimity of Thy Majesty and the depth of Thy judgments. "Thy Kingdom come:" so that Thou may reign in us by grace and makes us come unto Thy Kingdom, where vision of Thee is made manifest, love (dilectio) of Thee made perfect, company with Thee blessed, enjoyment of Thee everlasting. "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven:" so that we may love Thee with (our) whole heart (cf. Lk 10:27) by thinking of Thee always, with (our) whole soul by desiring Thee always, with (our) whole mind directing unto Thee all our intentions, by seeking Thy honor in all things and with all our strength by expending all our strength and sense of soul and body in submission to Thy love (amor) and not in anything else; and may we love our neighbors even as our very selves by drawing all to Thy love to the extent of (our) strength, by rejoicing over the good things of others just as over our own and by compassionating (them) in evils and by giving offense to no one (cf. 2 Cor 6:3). "Give us this day," Thy Beloved (dilectio) Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, "our daily Bread:" to remember and understand and reverence the love (amor), which He had for us, and those things, which He said, did, or endured on our behalf. "And forgive us our debts:" by Thy ineffable mercy, through the virtue of the Passion of observe the moral law is signified. 216 cf. K. Esser, pp. 342. It should be noted that the association of this prayer with "The Praises to be said at every hour" [LaudHor] is very doubtful, cf. ibid. pp. 352-4. 217 K. Esser, p. 352. This Exposition is divided by K. Esser into verses according to its respective paragraphs. 218 St. Francis addresses the Father with the titles "Redeemer, Consoler and Our Savior," because all the work of God in creation is rooted in the unified action of the Persons of the Trinity, and thus can be attributed to each. Properly speaking, however, the Son is called "Redeemer, and Our Savior," and the Holy Spirit, the "Consoler." 219 i.e. gifts; "benefaction" is the customary term for a gift given to a religious community by a benefactor. Page - 56
THE WRITINGS OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI Thy Beloved (dilectio) Son and by the merits and intercession of the Blessed Virgin and all Thy elect. "As we also forgive our debtors:" and what we do not fully forgive, Lord make us fully forgive, so that we may truly love (our) enemies for the sake of Thee and intercede devoutly on their behalf with Thee, rendering to none evil for evil (cf. 1 Thes 5:15) and striving in all things to advance unto Thee. "And lead us not into temptation:" hidden or manifest, sudden or importune. 220 "But deliver us from evil:" past, present, and future. Glory to the Father, .... 221 The Form of living given to Saint Clare [FormViv] St. Clare was the first woman to follow St. Francis in the observance of the Apostolic Life. He himself cut her hair and gave her the habit at St. Mary of the Angels. Soon other courageous and devout women were joining St. Clare. To them St. Francis addressed this short note. It is the most ancient expression of his understanding of the vocation of St. Clare and her daughters in religion, and has been preserved in the Rule of St. Clare for the last 750 years. 222 Both Bl. Thomas of Celano and Pope Gregory IX make reference to it. 223 This note was written sometime between 1212 and the beginning of 1213 A.D. 224 Because you have by divine inspiration made yourselves daughters and handmaids of the Most High, the Highest King, the Heavenly Father, and have betrothed yourselves to the Holy Spirit by choosing to live according to the perfection of the Holy Gospel: · I want and promise that I and my friars will always exercise a diligent care and special solicitude for you as for them. 225 220 What is "importune" is inconvenient and obstructing. 221 After the custom of adding a doxology at the end of the recitation of each psalm in the Divine Office, St. Francis closes his exposition with the Gloria. 222 Rule of St. Clare, VI,2; cf. K. Esser, p. 355. 223 cf. K. Esser, pp. 355-6; 2 Celano 204, and the letter of Gregory IX (pope 1227-1242 A.D.), Angelis gaudium, of May 11, 1238 A.D.. 224 cf. K. Esser, pp. 358-9. 225 lit. de vobis tamquam de ipsis. Because St. Clare and her spiritual sisters, the Poor Clares, were cloistered in their monasteries; they required the pastoral care of the friars so as to be able to attend Mass and receive the other Sacraments. This is what St. Francis is promising here. It will be useful to compare what St. Francis says in this writing of the Poor Clares to what he says of the Blessed Virgin in the Marian Antiphon from the "Office of the Passion" [OffPass: Antiphon 1-2]. Page - 57
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