The Writings of Francis of Assisi

Cover

Download PDF (4.6 MB)
 

Title Page, Copyright Page

Download PDF (53.5 KB)
 

Contents

Download PDF (52.4 KB)
 

Introduction

Download PDF (67.3 KB)
pp. vii-xi

Building on the scholarly research of the last half of the twentieth century, the first decade of the twenty-first century has provided new translations of the writings of Francis and Clare into modern . . .

Dedication

Download PDF (37.9 KB)
p. xii-xii

Contributors

Download PDF (31.1 KB)
p. xvii-xvii

The Transmision of the Writings of Brother Francis: On the Trail of the Manuscript Tradition

Download PDF (153.5 KB)
pp. 21-50

Luigi Pellegrini, La trasmissione degli scritti di Frate Francesco: sulle tracce della tradizione manoscritta, in Francesco d’Assisi, Scritti: testo latino e traduzione italiana (a cura di Aristide Cabassi). . . .

The Autographs of Brother Francis

Download PDF (185.2 KB)
pp. 51-100

When Francis of Assisi called himself ignorant and uneducated,¹ he was expressing his desire to always be minor, lesser, and subject to all human creatures.² This did not mean that he was illiterate. On the . . .

Letter to the Clergy

Download PDF (69.3 KB)
pp. 101-106

Three editions of the text of the Admonition to the Clergy exist.¹ (1) The earliest form of the letter is found in a Benedictine Missal of the Monastery of St. Benedict in Subiaco, Italy. . . .

Letter to the Custodians

Download PDF (66.9 KB)
pp. 107-112

There are two existing versions of the Letter to the Custodians. (1) The first edition of the letter is transmitted in only one manuscript: the mid-thirteenth-century codex 225 of the . . .

Letter to the Rulers of the People

Download PDF (34.6 KB)
pp. 113-116

The letter to the Rulers of the People has no known manuscript tradition, as there are no extant manuscripts of the text. It was first published by Francis Gonzaga, the General Minister of the Order from . . .

Letter to a Minister

Download PDF (72.6 KB)
pp. 117-124

There are no thirteenth century references to or citations from this letter, and the manuscript tradition begins only in the fourteenth century. Kajetan Esser collated twelve manuscripts (seven fourteenth . . .

Letter to Anthony

Download PDF (41.3 KB)
pp. 125-130

Among the extant letters Francis wrote to individuals is this brief text to Anthony of Padua, who joined the brotherhood in 1221. Prior to joining the Lesser Brothers, Anthony was a well-trained theologian. . . .

Letter to the Entire Order

Download PDF (78.2 KB)
pp. 131-148

Beginning with the Assisi 338 manuscript and the Volterra manuscript, the Letter to the Entire Order has been transmitted in fifty-eight manuscripts. The letter is present in all four of the manuscript . . .

The Letters to the Faithful

Download PDF (232.8 KB)
pp. 149-208

In an article published in 2001, Margaret Carney aptly gave her brief historiographical essay on the Letter to the Faithful the title of “The Letter of Fourteen Names.”¹ Her choice to describe the text in this . . .

Francis’s Vernacular Prayers: The Prayer before the Crucifix (1205/06) The Canticle of Exhortation for the Ladies of San Damiano (1225) The Canticle of the Creatures (1225/26)

Download PDF (302.7 KB)
pp. 209-280

Three of Francis’s prayers are written in his own Umbrian dialect. Interestingly these vernacular prayers occur at the beginning of Francis’s conversion and toward the end of his life. In effect, they act as . . .

Prayer Inspired by the Our Father

Download PDF (53.1 KB)
pp. 281-290

In his Life of Saint Francis, Thomas of Celano, drawing on the Gospels of Luke (11:1) and Mathew (6:9), recounts how the first brothers “begged [Francis] to teach them how to pray, because … up to that . . .

Praises for all the Hours

Download PDF (78.4 KB)
pp. 291-300

As Francis deepened his experience of the Gospel message for what it really is – “Good News” – his attitude toward God and Christ became more and more focused on praise and thanksgiving. His Praises for all . . .

The Salutations of Brother Francis

Download PDF (119.5 KB)
pp. 301-328

Among the writings attributed to Francis of Assisi are a few pieces belonging to a particular genre rooted in the courtly, chivalrous as well as liturgical literature: the lauda.¹ Developed in Italy during the thirteenth . . .

Saying on True Joy

Download PDF (72.4 KB)
pp. 329-336

Luke Wadding first published an edition of this story that was a construction of “various medieval sources” which, as a whole, were very close to the version of the story found in the Deeds of Blessed . . .