(This article originally appeared in the TAU-USA Spring 2023 Issue #109)

by Bret Thoman, OFS

Confirmation of the Rule by Giotto, 1297-1300, Assisi

This year, 2023, the Franciscan Family will commemorate the 800th anniversary of the confirmation of the Later Rule. Also known as the Approved Rule, or the Rule of 1223, the papal approval of the Rule marks the culmination of a long and difficult journey for St. Francis. His journey can be an example to those of us who have professed a different rule, the Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order.

A rule is a commitment to live a particular religious form of life. It is conceived when one feels a calling. Then it is developed over time through prayer and discernment in fidelity to God, as well as in obedience to one’s superiors and the Church.

The beginning of the Rule of St. Francis can be traced to February 24, 1208. On that day, he received his calling to Gospel poverty. He was at Mass at the church of St. Mary of the Angels when the priest read from the Gospel of St. Matthew: “Do not take gold or silver or copper for your belts; no sack for the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals, or walking stick” (10:9-10).

Francis responded, “This is what I want to do with all my strength.” (See Legend of the Three Companions, Chapter VIII, 25.) His heart was set ablaze as he realized what he was called to do. Total, radical poverty was his charism.

If St. Francis was called by God to embrace poverty, how he would do so would be worked out over time. His charism was not given within a vacuum; it would be lived within the milieu of the thirteenth century and the canonical structure of the Catholic Church. Moreover, he would have to contend with the humanity of the other friars. Angels were not joining his order; men were.

Fr. Murray Bodo, OFM, narrates this dichotomy brilliantly and poetically. He introduces these two aspects in the title of his masterpiece biography of St. Francis, The Journey and the Dream. The “Dream” is Francis’ calling to poverty; the “Journey” is the struggle he faced as he dealt with the myriad challenges in implementing it. The journey would take 15 years.

Soon after receiving his calling, others from Assisi began following St. Francis. In the beginning, there was little guidance to direct the fledgling community. There was essentially one rule the friars had to abide by. It was directly from Scripture: “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me” (Matthew 19:21).

This verse was revealed when Francis’ first companion, Bernard of Quintavalle, asked to follow him. In the church of San Nicolò, the two opened the Bible at random and, guided by the Holy Spirit, came upon that verse. They opened the Scriptures two more times and read: “Take nothing for your journey” (Luke 9:3) and “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). (See Little Flowers of Saint Francis, Chapter 2.)

After this, according to Thomas of Celano, “Bernard immediately carried out all these things, without neglecting a single iota of this counsel. In a short time, many turned away from the weary cares of the world toward an infinite Good, returning to their homeland with Francis as their guide.” (The Remembrance of the Desire of a Soul, Second Life, Chapter X, 15.)

Hermitage of Fonte Colombo where St. Francis wrote the Rule of 1223

When Francis had 12 followers, he discerned that his fledgling community needed more guidance. He wrote what is known as the Protorule, or primitive Rule, and went to Rome seeking papal approval from Pope Innocent III.

Thomas of Celano described the event: “When blessed Francis saw that the Lord God was daily increasing their numbers, he wrote for himself and his brothers present and future, simply and in few words, a form of life and a rule. He used primarily words of the holy Gospel, longing only for its perfection. He inserted a few other things necessary for the practice of a holy way of life.” (The Life of Saint Francis, First Life, Chapter XIII, 32).

This initial rule has not been preserved. It is believed that it consisted of the scriptural verses revealed to Francis and Bernard of Quintavalle, a promise to live the evangelical counsels, and a commitment to poverty. What is certain is that Francis did not take any of the existing monastic rules – which were essentially either Augustinian or Benedictine in the West. His form of life was radically new. He wished to base his life according to the Gospel life of Christ and the Apostles.

Pope Innocent III accepted Francis’ rule, though not without some hesitation. April 16, 1209, is given as the date on which the Franciscan Order was constituted and the Protorule was approved orally by the Pope.

Over the following years, Francis led the Order by example. The men who entered the Order did so in large part because of him, and the Franciscan way of life was modeled after the figure of St. Francis. However, it was increasingly apparent that more structure was necessary. Twice a year, the friars gathered in Assisi in what became referred to as chapters. They discussed “how they could better observe the Rule. […] Saint Francis, however, used to give admonitions, corrections, and directives as it seemed to him to be according to the Lord’s counsel.” (See Legend of the Three Companions, Chapter XIV, 57.)

In time, the Franciscan model began to change. As the Order grew in numbers and the known world was divided into provinces, men joined who had never met Francis or been to Assisi. Many had unique ideas and notions about the Franciscan way of life. When Francis was away in the Holy Land from 1219-20, the order moved farther from the vision of the founder.

For these reasons, Francis decided to formulate a much more comprehensive form of life. In a document consisting of 23 sections, he wrote the second rule – also known as the Earlier Rule, or the Rule of 1221. However, it did not meet the expectations of the friars. Moreover, its regulations were ambiguous, and it was not presented in sufficiently legal terminology. Therefore, Francis set out to crab another rule once again.

In 1223, he went with Brother Leo and Brother Bonizo to a hermitage near the city of Rieti, known as Fonte Colombo. Aber praying and fasting for forty days, he emerged with the final rule.

St. Bonaventure described the moment:

Since he therefore wanted the Rule that had been taken from a more widespread collection of Gospel passages to be confirmed, he went up to a certain mountain led by the Holy Spirit, with two of his companions, to condense it into a shorter form as the vision had dictated. There he fasted, content with only bread and water, and dictated the rule as the Holy Spirit suggested to him while he was praying. […] Fervently exhorting the brothers to observe this rule, Francis used to say that nothing of what he had placed there came from his own efforts but that he dictated everything just as it had been revealed by God. (The Life of Blessed Francis, Greater Legend, Chapter Four)

Pope Honorius III approved the Rule in a papal bull, Solet annuere, on November 29, 1223.

At first glance, the Rule of 1223 may appear technical or legalistic. However, it was unique, as it was different from the other traditional rules of the day. Moreover, it fully encompassed the vision St. Francis had for his Order, and he was fiercely devoted to it. In 1226, he wrote his Testament:

And I strictly command all my cleric and lay brothers, through obedience, not to place any gloss upon the Rule or upon these words saying: “They should be understood in this way.” But as the Lord has given me to speak and write the Rule and these words simply and purely, may you understand them simply and without gloss and observe them with a holy activity until the end. And whoever observes these things, let him be blessed in heaven with the blessing of the Most High Father, and on earth with the blessing of His Beloved Son with the Most Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, and all the powers of heaven and with all the saints. (38-40)

Shortly after writing the Testament, St. Francis died. As he lay dying, he said, “I have done what is mine; may Christ teach you what is yours!” He had a peaceful death, knowing that he had remained faithful to the charism he received when he was a young man. He lived his life according to the words God revealed to him, “Take nothing with you for the journey.” Through tenacity and perseverance, his “dream” was greater than the obstacles and challenges he faced on the “journey.”

As we reflect on St. Francis and his calling and commitment to the Rule, may we find inspiration as we consider our own calling.

Take a few moments to consider the following questions:

• When and how did you hear your calling to the Secular Franciscan Order?
• What was the “dream” like?
• How have you been faithful to your calling?
• What has the “journey” been like?
• What have the challenges been like?

May we, as Secular Franciscans, be confident we know and have done “what is ours!”

https://www.secularfranciscansusa.org/2023/06/12/st-francis-and-the-rule-of-1223/

(This article originally appeared in the TAU-USA spring Issue #109)

Fr. Jerome Wolbert, OFM

Stories help us see ourselves from a different perspective. That could be one reason Jesus often told parables. It’s certainly one reason I seek out good movies and other programs. I recently found the Ukrainian comedy Servant of the People on YouTube (with subtitles in English). You might remember from news reports that the current president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was a comedian and actor and that he starred in this comedy (2016-2019) about a history teacher who is propelled to become President of Ukraine.

In one of the episodes, the TV-president is “visited” by Ivan the Terrible, who insists on one way of dealing with opponents or enemies that was eerily similar to our polarized culture of today. During a four-way debate in which his very reputation is at risk, Ivan the Terrible appears to the President, urging this younger “Tsar” to root out his enemies—the many corrupt officials—by torturous death. “Death is not enough,” says The Terrible. The TV-President rejects the title “Tsar,” as well as the cruelty. The Tsar laughs it off as the way things are, with a retort for every argument or situation the President presents to make roofing out corruption without death or cruelty credible.

The Tsar will not hear reason, so the President simply says, “You’re heading one way; we, another. Let’s go in different directions, and we’ll talk again in 300 years.”

How do we deal with people who expect that what we know is both bad and not inevitable? The TV- President ditches his limo for the bus. He makes little changes where he can, and with the few loyal people in his orbit, catches criminals when they are greedy or self-assured enough to fall into traps or in some cases to trap themselves and each other.

I have spent the better part of the past two months trying to think of how to write about the polarization we all encounter in our nation and in the Church. Cardinal Angelo Sodano, preaching at the Mass on the first day of the conclave that elected Pope Francis in 2013, described the importance of the papal ministry of mercy and building unity in the Church. Also at the conclave, Cardinal Prosper Grech noted the risk of schism:

Between ultra-traditionalist and ultra-progressive extremists, between priests who rebel against obedience and those who do not recognize the signs of the times, there is always the danger of minor schisms that not only damage the Church, but go against the will of God: unity at any cost.

Many of you know that I am a Byzantine Catholic. My sense of this means that I am standing on a bridge between the Latin West and the Orthodox East. Our liturgy and way of talking to and about God are like the Greeks, but we live in communion with Roman Catholics who speak and worship somewhat differently (though if you live in both traditions, you may also experience many similarities when each tradition is at its best).

The polarization in the Church is personally painful for me.

It happens when we are cruel and nasty to each other, demeaning or insulting because someone doesn’t do it the way we want it done, or doesn’t use the right words the way we expect (1 John 4:20-21, Matthew 5:21-22). “They’ll know we are Christians” when we finally decide to love each other.

It happens when we decide we are more knowledgeable than the bishop or bishops and we can make our own decisions about faith or morals, apart from the history of the Church, and teach our view as the only “right” or “true” one. Non-specialists and academic theologians do this in different ways, but we are all susceptible to a kind of self-righteousness on this count.

Polarization happens when we decide that we can reach out to certain people and ignore others who are on our doorstep (Luke 16:19-31). Lazarus on our doorstep is not only the poor and visibly downtrodden, but anyone we choose to ignore who might benefit from a crumb of the faith we profess and yet struggle to live.

We’re surrounded by polarization in our country, those who bemoan it and those who foster it, goading us to the fight. Dare we Christians have the courage to tell Ivan the Polarizer, “You’re heading one way; we, another. Let’s go in different directions, unless you also choose to follow The Way?”

https://www.secularfranciscansusa.org/2023/06/05/what-way-are-you-going/