Life of St. Francis of Assisi
They made a short halt near Nocera, at the hermitage of Bagnara, on the
slopes of Monte-Pennino.[17] His companions were again very much
disturbed. The swelling which had shown itself in the lower limbs was
rapidly gaining the upper part of the body. The Assisans learned this,
and wishing to be prepared for whatever might happen sent their
men-at-arms to protect the Saint and hasten his return.
Bringing Francis back with them they stopped for food at the hamlet of
Balciano,[18] but in vain they begged the inhabitants to sell them
provisions. As the escort were confiding their discomfiture to the
friars, Francis, who knew these good peasants, said: "If you had asked
for food without offering to pay, you would have found all you wanted."
He was right, for, following his advice, they received for nothing all
that they desired.[19]
The arrival of the party at Assisi was hailed with frantic joy. This
time Francis's fellow-citizens were sure that the Saint was not going to
die somewhere else.[20]
Customs in this matter have changed too much for us to be able
thoroughly to comprehend the good fortune of possessing the body of a
saint. If you are ever so unlucky as to mention St. Andrew before an
inhabitant of Amalfi, you will immediately find him beginning to shout
"_Evviva San Andrea! Evviva San Andrea!_" Then with extraordinary
volubility he will relate to you the legend of the _Grande Protettore_,
his miracles past and present, those which he might have done if he had
chosen, but which he refrained from doing out of charity because St.
Januarius of Naples could not do as much. He gesticulates, throws
himself about, hustles you, more enthusiastic over his relic and more
exasperated by your coldness than a soldier of the Old Guard before an
enemy of the Emperor.
In the thirteenth century all Europe was like that.
We shall find here several incidents which we may be tempted to consider
shocking or even ignoble, if we do not make an effort to put them all
into their proper surroundings.
Francis was installed in the bishop's palace; he would have preferred to
be at Portiuncula, but the Brothers were obliged to obey the injunctions
of the populace, and to make assurance doubly sure, guards were placed
at all the approaches of the palace.
The abode of the Saint in this place was much longer than had been
anticipated. It perhaps lasted several months (July to September). This
dying man did not consent to die. He rebelled against death; in this
centre of the work his anxieties for the future of the Order, which a
little while before had been in the background, now returned, more
agonizing and terrible than ever.
"We must begin again," he thought, "create a new family who will not
forget humility, who will go and serve lepers and, as in the old times,
put themselves always, not merely in words, but in reality, below all
men."[21]
To feel that implacable work of destruction going on against which the
most submissive cannot keep from protesting: "My God, my God, why? why
hast thou forsaken me?" To be obliged to look on at the still more
dreaded decomposition of his Order; he, the lark, to be spied upon by
soldiers watching for his corpse--there was quite enough here to make
him mortally sad.
During these last weeks all his sighs were noted. The disappearance of
the greater part of the legend of the Three Companions certainly
deprives us of some touching stories, but most of the incidents have
been preserved for us, notwithstanding, in documents from a second hand.
Four Brothers had been especially charged to lavish care upon him: Leo,
Angelo, Rufino, and Masseo. We already know them; they are of those
intimate friends of the first days, who had heard in the Franciscan
gospel a call to love and liberty. And they too began to complain of
everything.[22]
One day one of them said to the sick man: "Father, you are going away to
leave us here; point out to us, then, if you know him, the one to whom
we might in all security confide the burden of the generalship."
Alas, Francis did not know the ideal Brother, capable of assuming such a
duty; but he took advantage of the question to sketch the portrait of
the perfect minister-general.[23]
We have two impressions of this portrait, the one which has been
retouched by Celano, and the original proof, much shorter and more
vague, but showing us Francis desiring that his successor shall have but
a single weapon, an unalterable love.
It was probably this question which suggested to him the thought of
leaving for his successors, the generals of the Order, a letter which
they should pass on from one to another, and where they should find, not
directions for particular cases, but the very inspiration of their
activity.[24]
To the Reverend Father in Christ, N ..., Minister-General of the
entire Order of the Brothers Minor. May God bless thee and keep
thee in his holy love.
Patience in all things and everywhere, this, my Brother, is what
I specially recommend. Even if they oppose thee, if they strike
thee, thou shouldst be grateful to them and desire that it
should be thus and not otherwise.
In this will be manifest thy love for God and for me, his
servant and thine; that there shall not be a single friar in the
world who, having sinned as much as one can sin, and coming
before thee, shall go away without having received thy pardon.
And if he does not ask it, do thou ask it for him, whether he
wills or not.
And if he should return again a thousand times before thee, love
him more than myself, in order to lead him to well-doing. Have
pity always on these Brothers.
These words show plainly enough how in former days Francis had directed
the Order; in his dream the ministers-general were to stand in a
relation of pure affection, of tender devotion toward those under them;
but was this possible for one at the head of a family whose branches
extended over the entire world? It would be hazardous to say, for among
his successors have not been wanting distinguished minds and noble
hearts; but save for Giovanni di Parma and two or three others, this
ideal is in sharp contrast with the reality. St. Bonaventura himself
will drag his master and friend, this very Giovanni of Parma, before an
ecclesiastical tribunal, will cause him to be condemned to perpetual
imprisonment, and it will need the intervention of a cardinal outside of
the Order to secure the commutation of this sentence.[25]
The agonies of grief endured by the dying Francis over the decadence of
the Order would have been less poignant if they had not been mingled
with self-reproaches for his own cowardice. Why had he deserted his
post, given up the direction of his family, if not from idleness and
selfishness? And now it was too late to take back this step; and in
hours of frightful anguish he asked himself if God would not hold him
responsible for this subversion of his ideal.
"Ah, if I could go once again to the chapter-general," he would sigh, "I
would show them what my will is."
Shattered as he was by fever, he would suddenly rise up in his bed,
crying with a despairing intensity: "Where are they who have ravished
my brethren from me? Where are they who have stolen away my family?"
Alas, the real criminals were nearer to him than he thought. The
provincial ministers, of whom he appears to have been thinking when he
thus spoke, were only instruments in the hands of the clever Brother
Elias; and he--what else was he doing but putting his intelligence and
address at Cardinal Ugolini's service?
Far from finding any consolation in those around him, Francis was
constantly tortured by the confidences of his companions, who, impelled
by mistaken zeal, aggravated his pain instead of calming it.[26]
"Forgive me, Father," said one of them to him one day, "but many
people have already thought what I am going to say to you. You
know how, in the early days, by God's grace the Order walked in
the path of perfection; for all that concerns poverty and love,
as well as for all the rest, the Brothers were but one heart and
one soul. But for some time past all that is entirely changed:
it is true that people often excuse the Brothers by saying that
the Order has grown too large to keep up the old observances;
they even go so far as to claim that infidelities to the Rule,
such as the building of great monasteries, are a means of
edification of the people, and so the primitive simplicity and
poverty are held for nothing. Evidently all these abuses are
displeasing to you; but then, people ask, why do you tolerate
them?"
"God forgive you, brother." replied Francis. "Why do you lay at
my door things with which I have nothing to do? So long as I had
the direction of the Order, and the Brothers persevered in their
vocation I was able, in spite of weakness, to do what was
needful. But when I saw that, without caring for my example or
my teaching, they walked in the way you have described, I
confided them to the Lord and to the ministers. It is true that
when I relinquished the direction, alleging my incapacity as the
motive, if they had walked in the way of my wishes I should not
have desired that before my death they should have had any other
minister than myself; though ill, though bedridden, even, I
should have found strength to perform the duties of my charge.
But this charge is wholly spiritual; I will not become an
executioner to strike and punish as political governors
must."[27]
Francis's complaints became so sharp and bitter that, to avoid scandal,
the greatest prudence was exercised with regard to those who were
permitted to see him.[28]
Disorder was everywhere, and every day brought its contingent of
subjects for sorrow. The confusion of ideas as to the practice of the
Rule was extreme; occult influences, which had been working for several
years, had succeeded in veiling the Franciscan ideal, not only from
distant Brothers, or those who had newly joined the Order, but even from
those who had lived under the influence of the founder.[29]
Under circumstances such as these, Francis dictated the letter to all
the members of the Order, which, as he thought would be read at the
opening of chapters and perpetuate his spiritual presence in them.[30]
In this letter he is perfectly true to himself; as in the past, he
desires to influence the Brothers, not by reproaches but by fixing their
eyes on the perfect holiness.
To all the revered and well-beloved Brothers Minor, to Brother A
...,[31] minister-general, its Lord, and to the
ministers-general who shall be after him, and to all the
ministers, custodians, and priests of this fraternity, humble in
Christ, and to all the simple and obedient Brothers, the oldest
and the most recent, Brother Francis, a mean and perishing man,
your little servant, gives greeting!
Hear, my Lords, you who are my sons and my brothers, give ear to
my words. Open your hearts and obey the voice of the Son of God.
Keep his commandments with all your hearts, and perfectly
observe his counsels. Praise him, for he is good, and glorify
him by your works.
God has sent you through all the world, that by your words and
example you may bear witness of him, and that you may teach all
men that he alone is all powerful. Persevere in discipline and
obedience, and with an honest and firm will keep that which you
have promised.
After this opening Francis immediately passes to the essential matter of
the letter, that of the love and respect due to the Sacrament of the