Nor was Francis of Assisi alone in rejecting planning so completely. One band of early Franciscan preachers, in order to free themselves of any sort of planning for their preaching tours, decided that the best way to decide where to go each morning was to spin themselves around until they were dizzy and collapsed. Once they were on the ground, in whatever direction their heads were pointing was where they were going to go that day.
They simply trusted that God would bring them someone to whom they could preach. The refusal of the early Franciscans to plan, to calculate sometimes got them into trouble. In , the Franciscans decided that they were going to go to Germany, where they had never been before, and that they would launch a mission there. They decided they were not going to learn any German before going to Germany because that was to plan for the future. That was not to trust in God. God would do something to help them out.
They arrived in Germany, and had no luck at all communicating with the locals, and wound up hungry most of the time. They were imprisoned, beaten, and sent packing. The Franciscan rejection of money, wealth, and planning was very appealing to the townspeople. The Franciscans were everything that they were not, and by supporting the Franciscans, by giving them money when they were begging, they could least console themselves with the thought that while they were bad, they were doing some good in supporting individuals who were leading the sort of Christian life that they, because they were merchants, and because they lived in town, simply could not.
The Franciscan Order was founded by Francis of Assisi in and received papal recognition in The Franciscans also strictly followed a life of poverty and begged for their living. The Franciscans had several core values. One of the most important was something called the vita apostolica , or the apostolic life. They lived by the core ideals in the Acts of the Apostles. The Franciscans also actively preached, heard confessions, gave out penances, and performed burial rites, something that monks did not do.
The Franciscans embraced poverty, both individual poverty, and corporate poverty, and rejected planning of any kind.
Francis of Assisi demanded that individual Franciscans possess nothing. The Franciscans also rejected planning and had no concern for the future. Francis of Assisi founded the Franciscan Order in the early 13th century. It received papal recognition in It was a mendicant religious order.
By Philip Daileader, Ph. Franciscans do not believe in living lavishly while other Christians live in poverty and misery. Founding principles of Franciscanism include:. The campus culture emphasizes four fundamental values:. Students at Marian are encouraged to embrace these values throughout their college journey and after graduation. Students are challenged not just academically, but are required to take part in activities and opportunities focused on serving others.
Learn more about our Franciscan heritage. Skip to content Skip to main navigation Skip to search. Apply Support Our Students. He was pleased to have such men in his diocese and relied greatly on their life and manners.
Having heard the cause of their visit and understood their plan, he was relieved and promised to give them advice and aid. Receiving Francis with kindness and love, the bishop praised him highly for his request and intention. Since he was a prudent and discreet man, the bishop began to question Francis about many things and tried to convince him that he should try the life of a monk or hermit. Saint Francis humbly refused his advice as well as he could, not because he despised what the bishop suggested but because, impelled by a higher desire, he devoutly wished for something else.
The lord bishop marveled at his fervor and, fearing that he might eventually slip back from such high intentions, tried to show him a path that would be easier to follow.
Finally, won over by Francis' constancy, the bishop agreed to his petition and attempted to further his plan before the pope. When he had discovered what these men of God wanted and thought the matter over, he assented to their request and did what had to be done. Exhorting and admonishing them about m any things, he blessed Saint Francis and his brothers, saying to them, "Go with the Lord, brothers, and preach penance to all as the Lord will inspire you.
Then, when the Lord increases you in number and in grace, return joyously to me. At that time I will concede more to you and commit greater things to you more confidently. In Francis' case, such mortification was related not only to the cultivation of spiritual experience, or what was known as the contemplative life, but also to the Franciscan emphasis on humility and the equally Franciscan desire to imitate Christ.
Many times when they were insulted, ridiculed, stripped naked, beaten, bound or imprisoned, they trusted in no one's patronage but rather bore all so manfully that only praise and thanksgiving echoed in their mouths.
Scarcely or never did they cease their prayers and praise of God. Instead, continually discussing what they had done, they thanked God for what they had done well and shed tears over what they had neglected to do or done carelessly. They thought themselves abandoned by God if in their worship they did not find themselves constantly visited by their accustomed fervor.
When they wanted to throw themselves into prayer, they developed certain techniques to keep from being snatched off by sleep. Some held themselves up by suspended ropes in order to make sure their worship would not be disturbed by sleep creeping up on them. Others encased their bodies in iron instrument s. Still others encased themselves in wooden girdles.
If, as usually occurs, their sobriety was disturbed by abundance of food or drink, or if they exceeded the limits of necessity by even a little because they were tired from a journey, they harshly tormented themselves by abstinence for many days. They tried to repress the promptings of the flesh by such great mortification that they did not hesitate to strip naked in the coldest ice or inundate their bodies with a flow of blood by piercing themselves all over with thorns.
Saint Francis founded three orders and gave each of them a special rule. Here, only the rule of the first order — that of the Order of Friars Minor — is given.
As there are with many topics related to St. Francis, there is some doubt and controversy about the Rule of St. Francis: 1 whether he wrote several rules or one rule only, with several versions; 2 whether he received it directly from heaven through revelations, or created it from his experiences; 3 whether he wrote the exact words himself or others contributed to it.
In any case the first set of rules dates to the year , the second to , and the third to The Rule of is the rule St.
Francis presented to Innocent III for approval in the year ; its real text is not known. The first rule of the Franciscan order, submitted to the pope in , has long since disappeared from history.
It was the rule of , the third produced by Francis, which became the definitive one. It is still in use today. In the name of the Lord, the life of the lesser brothers begins: The rule and life of the lesser brothers is this: To observe the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, living in obedience without anything of our own, and in chastity.
Brother Francis promises obedience and reverence to the Lord Pope Honorius and his canonically elected successors, and to the Roman Church; and the rest of the brothers are obliged to obey Francis and his successors. Another out of copyright version definitely exists - in The Writings of St. The ministers should examine them carefully regarding the Catholic faith and sacraments of the church.
If they believe all these things, wishing to confess them faithfully and observe them diligently until the end; and if they have no wives, or their wives have entered a convent, or permission has been given to them by authority of their bishop, a vow of chastity having been taken and their wives being of such an age as to avoid suspicion; then let them go, sell all they have, and attempt to give it to the poor.
If they cannot do so, their good intention will suffice. Let the brothers and their ministers beware of becoming concerned about the new brothers' temporal possessions, for they should freely dispose of their belongings as God inspires them. If they ask advice, the ministers may refer them to some God-fearing brothers through whose counsel their possessions may be distributed to the poor.
When the year of probation is over, let them be received into obedience, promising to observe this life and rule always; and, according to the command of the lord pope, it will be absolutely forbidden to them to leave the order, for according the holy gospel "no one who puts his hand to the plow and then looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. And those who must may wear shoes. All the brothers are to wear inexpensive clothing, and they can use sackcloth and other material to mend it with God's blessing.
Concerning the divine office and fasting; and how the brothers ought to travel through the world: Clerics are to perform the divine office according to the rite of the Roman Church, except for the Psalter, and they can have breviaries for that purpose. Laymen are to say twenty-four "Our Fathers" at matins; five at lauds; seven each at prime, terce, sext and none; twelve at vespers; and seven at compline. They should also pray for the dead.
Those who voluntarily fast at Quadragessima, those forty days after Epiphany which the Lord consecrated with his own holy fasting, will themselves be blessed by the Lord; yet they are not required to do so if they do not want to. They must fast during Lent, but they are not required to do so at other times except on Fridays. In case of obvious necessity, however, they are excused from bodily fasting.
They must not ride on horseback unless forced to so by obvious necessity or illness. Whatever house they enter, they are first to say, "Peace to this house" Lk. According to the holy gospel they can eat whatever food is set before them. That the brothers should not accept money.
Nevertheless, the ministers and custodians can work through spiritual friends to care for the sick and clothe the brothers, according to place, season and climate, as necessity may seem to demand. This must be done, however, in such a way that they do not receive money. On their manner of working: Those brothers whom the Lord favors with the gift of working should do so faithfully and devotedly, so that idleness, the enemy of the soul, is excluded yet the spirit of holy prayer and devotion, which all other temporal things should serve, is not extinguished.
As payment for their labor let them receive that which is necessary for themselves and their brothers, but not money. Let them receive it humbly as befits those who serve God and seek after the holiest poverty.
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