|
The Spirituality of the Third Order Regular
| There does exist a spiritual characteristic proper
to each of the three Franciscan Orders. We call it a spirituality. To be able to identify
that spirituality of the Third Order, it is first of all necessary to be clear about the
nature of this order. Author:
Fr. Raffaele Pazzelli, TOR
(One of the most recognized and well
respected Franciscan scholars in the Order)
(With Footnotes)
The Rule and Life of
the Brothers and Sisters of the Third Order Regular of Saint Francis was approved
by Pope John Paul II and intended for the entire movement of the Third Order Regular, male
and female. Besides representing and expressing the basic unity of this Franciscan family,
the Rule contains the fundamental elements of the spirituality of the Order 12
One can immediately ask: <<Does there
exist a spirituality of the Third Order Regular that is different or distinct from that of
the other Franciscan Orders?� Instead of giving a categorical response, we believe it is
useful to give some distinctions and some enlightenment on the question.
�ln the sphere of Franciscan spirituality one
can identify three main currents that all refer to Saint Francis, but each is
distinguished by its own orientation and particular expression�'13, this is to say, each one distinguishes itself by the emphasis it puts on
one or the other of the various elements of Franciscan spirituality. And this emphasis
becomes a characterization. The three currents are practically identified with the three
Orders of Saint Francis.
Starting from a different point of view, one is
able to affirm with greater detail that each of the three Franciscan Orders, besides
receiving <<the dominant ideas of Franciscan Spirituality>> which are �the
common patrimony, has its own set of spiritual elements that characterize each one in the
sphere of Franciscan tradition�. 14
Whether this is sufficient for us to speak of a distinct spirituality is a question for
discussion. It is certain, however, that there does exist a spiritual characteristic
proper to each of the three Franciscan Orders. We call it a spirituality. To be able to
identify that spirituality of the Third Order, it is first of all necessary to be clear
about the nature of this order. Today we know with certainty that the Third Order is the
continuation, with new contributions, of the penitential movement which existed before the
time of Saint Francis; a movement which was known to Saint Francis; a movement which he
followed. < In 1206, Francis before Bishop Guido renounced his father Peter Bemadone,
changed his clothing to that worn by the penitents (exivi de saeculo) and officially
entered the penitential state>>15. In that penitential movement there were
some constant elements of spirituality which formed its charism.
The Third Order of Saint Francis: <<thus
takes its life from the convergence of two spiritual streams: the one, the gospel witness
of Francis, the other, the penitential movement>> 16 We can thus assert that the elements of
penitential spirituality were made an integral part of the spiritual endowment belonging
to the Saint of Assisi: he assimilated these elements into his own charism. In the Third
Order which had its beginning with Saint Francis, there are some new elements which were
not present in the earlier penitential movement 17;
there are also elements coming from penitential spirituality. This double category of
these elements establishes the standard that characterizes the Third Order of Saint
Francis.
1. The main components of penitential
spirituality
Perhaps few other religious orders today can
benefit, as can the Third Order, from so many high level studies done in the last twenty
years that bring to light both spiritual and historical aspects of the Third Order. For
reasons readily recognizable, a group of scholarly Franciscans under the initiative of
Father Leon Bedrune, O.F.M., representing the four families 18, towards the end of the 1960's, wanted to get into the middle of an
investigation that had begun decades earlier in the scientific field. The area of this
investigation was the �famous Franciscan movement which included even married
people>>19, <<the Penitential movement>>. This investigation was begun
especially because a new opinion had been proposed by the assertions of scholars,
including persons outside Franciscanism, concerning the <<penitential origins> of
Francis of Assisi 20.
Furthermore, the Second Vatican Council had urged religious institutes to <<return
to the sources>>, that is, to return to their true beginnings in the areas of spirit
and history. Now the <<penitential movement> had followed Saint Francis in his
spirituality and the directives received from him. Later on, towards the end of the
thirteenth century, this <<penitential movement> began to call itself or was
called <<the Third Order of Saint Francis>>.
The group of ardent scholars engaged in the
project increased in number and has continued to the present time to promote Study
Meetings, in different cities of Italy, and has published the Acts of these Meetings in
several volumes.21
Limiting our considerations here to the theme in
which we are interested, we note that the above mentioned studies furnish full evidence
that < Penance� as it developed in the penitential-Franciscan charism is composed of
and explained by the two principal characteristic elements:
- <<continuous conversion>> in the
biblical sense of < metanoia�, that is, a redirecting of oneself toward God, as a
constant tending toward Him which implies leaving behind instinctual life which centers on
self, and the undertaking of a life in which God is the center of activity and aspiration;
- active and effective charity, on behalf of the
brothers and sisters in Christ, an active charity extended to those who have greater need
of it, a dedicating of oneself in many ways to the < works of mercy�, both spiritual
and corporal.
2. Explanation of these concepts
Since the two elements mentioned above are so
essential to the make-up of this movement as to constitute its characteristics, it seems
fitting and necessary to insist again in detail on their meaning, both
2. I Frati Penitenti di
san Francesco nella societa del Due a Trecento, Acts of the second Meeting for Franciscan
Studies held in Rome, October 12-14, 1976. Edited by Mariano d'Alatri, Istituto Storico
dei Cappuccini, Roma. 1977.
3. ll Movimento
Francescano della Penitenza nella societa medioevale, Acts of the third Meeting for
Franciscan Studies held at Padua. September 25-27, 1979. Edited by Mariano D'Alatri,
Istituto Storico dei Cappuccini, Roma. 1980.
4. Prime manifestazioni di
vita comunitaria, maschile a femminile, nel movimento francescano della Penitenza
(1215-1447), Acts of the fourth Meeting for Franciscan Studies, held in Assisi, June 30 to
July 2, 1981. Edited by R. Pazzelli-L. Temperini, International Historical Commission of
the T.O.R., Roma- 1982 and in the ANALECTA TOR, XV (1982).
5. La Supra Montem di
Niccolo IV (1289): genesi a diffussione di una Regola. Acts of the fifth Meeting for
Franciscan Studies held in Ascoli Piceno, October 26-27, 1987. Edited by R. Pazzelli-L.
Temperini and the ANALECTA TOR, Rome, 1988.
theoretical and practical, so that each of our
readers may have a clear and complete understanding of them.
a) The life of penance
We note first of all, that the term
�penance> does not primarily have here the common meaning which has been retained in
modem languages, but the biblical meaning of penance.
It is well known that in modern languages the
word <<penance>> most often means actions of external mortification, such as
fasting, abstinence from a particular kind of food or from other pleasurable things and
even causing bodily pain by some physical means such as a hair shirt or the <
discipline> 22
This is not the principal meaning of the word
penance in the biblical context or meaning. It is only a secondary or derived meaning. The
first meaning of penance in the biblical sense is conversion of the heart, return to God,
change of outlook, that is, a resolution for the future to follow the will of God.
Penance, in this sense, corresponds to the
biblical meaning of the word < metanoia>, which was in its turn translated into the
Latin <conversio> . Thus the three words: metanoia, penance and conversion in this
context have the same meaning and are interchangeable.23
< So Franciscan penance>>, writes Lino
Temperini, <<indicates
above all an interior psychological - spiritual
attitude that turns the primary interests of the soul and the impulse of the heart
incessantly toward God, subordinating all the rest to this fundamental option of the human
being.
<<Penance>> expresses, therefore, a
type of relationship with the Lord, a way of seeing the world as a turning toward
God-Love, a particular way of achieving evangelical perfection. These are spiritual
moments of a more intense conversion to God by means of conformity to Christ who is the
only way to draw near to the Father. (See John 14:6).
Penance is like a fulcrum on which rests the
entire organism of the supernatural life, it is a concept that confers a characteristic
tonality and a special dynamism to the development of the spirit. It shapes and draws to
itself the principles and means of Christian perfection, nourishing a continuous turning
toward God who is seen as love and sought out of love.
This profound orientation, that arises from a
definite decision to seek God, guarantees the basic idea of the Primacy of the Spirit: it
animates progress in the spiritual life and stimulates its dynamism, it constantly keeps
awake enthusiasm, nourishes commitment and influences all the moments of existence that
involve the body, the psyche, the mind, and the will. Consequently, the penitential life
does not originate in the fear of divine punishment, nor is it motivated by the will to
expiate faults or even principally to obtain eternal blessedness, but by its attraction
towards God who is presented as the highest Good and the mystery of love.
The external forms of penance, fasts,
sacrifices, mortifications, prayer, vigils, are none other than partial and secondary
expressions of an intimate conversion of the heart which implies the supremacy of the
spirit, tending toward God, and the consequent avoidance of every form of evil.
Following the penitential spirituality, the
Friars and Sisters of the Third Order of Saint Francis, called for centuries <<the
Franciscan Order of Penance�, have their own style of life, their own way of evaluating
things, or of reacting to happy or sorrowful events, and of defining their human life.
They have their own way of
putting themselves before the eternal, of
specifying their hopes. In other words, they have their own view of earthly things which
they look upon with admiration and detachment; they are optimistic and happy in the Lord,
generously involved in giving testimony to the love that God has for His creatures; they
are available to their brothers and sisters, full of faith in Providence.
From this style of spiritual life, centered on
penance, flow all the elements of sanctification as so many corollaries that orbit around
the vital and impelling idea: an unceasing conversion to the living God (Acts 14,14) 24.
b) The life of active charity
From the above statements there is enough
evidence to show that charity and availability to the brothers and sisters are corollaries
or natural consequences of an interior conversion deeply lived. A life of active charity
is the life of penance achieved: <<Remain in my love>> (John 15:9). Scripture
says clearly: < Whoever does not love the brother or sister whom he can see, cannot
love God whom he has not seen>> (I John 4:20) . <<Penance that is born of a
more intense love of God�, Temperini continues,
< projects itself in daily reality and
embraces all the necessities of our brothers and sisters, be they spiritual or material.
In the spirit of Saint Francis, the brothers and
sisters of penance have renewed that fraternal love which characterized the first
Christians. They have always been dedicated to works of charity and thus at all times the
poor, the sick, the elderly, the orphans, the handicapped, the emarginated, the illiterate
in missionary countries, the afflicted or those suffering in body or spirit have always
been the ones beloved by the Friars and Sisters of the Third Order of Saint Francis.
Together with the penitential spirituality,
charitable service (of the works of mercy) is to be considered a characteristic of the
life of the Tertiary Regulars. A life full of God, in a continuous state of conversion to
Him, cannot help but overflow in active love for those in need. The concrete sign of
conversion in Saint Francis was his embrace of the leper, his attention to the poor, the
humble, the suffering, to men without God, and to those thirsting for truth and
peace>>25
3. The voice of history
The life of penance
Here we would like to take a look-a bird's
eye view, of course-at those centuries that went before Francis of Assisi and those
centuries which followed his life to show that the primary element, < conversion>,
is clearly present from the beginning of the penitential movement. Before the fourth
century in the East there were the forerunners of that way of life which would later be
called the penitential movement. They were called apotaktikoi, a word which Cassian
translated into Latin as �abrenuntiantes�, those who renounce the < world�. In the
West these people were called < conversb : they were those who had decided upon a
conversion, a more or less radical breaking with the kind of life experienced in the past,
called <<the world�, and the making of a commitment, often public, to live <
penance> , a new kind of life in which God is the center of one's existence. This life
of penance began by entering in a practical way into one of the many forms of the life of
penance which had developed in many different ways according to circumstances from the
time of the fourth century and later.
The very concept of < conversion� tells us that the
purpose of such a decision was to make God the reference point and the aim of one's own
life: a highly spiritual goal.
Theologically, conversion was considered a gift of God and also a response on
the part of a human being in the presence of divine initiative. This idea was clearly
presented as early as Dionysius of Alexandria (+264 AD) and we again find the idea
unchanged in a spiritual treatise of the twelfth century, the Book of Penance by the
Anonymous Benedictine of the Twelfth Century. <<When there is the return to God
(poenitentia), there is also pardon. The grace of conversion (poenitentia) comes to the
sinner from God, from whom also comes pardon. Thus each time God grants the grace of
conversion, He also gives pardon.26
In the seventh century, Saint Isidore of Seville, Bishop of that city from 601
to 636, speaking of penance and the meaning of < conversion of the heart�, emphasizes
and explains the interior dimension which should make of penance a Christian <<way
of life�. Saint Isidore clearly teaches that penance is not only an act or a rite; nor is
it a temporary internal disposition. It is and should remain a constant disposition of the
religious spirit, a permanent consecration to a new style of life, interior as well as
exterior, but most of all interior. < One could say�, writes Bartolomeo Pastor Oliver,
who has the merit of having brought to light this text, that Saint Isidore presents a
complete psychology and a pastoral outline of conversion. The noblest aspect of this is
the penitent's intention to uproot from the soul that type of complacency which could
invade it after repentance .... He, therefore, insists upon those constructive and
mystical aspects of perfect sorrow which focus one's entire interior attention upon the
contemplation of God and sighs with desire for eternal life in Him 27.
This lofty teaching should represent the age-old inspiration
of those who voluntarily consecrated themselves to the penitential life.
This element of deep interiority, neglected or perhaps even forgotten in the
movement itself, forgotten in the Order of Penance at the time of Saint Francis, was <
rediscovered� and lived and taught by Saint Francis insistently and in great detail to
his penitents.28
b) The works of mercy or active charity
The other essential element of the charism of penance is active charity. It
grows, in a systematic way very slowly through the centuries, at least according to our
present knowledge of penitential documentation. It follows the development of society in
its practical manifestations. In this growth, there were always in the past as there are
now in the present, those who suffer or have need of assistance: it is indeed to these
practical needs of mankind that the penitential movement has always sought to bring succor
by following the teachings of the great masters of the ages.
The most complete text concerning penitential teaching on this subject which has
come down to us is from the tenth century. But this is not to say that it is the most
ancient. It comes to us from Ratherius, Bishop of Verona, a remarkable personality of the
high middle ages who lived exactly in that most tortured century in the two thousand year
history of the Church which is rightly called the <<dark century. Ratherius lived
from 887 to 974. A monk of the Abbey of Lobbes, a disciple of the great teacher Ilduin,
Ratherius was elected Bishop of Verona in 926. A strong personality with ideas of reform,
he was not capable of compromises and he was impatient for the realization of his plans.
Soon he lost favor with Hugh of Provenza, the first king of Italy. Hugh imprisoned
Ratherius in a tower in Pavia. There Ratherius
composed his most important work, the Praeloguiorum libri
sex. In this work he gives spiritual counsel to people of every state in life, and among
them the penitents.
It will be helpful to read again his words written a thousand years ago: <
Are you a penitent or do you desire to become one? Remember above all the rule of penance
given by the Baptizer of the Lord: `Produce fruits worthy of penance'. The penitent must
put this into practice with generosity if he desires to obtain the mercy of the Lord&.
Ratherius, thereupon, gave the spiritual motive for each of the corporal and spiritual
works of mercy to which the penitent should dedicate himself'9. Thus, practically for
Ratherius, < to do penance> means <<to perform worthy fruits of
penance>>, that is, perform the works of charity for one's neighbor. Ratherius'
teaching regarding perseverance in the < life of penance> is interesting and
significant:
< The way of penance and perseverance in it is a difficult thing.
Who can pretend to remain there by his strength alone? Invoke, then, divine help
every day or rather every moment; whether in silence or in whatsoever thing you do, ask
for it seriously of the Lord: O God, create in me a pure heart! And if you see that
because of bad habits of the past it is difficult for you to remain in such a life, I
beseech you, do not abandon it>>.
Later on, continuing with the same line of thought, Ratherius says: < It is
difficult to carry a large stone uphill; it is easier to go down hill with it. Equally so,
no one can be perfect from the beginning .... Attach yourself to Christ and exclaim: `Draw
me after thee' (Cant. 1:4)>.
Ratherius of Verona, who died a thousand years ago, bears witness that the two
elements of the penitential life, perseverance in the way of penance or continuous
conversion and the works of active charity, were already considered essential in his day.
4. The two elements in the Rules
These two elements, the life of penance and the works of active
charity, will form the cornerstones of the life and spirituality of the
penitents and the spirituality of those penitents who followed Francis
of Assisi. The first <<Rule of the Brothers and Sisters of Penance�,
called the Memoriale propositi, was edited in 1221 as is well known,
through the collaboration of Saint Francis with Cardinal Ugolino. In n.
21 it speaks of the religious man who will instruct the brothers and
sisters at their monthly meetings. The document says: he must < exhort
and strengthen them to persevere in their penance and to put into
practice the works of mercy�.30
This admonition will be repeated almost literally in the Rule of Nicholas IV in
1289, where it says: < They shall take care to have a religious man ... who will exhort
them with zeal, encourage and persuade them to live a life of penance and to put into
practice the works of mercy�31.
This text of the Rule of Nicholas IV remained legally in force also for those
female associations of Franciscan inspiration whose sisters began to live a community life
and more correctly the religious life, at least until 1521 when Pope Leo X desired to give
these new entities their own Rule, one more suitable for the religious life. Even the Rule
of Leo X preserved those essential elements repeating almost the same expressions: <
They are to have a religious man who on certain days shall proclaim the Word of God and
lead them to penance and the practice of virtue>> 32
All this has been confirmed by an eminent Franciscan scholar:
< These two elements, continuous penance and mercy or active charity, represent and
summarize, it seems to us, the whole specific purpose of the Order of Penitents,
establishing its reason for existence in the ecclesial community>>33 |
| These elements establishing the charism of the Third Order
have remained intact through the centuries and have been automatically inserted into the
many congregations of Franciscan sisters which have arisen from the time of the fifteenth
century to the present. All these congregations, at times without knowing it, have been
marked by the presence of the two essential elements of the charism and spirituality of
the penitents who followed Saint Francis, those elements of continuous or on-going
conversion and mercy or active charity, to meet both the spiritual and material needs of
our neighbor, especially the most needy or abandoned, following the spirit of the Saint of
Assisi. We see down through the centuries the manner of practically meeting these needs
has been as vast and varied as the horizon under which this activity develops. But the
substance is always the same, based on Christian charity which knows how to respond to the
needs of our brothers and sisters. The new Rule of 1982 includes the same
realities, though in different terminologies: < Led by the Lord, let them begin a life
of penance�. (Art. 6); <<They wish to live this evangelical conversion of
life in a spirit of prayer, poverty and humility�. (Art. 2); <<The
brothers and sisters are called to heal the wounded, to bind up those who are bruised, and
to reclaim the erring>> (Art. 30).
The way of putting this into practice is subject to change but the principles
remain the same.
5. Corollary.
How penance became the characteristic of the
<<Brothers and Sisters of the Penance>
If you would like to look into the historical question of how, when and why
penance-conversion, as we have just described it with its constituent elements, became the
principal characteristic of the Brothers and Sisters of Penance, that is of the Third
Order of Saint Francis, the clarifications and precise details of the latest historical
studies furnish an adequate and satisfying response.
We begin with the four principal elements which all agree go back to the
constitutive nucleus of Franciscanism to which some other elements can be added: poverty,
minority, penance-conversion, and prayer-contemplation.
As we have already noted, today it is beyond all dispute that the beginnings of
Francis' conversion were penitential. It is likewise equally certain that right after the
beginning of itinerant preaching by Francis and his companions, following the oral
approval of the new fraternity by Innocent III, there must have been verified a change of
emphasis in the rapidly growing group regarding the characteristics by which the group
presented itself to the people. In the primitive preaching before going to Rome, to those
who asked them <<where do you come from?>> they �responded simply that they
were penitents originally from the city of Assisi>34. Soon (we do not know exactly when) they began to call
themselves <<Friars Minor>>. Burchard of Ursberg, as early as 1210, referred
to the Penitentes de Assisio as Pauperes Minores 35.
James de Vitry, in his letter from Genova in October 1216, clearly states that the
�Pauperes de Assisio> were commonly called Frati minori and the followers of Saint
Clare the Sorelle minori 36.
The Rule of 1221 says: < and whoever is the greater among
them should become like the lesser>>. 37 Schmucki notes that < this passage bears
all the signs of relative antiquity. Most probably it was added very early to enrich the
biblical and disciplinary elements of the ProtoRule> 38. From Celano's remark in the Vita prima it seems
that Francis was struck by the expression < they are to be minors> as soon as it was
suggested and wanted it to become the actual name of his fraternity 39 .
Although Francis' understanding of <<minors>> is
doubtlessly the evangelical one 40,
it cannot be denied that the social-political situation in Assisi, the home of the first
friars had some influence on Francis, causing him to decide that his followers should be
called and really be <minores> by choice. Even without any association with the
minori of the city, Francis knew the maggiori and minori competed for control and were in
constant conflict with the one another. The novelty was quite evident: even. those who
were <anaggiori> in the world voluntarily became <aninori> like Francis,
wanting to compete with no one. < Minority> will also be the characteristic of the
spirituality of the Friars Minor.
Another element characteristic of the new fraternity immediately developed, -
poverty -, chosen for the love of God and <<to follow in the footsteps of His
Son>>. 41 From the moment he heard the gospel passage on the <<mission of the
apostles>>, which practically marked the beginning of the fraternity of itinerant
preachers, Francis understood that the vita evangelica included life in poverty. Not that
Francis had not practiced poverty since the first days of his conversion
(the decision made at San Damiano and the formal renunciation
of his patrimony before Bishop Guido) but now poverty became an essential element of his
evangelical vocation 42. The
gospel passage showed Francis how and why he should practice poverty from then on. This
very same desire to accept and put into practice the invitation and the challenge of the
gospel text is equally evident in the story of the conversion of Bernard of Quintavalle,
his first companion. Heeding the advice of Francis, Bernard � hurried to sell all he had
and distributed it to the poor, not to his relatives. Grasping the title of a more perfect
way, he fulfilled the counsel of the holy gospel: 'If you wish to be perfect, go and sell
all you own, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow
me>>43
Then follows the important remark that � his conversion to God stood out as a
model for those being converted in the way he sold his possessions and distributed them to
the poor> 44 Others who
would come after him, should sell their patrimony and distribute the money to the poor.
Even the short allegorical work, the Sacrum Commercium 45 considered as <<the testimony of the
spirituality that the Franciscan community was developing right after the death of St.
Francis� 46 tells us that
poverty was, from that time on, considered as a fundamental characteristic of the
spirituality of the Order of Friars Minor. From the prologue on, in fact, <<it
affirms categorically that poverty is the most important among the various virtues that
prepare the heart of man to receive God� 47.
These two elements-minority and sublime poverty also became the two basic points
for the spirituality of the Second Order, the Poor Clares; to these elements was added,
mostly because of the ecclesiastical disciplines in force at that time, the total
exclusion from the world, with a strict cloister and without any external apostolic
activity; in this way the order was also characterized by the contemplative life.
Consequently, it was <<penance>> that remained the primary
characteristic of only the Order of the Brothers and Sisters of Penance.
For centuries these characteristics and particular traits of the three
Franciscan Orders have been practically forgotten. In our own time they have gradually
been rediscovered, explained again and placed in a proper perspective so that there might
be fuller understanding of Franciscan spirituality. It is fitting and proper that each
order have its own features well defined.
These are reflections on that unique, mysterious light that was the man and
Saint, Francis of Assisi, as Raoul Manselli, well-known lover of all that is Franciscan,
loved to repeat again and again. |
12 We say
fundamental because a Rule, by its nature, does not have the obligation of containing all
the spirituality of a religious order which follows that Rule. The spirituality will
instead be completely expressed in the Constitutions which are proper to each order or
religious congregation.
13 Lino
Temperini, < La spirituality penitenziale nelle Fonti Francescaneo, in
ANALECTA TOR XIV (1980), p. 522.
14 Lino
Temperini, <La tradizione spirituale�, in R. Pazzelli-L. Temperini, La tradizione
storica a spirituale del nostro movimento, ed. CSI-TOR, Roma, 1980,
15 Lino
Temperini, < Il Terzo ordine regolare di San Francesco nell'ambito del
francescanesimo�. Pro manuscripto�, p. 1.
16 lbid. p.
4.
17 Saint
Bonaventure almost certainly alludes to these elements when, describing the Order of
Penance of Saint Francis, he wrote: <<Set on fire by the fervor of his preaching, a
great number of people bound themselves by new laws of penance according to the rule which
they received from the man of God, LM, IV, n. 6, in The Life of St. Francis, translated
by Ewert Cousins, p. 210.
18 That is,
the Friars Minor, the Conventuals, the Capuchins and the Regular Tertiaries.
19 Leon
Bedrune, O.F.M., �Presentation�, in L'Ordine della Penitenza, Roma 1973, p. 5.
20 See
Meerssernan, Dossier, op. cit., p. 1 and following.
21 L'Ordine
della Penitenza di san Francesco d'Assisi nei secolo X111. Atti del primo Convegno di
Studi Francescani (held in Assisi, July 3-5, 1972). Edited by O. Schmucki, Istituto
Storico dei Cappuccini, Rorna, 1973, Republished in 1988.
22 By the
term the <<discipline>> in the context of bodily mortification is understood a
traditional <<implement of penance ordinarily consisting in a complex of cords or
chains, small or large, plain or ending with little pellets or bars of hard substances
(wood or metal), used to chastise the body with scourging> A. Lanz, �Disciplina>,
in Enciclopedia Cattolica, IV, col. 1743.
23 For the
biblical and Franciscan meaning of <<penance>>, see further details in R.
Pazzelli, Saint Francis and the Third Order, op. cit., pp. 1-4.
24 Lino
Temperini, < La tradizione spirituale�, in R. Pazzelli-L. Temperini, La tradizione
storica a spirituale del nostro movimento, CSI-TOR, Roma. 1980, pp. 22-23.
25 Ibid. p.
24.
26 See Pazzelli, Saint
Francis and the Third Order, op. cit., p. 37.
27 Pazzelli, op. cit., p.
18; algunas expresiones indicating reference to original article by Bartolome Pastor
Oliver, TOR, Consideraciones historico-espirituates sobre de Penitencia voluntaria y de
KconversioH-HabrenuntiatioH monastica hasta el siglo XIII, Vienna, 1981, manuscript, p.
52.
28 On this question see
the detailed treatment we have given in St. Francis and the Third Order, op. cit.; pp. 65,
120-122.
29 See Pazzelli, op. cit., p. 170, note 99.
30 �Eos moneat et
confortet ad poenitentiae perseverantiam et opera Misericordiae facienda� cf. Meersseman,
Dossier, p. 103.
31 �Qui eos ad
poenitentiam et nusericordiae opera exercenda hortetur sollicite, moneat et inducat� See
Seraphicae legislationis textus originales; 1897, p. 89.
32 �Habeat virum
religiosum qui illis verbum Dei certis diebus proponat et eos ad poenitentiam et virtutes
inducat�: ibid., pp. 287-297. Bordoni, Archivium, p. 382.
33 Atanasio Matanic, �I
penitenti francescani dal 1221 (memoriale) al 1289 (Regola bollata) principalmente
attraverso i loro Statuti a le Regole�, in L'Ordine della Penitenza, op. cit., p. 56.
34 See L3C 37. Francis
ofAssisi. Early Documents. New City Press, vol. 11, p. 90.
35 Cf. Lemmens, Testimonia minora, p. 17; OMN, p. 1605.
36 Testimonia minora, p. 79; OMN, p. 1608.
37 RNB, Francis and
Clare, p. 114.
38 Schmucki, O., �Linee fondamentali della
`Forma vitae' nell'esperienza di san Francesco>>, in Lettura biblico-teologica delle
Fonti Francescane, by G. CardaropoliJ.M. Conti, Ed., Antonianum, Roma, 1979, p. 211.
39 <<For when it was written in the rule,
`Let them be lesser.. _ > , at the uttering of this statement, at the same moment he
said: `I want this fraternity to be called the Order of Lesser Brothers�. 1C 38, Early
Documents, vol. 1, p. 217..
40 It is evident that the expression of the Rule
of 1221 is a paraphrase of Mt. 20:25-26 and Lk. 22:26.
41 Cf. <<Letter to the entire
Order>>, v. 51, Francis and Clare, p. 61.
42 D.V.
Lapsanski, Evangelical Perfection, an historical examination of the concept in the early
Franciscan sources. The Franciscan Institute, St. Bonaventure University, N.Y., 1977, p.
100.
43 1C 24, Early
Documents, vol. 1, p. 203.
44 1C. 24, Early Documents, vol. 1, p. 204.
45 Sacrum Commercium
Sancti Francisci cum domina Paupertate, FlorenceQuaracchi, 1929. By an unknown author and
uncertain date of origin; many scholars propose accepting 1227 as the year of its
composition. Concerning this work, C. Esser noted that, < unfortunately, this precious
record, which bears such eloquent witness to the spirituality of the order, still in its
infancy, later underwent certain misinterpretations which earned it the mistrust of
historians, mainly in regard to the time of its origin. Today, this work may be seen as a
very faithful interpretation of the mind and intention of St. Francis. As such it must be
carefully considered next to the sources of the early life of the order already familiar
to us. In certain critical points it can even correct them>>. Origins of the
Franciscan Order, Franciscan Herald Press, Chicago, 1977, p. 8.
46 Lapsanski,
Evangelical Perfection, pp. 77-78.
47 Lapsanski, p. 78. Poverty, in the meaning of
the anonymous author of the Sacrum Commercium, requires as its first constructive element
<freely renouncing earthly goods>> The second element is the inclination toward
spiritual goods and the third < the desire for eternal goods�. |
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