Recent Franciscana: A Survey

Lovers of matters Franciscan who have a certain history behind them will remember Saint Francis of Assisi: Omnibus of Sources (Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, 1973)edited by Marion Habig, OFM if for no other reason than for its bulky size. It had the further disadvantage of having no running heads so constant reference to the index was obligatory. Nonetheless, despite its many production flaws, The Omnibus had a generous range of sources ranging from Francis's own writings and most of the early legenda reprinted from other sources (which explains the motley lineup of typefaces). The seven concordances were particularly useful; these permitted the student to track the frequency with which certain stories about the saint were reported in the early sources. ¹

As useful as the Omnibus was there is no question that a better resource for Franciscan study was needed. The options were either to revise the old Omnibus (its notes and bibliographies were woefully out of date) or start all over again. Finally, the decision was made to take the latter tack. The result is an expansion of the original scope of the Omnibus which has now come to completion in not one, but three volumes (plus a fourth of indices). These volumes provide a comprehensive survey of all primary sources concerning the saint ranging from his own writings to sources generated both from within the Franciscan Order and from without, with a terminus ad quem of one hundred and fifty years of early Franciscan history after the death of the saint. The general editors of this new omnibus are Regis Armstrong, Wayne Hellmann, and William Short who represent the Capuchin, Conventual, and Franciscan Friar strains of the family of Francis. The volumes, briefly described, are:

Francis of Assisi: The Saint (New York: New City, 1999) which includes the writings of the saint, The First Life of Thomas of Celano, Liturgical texts, The Life of Julian of Speyer, the Versified Life of Henri d"Avranches, the Sacrum Commercium, and related documents.

Francis of Assisi: The Founder (New York: New City, 2000) which contains the Anonymous of Perugia, The Legend of the Three Companions, The Assisi compilation, Celano's Second Life ("The Remembrance of the Desire of a Soul"), Celano's Treatise on Miracles, An Umbrian Choir Legend, The Letter of Elias on death of Francis, the corpus of Bonaventure (sermons, legends, etc.), and related documents.

Francis of Assisi: The Prophet (New York: New City, 2001) which contains Bernard of Besse's Book of Praises, Amplifications of the Versified Life of Henri d'Avranches, collection of Sayings of the Companions of Saint Francis, Selections of Tree of Life of Ubertino da Casale, two versions of the Mirror of Perfection, Selections of the Tribulations of the Order of Lesser Ones by Angelo Clareno, the Deeds of blessed Francis and His Companions, The Little Flowers, Liturgical Texts, the Kinship of Saint Francis of Arnald of Sarrant, and related documents. ²

Francis of Assisi: Index (New York: New City, 2002) provides the research key to the previous three volumes. The volume contains a topical index, an index of names and one of scriptural citations as well as textual cross references. The final bibliography wisely restricts itself to original critical editions of the translated materials in the three volumes. It is probably a niggling point to lament the loss of the story parallels which were such a useful part of the old Omnibus.

The obvious advantages of this new set of sources are its completeness, the freshness of the translations, the useful introductions, and the notes which show, among other things, how the legenda (from the Latin legere [to read] since these works were to be read aloud often in liturgical or devotional settings) draw inspiration from earlier hagiographical resources. These volumes, in short, will be the canonical source for study on matters Franciscan in the English language for the foreseeable future.

Popular biographies of the saint often draw upon the many legenda as...