The Primacy of Charity in Franciscan Theology

A Q U A R T E R L Y R E V I E W FRANCISCAN STUDIES SEPTEMBER, 1943 VOLUME 24 NEW SERIES, VOLUME 3 NUMBER 3 THE PRIMACY OF CHARITY IN FRANCISCAN THEOLOGY1 O UR Holy Father St. Francis sings in his Canticle of the Sun: "Blessed be Thou, my Lord, for brother Fire, gay, noble and beautiful, untamable and strong, by whom Thou dost illumine the night.”2This praise of the Lord and joy over brother Fire may well be written over the pages of Franciscan theology. For we can apply the thought of Francis regarding fire to that holy flame of divine love which God enkindles in the soul through grace. Fire, Francis sings, is gay, noble and beautiful. So is the fire of divine love. It makes us happy; it raises us to the sublime heights of being adopted sons of God; it makes the soul beautiful to the whole universe. Such is the love God gives us through grace. In fact Scotus identifies grace with charity. Even as fire is untamable and strong, so is that fire of divine love which the Spirit of God sends into our souls "to 1. Paper read at the Twenty-fourth Annual Meeting of the Franciscan Educational Conference, Quincy College, Quincy, Illinois, June 15-17, 1942. The writer wishes to thank Very Rev. Fr. Thomas Plassmann, O. F. M., S. T. D., and Rev. Fr. Venard Kelly, O. F. M. Cap., for their kind and valuable suggestions and encouragement. 2. The Writings of St. Francis of Assisi, according to F. Ubald D'Alencon and Countess De La Warr (London, 1907), p. 118. For full bibliographical data see Bibliography at the end of this paper. 209 210 FRANCISCAN STUDIES illumine the night” of our minds and to warm the coldness of our hearts. For this we pray daily: "Spiritus Sancti gratia, illuminet sensus et corda nostra. Ignem sui amoris accendat Deus in cordibus nostris.”3 And at Solemn Mass the celebrant returning the censer to the deacon, expresses the same thought saying: "Accendat in nobis Dominus ignem sui amoris et flammam aeternae caritatis.” Even as the fire of love is untamable, beautiful and strong, so is the Franciscan spirit. Fire cannot be harnessed. Flames leap and jump; no two are exactly alike, yet all are fire. Thus the Franciscan spirit of love permeates the entire Order of the Seraphic Father. The saints, writers, preachers, and other members of the Order have been enkindled by that glorious conflagration of divine love which burned with such tremendous force in the heart of Francis, that for­ ever he will be marked as the Seraph Saint. The symbol of fire can best exemplify the ardent spirit Francis bequeathed to his brethren. It is a spirit of love and by that very token, it is a spirit alive with joy, freedom, nobility, beauty, light, and strength. In very truth such a spirit cannot be tamed, it cannot be chained within a small compass. It must have place and air to glow, to enlighten and to warm. The Franciscan spirit of love is indeed "untamable and strong.” That explains the various branches of the First and Second Orders of St. Francis, as well as the many congregations of religious belonging to the Third Order. The lively Franciscan spirit is broad and gay, and will not be confined. This all-encompassing spirit ex­ plains the fact that some find it hard to see a distinct Franciscan school of thought. But such a school exists according to the glorious and fiery tendencies of the Franciscan spirit of love, joy, and free­ dom. As Francis was inebriated with love for the God-Man and saw all life and its problems in the light of the Lord’s Cross and His grace, every Franciscan has a Christocentric view of life. This view stretches from time to eternity and embraces God, the Incarnate Word, and every creature. That which animates the Franciscan is divine love. In all Franciscan life and ideals love is the foundation, the urge, the strength, and the crown. Thus we can speak of the primacy of charity in Franciscan life, philosophy, and theology. It 3. Roman...