Brother Francis Part 15

The idea of this Third Order had been in Francis' mind for a long time; in fact, as far back as his first journey to Rome, when the entire brotherhood numbered twelve! On his way home to a.s.sisi he had preached in every village and town he pa.s.sed. One day, as he was preaching in the vicinity of a large feudal castle, the whole establishment turned out to hear him, and when he had finished, his listeners, lords and ladies, officers and retainers, threw themselves at his feet, announcing their intention to follow him wherever he went, and renounce the world for ever. Never was preacher in such a plight! There they stood, the tears running down their faces, husbands and wives and little children, soldiers, bower-maidens and pages, the entire retinue that ordinarily made up the household of a mediaeval lord. Francis knew that it would not be possible to carry off the lot; beside, there was no Second Order then, and what could he do with the women and children? So he calmed them by telling them that he would endeavor to create an Order into which they could come without shaking the foundations of the universe!

Little he thought that the Third Order was destined to make even more stir in the world than the First or Second.

[Sidenote: _What must we do?_]

As the years pa.s.sed by, Francis was continually met with the question, "What must we do now we are converted? Teach us how to live!"

It was a very important question, and a very natural one, for the first instinct of a healthy, newly-converted soul is to spend and be spent for its Master. Strange as it may seem to us in these days of Bible readers, district visitors, and lay-workers of all kinds, it was a very difficult question to answer. The Church, which as yet was the Church Universal, not having suffered any disruption, knew nothing of lay help, other than setting its members to pray, and give alms. A change of life and action had long since ceased to be preached.

Francis and his followers had revived the old Apostolic doctrine of repentance and conversion and holiness of life and thought. As many as could join the First and Second Orders were well disposed of, but the countless mult.i.tude who were unable to leave home and friends, were the, as yet, unsolved problem. Francis soon saw that his work would be, to a large extent, a failure if something were not done in the way of organizing his converts. This fact was again pressed home upon him the year after Peter Cantani was appointed Vicar General.

He was preaching in a little village called Cannara, and his hearers, who comprised the major portion of the village, were so carried away with his words, that they besought him with tears to take them into his brotherhood. This he refused to do, saying--

"You are not able, nor ought you to do anything of the kind. I will think of you, and I will seek, and with G.o.d's blessing I will find a life more within your compa.s.s."

This promise he found he had to renew wherever he went.

"What must we do?" the people asked him.

"We cannot forsake our wives!" said the husbands, and "We cannot leave our husbands!" said the wives. "How shall we save ourselves?"

[Sidenote: _The Third Order._]

After a little, the active mind of Francis found the way out. He would form a new Order of converted men and women, who would be linked on to the First, and so, without leaving the world, they could enjoy the peace and strength of a truly religious life. Such an idea had never been heard of before, and the success of the new inst.i.tution far surpa.s.sed all expectations. It seemed as though men's hearts and minds had been waiting for it, to judge by the numbers that sought admission.

The rules of the Order were very simple and based almost entirely on the Sermon on the Mount. The "Tertiaries," as they were called, were required to put an end to all hatred, and to restore all ill-acquired gain, not to engage in lawsuits, to practise the commandments of G.o.d, to wear a plain dress, and abstain from all worldly gaieties, such as theatre-going, dancing, etc. No one might speak of his or her neighbor's faults. They were to eat the plainest of food and to avoid a variety of dishes. Then there were various advices given as regards cleanliness. Mediaeval folk seldom reckoned cleanliness among the virtues to be cultivated. No one was to appear in Church in soiled or torn clothes, because, in so doing, they showed disrespect to G.o.d, and never should there be stain or spot on their garments, for outside purity is in some sort a reflection of inward purity. Houses and furniture also had to be plain and clean. They spent what time they had in visiting the sick, and helping those who needed help out of the surplus of their goods.

Before anybody was admitted into the Order, an investigation was made into his or her life, respecting personal character and relations with their neighbors. If he were found with goods not belonging to him, or to be at enmity with anyone, he was not admitted until he had repented and done his first works.

In every place where a congregation of the Third Order existed, there was a "Visitor" who was also a Minor of the First Order. It was his duty to oversee these "Tertiaries," and give them instruction.

Such was the Order in which people of all grades and cla.s.ses hastened to enrol themselves. It was first opened in June, and at the end of that year we find branches of it in Tuscany, Umbria, and the Marches of Ancona. A wave of blessing seemed to pa.s.s all over Italy. It does not appear that Francis established any other fraternity of the Third Order except the First, and from that the others spread out into all the earth.

[Sidenote: _A Strong Order._]

The "Tertiaries," or "The brethren of the Militia of Jesus Christ," as someone called them, multiplied to such an extent that very soon they attracted more attention than was altogether pleasant. The different bishops of Italy opposed them, and wrote to the German Emperor, Frederick II., who was a man of bad character and openly irreligious.

"The Friars Minor have risen up against us!" they wrote. "They have publicly reproved our life and conversation. They have destroyed our rights, and brought us to nothing. And now, as the finis.h.i.+ng stroke against our power, and to deprive us of the devotion of the people, they have created two new confraternities, which include men and women. Everyone runs into them!"

Frederick was frightened. He saw a gigantic army ready to fight for the Church at a word of command, because one of the bye-laws of Tertian rule forbade the Tertiaries to carry offensive weapons save in the defence of the faith of Jesus Christ, or in defence of their country. From this time Frederick, who was always fighting against the Church, became their bitterest enemy, and persecuted them wherever they were to be found. If it had not been for the influence of Cardinal Ugolino, who vigorously protected the Third Order after Francis' death, Frederick would, probably, have been able to wipe it out of existence, or what would have been worse, it might have existed only in name. As it was, it grew and spread and struggled for its rights, till it became one of the most powerful religious, social and political influences the world has ever felt. To go into the details of this would occupy too much s.p.a.ce, therefore, we shall turn our attention to a few of the first Tertiaries.

[Sidenote: _Lucchese._]

The _very_ first was a man called Lucchese. This man was young, good-looking, and ambitious. He was a tradesman, and his ruling motive in life was to vie with the n.o.bles. This, after a time, became a pa.s.sion with him. He knew the only way to success lay through riches.

Therefore, he determined to be rich. He began to speculate in grain, and bought up as much as he could, and thus created an artificial famine in his village. Then, when the want was greatest, he resold his stores at enormous prices, and his fortune was made.

But G.o.d was looking after him, and, one day, when he was sitting alone, the thought of what he had done came before him in all its hideousness. He saw that there was something more in life besides merely pursuing riches, and "what would it profit him," something asked him, "if he should gain all his heart was set on, and be eternally lost in the end?" From that hour he was a changed man.

After consultation with his wife, Bonadona, he sold the greater part of his goods, and distributed their price to the poor. He kept only a house and a garden of four acres, which he cultivated with his own hands. This was a hard life for one who had been used to luxury. His house soon became the "poor man's inn" for the district. Thither came the poor and needy in troops, and never were they sent empty away.

Such was Lucchese's life when he met Francis, just at the time when the necessity for the Third Order was pressing most heavily upon him.

Lucchese opened his heart to Francis, and told him how much he longed to make up for the wrong he had done in the past, and live a life well-pleasing to G.o.d.

"For some time," said Francis, who felt, as Lucchese talked with him, that the man and the hour had both arrived, "I have been thinking of founding a Third Order, in which married people will have an opportunity of serving G.o.d faithfully. You can be the first to enrol yourself."

[Sidenote: _Lucchese's Work._]

Then he explained the form which he intended to give this Order, and Lucchese gladly enrolled himself, and Bonadona declared that she would join her husband. Encouraged by this good beginning, Francis publicly announced his intentions, and a number of men and women came and offered themselves to him. So, one day, in the Church, in the sight of many spectators, he clothed them in a simple, modest dress of ash-grey, and the first group, or rather the first fraternity, was formed.

Lucchese persevered n.o.bly in his good works. He was no longer content with merely helping those who came to him, but he travelled great distances to find the suffering. Sometimes he was to be seen leading three or four poor creatures, and carrying the weakest of them on his back! When once they were in his house, he cared for them, body and soul, and many of them were converted, and some joined the Third Order. Close to where Lucchese lived, there were large tracts of swampy, malarial country. Every summer fever was sure to break out there. Lucchese saw this place now as a beautiful field for Tertiary labor. He bought an a.s.s, and, loading it with suitable drugs and food, he went down into the fever swamps, and did his best in the capacity of doctor and nurse and priest all in one. His wife was always ready to help him in all his good works.

His death is reported to have been "serene and grand as that of a patriarch." He and his wife were both taken ill together. She got worse rapidly, and they came to tell him of it. They carried him to her side. Kissing her an affectionate farewell, he said--

"Oh, my beloved and devoted companion, we have served G.o.d together in all affection. Wait for me, we shall be permitted to go together to the unspeakable joys!"

He returned to his room and lay down in great weakness. Those around saw that his last hour had come.

"My dear brother," said one of the Friars Minor, who stood beside him, "be strong and prepare thy soul to appear before thy Saviour."

Lucchese raised his head a little and smiled.

"My good father," he said, "If I had waited till now to prepare my soul I should still have confidence in G.o.d's mercy, but to tell the truth I should leave the world with less security, on account of the terrors of the pa.s.sage."

But the pa.s.sage had no terrors for Lucchese. He raised his arms and said--

"I feel myself free and ready, not through my merits, but through those of our Lord Jesus Christ." A few minutes after the death of his wife, he, too, followed her to Heaven.

[Sidenote: _A Dinner Party._]

Once, when pa.s.sing through Rome, Francis was asked by the chief of a powerful house to dinner. As he was going into the palace of the n.o.ble, he descried a number of poor people congregated in the court, to whom food was being distributed. Unable to resist the opportunity, he went down and sat among them! Matthew de Rubeis, his host, was looking out of the window and saw this, so he came out and joined him, saying--

"Brother Francis, since you will not come to me, I must come and sit with you." And with the most courtly air he announced to the astonished crowd that he and Francis would eat with them.

After that dinner, during which no doubt Francis expounded his doctrines, Matthew de Rubeis was enrolled in the "New Militia." He was the first Tertiary in Rome.

[Sidenote: _Little Rose._]

Little Rose, though not actually a contemporary of Francis, is always reckoned in as one of the first Tertiaries. She was one of those children who seem born with deep religious feeling. She always, from her earliest dawning intelligence, loved G.o.d with all her heart and soul. She was a beautiful child, very lively in disposition, and she loved to go out into the streets and sing hymns. Before she was ten years old, she began to preach against those who tried to undermine the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the chief was the German Emperor, Frederick II. The Archbishop of the town had written a letter warning his people against the dangers that beset them, and nowhere did his appeal take deeper root than in the heart of little Rose.

She, childlike, spoke out boldly what her friends were thinking in their hearts. Standing in the street, on a large stone, she preached that the Emperor was an enemy of the true faith, and must be resisted, and that the standard of the faith must be kept high at all costs.

Those who thought just so encouraged her, but those who were staunch supporters of the wicked Emperor went to the Prefect of the town, who belonged to their party, and declared--

"If you do not send away Rose and her parents, we will drive you away yourself."

The Prefect was frightened. He sent for Rose and her parents, and when they appeared he ordered them, on pain of being cast into prison, and having their goods confiscated, to leave the town. It was then the middle of winter, snow had been falling for some days, and the roads were nearly impa.s.sable. The parents begged to have the sentence postponed for a little.

"It is death," they said, "to go now."

"Well, you can die then," answered the Prefect. "I want nothing better."

So they took their child and set off. They did not die, however. G.o.d took care of them, and they safely reached Soriano, where they lived in peace and quiet, till the death of the Emperor, a year later, allowed them to return home again.