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Title: |
Auspicato Concessum
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Descr.: |
On St. Francis Of Assisi
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Pope: |
Pope Leo XIII
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Date: |
September 17, 1882
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To
All the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and Bishops of the
Catholic World in the Grace and Communion of the Apostolic See.
Venerable
Brethren, Health and the Apostolic Benediction.
A
happy circumstance enables the Christian world to celebrate, at a
not far distant interval, the memory of two men who, having been
called to receive in heaven the eternal reward of their holiness,
have left on earth a crowd of disciples, the ever-increasing
offspring from their virtues. For, after the centenary solemnities
in honor of St. Benedict, the father and lawgiver of the monks of
the West, the opportunity of paying public honors to St. Francis
of Assisi will likewise be furnished by the seventh centenary of
his birth. It is not without reason that We see therein a merciful
intention of Divine Providence. For, by calling on men to
celebrate the birthdays of these illustrious Fathers, God would
seem to wish that they should be induced to keep in mind their
signal merits, and at the same time to understand that the
Religious Orders they founded ought on no account to have been the
objects of such unbefitting acts of violence, least of all in
those States where the seeds of civilization and of fame were cast
by their labor, their genius and their zeal.
2.
We are confident that these solemn feasts will not prove fruitless
to the Christian world, which has always, and rightly, deemed the
Religious Orders its friends; and thus, having honored as it has
with love and gratitude the name of St. Benedict, it will strive
with equal ardor, by public festivities and by numerous acts of
piety, to revive the memory of St. Francis. Nor is the field
whereon this noble rivalry in devotion will be displayed bounded
by the limits of the region where this great saint first saw the
light, nor by those of the neighboring territories enlightened by
his presence, but it extends to every part of the earth, wherever
the name of Francis has become known and his institutions
flourish.
3.
Certainly We, of all others, approve of this zeal for so excellent
an object, especially because We have been accustomed from Our
youth to admire Francis of Assisi and to pay him a particular
veneration; because We glory in being on the roll of the
Franciscan family; and because, more than once, We have, out of
devotion, climbed with eagerness and joy the sacred heights of
Alvernia; there the image of that great man presented itself to Us
wherever We trod, and that solitude teeming with memories held Our
spirit rapt in silent contemplation.
4.
But, however praiseworthy this zeal may be, it is not enough; it
must be understood that the honors in preparation for St. Francis
will be especially pleasing to him who is honored, if they who pay
them derive profit therefrom. Now their solid and lasting fruit is
in the attaining some likeness to him whose eminent virtue is an
object of admiration, and in endeavoring to improve by imitating
him. If, with the help of God, this practice is zealously
followed, an opportune and extremely efficacious remedy will have
been found for the evils of the present time.
5.
And therefore it is that We wish, venerable brethren, not only
that these Letters should convey to you the public testimony of
Our devotion to St. Francis, but that they should, moreover,
excite your charity to labor with Us for the salvation of men by
means of the remedy We have just pointed out.
6.
Jesus Christ, the Liberator of mankind, is the everlasting and
ever flowing source of all the good things that come to us from
the infinite bounty of God; so that He who has once saved the
world is he who will save it throughout all ages; "for there
is no other name under heaven given to men whereby We must be
saved."(1) If then the human race fall into sin, either
through its natural propensities or through the faults of men, it
is absolutely indispensable to have recourse to Jesus Christ and
to recognize in Him the most powerful and the most sure means of
salvation. For so great and so efficacious is its divine virtue
that it is at once a refuge from all dangers and a remedy for all
evils. And the cure is certain, if mankind returns to the
profession of Christian doctrine and to the rules of life laid
down by the Gospel.
7.
When the evils We have spoken of arise, as soon as the
providentially appointed hour of help has struck, God raises up a
man, not one of the common herd, but eminent and unique, to whom
he assigns the salvation of all. Such is what came to pass at the
end of the twelfth century and in the few subsequent years; St.
Francis was the agent in this great work.
8.
That period is sufficiently well known, and its character of
mingled virtues and vices. The Catholic faith was deeply rooted in
men's souls, and it was a glorious sight to see multitudes
inflamed by piety set forth for Palestine, resolved to conquer or
to die. But licentiousness had greatly impaired popular morality,
and nothing was more needed by men than a return to Christian
sentiments. Now the perfection of Christian virtue lies in that
disposition of soul which dares all that is arduous or difficult;
its symbol is the Cross, which those who would follow Jesus Christ
must carry on their shoulder. The effects of this disposition are
a heart detached from mortal things, complete self-control, and a
gentle and resigned endurance of adversity. In fine, the love of
God and of one's neighbor is the mistress and sovereign of all
other virtues: such is its power that it wipes away all the
hardships that accompany the fulfillment of duty, and renders the
hardest labors not only bearable, but agreeable. There was a
dearth of such virtue in the twelfth century; for too many among
men, enslaved by the things of this world, either coveted madly
honors and wealth, or lived a life of luxury and
self-gratification. All power was centered in a few, and had
almost become an instrument of oppression to the wretched and
despised masses; and those even who ought by their profession to
have been an example to others, had not avoided defiling
themselves with the prevalent vices. The extinction of charity in
divers places was followed by scourges manifold and daily; envy,
jealousy, hatred, were rife; and minds were so divided and hostile
that on the slightest pretext neighboring cities waged war amongst
themselves, and individuals armed themselves against one another.
9.
In this century appeared St. Francis. Yet with wondrous resolution
and simplicity he undertook to place before the eyes of the aging
world, in his words and deeds, the complete model of Christian
perfection.
10.
And even as at that period the blessed Father Dominic Guzman was
occupied in defending the integrity of heaven-sent doctrine and in
dissipating the perverse errors of heretics by the light of
Christian wisdom, so was the grace granted to St. Francis, whom
God was guiding to the execution of great works, of inciting
Christians to virtue, and of bringing back to the imitation of
Christ those men who had strayed both long and far. It was
certainly no mere chance that brought to the ears of the youth
these counsels of the gospel: "Do not possess gold, nor
silver, nor money in your purses; nor scrip for your journey, nor
two coats, nor shoes, nor a staff."(2) And again, "If
thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor...and come, follow Me."(3) Considering these words as
directed personally to himself, he at once deprives himself of
all, changes his clothing, adopts poverty as his associate and
companion during the remainder of his life, and resolves to make
those great maxims of virtue, which he had embraced in a lofty and
sublime frame of mind, the fundamental rules of his Order.
11.
Thenceforth, amidst the effeminacy and over-fastidiousness of the
time, he is seen to go about careless and roughly clad, begging
his food from door to door, not only enduring what is generally
deemed most hard to bear, the senseless ridicule of the crowd, but
even to welcome it with a wondrous readiness and pleasure. And
this because he had embraced the folly of the cross of Jesus
Christ, and because he deemed it the highest wisdom. Having
penetrated and understood its awful mysteries, he plainly saw that
nowhere else could his glory be better placed.
12.
With the love of the cross, an ardent charity penetrated the heart
of St. Francis, and urged him to propagate zealously the Christian
faith, and to devote himself to that work, though at the risk of
this life and with a certainty of peril. This charity he extended
to all men; but the poorest and most repulsive were the special
objects of his predilection; so that those seemed to afford him
the greatest pleasure whom others are wont to avoid or
over-proudly to despise.
13.
Therefore has he deserved well of that brotherhood established and
perfected by Jesus Christ, which has made of all mankind one only
family, under the authority of God, the common Father of all.
14.
By his numerous virtues, then, and above all by his austerity of
life, this irreproachable man endeavored to reproduce in himself
the image of Christ Jesus. But the finger of Providence was again
visible in granting to him a likeness to the Divine Redeemer, even
in externals.
15.
Thus, like Jesus Christ, it so happened that St. Francis was born
in a stable; a little child as he was, his couch was of straw on
the ground. And it is also related that, at that moment, the
presence of angelic choirs, and melodies wafted through the air,
completed this resemblance. Again, like Christ and His Apostles,
Francis united with himself some chosen disciples, whom he sent to
traverse the earth as messengers of Christian peace and eternal
salvation. Bereft of all, mocked, cast off by his own, he had
again this great point in common with Jesus Christ, he would not
have a corner wherein he might lay his head. As a last mark of
resemblance, he received on his Calvary, Mt. Alvernus (by a
miracle till then unheard of) the sacred stigmata, and was thus,
so to speak, crucified.
16.
We here recall a fact no less striking as a miracle than
considered famous by the voice of hundreds of years. One day St.
Francis was absorbed in ardent contemplation of the wounds of
Jesus crucified, and was seeking to take to himself and drink in
their exceeding bitterness, when an angel from heaven appeared
before him, from whom some mysterious virtue emanated: at once St.
Francis feels his hands and feet transfixed, as it were, with
nails, and his side pierced by a sharp spear. Thenceforth was
begotten an immense charity in his soul; on his body he bore the
living tokens of the wounds of Jesus Christ.
17.
Such miracles, worthy rather of the songs of angels than of the
lips of men, show us sufficiently how great was this man, and how
worthy that God should choose him to bring back his contemporaries
to Christian ways. It was undoubtedly a super-human voice that
bade St. Francis, when near the church of St. Damian, "Go
thou and uphold my tottering house." Nor is the heavenly
vision which presented itself to the gaze of Innocent III less
worthy of admiration, wherein it seemed to him that St. Francis
was supporting on his shoulders the falling walls of the Lateran
Basilica. The object and meaning of such manifestations are
evident; they signified that St. Francis was to be in those times
a steadfast protector and pillar of Christendom. Nor, in truth,
did he delay about his task.
18.
Those twelve disciples who had been the first to place themselves
under his government were like a small seed, which by the grace of
God, and under the fostering care of the Sovereign Pontiff,
quickly became an abundant harvest. After having holily instructed
them in the school of Christ, he allotted to them for the
preaching of the Gospel the various parts of Italy and of Europe;
and some he sent even as far as Africa. There was no delay; poor,
ignorant, unrefined, they mingled with the people: in the highways
and in the public squares, with no preparation of place or pomp of
rhetoric, they set themselves to exhort men to despise earthly
things and to think of the time to come. It is marvelous to see
the fruits produced by the enterprise of such workers, apparently
so inadequate. Crowds gathered round them, eager to hear them:
faults were bitterly bewept, injuries were forgotten, and
sentiments of peace were reintroduced by the appeasing of
discords.
19.
It is impossible to express the enthusiasm with which the
multitude flocked to St. Francis. Wherever he went he was followed
by an immense concourse; and in the largest cities as in the
smallest towns, it was a common occurrence for men of every state
of life to come and beg of him to be admitted to his rule.
20.
Such were the reasons for which the Saint determined to institute
the brotherhood of the Third Order, which was to admit all ranks,
all ages, both sexes, and yet in no way necessitate the rupture of
family or social ties. For its rules consist only in obedience to
God and His Church, to avoid factions and quarrels, and in no way
to defraud our neighbor; to take up arms only for the defense of
religion and of one's country; to be moderate in food and in
clothing, to shun luxury, and to abstain from the dangerous
seductions of dances and plays.
21.
It is easy to understand what immense advantages must have flowed
from an institution of this kind, as salutary in itself as it was
admirably adapted to the times. That it was opportune is
sufficiently established by the foundation of so many similar
associations which issued from the family of St. Dominic and from
the other Religious Orders, and by the facts themselves of
history. In fact, from the lowest ranks to the highest, there
prevailed an enthusiasm and a generous and eager ardor to be
affiliated to this Franciscan Order. Amongst others, King Louis
IX, of France, and St. Elizabeth of Hungary, sought this honor;
and, in the course of centuries, several Sovereign Pontiffs,
Cardinals, Bishops, Kings, and Princes have not deemed the
Franciscan badges derogatory to their dignity. The associates of
the Third Order displayed always as much courage as piety in the
defense of the Catholic religion; and if their virtues were
objects of hatred to the wicked, they never lacked the approbation
of the good and wise, which is the greatest and only desirable
honor. More than this, Our Predecessor, Gregory IX, publicly
praised their faith and courage; nor did he hesitate to shelter
them with his authority, and to call them, as a mark of honor,
"Soldiers of Christ, new Maccabees;" and deservedly so.
For the public welfare found a powerful safeguard in that body of
men who, guided by the virtues and rules of their founder, applied
themselves to revive Christian morality as far as lay in their
power and to restore it to its ancient place of honor in the
State. Certain it is, that to them and their example it was often
due that the rivalries of parties were quenched or softened, arms
were torn from the furious hands that grasped them, the causes of
litigation and dispute were suppressed, consolation was brought to
the poor and the abandoned; and luxury, that gulf of fortunes and
instrument of corruption, was subdued. And thus domestic peace,
incorrupt morality, gentleness of behavior, the legitimate use and
preservation of private wealth, civilization and social stability,
spring as from a root from the Franciscan Third Order; and it is
in great measure to St. Francis that Europe owes their
preservation.
22.
Italy, however, owes more to Francis than any other nation
whatever; which, as it was the principal theatre of his virtues,
so also most received his benefits; and, indeed, at a time when
many were bent on multiplying the sufferings of mankind, he was
always offering the right hand of help to the afflicted and the
cast down; he, rich in the greatest poverty, never desisted from
relieving others' wants, neglectful of his own. In his mouth his
native tongue, new-born, sweetly uttered its infant cries; he
expressed the power of charity and of poetry with it in his
canticles composed for the common people, and which have proved
not unworthy of the admiration of a learned posterity. We owe to
the mind of Francis that a certain breath and inspiration nobler
than human has stirred up the minds of our countrymen so that, in
reproducing his deeds in painting, poetry and sculpture, emulation
has stirred the industry of the greatest artists. Dante even found
in Francis matter for his grand and most sweet verse; Cimabue and
Giotto drew from his history subjects which they immortalized with
the pencil of a Parrhasius; celebrated architects found in him the
motive for their magnificent structures, whether at the tomb of
the Poor Man himself, or at the Church of St. Mary of the Angels,
the witness of so many and so great miracles. And to these temples
men from all parts are wont to come in throngs in veneration for
the father of Assisi of the poor, to whom, as he had utterly
despoiled himself of all human things, so the gifts of the divine
bounty largely and copiously flowed. Hence it is clear that from
this one man a host of benefits has flowed into the Christian and
civil republic. But since that spirit of his, thoroughly and
surpassingly Christian, is wonderfully fitted for all times and
places, no one can doubt that the Franciscan institutions would be
specially beneficial in this our age. And especially for this
reason, that the tone and temper of our times seem for many
reasons to be similar to those; for as in the 12th century divine
charity had grown cold, so also is it now; nor is the neglect of
Christian duties small, whether from ignorance or negligence; and,
with the same bent and like desires, many consume their days in
searching for the conveniences of life, and greedily following after
pleasures. Overflowing with luxury, they waste their own, and
covet the substance of others; extolling indeed the name of human
fraternity, they nevertheless speak more fraternally than they
act; for they are carried away by self-love, and the genuine
charity towards the poorer and the helpless is daily diminished.
In the time We are speaking of, the manifold errors of the
Albigenses, by stirring up the masses against the power of the
Church, had disturbed society and paved the way to a certain kind
of Socialism. And in Our day, likewise, the favorers and
propagators of Materialism have increased, who obstinately deny
that submission to the Church is due, and hence proceeding
gradually beyond all bounds, do not even spare the civil power;
they approve of violence and sedition among the people, they
attempt agrarian outbreaks, they flatter the desires of the
proletariat, and they weaken the foundations of domestic and
public order.
23.
In these many and so great miseries, you well know, venerable
brethren, that no small alleviation is to be found in the
institutes of St. Francis, if only they are brought back to their
pristine state; for if they only were in a flourishing condition,
faith and piety, and every Christian virtue would easily flourish;
the lawless desire for perishing things would be broken; nor would
men refuse to have their desires ruled by virtue, though that
seems to many to be a most hateful burden. Men bound together by
the bonds of true fraternal concord would mutually love each
other, and would give that reverence which is becoming to the poor
and distressed, as bearing the image of Christ. Besides, those who
are thoroughly imbued with the Christian religion feel a
conviction that those who are in legitimate authority are to be
obeyed for conscience's sake, and that in nothing is anyone to be
injured.
24.
Than this disposition of mind nothing is more efficacious to
extinguish utterly every vice of this kind, whether violence,
injuries, desire for revolution, hatred among the different ranks
of society, in all which vices the beginnings and the weapons of
socialism are found. Lastly, the question that politicians so
laboriously aim at solving, namely, the relations which exist
between the rich and poor, would be thoroughly solved if they held
this as a fixed principle, viz., that poverty is not wanting in
dignity; that the rich should be merciful and munificent, and the
poor content with their lot and labor; and since neither was born
for these changeable goods, the one is to attain heaven by
patience the other by liberality.
25.
For these reasons it has been long and specially Our desire that
everyone should, to the utmost of his power, aim at imitating St.
Francis of Assisi; therefore, as hitherto We have always bestowed
special care upon the Third Order of St. Francis, so now, being
called by the supreme mercy of God to the office of Sovereign
Pontiff since thereby We can most opportunely do the same, We
exhort Christian men not to refuse to enroll themselves in this
sacred army of Jesus Christ. Many are those who everywhere of both
sexes have already begun to walk in the footsteps of the Seraphic
Father with courage and alacrity, whose zeal We praise and
specially commend, so that, Venerable Brethren, We desire that by
your endeavors especially it may be increased and extended to
many. And the special point which We commend is that those who
have adopted the insignia of Penance shall look to the image of
its most holy founder, and strive to imitate him, without which
the good that they would expect would be futile. Therefore take
pains that the people may become acquainted with the Third Order
and truly esteem it; provide that those who have the care of souls
sedulously teach what it is, how easily anyone may enter it, with
how great privileges tending to salvation it abounds, what
advantages, public and private, it promises; and in so doing all
the more pains are to be taken because the Franciscans of the
First and Second Order, having been struck recently with a heavy
blow, are in a most piteous condition. God grant that they,
defended by the patronage of their Father, may emerge, youthful
and flourishing, from so many disasters; may he also grant that
Christian people may tend towards the discipline of the Third
Order with the same alacrity and the same numbers as formerly from
all parts they threw themselves into the arms of St. Francis
himself with a holy emulation.
26.
We ask it above all and with yet more reason of the Italians, from
whom community of country and the particular abundance of benefits
received demand a greater devotion to St. Francis, and also a
greater gratitude. Thus, at the end of seven centuries, Italy and
the entire Christian world would be brought to see itself led back
from disorder to peace, from destruction to safety, by the favor
of the Saint of Assisi. Let us especially in these days beg this
grace, in united prayer to Francis himself; let Us implore it of
Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, who always rewarded the piety and
the faith of her client by heavenly protection and by particular
gifts.
27.
And now, as a pledge of celestial favors and in proof of Our
special good will, We impart most lovingly in the Lord to you,
Venerable Brethren, and to all the clergy and the flock committed
to each of you, the Apostolic Benediction.
Given
at Rome, at St. Peter's the 17th day of September, 1882, and in
the fifth year of Our Pontificate.
Endnotes:
1.
Acts iv., 12. | 2. Matt. x., 9-10. | 3. Matt. xix., 21.
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