Imitatio Christi and Authority in the Lives of St. Francis

Chapter 11 Imitatio Christi and Authority in the Lives of St. Francis

Donna Trembinski

It is a truism to say that Francis of Assisi was an imitator of Christ. The most well-known medieval and modern images of the saint – Francis ministering to the lepers, preaching to the birds and kneeling before the seraphim as he received the stigmata – all underline the similarity of events in Francis’ life to Christ’s own. Like Jesus, such images argue, Francis ministered to the sick and the poor, lived a humble life, found God and joy in the simplicity of na- ture, and, in some measure, shared Christ’s suffering by sharing his wounds. Much of what is known about Francis’ early life supports such an interpreta- tion. However, Francis’ own writings suggest that he did not set out to live as Jesus had, but to live as followers of Christ had. In contrast to Francis’ own intentions, however, early authors of Francis’ vitae shaped the saint’s lived ex- perience into a narrative that identified Francis’s acts and experiences with those of Christ. These early hagiographers did so, at least in part, to emphasize Francis’ close connection to God and to mark Francis as having a clear claim to spiritual authority which emanated directly from God. In doing so, some early Franciscan authors laid the groundwork for claims that the apostolic poverty and simple life Francis advocated should be followed even in the face of pres- sures from the secular Church and the Franciscan leadership to regularize the fledgling Franciscan Order. There is no doubt that Jesus was a source of inspiration for Francis. Francis found the motivation to live the life of a religious before a crucifix, praying for enlightenment from God. As that enlightenment came, Francis began to follow in Christ’s footsteps, living a life of apostolic poverty, gathering disciples to him and then sending them off to preach, and, of course, receiving the very wounds of Christ. Yet the few writings of Francis we have suggest that the saint did not consciously set out to imitate Christ, rather he wished to live like the apostles had, as a follower of Jesus. Francis was always careful to remind himself and his followers that his authority as the leader of the Order was tempered by the need to respect the hierarchy of the Church and to revere the priests who celebrated mass.

Early hagiographers of Francis took a different view, finding meaning in Francis’ clear suffering by equating his experiences to those of Christ’s own. The construction of Francis’ Christ-like qualities in thirteenth-century hagiog- raphy of the saint occurred in a context of increasing division within the Fran- ciscan Order. Some friars, perhaps especially those closest to Francis, advocated a strict observance of his Rule, especially as it related to individual and common property within the Order. These observants believed that neither in- dividuals in the Order, nor the Order itself, should hold any property. Instead they advocated a mendicant life for all Franciscans. Others within the Order and many of those holding leadership roles, wanted to create a more regular- ized life for the Order, one in which friars led a more settled conventual life in priories. To some extent, the creation of narratives that demonstrated paral- lels between Francis and Jesus allowed hagiographers sympathetic to concerns about movements towards regularization within the Franciscan Order to im- bue Francis’ more strict vision for his own Order with the support a higher authority, one derived explicitly from Christ. Such an authority clearly chal- lenged the Church hierarchy and the Franciscan leadership. Later hagiogra- phies, like the Remembrance of the Desire of a Soul and the Legenda maior tried to mediate between these two positions – between the Francis who was another Christ, deriving independent authority from his similarity to God himself, and the Francis who understood himself to be under the authority of the secular Church. For a person who is so often linked with Christ, Francis’ own works discuss Jesus very little and almost always in a somewhat formulaic way. To some extent, this reflects the saint’s lack of training in academic theology and perhaps a lack of schooling more generally,1 but it also suggests that much of Fran- cis’ imitatio Christi as it is understood today is a product of later depictions of Francis and not grounded in the saint’s own writings. The earliest known work of Francis, the Letter of Exhortation to the Faithful, demonstrates his desire that people imitate the followers of Christ rather than Christ himself. Francis wrote that those who forsook their bodies, who received the Eucharist and who were penitent would receive the spirit of the Lord in them and so be the sons of God, brothers, spouses, and mothers of Christ,2 but not, it is important to note, Christ himself. Francis further outlines precisely how a person devoted to God could become such a relative to Christ – by faith and communion with the

1 On Francis’ level of education, see Oktavian Schmucki, “Francis’ Level of Education,” trans. P. Barrett, Greyfriars Review 10:2 (1996): 153-170. 2 “... et sunt filii Patris celestis, cuius opera faciunt, et sunt sponsi, fratres et matres Domini nostri Jesu Christi.” Francis of Assisi, Epistola ad fideles I, FAS 174, FA: ED 1.42.