FRANCIS OF ASSISI MYSTIC HOLY, NOT SANTINO, IT IS A VERY COMPLICATED FIGURE

Francis is for theology, but he reassures his friar that this must not lead him to lucubrations, intellectualism ends in itself, or to a reality that could distance him from the Lord rather than bring him closer, that elevates him on an intellectual level but not on a mystical-spiritual level. This is why Francis can allow himself to correct and exhort even a very refined theologian like Saint Anthony of Padua; this is why Francis remains a very complex and complicated figure to understand, explain and convey, above all to follow.

— Theologica —

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Ivano Liguori, Ofm. Capp.

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This article on the Seraphic Father - which in its own way could be defined as "reactive” as “inspired by” - I owe it to the expression of one of the various newly appointed young bishops, who, responding to an interviewer, illustrated his personality and his pastoral perspectives by stating that he would be inspired by the "theology of Saint Francis of Assisi". Undoubtedly the young bishop will have tried to say something engaging, with transport and sincere heart, perhaps, however, ignoring not so much Franciscanism, but Francis of Assisi himself is something quite complex, for us Franciscans first.

Bartolome Esteban Murillo (Seville 1618 – 1682), Saint Francis embraces the crucified Christ, oil on canvas, private collection – Photo © Christie's

The editorial team of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos it is also and above all a place of spiritual, pastoral discussion and theological discussion between brothers. And so, Father Ariel and Father Gabriele, both dogmatic theologians by training, Capuchin Friar Minor and Franciscan priest asked me:

«Which one would it be “the theology of Saint Francis"? Saint Francis was perhaps a theologian? And since when? It appears to us that the Franciscan theologians were Anthony of Padua, today doctor of the Church, who was able to exercise the teaching of theologian with the permission of Francis who gave it with no small initial reluctance; Bonaventura da Bagnoregio (doctor of the Church) who is the patron saint of theologians. To follow up with Arlotto da Prato e Matteo d'Acquasparta, but above all the great one fine doctor Duns ScotO, also known as doctor of the immaculate conception of Mary".

It is always our duty to explain with truthful historical and theological rigor what is real and what is surreal, what is historically authentic and what is adulterated to a legendary level, sometimes even ideological. This is why it is reasonable and realistic to say that today, many of those who are inspired by our Seraphic Father, they demonstrate that they know very little about St. Francis. Unfortunately the facts demonstrate - and the facts demonstrate it, not rash judgments - which more than others pauperismO certain subjects are very close to that poverty socio-political ideology that both Francis of Assisi and the wisdom of the Church have fought since the 13th century, openly disavowing it and opposing a concept of poverty that did not open up to transcendence and a relationship with God, but it became violent poverty, accusatory and punitive towards those who possessed material goods. Exactly what in the post-industrial and post-Marxist era will be defined and indicated by sociologists as social envy.

To be precise we should talk about old heresies returning, starting from that of Friar Dolcino, preceded by Gherardo Segarelli and many other more or less illustrious members of that heretical movement of the early 14th century known as Fraticelli. Francesco, followed by Franciscanism which took life and then form from him, they constituted the most striking disavowal and implicit fight against these heretical currents, in full adherence to the doctrine of the Church and obedience to its established authorities.

Francesco is extremely complicated, as a Saint and as a man, despite being the Saint recognized by all as simpler, in truth it is extremely complex. Often, the first to not understand it, It was really us Franciscans, that we have recycled it several times throughout history for our various use and consumption, or “mitigated” and “sweetened”, as Tommaso da Celano and Bonaventura da Bagnoregio did in different but fundamentally similar ways.

Complicated figures to understand and interpret they have always existed in the history of the Church, even if sometimes the populace has distorted them through their own more or less surreal devotions. One of these figures, which in this sense we can cite as an example, it is Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, to understand which it is necessary to interpret his figure in the light of mystical theology in which God attracts man to himself in the totality of his present and future being and becoming. Otherwise San Pio da Pietrelcina will become a superstitious popular figure whose image will be reserved for the place on the truck of the strictly southern truck driver, next to the erotic photos of the calendar of the current calendar year where the figures of twelve bewitching photo models stand out. I say "strictly Southern truck driver" for a purely sociological purpose, because the South Tyrolean one makes a coherent choice: or he puts San Pio da Pietrelcina on his truck or the erotic calendar of the current calendar year, but not both together.

Saint Francis of Assisi For about nine centuries it has aroused the interest not only of devout people, but also of scholars, historians, literati, theologians and of course artists, because of the extraordinary nature of his experience of Christian life; a testimony to the Gospel that has been able to inform and transform our society and, naturally, the church. The poor words that follow have no pretense as there are already many, was stated, and of great cultural standing spoke about Francis, highlighting all areas of his life and his singular personality. The simple intent of this writing is to highlight the single aspect of his mystical experience, angle of vision through which his entire existence as a Christian and saint could also be read.

It's the same Francesco to remember the beginning of his new life as a mystical experience and a gift from God. Twenty years later he describes the events of his conversion in Will that event is now dying, his life change, enclosing it within these few, very densely spoken:

«The Lord granted to me, Brother Francis, to thus begin to do penance, since I am in sin, it seemed too bitter to see lepers; And the Lord Himself led me among them and I showed mercy to them. And when I left them, what seemed bitter to me was changed into sweetness of soul and body. Then, I stayed a little, and I left the world".

Francis is not a theologian, at least not as we are used to thinking. It does not elaborate a systematized conception of the Christian experience, nor does he write treatises or essays on faith and its truths. Nonetheless when Dante, in the Divine Comedy, talks about the mendicant Orders and specifically about Francis, his praise comes from the one who is considered one of the greatest, if not the greatest theologian the Church has ever had: San Tommaso D’Aquino. On the other hand, the praise of San Domenico, founder of the Order of Friars Preachers, known as Dominicans, the other mendicant Order par excellence, it will come from the mouth of Saint Bonaventure, the theologian par excellence of the Franciscans, the one who forever stigmatized the image of Francis to the point of making him appear practically inimitable. The great Florentine poet, in the two twin cantos, l’XI and the XII of Paradise, painfully highlights that both movements have lost their initial luster, having deviated from the teachings and rules of their founders. Therefore Dante, through St. Thomas, tells the story of Francis' life by placing it all in a mystical and spiritual dimension, as demonstrated by the long preamble which moves entirely within the realm of metaphor. It talks about the union of the Assisi native with a woman who, despite its virtues, she had remained alone for more than one thousand one hundred years after the death of her first "husband" and no other man had wanted to take her as his wife and that for love of her he, Francesco, he faced his father's wrath. Saint Thomas unravels the long metaphor only in the tercet where he finally explains that the two spouses he speaks of are Francis and Monna Poverty.

This spiritual itinerary of his, made of meetings, embrace of poverty, extreme fidelity to the Gospel and lots of prayer, Francesco will read it, we have already mentioned it, as a gift from the Lord. There are three verbs in the Will which are indicative in this regard. Five times he will repeat that «The Lord gave it to me» to do penance, to have faith in churches and priests, to have brothers and to write the Rule for them. He will subsequently state that the Lord always «revealed to mei» what he had to do and introduce himself with the greeting that had become famous: «May the Lord give you peace». And finally «He hired me» among the lepers.

In this regard Francesco, as you know, it does not offer a political response to social injustices, to the problem of evil in the world. He has no plans for effective and concrete changes, he does not meditate on struggles and rebellions; Francesco, to be understood, it is neither a hippy nor a Che Guevara from the Middle Ages, nor a contemporary of certain so-called very social priests today. Francis responds with faith, when he manages to penetrate to the bottom, with total and impetuous adhesion, the sacrifice of Christ. Let's try to follow him in his thoughts: It gave, the Most High, the master of the universe, of all creation, he sacrificed his only and favorite Son so as not to lose his creature, the man, capable only of sinning. And if Christ who is God came to earth dragged by an immense love, and he became poor and a pilgrim, he suffered from hunger and cold, betrayal and abandonment of friends, to the point of giving his life on the cross to restore salvation to humanity, the eternal joy of Paradise, what else is left for man to do but follow, as much as possible, the footsteps of the Savior, the Gospel, if not to respond to divine love with poor human love, trying to love each other like brothers? And who, if not the poor and the derelict, repeating the earthly experience of Christ in suffering, can better understand the ardent divine charity and accept anguish and suffering with gratitude, recover, like Christ, to the will of the Father?

I Little flowers of Saint Francis, a wonderful collection in the vernacular from the last quarter of the fourteenth century of "miracles and pious examples" of his life, they make him say it, about what the virtue of perfect joy is:

«Above all the graces and gifts of the Holy Spirit, which Christ grants to his friends, it is to conquer oneself, and willingly for the love of Christ endure punishments, insults and opprobriums and inconveniences; because we cannot boast in all the other gifts of God, but they are not ours, but of God, wherefore says the Apostle (Paul, in 1 Cor 4, 7 n.d.r.): “What's wrong with you, that you do not have from God? And if you got it from him, because I boasted about it, as if you had it yourself?”. But in the cross of tribulation and affliction we can glory, but what does the Apostle say? (always Paolo, in Gal 6,14 n.d.r): I do not want to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ".

And so the cross since the encounter with the lepers, at the beginning of his conversion, forms part of Francesco's experience, of his spiritual horizon. If we really wanted to identify a theology of Saint Francis, we could define it as a «Knowledge of the Cross». He embraces the cross as he embraces the leper because now what was bitter had turned into sweetness and he can hear the voice of Christ calling him from the cross, in the small church of San Damiano. There, the Redeemer, according to the iconography of the triumphant Christ, without signs of physical suffering, he stares at the observer with quiet sweetness. Francesco believed that the image was aimed specifically at him and spoke to him: «Francesco, can't you see that my house is falling down? So go and fix it.". But Francis misunderstands the symbolic meaning of the words, he believes he must save the material edifice from ruin, he doesn't suspect what task awaits him: save the spiritual building, the church. He comes out happy, it seems to him that life finally has a purpose. Now he knows what to do, the mysterious words of Spoleto's previous dream, that of the palace and the bride that will be his, they begin to clarify; because of this, he can see who is calling him for the first time and hear his name spoken. So that is the order he was waiting for. And so Francesco, "arming oneself with the sign of the cross", his mission began.

The mystical inspiration of Francesco traceable in many of his works, from the Unstamped rule, l’Epistle to the faithful O The praises of the Most High God they are combined from now on with devotion to the Cross of Christ. In the Lodi kept in Brother Leo's chart Let's read these very famous words addressed to the Lord:

«You are holy, o Lord, only God, who does wonderful things. You are strong, you are great, you are very tall, you are omnipotent, your Holy Father, king of heaven and earth. You are three and one, man, God of gods. You are the good, all good, the supreme good, the Lord God, living and true. You are love, charity; you are wisdom, you are humility, you are patience, you are beauty, you are meekness, you are security, you are stillness, you are joy, you are our hope and joy, you are justice, you are temperance, you are all our riches in superabundance. You are beauty, you are meekness; you are protector, you are our guardian and defender, you are fortress, you are refreshment. You are our hope, you are our faith, you are our charity, you are all our sweetness, you are our eternal life, O great and wonderful Lord, Almighty God, merciful savior".

As well as in the third chapter of Foils the profound devotion that the Saint from Assisi reserved for the Cross of Jesus is narrated:

«The day of the Holy Cross is coming, and Saint Francis early in the morning, before saying, he throws himself into prayer in front of the door of his cell, turning his face towards the east, and prayed in this form: O my Lord Jesus Christ, two thanks please do me, before I die; the first, that in my life I feel in my soul and in my body, as much as possible, that pain that you, sweet Jesus, you supported in the hour of your most bitter passion; the second, that I feel in my heart, as much as possible, that great love of which you, Son of God, you were fired up to willingly support so much passion for us sinners".

These aspects of Francis' spirituality they will then be figuratively represented by the artists, which was mentioned at the beginning. Many could be mentioned, including: Master of San Francesco, whose name derives from a panel with the Saint and two angels now preserved in the Museum of the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Assisi. We can remember him by the imposing crucifix in the Basilica dedicated to the Saint, in Arezzo. The painted Cross, takes up the typology of Christ Suffering, of Byzantine inspiration, where the pain and death of Jesus are underlined by the head reclining on the shoulder and the body arched. While most painted crosses were read from bottom to top and ended with an Ascension and Christ in glory, here the message must be read from top to bottom, according to the dictates of Franciscan spirituality. This dying Christ, not anymore Triumphant, it is a novelty introduced by the Franciscans who cultivate the element of the pathetic, in the sense of an invitation to compassion. Now the mysterious word, custodian of the secret of Christianity, it is no longer "loving" but "suffering". Instead of appearing standing on the Cross, Risen and triumphant as in San Damiano, Jesus is depicted with his eyes closed and his head leaning sideways on one shoulder. Without denying the resurrection, the faithful become more fond of the Man of suffering. The true message of this cross is therefore that Jesus came down from heaven and endured the passion inflicted on him by Pontius Pilate for men and for their salvation. Devotion leaves room for compassion, to everyone's participation in the suffering of Jesus. And the first of these devotees is Francis himself depicted as a small boy under the cross, which is what he liked to call himself, who takes a bleeding foot of the crucifix in his hands and kisses it. Another work in my opinion capable of describing the «Sknowledge of the Cross» Franciscan is the Saint Francis embracing the crucified Christ by Murillo. Painting created approximately in 1668 and preserved in the Museum of Fine Arts of Seville in Spain. The work was part of a cycle commissioned to the Spanish painter by the Capuchins for a chapel in the church of their convent in Seville. These works were to enhance the distinctive elements of Franciscan spirituality. The painting is of shocking beauty; it moves the spectator who remains silent in front of such a canvas, as in prayer. The painting symbolizes the culminating moment of Francis' life: the renunciation of one's material goods to embrace religious life. The composition is harmonious. Next to the cross, two angels hold an open book which contains the passage from the Gospel according to Luke in Latin: «Whoever of you does not give up all his possessions, he cannot be my disciple" (LC 14, 25-27).

At the feet of the Saint there is a globe, a terrestrial globe; Francesco seems to push him away with his foot, metaphor of his rejection of all vanity. But let's get to the most striking fact, and also the most controversial at least in the testimonies that report it, for whom the mystical inspiration of Saint Francis is combined with his profound devotion to the Cross of Christ Jesus. I'm talking about the La Verna episode in Tuscany, the vision of the seraph and the impression of the stigmata. To make the extraordinary nature of the event palpable, let's relive it through the words of the Saint's biographer, Thomas of Celano, someone who knew him personally, who was called by Pope Gregory IX to write his biography, collecting testimonies on the events. Also and above all on that of the stigmata, before than with the Major legend San Bonaventura da Bagnoregio replaced the previous ones Quickly, imposing its destruction. As Bonaventure is well known and known, general minister of the Order, he sent a precise and mandatory command to all the Franciscan convents: destroy all manuscripts on the life and deeds of the Seraphic Father. However, several of these manuscripts were also found in some Benedictine and Cistercian abbeys and monasteries, who were careful not to carry out such a command. It is to them that historians owe thanks if the manuscripts of the Quickly narrated by other authors before Bonaventura da Bagnoregio, considered by some Church historians as the second founder, or so-called re-founder of the Franciscan Order.

Thomas of Celano in Life before he certainly knew Friar Leone's version of the events in La Verna and obviously also Friar Elia's letter. The biographer could not afford to neglect either the Saint's closest friend and his confessor or the powerful head of the Order. How to connect two such divergent testimonies? He circumvented the difficulty by telling the miracle of the stigmata twice with clever adjustments, a first placing it on the Verna, a second at the time of the exposure of Francis' body. Let's reread what Tommaso da Celano writes:

«Two years before Francesco died, spending a period in the hermitage which is called Verna from the name of the place, in a vision sent by God he saw a man, almost as if he were a Seraph with six wings, stay above yourself, with hands open and feet together, stuck on a cross. Two wings rose above his head, two spread out on the fly and two finally covered the whole body. Seeing this, the blessed servant of the Most High was filled with great amazement but could not understand what that vision meant.. He enjoyed it very much and was delighted to feel himself looked at with a benign and sweet look by the Serafino., whose beauty was truly unimaginable, but at the same time he was terrified by his affixing to the cross and by the cruelty of his suffering. So he got up, as it were, sad and happy, and in Francesco joy and pain alternated. He continued to anxiously mull over what the vision might mean, and his spirit was terribly strained to try to grasp its meaning. Because by reasoning he did not arrive at any certain interpretation and he felt pervaded and very agitated in his heart by the novelty of that vision, the marks of nails began to appear on his hands and feet, as he had seen shortly before on the man crucified above him. His hands and feet seemed to be pierced in the center by nails: the heads of the nails could be seen on the inside of the hands and on the top of the feet, and on the opposite side the tip. Those marks were round on the inside of the hands and elongated on the opposite side and almost formed a fleshy and raised excrescence, as if it were the tip of the nails folded and clinched. Likewise, the marks of the nails protruding onto the rest of the flesh were imprinted on the feet. Even the right side, as if he had been pierced by a spear, he showed a large scar that often emitted blood so that his tunic and legcloths were frequently stained with his holy blood. Ah, how few as long as the crucified servant of God lived, they were lucky enough to be able to see the sacred wound in his side! But happy Elijah who while the Saint lived deserved to see her in some way and no less happy Rufinus who was able to at least touch her".

Still further ahead is Tommaso da Celano, speaking of the joy and sadness of the people and the friars in the presence of the now deceased body of the Saint, he reports as follows:

«Pure, an unprecedented joy tempered their sadness and the novelty of the miracle filled their minds with extraordinary amazement. Thus mourning was changed into festive song and crying into jubilation. In fact, they had never heard or read in the Scriptures what they now saw with their own eyes, and they would hardly have believed it if they hadn't had such probative and certain testimony before them […] The shape of the cross was perceived in him. In fact, he seemed to have just been taken down from the cross with his hands and feet pierced by nails and his right side wounded by the spear. They still saw his flesh, which was previously dark, now shining with a luminous whiteness and the superhuman beauty already demonstrated the reward of the blessed resurrection. His face, at last, it was like that of an angel […] While she shone before everyone with such wonderful beauty, his flesh became brighter and brighter. It was truly a miracle to see in the center of his hands and feet not the nail holes but the nails themselves formed from his own flesh., dark in color like iron and the right side purple with blood. And those signs of martyrdom did not inspire fear or horror in those who saw them, rather they conferred decorum and ornamentation, like black tiles on a white floor".

We could stop here and say nothing else in the presence of such a moving story. Suffice it to underline that in La Verna Francis finally experienced his personal and extraordinary identification with Christ and with him crucified. But in what context did this happen?? Towards the end of his life, Francis felt increasingly pressured by the Church concerned with normalizing a project of Christian life, practicing evangelical poverty and love, that, if actually implemented, it would have been revolutionary and dangerous for the ecclesiastical structure itself, if misinterpreted. He also felt misunderstood by a large part of the friars and this increased his discouragement. Having grown up out of all proportion, not everyone was capable of sharing such difficult choices, men sometimes of limited virtue or too cultured, far from the pure ideals of their spiritual leader. Like Christ increasingly alone at the finish line of the cross, at about forty-four years old Francesco took with him very few companions, intimate and involved, and moved, as we know, on the Verna, for a long retreat of solitary contemplation. He was counting on overcoming that profound crisis; he continually asked God to enlighten him, that would show him what the end of his life would be like. In fact, he began to see the darkness in his soul lift only when he understood that he had to leave the problems of the Order and its future to God's decision., enduring, writes Tommaso da Celano, that "the merciful will of the heavenly Father would be totally fulfilled in him". The biographer thinks of the founder as "another Christ" against the backdrop of the Mount of Olives. The Saint, however, he would have liked to at least know what end awaited him, despite now being sure not to rebel against it. A day, after praying for a long time, he resorted to the triple opening of the Gospels, who always showed the same pace or a very similar one. The gaze fell: «on the Passion of Christ, but only in the stretch in which it is predicted". When Tommaso da Celano wrote this part of the work he evidently already knew the sequel, he knew that shortly thereafter he would tell about the apparition of the Seraph and the stigmata. He deliberately constructed the episode of the triple opening with evangelical quotes that refer to the agony of Christ according to Luke (22, 43-45). Christ, at the height of suffering he asks the Father: «Put this cup away from me», but he understands that he must accept all the suffering of the imminent Passion. In the Gospel, after the vision of the angel Jesus felt momentarily consoled; but immediately afterwards he fell back into great anguish, enough to sweat blood. Francesco is also on the mountain, he comes up from La Verna; he sees the Seraph and finds consolation in the moment in which he accepts all the suffering that still awaits him before death. Anguish leads Christ to sweat blood; Francesco, the vision of the Seraph disappeared, feels the Mount of Olives so close to the point that the nails of flesh, copies of the nails of the Cross become visible. Like all the great mystical saints, Francis on La Verna is also immersed in the darkness of the so-called "dark night", not even supported by his dear friend and companion Leone who lived, himself, a moment of crisis. After a long period of spiritual retreat, Francis finally had an epiphany, sees the solution: be Christ, who is God, he submitted himself to the will of the Father, he will not have to do the same himself? Thus, that identification with the Model is achieved which is inscribed not only in the soul of the Saint, but also in his flesh. Jesus consoles Francis and reveals to him the rightness of his path which had its origin and first assurance from the other cross, that of San Damiano; and also gives him the gift of his love, now in the terminal moment of his Christian life and experience. From this profound knowledge, not intellectual, but mystical, of the cross of Christ, those words that we reported above and condensed here will flow from the heart of Francis. Testimony of that «science» of the Christian mystery that still moves us today for the way Francis understood and lived it:

«You are love, charity; you are wisdom, you are humility, you are patience, you are beauty, you are meekness, you are security, you are stillness, you are joy, you are our hope and joy, you are justice, you are temperance, you are all our riches in abundance".

In a letter from Francis to Anthony of Padua in which he addressed him as "Brother Anthony, my bishop", he said:

«Do theology too, but be careful that this does not extinguish the spirit of prayer and contemplation".

Francis is for theology, but he reassures his friar that this must not lead him to lucubrations, intellectualism ends in itself, or to a reality that could distance him from the Lord rather than bring him closer, that elevates him on an intellectual level but not on a mystical-spiritual level. This is why Francis can allow himself to correct and exhort even a very refined theologian like Saint Anthony of Padua; this is why Francis remains a very complex and complicated figure to understand, to explain and convey, above all to follow. This is also why it is not easy to talk about the "theology of Saint Francis".

Sanluri, 17 July 2024

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