Christian saints -- Biography; Francis, of Assisi, Saint, 1182-1226
This explains how Ugolini at last succeeded in convincing Francis of his
duty to take the necessary measures no longer to expose the friars to be
hunted down as heretics. It was decided that at the end of the next
chapter the missionaries should be armed with a papal brief, which
should serve them as ecclesiastical passport. Here is the translation of
this document:
Honorius, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to the
archbishops, bishops, abbots, deacons, archdeacons, and other
ecclesiastical superiors, salutation and the apostolic blessing.
Our dear son, brother Francis, and his companions of the life
and the Order of the Brothers Minor, having renounced the
vanities of this world to choose a mode of life which has
merited the approval of the Roman Church, and to go out after
the example of the Apostles to cast in various regions the seed
of the word of God, we pray and exhort you by these apostolic
letters to receive as good catholics the friars of the above
mentioned society, bearers of these presents, warning you to be
favorable to them and treat them with kindness for the honor of
God and out of consideration for us.
Given (at Rieti) this third day of the ides of June (June 11,
1219), in the third year of our pontificate.[10]
It is evident that this bull was calculated to avoid awakening Francis's
susceptibilities. To understand precisely in what it differs from the
first letters usually accredited to new Orders it is necessary to
compare it with them; that which had instituted the Dominicans had been,
like the others, a veritable privilege;[11] here there is nothing of
the kind.
The assembly which was opened at Whitsunday of 1219 (May 26) was of
extreme importance.[12] It closed the series of those primitive
chapters in which the inspiration and fancy of Francis were given free
course. Those which followed, presided over by the vicars, have neither
the same cheerfulness nor the same charm; the crude glare of full day
has driven away the hues of dawn and the indescribable ardors of nature
at its awakening.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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