Francis was
born in 1182, the son of a wealthy cloth merchant. His early years were
frivolous, but an experience of sickness and another of military service were
instrumental in leading him to reflect on the purpose of life. One day, in the
church of San Damiano, he seemed to hear Christ saying to him, "Francis,
repair my falling house." He took the words literally, and sold a bale of
silk from his father's warehouse to pay for repairs to the church of San
Damiano. His father was outraged, and there was a public confrontation at which
his father disinherited and disowned him, and he in turn renounced his father's
wealth--one account says that he not only handed his father his purse, but also
took off his expensive clothes, laid them at his father's feet, and walked away
naked. He declared himself "wedded to Lady Poverty", renounced all
material possessions, and devoted himself to serving the poor. In his day the
most dreaded of all diseases was something known as leprosy. (It is probably
not the same as either the modern or the Biblical disease of that name.) Lepers
were kept at a distance and regarded with fear and disgust. Francis cared for
them, fed them, bathed their sores, and kissed them. Since he could not pay for
repairs to the Church of San Damiano, he undertook to repair it by his own
labors. He moved in with the priest, and begged stones lying useless in fields,
shaping them for use in repairing the church. He got his meals, not by asking
for money so that he might live at the expense of others, but by scrounging
crusts and discarded vegetable from trash-bins, and by working as a day
laborer, insisting on being paid in bread, milk, eggs, or vegetables rather
than in money. Soon a few companions joined him. Dante in his Paradiso has
Aquinas say of him:
Let me tell you of a youth whose aristocratic
father disowned him because of his love for a beautiful lady. She had been
married before, to Christ, and was so faithful a spouse to Him that, while Mary
only stood at the foot of the Cross, she leaped up to be with Him on the Cross.
These two of whom I speak are Francis and the Lady Poverty. As they walked
along together, the sight of their mutual love drew men's hearts after them.
Bernard saw them and ran after them, kicking off his shoes to run faster to so
great a peace. Giles and Sylvester saw them, kicked off their shoes and ran to
join them....
After three
years, in 1210, the Pope authorized the forming of the Order of Friars Minor,
commonly called the Franciscans. ("Friar" means "brother,"
as in "fraternity", and "minor" means "lesser" or
"younger." I take the meaning to be that a Franciscan, meeting
another Christian, is to think, "I am your brother in Christ, and your
younger brother at that, bound to defer to you and to give you precedence over
myself."
Francis and his
companions took literally the words of Christ when he sent his disciples out to
preach (Matthew 10:7-10):
Preach as you go, saying, "The kingdom of
Heaven is at hand." ... You have received the Gospel without payment, give
it to others as freely. Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no
bag for your journey, no spare garment, nor sandals, nor staff.
They would have
no money, and no property, individually or collectively. Their task was to
preach, "using words if necessary," but declaring by word and action
the love of God in Christ. Francis was partial to a touch of the dramatic (see
his parting from his father, for example), and it was probably he who set up
the first Christmas manger scene, to bring home the Good News of God made man
for our salvation, home to men's hearts and imaginations as well as to their
intellects.
In 1219,
Francis went to the Holy Land to preach to the moslems. He was given a pass
through the enemy lines, and spoke to the Sultan, Melek-al-Kamil. Francis
proclaimed the Gospel to the Sultan, who replied that he had his own beliefs,
and that moslems were as firmly convinced of the truth of Islam as Francis was
of the truth of Christianity. Francis proposed that a fire be built, and that
he and a moslem volunteer would walk side by side into the fire to show whose
faith was stronger. The Sultan said he was not sure that a moslem volunteer
could be found. Francis then offered to walk into the fire alone. The Sultan
who was deeply impressed but remained unconverted. Francis proposed an
armistice between the two warring sides, and drew up terms for one; the Sultan
agreed, but, to Francis's deep disappointment, the Christian leaders would not.
Francis returned to Italy, but a permanent result was that the Franciscans were
given custody of the Christian shrines then in moslem hands.
Back in Italy
and neighboring countries, the Order was suffering from its own success. Then,
as now, many persons were deeply attracted by Francis and his air of joy,
abandonment, and freedom. What is overlooked is that these were made possible
only by his willingness to accept total poverty, not picturesque poverty but
real dirt, rags, cold, and hunger, and lepers with real pus oozing from their
sores and a real danger of infection. Many idealistic young men were joining
the Order in a burst of enthusiasm and then finding themselves not so sure that
such extremes of poverty were really necessary. When there were only a few
friars, they were all known to Francis personally, and the force of his
personality kept the original ideals of the Order alive in them. Now that the
Order was larger, this was no longer enough. In 1220 Francis resigned as
minister-general of the Order, and in 1221 he agreed to a new and modified
rule, which he did not approve, but could not resist. He died on 4 October
1226. The Franciscan split into the Conventual Franciscans, who held a limited
amount of property in common, and the Spiritual Franciscans, who disavowed all
property. They taught that Christ and the twelve apostles had held no property,
singly or jointly. This view offended those who held property, and was declared
to be heretical (proof text, John 18:10; Jesus said to Peter, "Put
up thy sword...."). In 1318, several Spiritual
Franciscans were burned at the stake in Marseilles.
A story is told
of the days when the friars first began to have permanent houses. A beggar came
by when Brother Juniper was at the gate and asked for a little money. Brother
Juniper said, "There is no money in the house. But wait a minute. Last
week someone gave us an altar cloth with little silver bells attached. We don't
need those. I will cut them off for you. They will be as good as money."
And he did. When the sacristan learned what had happened, he complained to the
prior, who said, "We are fortunate that he did not give away the cloth
itself. But send him to me, and I will scold him." Brother Juniper came,
and the prior scolded him until he was hoarse. Brother Juniper noticed that the
prior was hoarse, and went to the kitchen and cooked him some mint sauce. He
brought it to the prior, who had gone to bed. He said, "Father Prior, get
up and eat this mint sauce. It will be good for your throat." The prior
said, "I don't want any mint sauce. Go away and let me sleep."
Brother Juniper said, "It's good sauce, and will be good for your
throat." The prior said, "Go away, I don't want it." Brother
Juniper said, "Well, if you won't eat it, how about holding the candle
while I eat it?" This was too much for the prior. He got up and they both
ate.
From the first
known letter from Francis to all Christians:
"O how
happy and blessed are those who love the Lord and do as the Lord himself said
in the gospel: You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart and your
whole soul, and your neighbor as yourself. Thereofore, let us love God and
adore him with pure heart and mind. This is his particular desire when he says:
True worshipers adore the Father in spirit and truth. For all who adore him
must do so in the spirit of truth. Let us also direct to him our praises and
prayers, saying: "Our Father, who are in heaven," since we must
always pray and never grow slack.
Furthermore,
let us produce worthy fruits of penance. Let us also love our neightbors as
ourselves. Let us have charity and humility. Let us give alms because these
cleanse our souls from the stains of sin. Men lose all the material things they
leave behind in this world, but they carry with them the reward of their
charity and the alms they give. For these they will recieve from the Lord the
reward and recompense they deserve. We must not be wise and prudent according
to the flesh. Rather we must be sinple, humble and pure. We should never desire
to be over others. Instead, we ought to be servants who are submissive toe very
human being for God's sake. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on all who live in
this way and persevere in it to the end. He will permanently dwell in them.
They will be the Father's children who do his work. They are the spouses,
brothers and mothers of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Many readers are enthusiastic about Saint
Francis of Assisi, a biography of Francis by G.K.Chesterton. A reader of these essays has
also recommended Saint
Francis of Assisi, a Biography by Omer Englebert.
