CHAPTER XIV

THE CRISIS OF THE ORDER[1]

Autumn, 1220

On his arrival in Venice Francis informed himself yet more exactly

concerning all that had happened, and convoked the chapter-general at

Portiuncula for Michaelmas (September 29, 1220).[2] His first care was

doubtless to reassure his sister-friend at St. Damian; a short fragment

of a letter which has been preserved to us gives indication of the sad

anxieties which filled his mind:

"I, little Brother Francis, desire to follow the life and the

poverty of Jesus Christ, our most high Lord, and of his most

holy Mother, persevering therein until the end; and I beg you

all and exhort you to persevere always in this most holy life

and poverty, and take good care never to depart from it upon the

advice or teachings of any one whomsoever."[3]

A long shout of joy sounded up and down all Italy when the news of his

return was heard. Many zealous brethren were already despairing, for

persecutions had begun in many provinces; so when they learned that

their spiritual father was alive and coming again to visit them their

joy was unbounded. From Venice Francis went to Bologna. The journey was

marked by an incident which once more shows his acute and wise goodness.

Worn out as much by emotion as by fatigue, he one day found himself

obliged to give up finishing the journey on foot. Mounted upon an ass,

he was going on his way, followed by Brother Leonard of Assisi, when a

passing glance showed him what was passing in his companion's mind. "My

relatives," the friar was thinking, "would have been far enough from

associating with Bernardone, and yet here am I, obliged to follow his

son on foot."

We may judge of his astonishment when he heard Francis saying, as he

hastily dismounted from his beast: "Here, take my place; it is most

unseemly that thou shouldst follow me on foot, who art of a noble and

powerful lineage." The unhappy Leonard, much confused, threw himself at

Francis's feet, begging for pardon.[4]

Scarcely arrived at Bologna, Francis was obliged to proceed against

those who had become backsliders. It will be remembered that the Order

was intended to possess nothing, either directly or indirectly. The

monasteries given to the friars did not become their property; so soon

as the proprietor should desire to take them back or anyone else should

wish to take possession of them, they were to be given up without the

least resistance; but on drawing near to Bologna he learned that a house

was being built, which was already called _The house of the Brothers_.

He commanded its immediate evacuation, not even excepting the sick who

happened to be there. The Brothers then resorted to Ugolini, who was

then in that very city for the consecration of Santa Maria di

Rheno.[5] He explained to Francis at length that this house did not

belong to the Order; he had declared himself its proprietor by public

acts; and he succeeded in convincing him.[6]

Bolognese piety prepared for Francis an enthusiastic reception, the echo

of which has come down even to our times:

"I was studying at Bologna, I, Thomas of Spalato, archdeacon in

the cathedral church of that city, when in the year 1220, the

day of the Assumption, I saw St. Francis preaching on the piazza

of the Lesser Palace, before almost every man in the city. The

theme of his discourse was the following: Angels, men, the

demons. He spoke on all these subjects with so much wisdom and

eloquence that many learned men who were there were filled with

admiration at the words of so plain a man. Yet he had not the

manner of a preacher, his ways were rather those of

conversation; the substance of his discourse bore especially

upon the abolition of enmities and the necessity of making

peaceful alliances. His apparel was poor, his person in no

respect imposing, his face not at all handsome; but God gave

such great efficacy to his words that he brought back to peace

and harmony many nobles whose savage fury had not even stopped

short before the shedding of blood. So great a devotion was felt

for him that men and women flocked after him, and he esteemed

himself happy who succeeded in touching the hem of his garment."

Was it at this time that the celebrated Accurso the Glossarist,[7]

chief of that famous dynasty of jurisconsults who during the whole

thirteenth century shed lustre upon the University of Bologna, welcomed

the Brothers Minor to his villa at Ricardina, near the city?[8] We do

not know.

It appears that another professor, Nicolas dei Pepoli, also entered the

Order.[9] Naturally the pupils did not lag behind, and a certain

number asked to receive the habit. Yet all this constituted a danger;

this city, which in Italy was as an altar consecrated to the science of

law, was destined to exercise upon the evolution of the Order the same

influence as Paris; the Brothers Minor could no more hold aloof from it

than they could keep aloof from the ambient air.

This time Francis remained here but a very short time. An ancient

tradition, of which his biographers have not preserved any trace, but

which nevertheless appears to be entirely probable, says that Ugolini

took him to pass a month in the Camaldoli, in the retreat formerly

inhabited by St. Romuald in the midst of the Casentino forest, one of

the noblest in Europe, within a few hours' walk of the Verna, whose

summit rises up gigantic, overlooking the whole country.

We know how much Francis needed repose. There is no doubt that he also

longed for a period of meditation in order to decide carefully in

advance upon his line of conduct, in the midst of the dark conjectures

which had called him home. The desire to give him the much-needed rest

was only a subordinate purpose with Ugolini. The moment for vigorous

action appeared to him to have come. We can easily picture his responses

to Francis's complaints. Had he not been seriously advised to profit by

the counsels of the past, by the experience of those founders of Orders

who have been not only saints but skilful leaders of men? Was not

Ugolini himself his best friend, his born defender, and yet had not

Francis forced him to lay aside the influence to which his love for the

friars, his position in the Church, and his great age gave him such just

title? Yes, he had been forced to leave Francis to needlessly expose his

disciples to all sorts of danger, to send them on missions as perilous

as they had proved to be ineffectual, and all for what? For the most

trivial point of honor, because the Brothers Minor were determined not

to enjoy the smallest privileges. They were not heretics, but they

disturbed the Church as much as the heretics did. How many times had he

not been reminded that a great association, in order to exist, must have

precise and detailed regulations? It had all been labor lost! Of course

Francis's humility was doubted by no one, but why not manifest it, not

only in costume and manner of living, but in all his acts? He thought

himself obeying God in defending his own inspiration, but does not the

Church speak in the name of God? Are not the words of her

representatives the words of Jesus forever perpetuated on earth? He

desired to be a man of the Gospel, an apostolic man, but was not the

best way of becoming such to obey the Roman pontiff, the successor of

Peter? With an excess of condescension they had let him go on in his own

way, and the result was the saddest of lessons. But the situation was

not desperate, there was still time to find a remedy; to do that he had

only to throw himself at the feet of the pope, imploring his blessing,

his light, and his counsel.

Reproaches such as these, mingled with professions of love and

admiration on the part of the prelate, could not but profoundly disturb

a sensitive heart like that of Francis. His conscience bore him good

witness, but with the modesty of noble minds he was ready enough to

think that he might have made many mistakes.

Perhaps this is the place to ask what was the secret of the friendship

of these two men, so little known to one another on certain sides. How

could it last without a shadow down to the very death of Francis, when

we always find Ugolini the very soul of the group who are compromising

the Franciscan ideal? No answer to this question is possible. The same

problem presents itself with regard to Brother Elias, and we are no

better able to find a satisfactory answer. Men of loving hearts seldom

have a perfectly clear intelligence. They often become fascinated by

men the most different from themselves, in whose breasts they feel none

of those feminine weaknesses, those strange dreams, that almost sickly

pity for creatures and things, that mysterious thirst for pain which is

at once their own happiness and their torment.

The sojourn at Camaldoli was prolonged until the middle of September,

and it ended to the cardinal's satisfaction. Francis had decided to go

directly to the pope, then at Orvieto, with the request that Ugolini

should be given him as official protector intrusted with the direction

of the Order.

A dream which he had once had recurred to his memory; he had seen a

little black hen which, in spite of her efforts, was not able to spread

her wings over her whole brood. The poor hen was himself, the chickens

were the friars. This dream was a providential indication commanding him

to seek for them a mother under whose wings they could all find a place,

and who could defend them against the birds of prey. At least so he

thought.[10]

He repaired to Orvieto without taking Assisi in his way, since if he

went there he would be obliged to take some measures against the

fomentors of disturbance; he now proposed to refer everything directly

to the pope.

Does his profound humility, with the feeling of culpability which

Ugolini had awakened in him, suffice to explain his attitude with regard

to the pope, or must we suppose that he had a vague thought of

abdicating? Who knows whether conscience was not already murmuring a

reproach, and showing him how trivial were all the sophisms which had

been woven around him?

"Not daring to present himself in the apartments of so great a

prince, he remained outside before the door, patiently waiting

till the pope should come out. When he appeared St. Francis made

a reverence and said:

"'Father Pope, may God give you peace.' 'May God bless you, my

son,' replied he. 'My lord,' then said St. Francis to him, 'you

are great and often absorbed by great affairs; poor friars

cannot come and talk with you as often as they need to do; you

have given me many popes; give me a single one to whom I may

address myself when need occurs, and who will listen in your

stead, and discuss my affairs and those of the Order.' 'Whom do

you wish I should give you, my son?' 'The Bishop of Ostia.' And

he gave him to him."[11]

Conferences with Ugolini now began again; he immediately accorded

Francis some amends; the privilege granted the Clarisses was revoked;

Giovanni di Conpello was informed that he had nothing to hope from the

_curia_, and last of all leave was given to Francis himself to compose

the Rule of his Order. Naturally he was not spared counsel on the

subject, but there was one point upon which the curia could not brook

delay, and of which it exacted the immediate application--the obligation

of a year's novitiate for the postulants.

At the same time a bull was issued not merely for the sake of publishing

this ordinance, but especially to mark in a solemn manner the

commencement of a new era in the relations of the Church and the

Franciscans. The fraternity of the Umbrian Penitents became an Order in

the strictest sense of the word.

Honorius, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to Brother

Francis and the other priors or custodes of the Brothers Minor,

greeting and the apostolic benediction.

In nearly all religious Orders it has been wisely ordained that

those who present themselves with the purpose of observing the

regular life shall make trial of it for a certain time, during

which they also shall be tested, in order to leave neither place

nor pretext for inconsiderate steps. For these reasons we

command you by these presents to admit no one to make profession

until after one year of novitiate; we forbid that after

profession any brother shall leave the Order, and that any one

shall take back again him who has gone out from it. We also

forbid that those wearing your habit shall circulate here and

there without obedience, lest the purity of your poverty be

corrupted. If any friars have had this audacity, you will

inflict upon them ecclesiastical censures until repentance.[12]

It is surely only by a very decided euphemism that such a bull can be

considered in the light of a privilege. It was in reality the laying of

the strong hand of the papacy upon the Brothers Minor.

From this time, in the very nature of things it became impossible for

Francis to remain minister-general. He felt it himself. Heart-broken,

soul-sick, he would fain, in spite of all, have found in the energy of

his love those words, those glances which up to this time had taken the

place of rule or constitution, giving to his earliest companions the

intuition of what they ought to do and the strength to accomplish it;

but an administrator was needed at the head of this family which he

suddenly found to be so different from what it had been a few years

before, and he sadly acknowledged that he himself was not in the

slightest degree such a person.[13]

Ah, in his own conscience he well knew that the old ideal was the true,

the right one; but he drove away such thoughts as the temptations of

pride. The recent events had not taken place without in some degree

weakening his moral personality; from being continually talked to about

obedience, submission, humility, a certain obscurity had come over this

luminous soul; inspiration no longer came to it with the certainty of

other days; the prophet had begun to waver, almost to doubt of himself

and of his mission. Anxiously he searched himself to see if in the

beginning of his work there had not been some vain self-complacency. He

pictured to himself beforehand the chapter which he was about to open,

the attack, the criticisms of which it would be the object, and labored

to convince himself that if he did not endure them with joy he was not a

true Brother Minor.[14] The noblest virtues are subject to scruples,

that of perfect humility more than any other, and thus it is that

excellent men religiously betray their own convictions to avoid

asserting themselves. He resolved then to put the direction of the Order

into the hands of Pietro di Catana. It is evident that there was nothing

spontaneous in this decision, and the fact that this brother was a

doctor of laws and belonged to the nobility squarely argues the

transformation of the Franciscan institute.

It is not known whether or not Ugolini was present at the chapter of

September 29, 1220, but if he was not there in person he was assuredly

represented by some prelate, charged to watch over the debates.[15] The

bull which had been issued a week before was communicated to the friars,

to whom Francis also announced that he was about to elaborate a new

Rule. With reference to this matter there were conferences in which the

ministers alone appear to have had a deliberative voice. At these

conferences the essential points of the new Rule were settled as to

principle, leaving to Francis the care of giving them proper form at his

leisure. Nothing better reveals the demoralized state into which he had

fallen than the decision which was taken to drop out one of the

essential passages of the old Rule, one of his three fundamental

precepts, that which began with these words, "_Carry nothing with

you_."[16]

How did they go to work to obtain from Francis this concession which, a

little while before, he would have looked upon as a denial of his call,

a refusal to accept in its integrity the message which Jesus had

addressed to him? It is the secret of history, but we may suppose there

was in his life at this time one of those moral tempests which overbear

the faculties of the strongest, leaving in their wounded hearts only an

unutterable pain.

Something of this pain has passed into the touching narrative of his

abdication which the biographers have given us.

"From henceforth," he said to the friars, "I am dead for you,

but here is Brother Pietro di Catana, whom you and I will all

obey." And prostrating himself before him he promised him

obedience and submission. The friars could not restrain their

tears and lamentations when they saw themselves thus becoming in

some sort orphans, but Francis arose, and, clasping his hands,

with eyes upraised to heaven: "Lord," he said, "I return to thee

this family which thou hast confided to me. Now, as thou

knowest, most sweet Jesus, I have no longer strength nor ability

to keep on caring for them; I confide them, therefore, to the

ministers. May they be responsible before thee at the day of

judgment if any brother, by their negligence or bad example, or

by a too severe discipline, should ever wander away."[17]

The functions of Pietro di Catana were destined to continue but a very

short time; he died on March 10, 1221.[18]

Information abounds as to this period of a few months; nothing is more

natural, since Francis remained at Portiuncula to complete the task

confided to him, living there surrounded with brethren who later on

would recall to mind all the incidents of which they were witnesses.

Some of them reveal the conflict of which his soul was the arena.

Desirous of showing himself submissive, he nevertheless found himself

tormented by the desire to shake off his chains and fly away as in

former days, to live and breathe in God alone. The following artless

record deserves, it seems to me, to be better known.[19]

One day a novice who could read the psalter, though not without

difficulty, obtained from the minister general--that is to say,

from the vicar of St. Francis--permission to have one. But as he

had learned that St. Francis desired the brethren to be covetous

neither for learning nor for books, he would not take his psalter

without his consent. So, St. Francis having come to the monastery

where the novice was, "Father," said he, "it would be a great

consolation to have a psalter; but though the minister-general

has authorized me to get it, I would not have it unknown to you."

"Look at the Emperor Charles," replied St. Francis with fire,

"Roland, and Oliver and all the paladins, valorous heroes and

gallant knights, who gained their famous victories in fighting

infidels, in toiling and laboring even unto death! The holy

martyrs, they also have chosen to die in the midst of battle for

the faith of Christ! But now there are many of those who aspire

to merit honor and glory simply by relating their feats. Yes,

among us also there are many who expect to receive glory and

honor by reciting and preaching the works of the saints, as if

they had done them themselves!"

... A few days after, St. Francis was sitting before the fire,

and the novice drew near to speak to him anew about his psalter.

"When you have your psalter," said Francis to him, "you will want

a breviary, and when you have a breviary you will seat yourself

in a pulpit like a great prelate and will beckon to your

companion, 'Bring me my breviary!'"

St. Francis said this with great vivacity, then taking up some

ashes he scattered them over the head of the novice, repeating,

"There is the breviary, there is the breviary!"

Several days after, St. Francis being at Portiuncula and walking

up and down on the roadside not far from his cell, the same

Brother came again to speak to him about his psalter. "Very well,

go on," said Francis to him, "you have only to do what your

minister tells you." At these words the novice went away, but

Francis began to reflect on what he had said, and suddenly

calling to the friar, he cried, "Wait for me! wait for me!" When

he had caught up to him, "Retrace your steps a little way. I beg

you," he said. "Where was I when I told you to do whatever your

minister told you as to the psalter?" Then falling upon his knees

on the spot pointed out by the friar, he prostrated himself at

his feet: "Pardon, my brother, pardon!" he cried, "for he who

would be Brother Minor ought to have nothing but his clothing."

This long story is not merely precious because it shows us, even to the

smallest particular, the conflict between the Francis of the early

years, looking only to God and his conscience, and the Francis of 1220,

become a submissive monk in an Order approved by the Roman Church, but

also because it is one of those infrequent narratives where his method

shows itself with its artless realism. These allusions to the tales of

chivalry, and this freedom of manner which made a part of his success

with the masses, were eliminated from the legend with an incredible

rapidity. His spiritual sons were perhaps not ashamed of their father in

this matter, but they were so bent upon bringing out his other qualities

that they forgot a little too much the poet, the troubadour, the

_joculator Domini_.

Certain fragments, later than Thomas of Celano by more than a century,

which relate some incidents of this kind, bear for that very reason the

stamp of authenticity.

It is difficult enough to ascertain precisely what part Francis still

took in the direction of the Order. Pietro di Catana and later Brother

Elias are sometimes called ministers-general, sometimes vicars; the two

terms often occur successively, as in the preceding narrative. It is

very probable that this confusion of terms corresponds to a like

confusion of facts. Perhaps it was even intentional. After the chapter

of September, 1220, the affairs of the Order pass into the hands of him

whom Francis had called minister-general, though the friars as well as

the papacy gave him only the title of vicar. It was essential for the

popularity of the Brothers Minor that Francis should preserve an

appearance of authority, but the reality of government had slipped from

his hands.

The ideal which he had borne in his body until 1209 and had then given

birth to in anguish, was now taking its flight, like those sons of our

loins whom we see suddenly leaving us without our being able to help it,

since that is life, yet not without a rending of our vitals. _Mater

dolorosa!_ Ah, no doubt they will come back again, and seat themselves

piously beside us at the paternal hearth; perhaps even, in some hour of

moral distress, they will feel the need of taking refuge in their

mother's arms as in the old days; but these fleeting returns, with their

feverish haste, only reopen the wounds of the poor parents, when they

see how the children hasten to depart again--they who bear their name

but belong to them no longer.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Giord., 14; _Tribul._, f^o 10.

[2] Any other date is impossible, since Francis in open chapter

relinquished the direction of the Order in favor of Pietro di

Catana, who died March 10, 1221.

[3] This too short fragment is found in § vi. of the Rule of the

Damianites (August 9, 1253): Speculum, Morin, Tract. iii., 226b.

[4] 2 Cel., 2, 3; Bon., 162; cf. _Conform._, 184b, 2, and 62b, 1.

[5] Sigonius, _Opera_, t. iii. col. 220; cf. Potthast, 5516, and

6086.

[6] 2 Cel., 3, 4; _Spec._, 11a; _Tribul._, 13a; _Conform._,

169b, 2.

[7] Died in 1229. Cf. Mazzetti, _Repertorio di tutti i

professori di Bologna_, Bologna, 1847, p. 11.

[8] See _Mon. Germ. hist. Script._, t. 28, p. 635, and the

notes.

[9] Wadding, _ann. 1220_, no. 9. Cf. A. SS., p. 823.

[10] 2 Cel., 1, 16; _Spec._, 100a-101b.

[11] Giord., 14; cf. 2 Cel., 1, 17; _Spec._, 102; 3 Soc., 56 and 63.

[12] _Cum secundum._ The original is at Assisi with _Datum apud

Urbem Veterem X. Kal. Oct. pont. nostri anno quinto_ (September

22, 1220). It is therefore by an error that Sbaralea and Wadding

make it date from Viterbo, which is the less explicable that all

the bulls of this epoch are dated from Orvieto. Wadding, _ann.

1220_, 57; Sbaralea, vol. i., p. 6; Potthast, 6561.

[13] 2 Cel., 3, 118; Ubertin, _Arbor. V._, 2; _Spec._, 26; 50;

130b; _Conform._, 136a, 2; 143a, 2.

[14] 2 Cel., 3, 83; Bon. 77. One should read this account in the

_Conform._ according to the _Antigua Legenda_, 142a, 2; 31a, 1;

_Spec._ 43b.

[15] _Tribul._ Laur. MS., 12b; Magl. MS., 71b.

[16] Luke, ix., 1-6. _Tribul._, 12b: _Et fecerunt de regula

prima ministri removere_.... This must have taken place at the

chapter of September 29, 1220, since the suppression is made in

the Rule of 1221.

[17] 2 Cel., 3, 81; _Spec._, 26; _Conform._, 175b, 1; 53a; Bon.,

76; A. SS., p. 620.

[18] The epitaph on his tomb, which still exists at S. M. dei

Angeli bears this date: see _Portiuncula, von P. Barnabas aus

dem Elsass_, Rixheim, 1884, p. 11. Cf. A. SS., p. 630.

[19] _Spec._, 9b; _Arbor. V._, 3; _Conform._, 170a, 1; 2 Cel.,

3, 124. Cf. Ubertini, _Archiv._, iii., pp. 75 and 177.

* * * * *