THE FRANCISCAN TRADITION Spirituality in History Series The Franciscan Tradition Regis J. Armstrong Ingrid J. Peterson Phyllis Zagano, Series Editor LITURGICAL PRESS Collegeville, Minnesota www.litpress.org Cover design by Ann Blattner. Cover art: Saint Francis of Assisi by the Maestro di Frate Francesco in the Capella di San Gregorio at the Monastero di San Bene- detto near Subiaco. Photo by David Manahan, O.S.B. © 2010 by Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, microfilm, mi- crofiche, mechanical recording, photocopying, translation, or by any other means, known or yet unknown, for any purpose except brief quotations in reviews, without the previous written permission of Liturgical Press, Saint John’s Abbey, PO Box 7500, Collegeville, Minnesota 56321-7500. Printed in the United States of America. 123456789 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Armstrong, Regis J. The Franciscan tradition / Regis J. Armstrong, Ingrid J. Peterson ; Phyllis Zagano, series editor. p. cm. — (Spirituality in history series) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-8146-3030-3 — ISBN 978-0-8146-3922-1 (e-book) 1. Franciscans. 2. Spiritual life—Catholic Church. I. Peterson, Ingrid J., 1935– II. Title. BX3602.3.A76 2010 271'.3—dc22 2010001254 Contents Acknowledgments vii Preface ix Introduction xi The Franciscan Tradition xvii Francis of Assisi (c. 1182–1226) 1 The First Order of the Lesser Brothers 9 The Rule of the Friars Minor 11 Anthony of Padua (1195–1231) 17 Bonaventure of Bagnoregio (c. 1217–1274) 23 Felix of Cantalice (1515–1587) 30 Junípero Serra (1713–1784) 37 Maximilian Mary Kolbe (1894–1941) 50 Solanus Casey (1870–1957) 57 The Second Order of the Poor Ladies 65 The Form of Life of Clare of Assisi 67 Clare of Assisi (1194–1253) 78 Colette of Corbie (1381–1447) 89 Catherine of Bologna (1413–1463) 95 Veronica Giuliani (1660–1727) 99 vi The Franciscan Tradition The Third Order of the Brothers and Sisters of Penance 105 An Exhortation of St. Francis to the Brothers and Sisters of Penance 107 Angela of Foligno (1248–1309) 110 The Third Order Regular 119 Mary of the Passion (1839–1904) 121 Marianne Cope of Molokai (1838–1918) 128 The Third Order Secular 135 The Marytrs of Nagasaki (1597) 137 Jean-Marie Vianney (1786–1859) 143 Matt Talbot (1856–1925) 149 New Rules 163 The Secular Franciscan Order 165 The Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order Approved by Pope Paul VI (1978) 167 The Third Order Regular of St. Francis 173 The Rule and Life of the Brothers and Sisters of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis Approved by Pope John Paul II (1982) 175 Notes 183 Bibliography 189 Acknowledgments Texts from Francis of Assisi: Early Documents: The Saint and The Founder are used with permission. (Copyright 1999 and 2000, Regis J. Armstrong, O.F.M. Cap., J. A. Wayne Hellmann, O.F.M. Cap., William J. Short, O.F.M. Published by New City Press, 202 Cardinal Rd., Hyde Park, NY 12538 [www.newcitypress.com]). Texts from Clare of Assisi: Early Documents: The Lady are used with permission. (Copyright 2006, Regis J. Armstrong, O.F.M. Cap. Published by New City Press, 202 Cardinal Rd., Hyde Park, NY 12538 [www.newcitypress.com]). Seek First His Kingdom: An Anthology of the Sermons of the Saint, by a contemporary Franciscan. Translated by Fr. Livio Poloniato, O.F.M. Conv. Edizioni Messaggero Padova, 1988. Excerpt from Writings Concerning the Franciscan Order, trans. Dominic Monti, vol. 5, Works of Saint Bonaventure (St. Bonaventure, NY: Franciscan Institute Publications, 1993). Reprinted by permission of Franciscan Institute Publications, St. Bonaventure University, St. Bonaventure, NY 14778. All rights reserved. Excerpts from Palou’s Life of Fray Junípero Serra, trans. Maynard Geiger (Wash- ington, DC: Academy of American Franciscan History, 1955). Used with permission. Michael H. Crosby, ed., Solanus Casey: The Official Account of a Virtuous American Life, copyright © 2000, published by Crossroad. By permission of the Provincial Archives of the Capuchin Province of St. Joseph. Excerpts from Catherine of Bologna, The Seven Spiritual Weapons, trans. Hugh Feiss and Daniela Re (Toronto: Peregrina Translation Series, 1998). Used with permission. Excerpts from Lazaro Iriate, “The Franciscan Spirit of St. Veronica Giuliani,” trans. Edward Hagman, Greyfriars Review 7, no. 2 (1993): 193–227. Reprinted by vii viii The Franciscan Tradition permission of Franciscan Institute Publications, St. Bonaventure University, St. Bonaventure, NY 14778. All rights reserved. Excerpts from Angela of Foligno: Complete Works, translated by Paul Lachance, O.F.M. Copyright © 1993 by Paul Lachance, O.F.M. Paulist Press, Inc., New York/Mahwah, NJ. Reprinted by permission of Paulist Press, Inc. www.paulistpress.com. Excerpt from Grace Anne Dillenschneider, “The Spirituality of Mother Marianne Cope,” L’Osservatore Romano (May 14, 2005): 6. Used with permission. * Permission for the following works was still in process at the time of publication. Diana Dewar, The Saint of Auschwitz: The Story of Maximilian Kolbe, copyright © 1982, published by Harper & Row. Colette of Corbie, The Testament of Saint Colette, copyright © 1987, published by Franciscan Herald Press. Marie-Therese de Maleissye, Fifteen Days with Mary of the Passion, copyright © 2000, published by St. Pauls Press. John Marie Vianney, The Little Catechism of the Curé of Ars, copyright © 2009, published by Tan Books. Preface he worldwide explosion of interest in “spirituality” has sent inquirers Tin several directions. One of the more fruitful is toward the tradi- tional spiritualities that have enriched and nurtured the church for many hundreds of years. Among the oldest Christian spiritualities are those connected to particular foundations, charisms, or individuals. This series of spiritualities in history focuses on five distinct traditions within the history of the church, those now known as Benedictine, Carmelite, Do- minican, Franciscan, and Ignatian. Each volume in the series seeks to present the given spiritual tradi- tion through an anthology of writings by or about persons who have lived it, along with brief biographical introductions of those persons. Each volume is edited by an expert or experts in the tradition at hand. The present volume of Franciscan spirituality has been coedited by Regis J. Armstrong, O.F.M. Cap., and Ingrid J. Peterson, O.S.F., both experts in Franciscan spirituality. Fr. Armstrong is the John and Gertrude Hubbard Professor of Religious Studies in the School of Theology and Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America. He is the ac- knowledged world expert on the writings of Clare and Francis and has written or edited nine books and countless articles on Franciscan spir- ituality. His books include Francis and Clare: The Complete Works (Paulist Press, 1986), Francis of Assisi: Early Documents (New City Press, 1999– 2001), and Clare of Assisi: The Lady (New City Press, 2006). Sr. Ingrid served as an adjunct professor at the Franciscan Institute of St. Bonaven- ture University and author of several works on Franciscan spirituality, including Clare of Assisi: A Biographical Study (Franciscan Press, 1993). Their compact presentation of the essentials of the Franciscan Tradi- tion traces the living out of Francis’s charism chronologically within the three parts of his family—the First Order, the Second Order, and the ix x The Franciscan Tradition Third Order—through the eight centuries since he laid down his belong- ings and went out of Assisi to rebuild the church. The lives and writings of the Franciscan men and women in this volume demonstrate the adaptability of Francis’s vision across cultures and throughout history. Each entry underscores the poverty at the crystal center of Francis’s spirituality. If nothing material matters, then only the immaterial—the spirit living within each and every one of us—is what must be most revered and reverenced. Then and only then will the promise of Franciscan spirituality—universal brotherhood and peace—be recognized and received. My own work on this book and for this series has continued with the able assistance of librarians, particularly the reference and interlibrary loan staff of Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York, who have tirelessly met so many of my research needs. I am grateful as well for the congenial staff of Liturgical Press, and especially for the professional support and encouragement of Colleen Stiller, Ann Blattner, Hans Christoffersen, and Peter Dwyer. Phyllis Zagano June 13, 2009 Feast of St. Anthony of Padua Introduction “ nterpreters of that reality that begins with Baptism”: this phrase of IPope Benedict XVI comes to mind when introducing someone to the Franciscan Tradition. With a penetrating simplicity, the Spirit of the Lord that enters the Christian soul at baptism seems the only explanation for the universality, the all-embracing character, and the joy Francis and his tradition brought to the religious life of the church. The Spirit, the Spirit alone, was needed by the thirteenth-century saint, perhaps the most popular saint in the church’s two millennia history. While the young Francis of Assisi began his journey of conversion encountering and embracing a leper, his formation in the spiritual life took place in the school of poverty where he learned he had nothing that he could call his own beyond his sin and his vice. In reading his life, it becomes clear how his biographers saw material poverty taking him by the hand and leading him through the world where he learned to call God’s creatures brothers and sisters and that they—like him—groaned until set free by the firstfruits of the Spirit. In reading his writings chrono- logically, the Spirit’s role becomes ever more influential, drawing him into the very inner life of the triune God. As the apostle Paul before him, Francis seemed overwhelmed at the meaning of his baptismal life, so much so that the eighth chapter of the letter to the Romans with its vision of a Christian’s trinitarian life might appear as a blueprint for his vision of life.