Franciscan Evangelization Striving to Preach the Gospel

Washington Theological Union Symposium Papers 2007

Franciscan Evangelization Striving to Preach the Gospel

Washington Theological Union Symposium Papers 2007

Edited by Elise Saggau, O.S.F.

The Franciscan Institute St. Bonaventure University St. Bonaventure, New York

©The Franciscan Institute St. Bonaventure University St. Bonaventure, NY 14778 2008

CFIT/ESC-OFM Series Number 7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the publisher.

The articles in this book were originally presented at a symposium sponsored by the Franciscan Center at Washington Theological Union, Washington, DC, May 25-27, 2007

This publication is the seventh in a series of documents resulting from the work of the Commission on the Franciscan Intellectual Tradition of the English-speaking Conference of the Order of Friars Minor. (CFIT/ESC-OFM)

Cover design: Jennifer L. Davis

ISBN: 978-157659-1484

Library of Congress Control Number 2007942473

Printed and bound in the United States of America

BookMasters, Inc. Ashland, Ohio Table of Contents

Abbreviations...... 6

Preface...... 7 Vincent Cushing, O.F.M., S.T.D.

Chapter One...... 9

Gospel Preaching and Gospel Life: Similarities and Differences Dominic Monti, O.F.M., Ph.D.

Chapter Two...... 33

Clerics, Laity and Preaching the Gospel among the Early Franciscans C. Colt Anderson, Ph.D.

Chapter Three...... 55

Preaching Women: The Tradition of Mendicant Women Darleen Pryds, Ph.D.

Chapter Four...... 79

The Impact of Clericalization on Franciscan Evangelization Joseph Chinnici, O.F.M., D.Phil.

About the Authors...... 123 ABBREVIATIONS

Writings of Saint Francis Adm The Admonitions BlL A Blessing for Brother Leo CtC The Canticle of the Creatures CtExh The Canticle of Exhortation LtAnt A Letter to Brother Anthony of Padua 1LtCl First Letter to the Clergy (Early Edition) 2LtCl Second Letter to the Clergy (Later Edition) 1LtCus The First Letter to the Custodians 2LtCus The Second Letter to the Custodians 1LtF The First Letter to the Faithful 2LtF The Second Letter to the Faithful LtL A Letter to Brother Leo LtMin A Letter to a Minister LtOrd A Letter to the Entire Order LtR A Letter to Rulers of the Peoples ExhP Exhortation to the Praise of God PrOF A Prayer Inspired by the Our Father PrsG The Praises of God OfP The Office of the Passion PrCr The Prayer before the Crucifix ER The Earlier Rule (Regula non bullata) LR The Later Rule (Regula bullata) RH A Rule for Hermitages SalBVM A Salutation of the Blessed Virgin Mary SalV A Salutation of Virtues Test The Testament

Early Biographical Sources 1C The Life of Saint Francis by Thomas of Celano 2C The Remembrance of the Desire of a Soul LJS The Life of Saint Francis by Julian of Speyer 1MP The Mirror of Perfection (Smaller Version) 2MP The Mirror of Perfection (Larger Version) ScEx The Sacred Exchange AP The Anonymous of Perugia L3C The Legend of the Three Companions AC The Assisi Compilation LMj The Major Legend by Bonaventure

Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, ed. Regis Armstrong, Wayne Hellmann, William Short, three volumes (New York: New City Press, 1999, 2000, 2001) Preface

To be human is to search for meaning. Each of us, by nature, al- ways asks “what does this mean?” So, whether we love, work, or cre- ate, we search for meaning. We want to know not only what is true, but also what meaning it carries so that we can consciously grasp, reflect upon, probe and integrate it into a way of living. Meaning grasped results from experience interpreted. Through language, experience is opened up in a revelatory way. In the lovely description by James Joyce, the experience of truth grasped and mean- ing discovered is an epiphany for us. By contrast, if neither experience nor language carries meaning, we feel diminished, and we describe such experience or language as empty, pointless, unenlightening. What is meaningless is repellent and distasteful. We have an inner dynamism that triggers a search for meaning; and when it doesn’t achieve its cognitional and personal end, we withdraw quickly from the quest. The Word of God and the correlative word preached play key roles in helping us understand our experience of God and in tracing out our spiritual and communal journey. In our most recent Francis- can Symposium (May 2007), we asked four premier scholars to lead us through the rich and varied history of Franciscan preaching: Dr. Dom- inic Monti, formerly professor of Church History at the Washington Theological Union, Dr. Colt Anderson, currently professor of Church History at St. Mary’s of the Lake in Mundelein, Illinois, Drs. Darleen Pryds and Joseph Chinnici, both professors of Church History who serve at the Franciscan School of Theology in Berkeley, California. From varied viewpoints, their essays probe important facets of preaching and its history in the Franciscan tradition, as well as its import for the larger Church. These writings are insightful and criti- cal, and they trace pathways into the future. We stand in debt to each author and to the Franciscan Symposium for the sound scholarship and creative insights into what the Franciscan tradition of preaching means for us today. From their historical perspective, we appreciate, perhaps for the first time, what a creative impulse to preaching the Franciscan fam- ily—men and women—brought to the service of the Gospel. We see how ordinary Christian people experienced the impulse to unfold the work of God in Christian life, and we see the intrinsic ambivalence of the Franciscan tradition in working out its relationship to the role of clerical preaching in the hierarchical Church. This is rich fare, indeed, and we are invited to enjoy the feast prepared by scholarship and cre- ative, critical thought.

Vincent Cushing, O.F.M., S.T.D. President Emeritus Washington Theological Union

Feast of Blessed Friar John Duns Scotus November 8, 2007 Washington, DC CHAPTER ONE

GOSPEL PREACHING AND GOSPEL LIFE: SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES

Dominic Monti, O.F.M.

Preaching by Word and Deed

What do we mean by preaching the Gospel? How did the men and women of the early Franciscan movement relate this activity to their desire to “live according to the pattern of the Holy Gospel”? What are the similarities? What are the differences? As in many such cases, there is a short answer and a longer an- swer. The short answer seems obvious: for Franciscans, preaching the Gospel and a Gospel way of life are not only similar, but virtually identical. This point is illustrated by a story that is often told about St. Francis: Francis once called one of the brothers and said: “We are go- ing to preach in the city today.” So the brother followed Fran- cis and they walked through the city. It seemed there wasn’t a street they didn’t walk in that town. They greeted people, stopping occasionally to help someone in need, but never took time to actually give a sermon. When they arrived back at their hermitage, the brother said to Francis: “I thought you said we were going to preach in the city today.” Francis re- plied: “Brother, we have been seen by many people, and our

Test 14. All my citations of early Franciscan sources are drawn from the three-volume Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, ed. Regis J. Armstrong, J.A. Wayne Hellmann, William J. Short (New York: New City Press, 1999-2001), hereafter cited as FA:ED with volume number and page. This text is on FA: ED, 1, 125. 10 Dominic Monti, O.F.M. behavior closely watched. It was thus that we have preached our sermon.” This story has helped give rise to a popular saying that has been attributed to Francis: “Preach the Gospel always, when necessary use words.” Although as a scholar, I am forced to say that this saying—and even the little story as well!—are inauthentic, they verify the old Ital- ian proverb, si non è vero, è ben trovato: “if it’s not true, it’s still a good story!” For these capture something Francis constantly emphasized, namely, that our lives must be the primary means of bringing the Gos- pel to people. In fact, it does no good to talk about Jesus’ message if we do not embody it. In a fine brief overview of medieval preaching, John O’Malley reminds us that “the most distinctive characteristic of preaching is that it is a speech-act.” Unlike a written text, which can take up a life of its own independently of the author, the spoken word is inseparably bound to the individual who utters it. Like Marshall McLuhan, Francis knew that “the medium is the message.”

I give here a version of the story that I have often heard. As explained in the next note, this story does not occur in FA:ED. This saying seems to have appeared within the last two decades. I have been unable to find any reference to it before that time. It does not occur any- where in the writings of Francis nor in any of the early sources. In this sense, it is similar to the “Peace Prayer” popularly attributed to St. Francis, but which seems to have originated around 1910. The story about Francis and the broth- er walking through town is even more commonly circulated. I have heard this story since my earliest days in the Order and always considered it genuine. When preparing this talk, I searched high and low through FA:ED to locate the source, even consulting the three editors of that series for assistance. The four of us were forced to conclude that the story is indeed apocryphal. For example, ER 17:3: “Let all the brothers preach by their deeds”; 2LtF 51: “We are mothers of our Lord Jesus Christ when we carry Him in our heart and body through love and a pure and sincere conscience; and give him birth through a holy activity, which must shine before others by example.” FA:ED 1, 75, 49. John W. O’Malley, S. J., “Introduction: Medieval Preaching,” in De Ore Domini: Preacher and Word in the Middle Ages, ed. Thomas L. Amos, Eugene A. Green, Beverly Mayne Kienzle, Medieval Institute Publications 27 (Kalama- zoo, MI: Western Michigan University, 1989), 2. A point I developed in “Do the Scriptures Make a Difference in Our Lives?” in Franciscans and Scripture: Living the Word of God, Washington Theo- logical Union Symposium Papers 2005, CFIT/ESC-OFM Series, 5, ed. Elise Saggau (St. Bonaventure, NY: Franciscan Institute Publications, 2006), 1-17. This famous phrase was coined by McLuhan in his seminal study, Under- standing Media: The Extensions of Man (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964), 7. Gospel Preaching and Gospel Life 11

The Ecclesial/Franciscan Evangelical Mission

Several years ago at this symposium, Vincent Cushing, O.F.M., gave a well-crafted presentation: “A Church Evangelical, Catholic and Reformed.” By using the adjective “evangelical,” Cushing wished to emphasize that the Church’s “central message has to be Jesus and the Kingdom of God that Jesus preached.... The Church’s primary mission is to evangelize and serve the world in which we live through the lives of faithful disciples.” Cushing also wished to allude to one of the ma- jor historical divisions of Christianity: evangelical Protestantism, to make the point that a vibrant Catholic Church also needs to have an “evangelical” dimension. Historians generally say that the evangelical movement in Prot- estant Christianity has four characteristics. Two of these are traceable to its Reformation roots, which emphasize 1) the ultimate authority of the Bible as God’s revelation to humanity (sola Scriptura) and 2) salvation through personal faith in the atoning death of Christ (sola fides). But its two other characteristics are shared with the Franciscan tradition as an evangelical movement within the Catholic Church. Both traditions 1) lay stress on a personally-transforming conversion experience that 2) impels the disciple to share that experience with others so the whole world might be transformed by the Gospel. The evangelical tradition in Christianity—whether Protestant or Francis- can—would in fact emphasize that these latter two characteristics are mutually dependent. Attempting to preach or engage in social ac- tion without personal conversion is merely a spiritless exercise; on the other hand, experiencing a personal conversion to God without desiring to share that relationship with others is sterile. In a recent let- ter, the General Minister of the Friars Minor, Jose Rodríguez Carballo, reminds Franciscans: We have been called to evangelise.... We exist for the mission. We, as Friars Minor, who, moved “by divine inspiration” ... have embraced the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ as our “Rule and life” ... feel that our mission, like that of Francis, is “to fill the earth with the Gospel of Christ.” Following “the footprints of Our Lord Jesus Christ”, we discover that our mis- sion, our reason for being in the Church and in the world, is

Vincent Cushing, “A Church Evangelical, Catholic and Reformed,” in Go Rebuild My House: Franciscans and the Church Today, Washington Theological Union Symposium Papers 2004, CFIT/ESC-OFM Series, 4, ed. Elise Saggau (St. Bonaventure, NY: Franciscan Institute Publications, 2004), 76-77.