Life of St. Francis of Assisi - Paul Sabatier (the top 100 crime novels of all time txt) 📗

commenced between 1230 and 1240. Already before 1245 one party of the episcopate utters a cry of alarm, in which he speaks of nothing less than of closing the door of the secular churches, which have become useless. He complains with incredible bitterness that the Minor and Preaching Friars have absolutely supplanted the parochial clergy. This letter may be found in Pierre de la Vigne, addressed at once to Frederick II. and the Council of Lyons: Epistolæ, Basle, 1740, 2 vols., vol. i., pp. 220-222. It is much to be desired that a critical text should be given. See also the satire against the two new Orders, done in rhyme about 1242 by Pierre de la Vigne, and of which, allowing for possible exaggerations, the greater number of the incidents cannot have been invented: E. du Méril, Poésies pop. lat., pp. 153-177, Paris, 8vo, 1847.

2. And not of the 29th, as Sbaralea will have it. Bull. fr., vol. i., n. 10. Horoy, vol. iv., col. 129; the original, still in the archives of Assisi, bears the title: Datum Anagnie 11 Kalendas Aprilis pontificatus nostri anno sexto.

3. Potthast, 6809; Horoy, iv., col. 129. See also the bull Ecce Venit Deus of July 14, 1227; L. Auvray: Registres de Grégoire IX., no. 129; cf. 153; Potthast, 8027 and 8028, 8189.

4. He had finished his mission as legate in Lombardy toward the close of September, 1221 (see his register; cf. Böhmer, Acta imp. sel. doc., 951). In the spring of 1222 we find him continually near the pope at Anagni, Veroli, Alatri (Potthast, 6807, 6812, 6849). The Holy See had still at that time a marked predilection for the Preachers; the very trite privilege of power to celebrate the offices in times of interdict had been accorded them March 7, 1222, but instead of the formula usual in such cases, a revised form had been made expressly for them, with a handsome eulogy. Ripolli, Bull. Præd., t. i., p. 15.

5. 2 Cel., 3, 93: Subtrahebat se a consortio fratrum.

6. It is needless to say that local traditions, in this case, though as to detail they must be accepted only with great reserve, yet on the whole are surely true. The geography of St. Francis's life is yet to be made.

7. 2 Cel., 3, 59; Bon., 60; Conform., 122b, 2.

8. 2 Cel., 3, 5; Spec., 12a; Conform., 169b, 2.

9. Eccl., 6. Vide Liebermann's text, Mon. Germ. hist. Script., t. 28, p. 663.

10. 2 Cel., 3, 93; Bon., 104 and 105; Conform., 101a, 2.

11. 2 Cel., 3, 93; Spec., 49b; 182a; Conform., 182a, 1; Tribul., fo 5a; 2 Cel., 3, 98; 113; 115; 1 Cel., 28, 50; 96; 103; 104; 108; 111; 118.

12. 2 Cel., 3, 27; Spec., 38b; Conform., 181b, 1; Tribul., 7b. Cf. Spec., 220b; Conform., 103b.

13. Francis's successors were nearly all without exception students of Bologna. Pietro di Catana was doctor of laws, as also Giovanni Parenti (Giord., 51).—Elias had been scriptor at Bologna.—Alberto of Pisa had been minister there (Eccl., 6).—Aymon had been reader there (Eccl., 6).—Crescentius wrote works on jurisprudence (Conform., 121b, 1, etc., etc.).

14. This name cannot be warranted; he is called Giovanni di Laschaccia in a passage of the Conformities (104a, 1); Pietro Schiaccia in the Italian MS. of the Tribulations (fo 75a); Petrus Stacia in the Laurentinian MS. (13b; cf. Archiv., ii., p. 258). Tribul., 13b; Spec., 184b. This story has been much amplified in other places. Spec., 126a; Conform., 104b, 1.

15. Vide Eccl., 3: History of the entrance of Adam of Oxford into the Order. Cf., Chartularium Univ. Par., t. i., nos. 47 and 49.

16. Eccleston's entire chronicle is a living witness to this.

17. Admonitio, v.; cf. Conform., 141a.

Compare the Constitutiones antiquæ (Speculum, Morin, iii., fo 195b-206) with the Rule. From the opening chapters the contradiction is apparent: Ordinamus quod nullus recipiatur in ordine nostro nisi sit talis clericus qui sit competenter instructus in grammatica vel logica; aut nisi sit talis laicus de cujus ingressu esset valde celebris et edificatio in populo et in clero. This is surely far from the spirit of him who said: Et quicumque venerit amicus vel adversarius fur vel latro benigne recipiatur. Rule of 1221, cap. vii. See also the Exposition of the Rule of Bonaventura. Speculum, Morin, iii., fo 21-40.

18. Upon Francis's attitude toward learning see Tribul., Laur., 14b; Spec., 184a; 2 Cel., 3, 8; 48; 100; 116; 119; 120-124. Bon., chap. 152, naturally expresses only Bonaventura's views. See especially Rule of 1221, cap. xvii.; of 1223, cap. x.

19. Spec., 7b: Fecit Franciscus regulam quam papa Honorius confirmavit cum bulla, de qua regula multa fuerunt extracta per ministros contra voluntatem b. Francisci. Cf. 2 Cel., 3, 136.

20. Bull Quo elongati of September 28, 1230; Sbaralea, i., p. 56.

21. Bon., 55 and 56 [3 Soc., 62]; Spec., 76; 124a; Tribul., Laur., 17b-19b; Ubertini, Arbor. V., 5; Conform., 88a, 2.

22. Tribul., Laur., 19a; Archiv., t. iii., p. 601. Cf. A. SS., p. 638e.

23. Potthast, 7108.—The work of this bull was completed by that of December 18, 1223. (The original of the Sacro Convento bears Datum Laterani XV. Kal. jan.) Fratrem Minorum: Potthast, 7123.

24. 2 Cel., 3, 19; Bon., 95; Spec., 18b; Conform., 171a, 1.

25. 2 Cel., 3, 61 and 62. Cf. Eccl., 6, the account of Rod. de Rosa.

26. Spec., 47b ff.; 2 Cel., 3, 61; Bon., 84 and 85.

27. 1 Cel., 84-87; Bon., 149.

28. This little poem was published entire by M. Ozanam in vol. v. of his works, p. 184.

Table of
Contents

CHAPTER XVII THE STIGMATA 1224

The upper valley of the Arno forms in the very centre of Italy a country apart, the Casentino, which through centuries had its own life, somewhat like an island in the midst of the ocean.

The river flows out from it by a narrow defile at the south, and on all other sides the Apennines encircle it with a girdle of inaccessible mountains.1

This plain, some ten leagues in diameter, is enlivened with picturesque villages, finely posted on hillocks at the base of which flows the stream; here are Bibbiena, Poppi, the antique Romena sung by Dante, the Camaldoli, and up there on the crest Chiusi, long ago the capital of the country, with the ruins of Count Orlando's castle.

The people are charming and refined; the mountains have sheltered them from wars, and on every side we see the signs of labor, prosperity, a gentle gayety. At any moment we might fancy ourselves transported into some valley of the Vivarais or Provence. The vegetation on the borders of the Arno is thoroughly tropical; the olive and the mulberry marry with the vine. On the lower hill-slopes are wheat fields divided by meadows; then come the chestnuts and the oaks, higher still the pine, the fir, the larch, and above all the bare rock.

Among all the peaks there is one which especially attracts the attention; instead of a rounded and so to say flattened top, it uplifts itself slender, proud, isolated; it is the Verna.2

One might think it an immense rock fallen from the sky. It is in fact an erratic block set there, a little like a petrified Noah's ark on the summit of Mount Ararat. The basaltic mass, perpendicular on all sides, is crowned with a plateau planted with pines and gigantic beeches, and accessible only by a footpath.3

Such was the solitude which Orlando had given to Francis, and to which Francis had already many a time come for quiet and contemplation.

Seated upon the few stones of the Penna,4 he heard only the whispering of the wind among the trees, but in the splendor of the sunrise or the sunset he could see nearly all the districts in which he had sown the seed of the gospel: the Romagna and the March of Ancona, losing themselves on the horizon in the waves of the Adriatic; Umbria, and farther away, Tuscany, vanishing in the waters of the Mediterranean.

The impression on this height is not crushing like that which one has in the Alps: a feeling infinitely calm and sweet flows over you; you are high enough to judge of men from above, not high enough to forget their existence.

Besides the wide horizons, Francis found there other objects of delight; in this forest, one of the noblest in Europe, live legions of birds, which never having been hunted are surprisingly tame.5 Subtile perfumes arise from the ground, and in the midst of borage and lichens frail and exquisite cyclamens blossom in fantastic variety.

He desired to return thither after the chapter of 1224. This meeting, held in the beginning of June, was the last at which he was present. The new Rule was there put into the hands of the ministers, and the mission to England decided upon.

It was in the early days of August that Francis took his way toward Verna. With him were only a few Brothers, Masseo, Angelo, and Leo. The first had been charged to direct the little band, and spare him all duties except that of prayer.6

They had been two days on the road when it became necessary to seek for an ass for Francis, who was too much enfeebled to go farther on foot.

The Brothers, in asking for this service, had not concealed the name of their master, and the peasant, to whom they had addressed themselves respectfully, asked leave to guide the beast himself. After going on a certain time, "Is it true," he said, "that you are Brother Francis of Assisi?" "Very well," he went on, after the answer in the affirmative, "apply yourself to be as good as folk say you are, that they may not be deceived in their expectation; that is my advice." Francis immediately got down from his beast and, prostrating himself before the peasant, thanked him warmly.7

Meanwhile the warmest hour of the day had come on. The peasant, exhausted with fatigue, little by little forgot his surprise and joy; one does not feel the burning of thirst the less for walking beside a saint. He had begun to regret his kindness, when Francis pointed with his finger to a spring, unknown till then, and which has never since been seen.8

At last they arrived at the foot of the last precipice. Before scaling it they paused to rest a little under a great oak, and immediately flocks of birds gathered around them, testifying their joy by songs and flutterings of their wings. Hovering around Francis, they alighted on his head, his shoulders, or his arms. "I see," he said joyfully to his companions, "that it is pleasing to our Lord Jesus that we live in this solitary mount, since our brothers and sisters the birds have shown such great delight at our coming."9

This mountain was at once his Tabor and his Calvary. We must not