St. Francis

Is cannon law getting you down? Did the Fourth Lateran Council leave you lost and confused? Then join the sect of poverty, silence, and simplicity. Ask your local friar about joining the Order of Friar Minor today.

St. Francis would not have endorsed the above advertisement for his sect. He wanted to lead by example, not manipulate people with propaganda. Leo, Rufino, and Angelo understood this, and with their writings created a model for their time. They made a book about the Order’s founder, illustrating the practices that should be followed. The three authors emphasized his devotion to his principles, especially poverty, in order to immortalize an ideal example for future friars of the Franciscan Order.

To illustrate proper conduct, St. Francis was always described as underprivileged. He would work vigorously to be the poorest of poor, in order to lead his brothers by example. The reason for this is his faith involves following the form of poverty and humility set forth by Jesus Christ. He was ashamed whenever he found someone worse off than he, and would try to remedy the situation. The authors tell many stories about St. Francis accomplishing greater poverty by tearing his own tunic and giving it to the poorer individual. His fellow friars would try to stop him from donating his cloak for he was often ill. The issue got to a point where, “[St. Francis] did not want to accept [a tunic] unless under this condition that, if he met any poor man or any came to him whom the spirit told him was in evident need, he could give it to him” (185). He would not deny help to any poor individual, setting the tone for proper conduct within the Order.

Clothing isn’t the only area of self-deprivation. St. Francis preached, “that all the friars’ houses ought to be built of loam and wood in token of holy poverty and humility, and that churches made for the friars should be small” (221). The authors explained that St. Francis practiced what he preached. He would turn down elaborate accommodations while traveling in order to illustrate proper behavior to his fellow friars. “The friars will be more edified when I stay in poverty-stricken places among them than in other places, and may bear their troubles and privations more patiently, when they hear and know that I experience the same.” It was St. Francis duty to be an example for the rest of his friars (251). The authors make this clear in a number of passages, and this is one of their main reasons for writing about St. Francis.

The authors wanted a self-help guide to the ideal Franciscan, in order to help newcomers with the interpretation of Christ’s poverty. St. Francis was the best model for the Franciscan Order from conversion to death. Leo, Rufino, and Angelo made it possible for his examples to live on after death. Every new convert can read of his great impecuniousness and many harsh trials. They will see a life based on the poverty and humility of Christ. The authors hope that this knowledge will help these new comers bear their lives with greater patience and devotion to the Order.