Part 41 (1/2)
Alas, the real criht The provincialwhen he thus spoke, were only instruments in the hands of the clever Brother Elias; and he--what else was he doing but putting his intelligence and address at Cardinal Ugolini's service?
Far fro any consolation in those around him, Francis was constantly tortured by the confidences of his coravated his pain instead of calive me, Father,” said one of theht what I a to say to you You kno, in the early days, by God's grace the Order walked in the path of perfection; for all that concerns poverty and love, as well as for all the rest, the Brothers were but one heart and one soul But for soed: it is true that people often excuse the Brothers by saying that the Order has grown too large to keep up the old observances; they even go so far as to claireat monasteries, are a means of edification of the people, and so the pri Evidently all these abuses are displeasing to you; but then, people ask, why do you tolerate theive you, brother” replied Francis ”Why do you lay atas I had the direction of the Order, and the Brothers persevered in their vocation I was able, in spite of weakness, to do as needful But when I saw that, without caring for , they walked in the way you have described, I confided them to the Lord and to the ministers It is true that when I relinquished the direction, alleging my incapacity as the motive, if they had walked in the way of my wishes I should not have desired that before my death they should have had any other h bedridden, even, I should have found strength to perfore is wholly spiritual; I will not becoovernors must”[27]
Francis's complaints becareatest prudence was exercised with regard to those ere permitted to see hiht its contingent of subjects for sorrow The confusion of ideas as to the practice of the Rule was extre for several years, had succeeded in veiling the Franciscan ideal, not only from distant Brothers, or those who had newly joined the Order, but even from those who had lived under the influence of the founder[29]
Under circumstances such as these, Francis dictated the letter to all the ht would be read at the opening of chapters and perpetuate his spiritual presence in them[30]
In this letter he is perfectly true to himself; as in the past, he desires to influence the Brothers, not by reproaches but by fixing their eyes on the perfect holiness
To all the revered and well-beloved Brothers Minor, to Brother A ,[31] eneral who shall be after him, and to all the ministers, custodians, and priests of this fraternity, humble in Christ, and to all the simple and obedient Brothers, the oldest and the!
Hear, ive ear to my words Open your hearts and obey the voice of the Son of God
Keep his commandments with all your hearts, and perfectly observe his counsels Praise hilorify hih all the world, that by your words and example you may bear witness of him, and that you may teach all men that he alone is all powerful Persevere in discipline and obedience, and with an honest and firm will keep that which you have pro Francis immediately passes to the essential matter of the letter, that of the love and respect due to the Sacrament of the altar; faith in this mystery of love appeared to hi? How can a man who truly believes in the real presence of the God-Man between the fingers of him who lifts up the host, not consecrate his life to this God and to holiness? One has soions of devotees profess the ma, and we do not see that they are less bad; but faith with thes in the intellectual sphere; it is the abdication of reason, and in sacrificing their intelligence to God they are most happy to offer to him an instrument which they very much prefer not to use
To Francis the question presented itself quite differently; the thought that there could be anycould never enter his mind; the fact of the real presence was for him of almost concrete evidence
Therefore his faith in this y of the heart, that the life of God, ht become the soul of all his actions
To the eucharistic transubstantiation, effected by the words of the priest, he added another, that of his own heart
God offers hi you, all of you,your feet, and with all the love of which I am capable, to have all possible respect for the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ
Then addressing himself particularly to the priests:
Hearken, in Mary is justly honored for having carried Jesus in her womb, if John the Baptist trembled because he dared not touch the Lord's head, if the sepulchre in which for a little tireat adoration, oh, how holy, pure, and worthy should be the priest who touches with his hands, who receives into his mouth and into his heart, and who distributes to others the living, glorified Jesus, the sight of whonity, brother priests, and be holy, for he is holy Oh! what great wretchedness and what a frightful infirmity to have his Let each man be struck with amazement, let the whole earth tremble, let the heavens thrill with joy when the Christ, the Son of the living God, descends upon the altar into the hands of the priest Oh, wonderful profundity! Oh, arace! Oh, trius, God, and the Son of God, hu himself under the appearance of a bit of bread
Contee your hearts before him; humble yourselves as well, that you, even you,for yourselves, that he iven hior of love Francis's heart had laid hold upon the idea of the co counsels to the Brothers, and after having conjured them faithfully to keep their promises, all his mysticism breathes out and is suhty, eternal, righteous, and ive to us poor wretches to do for thy sake all that we know of thy will, and to will alhat pleases thee; so that inwardly purified, enlightened, and kindled by the fire of the Holy Spirit, we may follow in the footprints of thy well-beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ
What separates this prayer from the effort to discern duty ion? Very little in truth; the words are different, the action is the same
But Francis's solicitudes reached far beyond the liest epistle is addressed to all Christians; its words are so living that you fancy you hear a voice speaking behind you; and this voice, usually as serene as that which from the mountain in Galilee proclaimed the law of the new times, becomes here and there unutterably sweet, like that which sounded in the upper chaot the cross that was standing in the shadows, so Francis forgets his sufferings, and, overcome with a divine sadness, thinks of huive his life; he thinks of his spiritual sons, the Brothers of Penitence, who been able to make them feel, as he would have had them feel, the love for theiven theiven ospel is in these words, but to understand the fascination which it exerted we es, and there listened to the interminable tournaments of dialectics by which minds were dried up; we must have seen the Church of the thirteenth century, honeycombed by simony and luxury, and only able, under the pressure of heresy or revolt, to make a few futile efforts to scotch the evil