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71Wusj2pqel.Pdf 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”?1 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 1Test 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.”2 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,3 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.4 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.”5 Unlike a written text, which can take up a life of its own independently of the author,6 the spoken word is inseparably bound to the individual who utters it. Like Marshall McLuhan, Francis knew that “the medium is the message.”7 2I 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. 3This 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.
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