Francis of Assisi: The Message in His Writings

CHAPTER 2. KEYS TO READING FRANCIS

31 Keys to Reading Francis CHAPTER 2 KEYS TO READING FRANCIS In the preceding chapter, we distinguished between Francis and his message and briefly introduced that message, which we showed to be the essence of his spiritual vision. Then we asked if this vision was a unified and coherent one. In fact, Francis does not describe his vision as such in any one text, for, as we saw, all his writings are occasional and fragmentary. Must we, then, just do the best we can by first studying the numerous themes that emerge from the writings and then gather these themes into groups, as the old textbooks used to do with the “tracts” in theology, thus fitting them into an artificial framework? Fortunately, close examination of the writings shows that two of them provide a comprehensive overview of Francis’s vision, namely, chapter 23 of the Earlier Rule and the principal passages in the Second Letter to the Faithful. Here we propose to introduce and analyze these two texts in order to show what they have to say about God, humanity, and the spiritual life. That done, we shall follow the same line of inquiry in the other writings. Our findings should enable us to combine the essential points from all the writings in a comprehensive overview in which there is no hint of artificiality. FRANCIS’S CREDO (REGNB 23:1-6) The Earlier Rule is the longest of Francis’s writings, and it ends in an unusual fashion, with a lengthy prayer and an impassioned plea to the whole world. It certainly was not the Saint’s custom to insert in a lawmaking text a long prayer which was addressed to God alone and which, moreover, did not concern the friars directly. This section of the Rule must have been very dear to Francis because he lingered so long over it and used it as a glorious finale to the plan of the Gospel life which he proposed to his brothers. It is amazing to find such passion and poetry, such richness and yet such balance in this type of Credo. We shall first give the whole text and then try to indicate its main and subsidiary trains of thought: 29 32 Francis of Assisi–His Writings 1. All-powerful, most holy, most high and supreme God, Holy and just Father, Lord, King of heaven and earth, we thank you for yourself, for, through your holy will and through your only Son, with the Holy Spirit, you have created all things spiritual and corporal, and, having made us in your own image and likeness, you placed us in paradise. 2. And through our own fault we have fallen. 3. And we thank you, for, as through your Son you created us, so also, through your holy love, with which you loved us, you brought about His birth as true God and true man by the glorious, ever-virgin, most blessed, holy Mary, and you willed to redeem us captives through His cross and blood and death. 4. And we thank you, for your Son Himself will come again in the glory of His majesty to send the wicked ones who have not done penance and who have not known you into the eternal fire, and to say to all those who have known you and have adored you and have served you in penance: “Come, you blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the beginning of the world!” 5. And because all of us wretches and sinners are not worthy to pronounce your name, we humbly ask that our Lord Jesus Christ, your beloved Son, in whom you were well pleased, together with the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, give you thanks, as it pleases you and Him, for everything, He who always satisfies you in everything, through whom you have done such great things for us. Alleluia! 6. And through your love, we humbly beg the glorious Mother, most blessed Mary ever-virgin, blessed Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, and all the blessed choirs of seraphim, cherubim, thrones, dominations, principalities, powers, virtues, angels, archangels, blessed John the Baptist, John the Evangelist, Peter, Paul, and the blessed patriarchs, prophets, the Innocents, apostles, evangelists, disciples, martyrs , confessors, virgins, the blessed Elijah and Henoch, and all the saints who were, who will be and who are to give you thanks for these things, as it pleases you, the supreme and true God, eternal and living with your...