Chapter 2

(12) As to the second Chapter: Desiring that our Order grow more in virtue, perfection and spirit, than in numbers; knowing also as the Infallible Truth teaches that “many are called, but few are chosen,” and that, as our Seraphic father foretold when near death: nothing is a greater hindrance to the pure observance of the Rule than a multitude of useless, worldly and self-indulgent Friars, we ordain that when any persons apply for admission the Vicars shall make careful enquiries as to their condition and character, and they shall not receive them if they do not manifest a very good intention and fervent will. To avoid all wonder and scandal, and that the candidate may know by experience what he must promise, no one shall be received until he is sixteen years of age, or if he should be sixteen but have a youthful face.

(13) It is further ordained, that no one be received as a Cleric who has not sufficient literary education so that in chanting the Divine Office he may not offend but understand what he says.

(14) We further ordain that those who are admitted in this mode of life shall for some days previous to their clothing, exercise themselves in one of our friaries in all those things which are observed by the Friars, so that their good will may be known, and that they may enter on so great an undertaking with greater light, maturity and deliberation. The same is to be understood of those Religious who desire to be admitted to our life. In order that this be well observed, it is ordained that the Vicars shall not receive any one without the counsel and consent of the majority of the Friars dwelling in that place.

(15) And since Christ, the wisest of Masters, charged that young man who desired to gain eternal life, that if he wished to become His disciple, he should first sell all that he had, give it to the poor and then follow Him; His imitator, Francis, not only observed that counsel and taught it by example in his own person and in those whom he received, but commanded it in his Rule. In order, therefore, to conform ourselves to Christ, our Lord, and to the will of the Seraphic Father, we ordain that no one shall be clothed, unless first, if able, he has distributed all to the poor as is becoming for one who freely chooses a mendicant life. In this way the Friars will be able to determine at least in part, the fervent or tepid spirit; and the candidates will be able to serve God with greater peace of mind and constancy of will. And the Friars, avoiding all interference in these matters, shall remain undisturbed in their holy peace.

(16) We further ordain that the clothes of the novices who come from the world be kept until the day of profession; those of religious, for some days. If they persevere, the seculars shall give their clothes to the poor; those of religious shall be distributed by the Vicars themselves or by the medium of some spiritual person.

(17) Lest that should be said of us which our most holy Saviour said to the Scribes and Pharisees: “Woe to you, because you go about the sea and the land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him the child of hell twofold more than yourselves,” we determine that in every Province the novices shall be placed in one or two houses suited to the spiritual life, chosen for this purpose by the Chapter. And they shall be given Masters who are most mature, refined, and enlightened in the way of God. The Masters shall take diligent care to teach the novices not only the ceremonies, but those spiritual matters necessary for the perfect imitation of Christ, our Light, our Way, our Truth and our Life. By word and example they shall show them in what the life of a Christian and a Friar Minor consists. No one shall be received to profession unless he know beforehand what he must promise and observe. The Masters shall take diligent care that the Cleric novices learn the Rule by heart during the time of the novitiate.

(18) In order that the novices may in quiet, peace and silence be better strengthened in the spirit we ordain that no one speak much with them except the Father Guardian and their Master. Nor shall anyone enter their cells, nor they the cells of others, without special permission.

(19) And in order that they may better learn to bear the yoke of the Lord, we determine, that after their profession, they shall remain under the discipline of the Master for at least three years, so that they may not easily lose the newly acquired spirit, but growing in strength, may become more fixed and rooted in the love of Jesus Christ, our Lord and God.

(20) And since the Doctors of the Church hold that those novices who make their profession with proper dispositions are restored to their baptismal innocence, we ordain that they prepare themselves before their profession with great care, by confession, communion and much prayer, their general confession having been made when they entered religion to put on the new man. And before receiving the said novices into religion, as well as admitting them to profession, the prescriptions and ceremonies customary and approved of in the order shall be observed.

(21) And since it was not without reason that Christ commended St John the Baptist’s austerity in clothing when He said: “They that are clothed in soft garments are in the houses of kings”, it is ordained that the friars who have chosen to be menials in the house of God, clothe themselves with the more common, abject, austere, coarse and despised cloth that can conveniently be had in the Province where they shall be. And let the Friars remember that the sack-cloth with which St Francis would have us mend our habits, and the cord with which he would have us girt, are not suited to the rich ones of this world.

(22) The General Chapter also exhorts all the Friars to be content with the habit alone, as expressed by St Francis in his Testament, when he said: “And we were content with one tunic, patched inside and out”. But should any of the Friars be weak in body or in spirit, then, according to the Rule, a second tunic may be given them; and to these a mantle shall not be given without necessity and permission of the Prelate; knowing that for a healthy Friar to use three pieces of clothing is a manifest sign of a lax spirit.

(23) In order that poverty, so loved by the Son of God, and given to us as a mother by the Seraphic Father, may shine forth in everything we use, it is decreed that the mantle shall not extend beyond the tips of the fingers and shall be without a hood, except when making a journey; and it shall not be worn without necessity. The habit shall not go beyond the ankles in length and shall be ten feet wide, twelve feet for the corpulent Friars. The sleeves shall be no wider than is necessary to put in and draw out the arms, and long enough to reach the middle of the hand or a little longer. The tunics shall be very plain and coarse, eight or nine feet wide, and at least a half foot shorter than the habit. The hood shall be square, like those of St Francis and his companions which still exist as relics, and as may be seen in ancient pictures, and as is described in the Book of Conformity; so that our habit be in the form of a cross to remind us that we are crucified to the world and the world to us. The girdle of the Friars shall be a plain and coarse cord, with very simply knots, without any art or singularity; so that being despised by the world we may have occasion to mortify ourselves the more. Neither birettas, hats, or anything ornamented or superfluous shall be worn.

(24) In each of our houses there shall be one small room where the community clothes are to be taken care of by a Friar appointed for that purpose; and he shall keep them clean and mended for the use of the brethren who, having used them according to their needs, shall return them cum gratiarum actione.

(25) In order that our beds may resemble somewhat that on which He died Who said: “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head”; and also that we may be the more watchful and solicitous in prayer and be the more like our Father St Francis, whose bed was often the bare ground, and even like Christ, the Saint of Saints, especially in the desert, it is ordained that all the Friars, except the sick and the very weak, shall sleep on a bare board, rush mat or upon a little straw or hay; and they shall not sleep upon quilts.

(26) In accordance with the example of Christ it is ordained that the young Friars, and those who can, shall go barefooted, as a sign of humility, testimony of poverty, mortification of sensuality and as a good example to our neighbour. And those who cannot do this may, in conformity with evangelical teaching and the example of our primitive Fathers, wear sandals with the permission of the Prelate; but they shall be simple, plain and poor, without any ornamentation.

(27) In order that the friars reach the summit of most high poverty the queen and mother of all virtues, the spouse of Christ our Lord, and of our Seraphic Father, and of our most beloved Mother, we exhort all the Friars not to have any attachment on earth, but always to fix their affection in heaven, using the things of this world sparingly as if by constraint, and in so far as their weakness will allow, deeming themselves rich with all their poverty. Let them be content with one spiritual book, or even with Christ crucified, and with two handkerchiefs and two drawers. And let them remember, as our Seraphic Father said, that a Friar should be nothing but a mirror of every virtue, especially of poverty.

(28) In order that we may run more expeditiously in the way of the divine precepts, it is decreed that no animal for riding be kept in any of our houses, neither shall the Friars ride on horseback. But in case of necessity, after the example of Christ and His imitator, St Francis, they may ride upon an ass, so that our life may always preach the humble Christ.

(29) The tonsure shall be cut every twenty days, or once a month, with a pair of scissors. The Friars shall wear the beard, after the example of Christ most holy, and of all our first Saints, since it is something manly, natural, severe, despised and austere.