Evangelical Radicalism in the Writings of Francis and Clare of Assisi

103 Franciscan Studies 64 (2006) EVANGELICAL RADICALISM IN THE WRITINGS OF FRANCIS AND CLARE OF ASSISI One does not need a long investigation to discover that the only purpose Francis of Assisi had in life was “to live according to the form of the holy Gospel” as he declares clearly in his testament.1 Nor that his companion, Clare of Assisi, shared the same purpose: “The form of life of the Order of Poor Sisters, that blessed Francis has established, is this: to observe the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,” as is stated at the beginning of her Form of Life, the document commonly referred to as the Rule of Saint Clare.2 But what did the Gospel really mean to them? How did they understand the Gospel? What use of the Gospel did they make in their own writings? How did the Gospel inform their life? Some thirty years ago in a small but fervent book on Francis of Assisi ’s Gospel life, Thaddée Matura wrote a chapter on how Francis read and interpreted the Scripture.3 In that essay, he examined the 1 Francis of Assisi, Testamentum 14, in Fontes Franciscani, edited by Enrico Menestò and Stefano Brufani (Santa Maria degli Angeli: Edizioni Porziuncola, 1995), 228: Et postquam Dominus dedit mihi de fratribus, nemo ostendebat mihi quid deberem facere, sed ipse Altissimus revelavit mihi quod deberem vivere secundum formam sancti Evangelii. For an English translation of the writings of Francis, see Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, vol. 1, Regis J. Armstrong, J. A. Wayne Hellmann and William J. Short, eds. (New York: New City Press, 1999), 35-167. 2 Clare of Assisi, Regula 1:1-2, in Fontes Francescani, 2292: Forma vitæ ordinis sororum pauperum, quam beatus Franciscus instituit, hæc est: Domini nostri Iesu Christi sanctum Evangelium observare. For an English translation of the writings of Clare, see Clare of Assisi: Early Documents, edited by Regis J. Armstrong (New York: New City Press, 2006), 43-67 and 108-26. 3 Thaddée Matura, Le Projet Évangélique de François d’Assise Aujourd’hui (Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf, 1977), Chapitre III: “Comment François lit et interprète l’Écriture,” 43- 104 JEAN FRANÇOIS GODET CALOGERAS passages of the Scripture used by Francis in four of his writings: the Regula non bullata or Earlier Rule of the Lesser Brothers, the Regula bullata or Later Rule, the Testamentum or Testament, and the Regula pro eremitoriis data or Rule for Hermitages,4 documents chosen because they offer us the whole spectrum of Francis’ understanding of Gospel life. What first drew Matura’s attention was the high number of biblical references in the selected texts. Then it was the disparity between the citations from the Old and from the New Testament: over 90% of the citations were from the New Testament, of which over 60% were from the synoptic gospels, mostly from Matthew and Luke, a few from Mark. Those citations were mainly coming either from the Sermon on the Mount, or from the missionary discourse, or from the discourse on community.5 Of particular importance was the observation made by Matura regarding the texts commonly known today as the radical sayings of Jesus : The synoptic gospels are comprised of [sic] a certain number of Jesus’ words which present the believer with extreme and to55 . English translation: The Gospel Life of Francis of Assisi Today (Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, 1980), Chapter III: “How Francis Reads and Interprets Scripture,” 31-44. 4 See Fontes Franciscani, 185-212, 171-81, 227-32 and 215-16. In FAED 1, 63-86, 10006 , 124-27 and 61-62. 5 Since the radical sayings of Jesus are in the synoptic gospels, only those will be the focus of this essay. It does not mean, however, that Francis and Clare do not use the gospel of John, on the contrary. The writings of Clare contain 7 references to John, of which 4 are in her letters to Agnes of Prague, 1 in her testament and 1 in her blessing to her sisters. Those references concern the Word of God, the Lamb of God, and the believer’s relation to Christ. The...