Thursday, October 4, 2007

Il Poverello


Today is the feast day of perhaps the most popular Saint in history, Francis of Assisi.

Living in Italy from 26 Sept. 1181 to 3 Oct. 1226, he was a crucial figure in the mendicant movement, founding the order of Friars Minor (O.F.M., the little brothers). His life was pretty eventful: from receiving orders from God to rebuild the Church in San Damiano, to tossing off his clothes in the middle of the town square in obedience to the bishop's commands to return everything of his father's, to embracing lepers, to jumping into a rose bush at the sight of a beautiful woman, to trying to make peace with Sultan Melek-el-Kamel.

Although Francis was not in favour of his order becoming a teaching order like the Dominicans, one obvious problem being the ownership of books as a contradiction of his rule of absolute poverty, the Franciscans made their mark in Medieval education and had a large role in the development of universities, of which Paris and Oxford come to mind most readily. Famous Medieval Franciscan intellectuals include St Bonaventure, Bl. John Duns Scotus, Alexander of Hales, and Roger Bacon.

Here is a well-known poem Francis wrote in Italian, which in English is known as "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace":

Preghiera Semplice

O Signore, fa di me uno strumento della tua Pace:
Dove è odio, fa ch'io porti l'Amore.
Dove è offesa, ch'io porti il Perdono.
Dove è discordia, ch'io porti l'Unione.
Dove è dubbio, ch'io porti la Fede.
Dove è errore, ch'io porti la Verità.
Dove è disperazione,ch'io porti la Speranza.
Dove è tristezza, ch'io porti la Gioia.
Dove sono le tenebre, ch'io porti la Luce.

O Maestro, fa ch'io non cerchi tanto:
Essere consolato, quanto consolare.
Essere compreso, quanto comprendere.
Essere amato,quanto amare.

Poichè:
Si è: Dando, che si riceve;
Perdonando che si è perdonati;
Morendo, che si risuscita a Vita Eterna.

S.Francesco

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