The Franciscans in the Land of Our Redemption
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P. CONRAD AERTS, O.F.M. THE FRANCISCANS IN THE LAND OF OUR REDEMPTION InTl~ S OATES f5 WASHBOUJU,E LDIITED THE FRANCISCANS IN THE LAND OF OUR REDEMPTION MAGYAR FERENCES KONYVTAR 1111111111111111111111111111111111 01210065 The Franciscans in the Land of our Redemption By FR. CONRAD AERTS, O.F.M. Translated from the French by FR. PAULINUS LAVERY, O.F.M., B.A. LONDON BURNS OATES & WASHBOURNE LTD. IMPRIMATUR: FR. LITDOVlCUS COFFEY, O.F.M., Mi«. Provo Losouu, di.211 M arlil, '933. NIHIL OBSTAT: CAROLUS KUVPERS, Censor deputatus, IMPRIMATUR: ~ ARTHURUS, Episco-pus Brenhuoodensis. BUNTWOODa"SI, IIi. '7" MUTtii, '933. ~JADE AND PRINTED rN CREAT BRITAIN 1933 FOREWORD THE Very Rev. Daniel Lappan, O.F.M., Belgian Commissary of the Holy Land, in graciously con- ceding the rights of translation, authorised me to make such variations as might be considered desirable. I am happy to say this generous latitude has not been abused, in fact it has been availed of most sparingly. However, there is one change which must be mentioned. The original bears the title Les Franoiscains au pays de Jesus, the translation that of The Eranciscans in the Land of Our Redemption. 'Why? Because it appears in the Holy Year, the year of the Extraordinary Jubilee which His Holi- ness, Pope Pius XI-may God spare him to the Church for many years-inspired by the nineteenth centenary of the world's Redemption, has pro- claimed. In inviting the faithful to come to the Eternal City and share in the spiritual riches thrown open to them, he furthermore exhorts all who can to proceed further, saying in the Bull, Quod Nuper, given at S. Peter's on the Feast of the Epiphany of our Lord, 1933: I It is fitting that during this year pious pilgrimages to the Holy Land should be more numer- ous, and that the faithful should visit and venerate the scene of such holy and memorable events.' (Translation of C.T.S.) v vi FOREWORD Moreover, whilst most of the Indulgences through- out the world have been suspended, those of the Holy Land are left intact and the faculties granted to all confessors there are increased. Finally, as will be seen on page II, this is the sixth centenary of the official recognition of the Franciscans as custodians of the Holy Places in the name of the Church. F.A.E. TABLE OF CONTENTS PA.OB FOREWORD v CHA'PTItR 1. THE CRUSADER OF AsSISI II. ON THE FRINGE OF THE IDEAL OF S. FRANCIS. 7 Ill. NEW HIGHWAYS 13 IV. VICISSITUDES 22 V. THE VOICE OF ROME 33 VI. TO-DAY VII. THE POPES ALb10NERS FOR PALESTINE 52 ApPENDIX 55 vii ) I r THE FRANCISCANS IN THE LAND OF OUR REDEMPTION CHAPTER I THE CRUSADER OF ASSISI THE first of all rules of Religious Orders to speak specifically of the missions is that of S. Francis (U82-1226). It will come as a surprise to no one, familiar with his chivalrous nature, to learn that Umbria's Saint wished to send forth his troops to conquer pagan lands. Was he not the embodiment of all the noble aspirations of his age? It is, there- fore, no mere whim that induces us to invoke his memory here, at the beginning of this little work, which aims at telling in its main outlines the work of the Franciscans in the Holy Land. For it must never be forgotten that he. was the true founder of the mission in the land of our Redemption. When S. Francis was still a youth all Europe was in a state of ferment. For a century the Popes, like sentinels for ever on the alert on the watch-tower, I 2 THE FRANCISCANS IN THE had been sounding the tocsin and calling men to arms against Islam.! The enemy was indeed formidable. Anxious for pillage, hungering for conquests, he covered all Southern Europe with a crescent, which threatened Constantinople from the east and, crossing the Strait of Gibraltar, stretched into Spain on the west. Christians, who were familiar with the Mussulmans from the heroic epics and the deeds of Charlemagne, knew them better and feared them less after the successes of the First Crusade, which led up to the foundation of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem (July I5th, I099). Alas, since that time many dreams had been shattered by bitter defeats; but it only needed the first puff of victory to rekindle the sacred fire of enthusiasm and cause it to blaze up anew in powerful, inspiring flames. It was in this atmosphere, over which the glorious banner of the Crusades seemed to flutter in every breeze of heroism, that S. Francis grew up. Inspired by the epic songs of the troubadours, the impulsive youth spoke of nothing but chivalry. It was his vocation, he believed, to attack the dreaded soldiers of Mahomet. But, as he was on his way to Spoleto, his armour glittering from head to foot in the midday sun, God seized the bridle of this warrior's charger 1 It was at the close of the Council of Clermont, November 28th. 1095.that Pope Urban II first issued an appeal for a crusade. In the eleventh century the Moslem peril was great. Having first overthrown the Arabic Empire of Bagdad, the Turks (Seldjou- kides) took away from the Greek Emperors of Byzantium almost the whole of Asia Minor. Establishing themselves a.t Nicea, they threatened Constantinople. On the Spanish side the outlook was equally foreboding: the Almoravides, Moslems who had come from Africa, wiped out at Zalacca.in the year 1086 the Christia.n armies which were striving to reconquer the country. LAND OF OUR REDEMPTION 3 and substituted for his dreams of military prowess a thirst for spiritual conquests. After this meeting, so decisive in the career of the Saint, all seemed changed to him and yet all remained the same; his spirit remained that of a knight vowed to the crusade, only the ideal had assumed another aspect. Possibly in I209 Innocent III sensed it. His intuitions were realised in the chapter entitled: • Of those who wish to go amongst the Saracens,' inserted later in the Franciscan Rule. Was it not a faithful echo of the cry , God wills it ' that the Popes had made resound for more than a century? The great inspirer of the Fourth Crusade, who had blessed so many swords of heroes setting out for the East, blessed also the cross of the twelve Crusaders of the coarse habit and girdle. In the year I2I7 the Friars were sent to Mahom- medan Spain and to Syria. 1 The Franciscan crusade began and, as we see, the attack was made on both flanks of the power of Islam. The expeditionary force sent to Spain did not fight for long: driven into Morocco, all its members perished on January rfith, 1220. They are our first martyrs, and it is noteworthy that the Franciscan Order, which was so often to dye its rough habit in the blood of confessors, should have offered up its firstfruits in Mahom- medan lands. On May zfith, 1219, the Founder summoned his second General Chapter. Europe at this moment trembled with anxiety and yet with pride and hope; 1 The mission to the East was led by Brother Elias: that to Spain by Brother Berard. The Moslems, who had been badly defeated in the ba.ttle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212, now only retained Granada, where they were to remain until 1492. 4 THE FRANCISCANS IN THE it was a year ago that the Crusaders had set out for Damietta. How could the Eastern question be passed over in silence when Cross and Crescent con- fronted one another on the banks of the Nile? Brother Giles and some others were appointed to go to Tunis. Francis himself chose twelve companions to take with him to Egypt. Thus all the strategic points of the power of Islam were attacked: Morocco by Berard and his four attendants, Tunis by the saintly Brother Giles and his companions, Egypt by Francis, surrounded by his twelve brethren, Palestine by Elias and his knights. S. Francis reached Ancona with his escort, whence a band of crusaders was about to set sail. How his apostolic heart must have quickened with holy zeal I Whilst the warriors who travelled with him trusted in their arms, the Saint placed all his hope in his Lord to give such power of persuasion to his words as would take by storm the citadels of souls. Crusaders booted and spurred and crusaders with bare feet soon reached Egypt. The aim of this chivalrous apostle had always been to strike a blow at the heart of Islam; now he was able to meet two of its most powerful leaders at Damietta : the Sultan of Damascus, Melek el Moaddem or Conradin, and his brother, the Sultan of Egypt, Melek el Kamel. If he could but win them to the Catholic Faith, would it not be like reattaching to the Kingdom of Christ the vast empire founded by Saladin and, in par- ticular, to give back to Christ his Fatherland? But how was he to reach them ? At the beginning of September a truce was signed between the belligerents who were both alike LAND OF OUR REDEMPTION 5 exhausted. This armistice was the signal for S. Francis to begin a peaceful offensive. Furnished with a passport, he reached the tent of Melek el Kamel. According to historians the Saint remained for nearly a month amongst the Saracens, preaching daily with the same zeal and alas I with the same lack of success, until, on the renewal of hostilities, he had to leave the camp.! Shortly after the fall of Damietta (November 5th, I2I9), disheartened by the moral slackness of the Crusaders, whose armies retained nothing of the sublime idealism of a holy war, he left them and set out for Syria, where his brethren had been working for two years.