Life of St. Francis of Assisi

1.Mortem cantando suscepit. 2 Cel., 3, 139.

2. The text here taken as a basis is that of the Assisi MS., 338 (fo 16a-18a). It is also to be found in Firmamentum, fo 19, col. 4; Speculum, Morin, tract. iii., 8a; Wadding, ann. 1226, 35; A. SS., p. 663; Amoni, Legenda Trium Sociorum; Appendix, p. 110. Everything in this document proclaims its authenticity, but we are not reduced to internal proof. It is expressly cited in 1 Cel., 17 (before 1230); by the Three Companions (1246), 3 Soc., 11; 26; 29; by 2 Cel., 3, 99 (1247). These proofs would be more than sufficient, but there is another of even greater value: the bull Quo elongati of September 28, 1230, where Gregory IX. cites it textually and declares that the friars are not bound to observe it.

3.Promittet Franciscus obedientiam ... papæ ... et successoribus ... qui non possunt nec debent eis præcipere aliquid quod sit contra animam et regulam.Archiv., i, p. 563.

4.Quod si quando a quocumque ... pontifice aliquid ... mandaretur quod esset contra fidem ... et caritatem et fructus ejus tunc obediet Deo magis quam hominibus. Ib., p. 561.

5.Est [Regula] et stat et intelligitur super eos ... Cum spei fiducia pace fruemur cum conscientiæ et Christi spiritus testimonio certo. Ib., pp. 563 and 565.

6.Archiv., ii., p. 274.

7.Ad mandatum illud vos dicimus non teneri: quod sine consensu Fratrum maxime ministrorum, quos universos tangebat obligare nequivit nec successorem suum quomodolibet obligavit; cum non habeat imperium par in parem. The sophism is barely specious; Francis was not on a par with his successors; he did not act as minister-general, but as founder.

8.Arbor vit. cruc., lib. v., cap. 3 and 5. See above, p. 185.

9.Tribul., Laur., 25b; Archiv., i., p. 532.

10. At the summit of the Apennines, about half way between Camerino and Nocera (Umbria). Tribul., Laur., 26b; Magl., 135b.

11.Declaratio Ubertini, Archiv., iii., p. 168. This fact is not to be questioned, since it is alleged in a piece addressed to the pope, in response to the liberal friars, to whom it was to be communicated.

12.Feci moram cum illis., MS., 338. Most of the printed texts give miseracordiam, which gives a less satisfactory meaning. Cf. Miscellanea iii. (1888), p. 70; 1 Cel., 17; 3 Soc., 11.

13. It is evident that heresy is not here in question. The Brothers who were infected with it were to be delivered to the Church.

14. Urban IV. published, October 18, 1263, Potthast (18680), a Rule for the Clarisses which completely changed the character of this Order. Its author was the cardinal protector Giovanni degli Ursini (the future Nicholas III.), who by way of precaution forbade the Brothers Minor under the severest penalties to dissuade the Sisters from accepting it. "It differs as much from the first Rule," said Ubertini di Casali "as black and white, the savory and the insipid." Arbor. vit. cruc. lib. v., cap. vi.

15. V. Test. B. Claræ; Conform., 185a 1; Spec., 117b.

16. 2 Cel., 3, 132.

17. Bon., 112.

18. The Bollandists deny this whole story, which they find in opposition to the prescriptions of Francis himself. A. SS., p. 664 ff. But it is difficult to see for what object authors who take great pains to explain it could have had for inventing it. Spec., 133a; Fior. iv.; consid.; Conform., 240a. I have borrowed the whole account from Bernard of Besse: De Laudibus, fo 113b. It appears that Giacomina settled for the rest of her life at Assisi, that she might gain edification from the first companions of Francis. Spec., 107b. (What a lovely scene, and with what a Franciscan fragrance!) The exact date of her death is not known. She was buried in the lower church of the basilica of Assisi, and on her tomb was engraved: Hic jacit Jacoba sancta nobilisque romana. Vide Fratini: Storia della basilica, p. 48. Cf. Jacobilli: Vite dei Santi e Beati dell' Umbria, Foligno, 3 vols., 4to, 1647; i., p. 214.

19. 2 Cel., 3, 139; Bon., 209, 210; Conform., 171b, 2.

20. 2 Cel., 3, 139: Cum me videritis ... sicut me nudius tertius nudum vidistis.

21. 1 Cel., 109; 2 Cel., 3, 139.

22. 1 Cel., 109; Bon., 212.

23. 1 Cel., 109. Cf. Epist. Eliæ.

24.Tribul. Laur., 22b. Nothing better shows the historic value of the chronicle of the Tribulations than to compare its story of these moments with that of the following documents: Conform., 48b, 1; 185a, 2; Fior., 6.; Spec., 86a.

25. 2 Cel., 3, 139; Spec., 116b; Conform., 224b, 1.

26. 2 Cel., 3, 139. A simple comparison between this story in the Speculum (116b) and that in the Conformities (224b, 1) is enough to show how in certain of its parts the Speculum represents a state of the legend anterior to 1385.

27. Bon., 214. This cell has been transformed into a chapel and may be found a few yards from the little church of Portiuncula. Church and chapel are now sheltered under the great Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli. See the picture and plan, A. SS., p. 814, or better still in P. Barnabas aus dem Elsass, Portiuncula oder Geschichte U. L. F. v. den Engeln. Rixheim, 1884, 1 vol., 8vo, pp. 311 and 312.

28. 1 Cel., 116 and 117; Bon., 219; Conform. 185a, 1.

29. To-day in the clôture of the convent St. Clara. Vide Miscellanea 1, pp. 44-48, a very interesting study by Prof. Carattoli upon the coffin of St. Francis.