Hail, Queen Wisdom,
the Lord salute thee with thy sister Holy-Pure Simplicity. 7
· Lady Holy Poverty, the Lord salute thee with thy sister Holy
Humility. · Lady Holy Charity, the Lord salute thee with thy sister
Holy Obedience. · Most holy virtues, the Lord salute all of you, He
from whom you come and proceed.
There is scarcely no man in the whole world, 8 who can
have one of you, before he dies. · He who has one and offends not the
others, has all. · And he who offends one, has none and offends all
(cf. Jm 2:10). And any one whatever confounds vices and sins.
Holy Wisdom confounds Satan and all his wickednesses. · Pure Holy
Simplicity confounds all the wisdom of this world (cf. 1 Cor. 2:6) and the
wisdom of the body (cf. Rm 8:7). · Holy Poverty confounds cupidity and
avarice and the cares of this age. 9 · Holy Humility
confounds pride and all the men, who are in the world, and likewise all the
things, which are in the world. · Holy Charity confounds all the
diabolic and carnal temptations and all carnal fears. · Holy Obedience
confounds all things corporal, both carnal and one's own willings · and
holds the body mortified in obedience of spirit 10 and in
obedience to one's brother · and is subject and submissive to all the
men, who are in the world · and not to men alone, but even to all the
beasts and wildlife, · so that they may do with him, whatever they
will, as much as has been given them from above by the Lord (cf. Jn 19:11).
The Testament of Saint Francis
St. Francis dictated his last will and
testament, at the Portiuncula, just a few days before he passed from this
world to the Father, in the evening of the first Saturday of October, 1226
A.D.. 11 In this writing St. Francis strove to explain to
his friar-sons the spirit of the Franciscan vocation, so that throughout the
centuries they would have no doubts as to how to imitate him in his following
of the poor Crucified Christ. 12 Traditionally the Testament
of St. Francis is read by Franciscans immediately after the reading of the
Regula Bullata, as St. Francis himself requested at the end of this his
Testament. 13
I.
Thus did the Lord
grant to me, Friar Francis, to begin to do penance: that when I was
exceedingly in (my) sins, to see the lepers seemed a bitter thing to me. ·
And the Lord Himself led 14 me among them and I worked mercy
with them. · And when I was fleeing from them, because that seemed to
me a bitter thing, it was changed for me into sweetness of soul and body; and
afterwards I stayed for a little while and (then) I went forth from the world
(saeculum).
15 · And the Lord granted me such faith in churches,
that thus I would pray simply and say: · We adore Thee, Lord Jesus
Christ, and for 16 all Thy churches, which are in the whole
world, 17 we also bless Thee, because by Thy Holy Cross Thou
has redeemed the world. · Afterwards the Lord granted me and grants so
much faith in priests, who live according to the form of the Holy Roman
Church, on account of their state (in life), that if they would stir up a
persecution against me, I want to have recourse to them. · Even if I
would have as much wisdom, as Solomon had, and would come upon the little poor
priests of this age, in the parishes, where they linger, I do not wish to
preach beyond their will. · And they and all other (clerics) I want to
fear, love (amor),
and honor, as my lords. · And I do not want to consider sin in them,
because I discern 18 in them the Son of God, and they are my
lords. · And I do (that) on account of this, because I see nothing
corporally in this age of the Most High Son of God Himself, except His Most
Holy Body and Most Holy Blood, which they receive and which they alone
minister to others. · And these Most Holy Mysteries 19
I want above all things to honor, to venerate and to be placed in precious
places. · Wherever I will have found written the Most Holy Names and
His words in unlawful places, I want to gather them together and I beg, that
they are gathered together and placed together in an honorable place. ·
And all theologians 20 and those, who minister the most
sacred divine words, we ought to honor and venerate, as those who minister to
us spirit and life (cf. Jn 6:64).
II.
And after the Lord gave me some friars, 21 no one showed me,
what I ought to do, but the Most High Himself revealed to me, that I ought to
live according the form of the Holy Gospel. · And I had it written in a
few words and simply and the Lord Pope 22 confirmed it for
me. · And those who were coming to receive life, used to give "all that
they possibly had" (Tob 1,3) to the poor; and they used to be content with one
tunic, patched inside and out, with a cord and breeches. · And we did
not use to want to have more. · We clerics used to say the Office along
with the other clergy, 23 the lay brothers used to say the
Pater Noster; 24 and we used to remain 25
quite freely in the churches. · And we used to be idiots and subject to
all. · And I used to work with my hands, and I want to work; and all
the other brothers I firmly want, that they work at their job, because this
pertains to honesty. · Those who do not know how, let them learn, not
for the sake of the cupidity to receive a price 26 for work,
but for the sake of the example (it gives) and to repel idleness. · And
when the price for the work would not be given to us, let us have recourse to
the table of the Lord, 27 by asking for alms door to door.
· The Lord revealed to me a greeting, that we are to say: "The Lord
grant you peace!" · Let all the friars beware of themselves, so that
they receive almost none of the churches, the poor tiny dwellings and all (the
buildings), which are constructed on their behalf, unless they would be,
(such) as befits holy poverty, which we have promised in the Rule, always
boarding there as exiles and pilgrims (cf. 1 Pet 2:11). · I firmly
precept 28 all the friars by obedience, that wherever they
are, they do not dare to seek any letter 29 in the Roman
Curia, by means of themselves nor by an interposed person, nor on behalf of a
church nor on behalf of another place nor under the appearance of preaching
nor on behalf of a persecution of their bodies; · but wherever they
have not been received, let them flee into another land to do penance with the
blessing of God.
III. And I firmly want to obey the Minister general 30
of this fraternity and any guardian, whom it will have pleased him to give me.
· And I want to be so captive in his hands, that I would not be able to
go or do beyond obedience and his will, because he is my lord. · And
although I am simple and infirm, nevertheless I want to always have a cleric,
who will perform the Office for me, 31 as it is contained in
the Rule. · And all the other friars are bound to likewise obey their
guardians and perform the Office according to the Rule. · And those,
who would be found, that do not perform the Office according to the Rule, and
want to vary it in another manner, or are not Catholics, 32
let all the friars, wherever they are, be bound by obedience, that wherever
they have found any of these, they ought to present them before the nearest
custos of that place, where they found him. · And let the custos be
firmly bound by obedience to guard him strongly, just like a man in chains day
and night, so that he cannot be snatched from their hands, until he in person
presents him into the hands of his minister. · And let the minister be
firmly bound by obedience to send him by means of such friars, that day and
night guard him as a man in chains, until they present him before the lord of
Ostia, 33 who is the lord, protector and corrector of the
whole fraternity. · And let friars not say: "This is another Rule,"
because this is a remembrance, an admonition, an exhortation and my testament,
which I, tiny Friar Francis, make for you, my blest friars, for the sake of
this, that we might observe the Rule, which we have promised the Lord, in a
more Catholic way.
IV. And let the Minister General and all the other ministers and custodes
be bound by obedience, not to add to these words nor take away. · And
let them have this writing with them always, next to the Rule. 34
· And in all the chapters that are convened, when they read the Rule,
let them also read these words. · And all my friars, cleric and lay, I
firmly precept by obedience, to not place glosses upon the Rule, not even by
saying in these words: "Thus they intend to be understood." · But as
the Lord granted 35 me simply and purely to dictate and
write the Rule and these words, so you should understand them simply and
without gloss and observe them with holy work until the end. 36
· And whoever has observed these, may he be filled in heaven with the
blessing of the Most High Father and on earth with the blessing of His Beloved
(dilectio)
Son with the Most Holy Spirit and all the Virtues 37 of
Heaven and all the saints. · And I Friar Francis, your tiny servant, in
as much as I am able, confirm for you, inside and out, that most holy
blessing.
St. Francis' last Will written for St. Clare
St. Francis' most devoted disciple was St.
Clare of Assisi. She founded a monastery of nuns at San Damiano shortly after
St. Francis had founded the Order of Friars Minor. St. Francis counseled them
throughout his religious life and shortly before dying left this brief
exhortation to impress upon them the importance of their own vocation. Like
"The Form of Life given to St. Clare" [FormViv],
this short note has been preserved in the Rule of St. Clare for nearly eight
centuries. 38 There, in her Rule, St. Clare testifies that
St. Francis wrote this Last Will shortly before his own death on Oct. 3, 1226
A.D.. 39 It is St. Francis' classic exhortation to the
observance of most high Poverty.
I, tiny 40
Friar Francis, want to follow the life and poverty of Our Most High Lord Jesus
Christ and of His Most Holy Mother and to persevere in it until the end; ·
and I beg you, my ladies, and I give you counsel, that you live in this most
holy life and poverty always. · And guard yourselves very much, lest by
the doctrine or counsel of anyone you retreat from this in any manner forever.
Dictated Works
Among the writings that can be identified as
having being brought into being through some action of St. Francis, are a
small collection of writings which K. Esser terms Opuscula Dictata.
41 These include: "The Blessing given Friar Bernard"
[BenBern], "The Blessing sent in writing to St. Clare and her sisters"
[BenCl], "The Letter written to the citizens of Bologna" [EpBon], "The Written
Letter of St. Clare on fasting" [EpCl], "The Letter written to Lady Jacoba"
[EpJac], "The Letter sent to the Friars in France" [EpFranc], "The Testament
given at Siena" [TestSen], and the short exhortation "On True and Perfect
Gladness" [VPLaet].
However, all but the first and final two of these are simply excerpts from
the writings of other authors testifying that St. Francis did in fact write
something. Therefore these citations are actual "Reported Works" and serve to
keep up the expectation of scholars that someday more writings of St. Francis
will be found. 42 The three dictated works "The Blessing
given Friar Bernard" [BenBern], "The Testament given at Siena" [TestSen], and
the short exhortation "On True and Perfect Gladness" [VPLaet], are actual
dictated statements made by St. Francis, and thus are included in this
translation.
The Blessing given Friar Bernard
Friar Bernard was the first companion of St.
Francis. Before joining the Order he had been a respected lawyer in the city
of Assisi. Upon seeing St. Francis remarkable conversion to a life of
evangelical simplicity he himself sold all his possessions and gave them to
the poor. Throughout his life St. Francis cherished his friendship and
courage. From the internal evidence it can be supposed that St. Francis wrote
this letter during the last years of his life, either at a time when death
seemed near, or after he had resigned his office of Minister general. The
unanimous testimony of the early sources state that the place and date of
composition were the very last days of the Saint's life, while he lay dying at
the Portiuncula (late Sept. to Oct. 3, 1226 A.D.) 43
Write as I tell you:
· The first friar, whom the Lord gave me, was friar Bernard, and: (it
was he) who began and fulfilled most perfectly the perfection of the Holy
Gospel by distributing all his own goods to the poor; · on account of
which and on account of many other prerogatives, I am bound to love him more
than any other friar of (this) entire religion. 44 ·
Whence I want and precept, 45 as I am able, 46
that, whoever be Minister general, 47 that he love and honor
him as my very self, · and let all the other Ministers provincial also
hold 48 him as (they would) me.
The Testament made at Siena
Sometime between April and May of 1226 A.D.,
while St. Francis visited the city of Siena, he fell so ill that all presumed
he would shortly die. It was at that time that he dictated this short version
of his last will and testament to Friar Benedict of Pirato. 49
Write this way: I
bless all my friars, who are in (our) religion 50 and who
will come even until the end of the world (saeculum)
. . . · Since on account of my weakness and the pain of my infirmity I
cannot manage to speak, in these three words I am briefly making clear my will
to my friars, · that is: that, in remembrance of my blessing and my
testament, they love (dilectio)
one another, · that they always love and observe our lady, Holy
Poverty, · and that they be 51 faithful and subject
to the prelates 52 and all the clerics of Holy Mother
Church.
On true and perfect gladness
This famous story, told in Chapter 8 of the
Fioretti (the Little Flowers of St. Francis) with much embellishment, has its
origin in a very simple and short version, which K. Esser considers to have
originated with St. Francis. Though seemingly simplistic, the teaching
presented here by St. Francis is of the stature of St. John of the Cross'
doctrine of the Nada. It is a profound explanation of Christ's sayings: "Where
your heart is, there your treasure will be." And "Do not rejoice in this, but
rather that your names are written in Heaven." The time of composition is
sometime after the beginning of 1220 A.D. 53
The same (fr. Leonard)
54 recalled there that one day blessed Francis, while at St.
Mary's (of the Angels), called friar Leo and said: "Friar Leo, write." ·
Who responded: "Behold I am ready." · "Write—he said—what is perfect
gladness?" · A messenger comes and says that all the masters 55
of Paris have entered the Order, write, "not true gladness." · Likewise
that all the prelates beyond the Alps, archbishops and bishops; likewise that
the King of France and the King of England: write, "not true gladness." ·
Likewise, that my friars went among the infidels and converted them all to the
Faith; likewise that I have from God this grace, that I heal the infirm and
work many miracles: 56 I say to you that in all these things
there is not true gladness. · But what is true gladness? · I
return from Perugia and in the dead of night I come here and it is winter
time, muddy and what is more, so frigid, that icicles have congealed at the
edge of my tunic and they always pierce my shins, and blood comes forth from
such wounds. · And entirely (covered) with mud and in the cold and ice,
I come to the gate, and after I knock for a long time and call, there comes a
friar and he asks: "Who is it? I respond: "Friar Francis." · And he
says: "Go away; it is not a decent hour for traveling; you shall not enter."
· And again he would respond to (me) insisting: "Go away; you are a
simpleton and an idiot; you do not measure up to us; we are so many and such
men, that we are not in need of you!" · And I stand again at the gate
and I say: "For the love (amor)
of God take me in this night." · And he would respond: "I will not! Go
away to the place of Crosiers 57 and ask there." · I
say to you that if I will have had patience and will not have been disturbed,
that in this is true gladness and true virtue and soundness 58
of soul.
FOOTNOTES
1. cf. 2 Celano 198.
2. cf. K. Esser, p. 550.
3. lit. electa, "the elect" woman: a reference to Mary's
predestination. In the second part of this sentence, the Latin phrase in
qua, translated here as "in whom," means more precisely in this context
"Thou the woman in whom."
4. This conjunction of Mary's prerogatives and the mediation of grace is an
explicit reference to Our Lady's intimate role in mediating the graces of the
Holy Spirit, Her divine Spouse, cf. the Marian Antiphon from the "Office of
the Passion of the Lord" [OffPass].
5. 2 Celano 189.
6. cf. K. Esser, p. 562, 550-2.
7. cf. 2 Celano 189.
8. see
EpMin, fn. 75 for St. Francis' usage of "world" here and in the next
paragraph.
9. cf.
RegB X,7.
10. i.e. an obedience that is in the heart, and not only in outward
appearances.
11. cf. K. Esser, p. 583.
12. There was such a reverence for this last will and testament of St.
Francis that the Order itself requested a papal decision regarding its status.
Pope Gregory IX in Quo elongati (Sept. 28, 1230 A.D.) declared it to
bind the friars spiritually, not canonically.
13. Although in the General Constitutions of 1506 A.D. the weekly reading
of the Testament was prescribed, it had long been the custom; cf. K. Esser, p.
567.
14. lit. conduxit, "to lead" by one's personal presence; hence St.
Francis is confessing that the Lord led him by traveling with him among the
lepers. Similarly the Latin phrase cum illis translated here as "with
them," is not an ablative of means, but of accompaniment; hence St. Francis is
confessing that without the lepers he could not have practiced mercy.
15. "To forsake the world" is an ancient Christian theme referring to the
abandonment of the manner of living common among human society and the setting
out to follow Christ as a religious, by observing the evangelical counsels; in
this regard cf. also the note in Translator's Foreword regarding saeculum.
16. The Latin text of this prayer is: Adoremus te, Domine Jesu Christe,
et ad omnes ecclesias tuas, quae sunt in toto mundo, et benedicimus tibi, quia
per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum. Here the Latin preposition ad,
can mean either: "facing" or "at". Likewise the Latin conjunction et,
can mean "and", "even" or "also". Some manuscripts insert hic before the first
et, while others omit the second et. The customary rendering of this
prayer in English is We adore Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, here and at all Thy
churches which are in the whole world, and we bless Thee, because by Thy Holy
Cross Thou has redeemed the world. Other possibilities arise from the
various usages of et and ad in this prayer: We adore Thee, Lord Jesus
Christ, (here) (even/and) (at/facing) all Thy churches, which are in the whole
world, (and/also) we bless Thee, because by Thy Holy Cross Thou has redeemed
the world. The rich meaning of this prayer is thus very fruitful for
devotion; cf. Breviarum Romanum (1961): Festo in Exaltatione sanctae
Crucis, ad Matutinum, Antiphon VII.
17. see
EpMin, fn. 75 for the usage of "world" in this prayer.
18. On account of the sacramental character of Sacred Orders.
19. In general "the Holy Mysteries" refer to the Sacraments; here St.
Francis is speaking of the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.
20. In St. Francis' day theologians were the men who both believed and
studied Catholic teaching.
21. lit dedit mihi de fratribus, an latinized Italian idiom,
equivalent to "gave me some friars." This phrase recalls St. Francis'
identification of God as King, and of himself as God's vassal.
22. Pope Innocent III, who died in 1216 A.D..
23. lit. secundum alios clericos, a phrase that can be rendered
"according to the manner of the other clergy" or "along with the other
clergy." The former would refer to the use of the Gallican Psalter, which
prevailed in the earliest years of the Order, before changing to the Roman
Psalter in accordance with the Rule; the later would refer to the friar's lack
of liturgical books, which were very costly.
24. The "Our Father", because the lay brothers usually did not know how to
read.
25. On account of the poverty and small numbers of the first friars, they
lived in local churches.
26. The early Franciscans received food and other necessities in exchange
for their work.
27. To resort to begging is to "have recourse to table of the Lord,"
because Our Lord himself was fed by others during His public ministry. St.
Francis' construction of this sentence, which employs the imperfect
subjunctive in the initial clause, indicates that the friars should have
recourse to begging, not on every occasion that they do not receive alms in
exchange for their work, but only if this is a habitual circumstance of their
work.
28. see
Adm, fn. 6.
29. i.e. any legal grant of right or privilege, which would distinguish
them from the poor.
30. For an explanation of this and the other offices mentioned below, see
the introduction to "The First Letter to the Custodes" [EpCust
I].
31. St. Francis was so debilitated by a illness of his eyes, that he could
no longer see well enough to recite the Divine Office; for an explanation of
the Office see
RegB, fn. 30.
32. The Office prescribed by the Rule was that of the Roman Church; hence
St. Francis judges rightly that those who dissent from the liturgical
tradition of the Roman Church are not Catholic, in as much as it was upon
Peter, the Founder of the Roman Church, that Christ established His Church for
all peoples, and it is from this same Apostle that the liturgical traditions
of the Roman Church originate.
33. The lord Cardinal of Ostia, was at this time the representative of the
Order in the Papal court.
34. Hence, the custom of keeping and reading this Testament immediately
after that of the Rule.
35. St. Francis refers here to that special light God gave him to compose
the final version of the Rule, the Regula Bullata.
36. On this phrase see
EpFid I, fn. 14.
37. For "Virtues" see.
OffPass, Psalm 1, fn. 24.
38. Rule of St. Clare, VI,3; cf. K. Esser, p. 585.
39. loc. cit.; cf. K. Esser, p. 587.
40. lit. parvulus: the diminutive form of the Latin parvus
(small); this appellation appears elsewhere whenever St. Francis addresses his
friars, cf.
Test III,8; IV,7;
EpOrd 3;
EpCust I,1.
41. K. Esser, pp. 589-604.
42. It should be noted that the citation which K. Esser includes under the
title "The Letter sent to the Friars in France" [EpFranc] does contain the
actual quote of one phrase of the letter by St. Francis: "Let us bless the
Father and the Son with the Holy Spirit"; cf. op. cit., pp.
598-9.
43. cf. K. Esser, p. 591.
44. see
EpOrd, fn. 86.
45. see
Adm, fn. 6.
46. Inasmuch as St. Francis would no longer be Minister general, after his
resignation, he could not strictly give his friars a command, but only
admonish them as the founder of the Order.
47. For an explanation of the offices of Minister general and Minister
provincial, see the introduction to "The First Letter to the Custodes," [EpCust
I].
48. lit. teneant, "to hold, keep, preserve, remember," etc.
49. cf. K. Esser, pp. 600 and 599 respectively.
50. see
EpOrd, fn. 86.
51. lit. exsistant, which means more exactly "to stand forth, arise,
come into existence"; cf.
Frag II, 10.
52. see fn. 6.
53. Friar Leo accompanied St. Francis daily after his return from the Holy
Land at the beginning of 1220 A.D., as his personal secretary and chaplain;
cf. K. Esser, pp. 601-3.
54. i.e. Friar Leo.
55. i.e. professors of theology.
56. lit. miraculis, "miracles" in the proper sense; compare
Adm V,7.
57. St. Francis is referring to the Hospital of Fontanelle, run by the
Order of Crosiers. It was only a short distance from St. Mary's. Hospitals in
the Middle Ages where the places for the infirm, the elderly, and travelers;
cf. K. Esser, p. 602, n. 41.
58. lit. salus, see
EpAnt, fn. 23 for the various meanings of this word.
