How our Congregation fortuitously began.

19 The seven Franciscan Reforms 20 The meaning of the vision of the statue 21 The Reform of the Franciscan Order during the Pontificate of Clement VII 22 The zealous Friars obtain the Bull 23 The appearance of Matteo di Bascio 24 The value of some expressions 25 The opportune beginning of the Capuchin Reform

(19) When the Synagogue had gone into complete decline regarding the observance of the Law, its good customs, ceremonies and regal power, the entire Hebrew People was deprived of civil power and all royal authority under the domination and servitude of the Romans. Then the Most High God began the Law of grace, sending His blessed Son into the world. He ended the old Law with all its ceremonies and began the new Law of grace. As something obsolete He left the figures, prophecies and shadows of the Old Testament and renewed everything in the New Testament. In the same way, the Seraphic Order of Saint Francis went into such a decline that there was nothing of the Seraphic Father’s original imprint to be seen – neither the habit, nor the observance of the Rule, nor the way of life according to early customs. Completely lax, the Order slumbered in the comforts of the flesh. There were few found to be observing the Rule. Rather, the friars lived according to privileges, concessions and lax interpretations. And so the Lord God remembered His promise to our Father Saint Francis to always care for his Order. By His providence the Capuchin Reform emerged at that time which Blessed Bernard indicated, Bernard was the companion and first-born of Father Saint Francis. Inspired and enlightened by the spirit of prophecy, he said that although part of the Order would reform, the Order will go from bad to worse, as far as the seventh degree.

The first reform will not reach the perfection that the Order had in the beginning. Nor will the second do any better than the first. Nor will any of the other reforms. This shows the seven degrees according to the seven reforms made in the holy Order. As we mentioned above, these were the reforms of Saint Bonaventure, Frate Gentile, Blessed Angelo Clareno (the first of the Zoccolanti Fathers), Frate Francesco Guadalupe; and that of Brother Francis of Montepulciano. The last reform, the one of the Zoccolanti Fathers, was in the seventh degree.

(20) According to that prophecy, then, the Reform of the Capuchins in the spirit of the Founder was due to happen now. Our Reform did not result from any human merit. God did it miraculously instead. This took place when the four states of the Order had passed, as Saint Francis saw in the vision of the statue. The statue had a golden head, representing the original kind of life that the Founder led with his companions and the whole Order at the time. The torso was silver, alluding to the period of those learned friars when the Order grew to a large number. The third state, a copper stomach. This means for us the time when the Order had grown very much, but was not like the gold and silver. Just as copper is inferior, so this state of the Order was inferior in perfection and in the observance of the Rule compared to the time of Blessed Bernard. The fourth state – the iron legs and feet of terracotta – represents for us the two reforms carried out by Saint Bernardino and other Fathers during the time of Leo X and Clement VII.

(21) Therefore you should know that until Clement VII the Order lived in great peace and acceptance among seculars. There were some holy men and everywhere they lived in peace and tranquillity, and even luxury. The devotion of seculars and the ready abundance of temporal goods at the time, since goods were not very expensive, meant that the Friars were well-off and enjoyed a great abundance. I know this since I saw these things myself, and I would like to give an example. It often happened in one particular friary in the Province of Saint Francis that on Holy Saturday a hundred goats were brought to the door. Though I could say a lot more, I will remain silent about the abundance in which the Fathers luxuriated at the time.

It pleased the Lord to rouse the Order again. Because of the many sins God allowed an army to come and for the Duke of Borbone to sack Rome. Severe famine and a dreadful plague spread throughout the world. Just as the Sage says, “Vexatio dat intellectum,” so the body of the Order began to think about its situation. Inspired and enlightened by God, many holy men withdrew to hermitages and small friaries. There they dedicated themselves to holy contemplation and the observance of the Rule. Each day many learned and holy men spoke about the Rule and how to live according to it. They discovered and showed how far the Order had distanced itself from the true observance of the Rule. Others spoke so highly about the things of God that many others felt inspired and decided to withdraw. I know many of them, such as the Very Rev. Padre Francesco da Iesi. He withdrew to the friary of Monteluco with many others of the same mind. He bore remarkable fruit. The same goes for the extraordinary servant of God Frate Giovanni Battista da San Severino della Marca, the holy man Frate Bartolomeo da Città di Castello, Frate Felice da Spello, and many others. Thus enlightened by God, they were aware of the very dangerous condition (of the Order) and how far they had distanced themselves from the true observance of the Rule.

Therefore they began to speak about Reform among themselves. From clear experience they knew it was impossible for the whole body of the Order to return to the strict life according to the will of our Father Saint Francis. This undercurrent was so potent that they stirred up the entire Order. God had truly ordained this. In all the Provinces, with great insistence in both Provincial and General Chapters, they sought to begin the Reform.

(22) On the other hand, the flesh fulfilled its office among the lax. They didn’t want to hear anything about reform. The spirit prevailed and many courageous Fathers agreed to go to His Holiness, Clement VII. They had him understand that the Order was very lax and outside the observance of the Rule. From this many unpleasant things arose between the lax friars and those who wanted to observe the Rule. These Fathers urged His Holiness to provide for them. The Holy Father answered that he loved the Order very tenderly. “It is my obligation to provide for such matters, but tell me what I can do to return the Order to the perfect observance of the Rule?” The Very Rev. Padre Bernardino d’Asti was Procurator at Court at the time. He wanted the Reform very much. He answered, “Holy Father, you can provide for us by giving us a favourable Bull – not so that the good friars can leave the body of the Order, but rather so that in their Provinces they may be granted some devout little friaries where they can observe the Rule without impediment. There is no shortage of places suitable for the spirit. Nor is there a shortage of friars who wish to withdraw to these places. They can’t do so because our Superiors don’t want them to. Therefore we need Your Holiness’ firm hand of to command our Superiors and have them want what they don’t want to do for love’s sake, as had been shown many times.”

The Supreme Pontiff liked this discussion. Turning graciously towards those Fathers – Frate Bernardino d’Asti and Frate Francesco da Iesi- he said to them, “This pleases me. Make a note on how you want the Bull. The next time I assemble the Consistory I will discuss the matter with the brother Cardinals. I hope that all you want may be done.”

That is exactly what happened. Within a short time the Bull was obtained. The Bull gave the Reformed Friars all they wished. It commanded that all those friars who wanted to go to the Reform be left free to do so, and obliged the Superiors to send them. Since the Pontiff was so supportive, those Fathers thought that the Reform was as good as done. However, when they tried to organise the Reform in the Chapters and list those who wanted to go, such a tremendous outcry arose in the Provinces that the zealous friars actually needed to escape from the hands of the others. This battle lasted around three years. Thus the reform could never succeed. Padre Frate Francesco da Iesi brought the Bull to the Chapter at Our Lady of the Angels and discussed the Reform at the Chapter. The lax Friars threw him and Padre Frate Battista da Norcia into prison. That was the reform.

(23) It pleased the Lord God that, in the third year of the Pontificate of Clement VII, that Frate Matteo di Bascio come onto the scene, after a revelation of God, as will be explained later. He was a simple man of great spirit. With the pointed cowl and with the blessing of God and the Supreme Pontiff he began to preach very fervently. He wore that forgotten habit and went barefoot. He was totally fervent. He looked like a man just out of purgatory, a stranger to the earth, like an Apostle of Jesus Christ. When something new and important comes along, what usually happens is that the thing simultaneously alarms its opponents and greatly consoles its supporters. When Frate Matteo came along, he alarmed the lax Friars and brought great joy to those zealous Friars who desired Reform. When the lax Superiors became aware that the hare had escaped and could be no longer caught, they worried that some of the others might escape and thought to close the gate by coddling the zealous Friars and allowing them to go to the Reform. Nonetheless there was such surreptitious opposition that it was common knowledge that they were compelled to grant the Reform to the zealous Friars. They complied because they had to, not because they wanted to do so. Once the zealous friars entered the Reform, the lax Friars soon transferred them on the pretext of having something important for them to do. Thus the Reform went ahead hesitatingly.

Hence for the greater glory of the good friars the Lord God permitted that there be, at that time, a General – whose name I honestly do not remember – who was so perverse and such an enemy to the observance of the Rule, it was as though he had escaped from hell. He persecuted them atrociously. He persecuted both Reforms, that is, the one of the Zoccolanti Fathers and then, cruelly, that of the Capuchins.

(24) Therefore in this book every time I speak of adversaries or lax friars I always refer to the lax friars and not to the body of the Order from whom we have only received good and whom we regard as our elders. We are greatly obliged to them. So may God forbid that I ever blame my Mother Order to whom I owe so much and to whom I am obliged and bear for her the highest regard. At the beginning many holy men of the Order made our Congregation illustrious. Therefore, while I have to write about the journey of our Congregation, and because I cannot leave anything out, every time I speak our adversaries, I always mean those lax friars who were always opposed to all the reforms and any kind of genuine life.

(25) Therefore this was the reason for the growth of our Congregation. When Frate Matteo and Padre Frate Lodovico da Fossombrone came along after having already obtained first the Brief and then the Bull, the multitude of zealous Fathers in the body of the Order, seeing that the reform of the Zoccolanti Fathers would not go any further, deliberately chose to leave and join our Congregation. Their great resolve was to advance the Capuchin Reform. In this way the prophecy of Blessed Bernardo was fulfilled: when the seven degrees had been run, the Order had to be reformed. Therefore, and this lasted many years, when those Friars who joined the Reform met seculars whom they had used to harass the Capuchins, on their knees they would ask their forgiveness, weeping.

I think it relevant to name one of those, the main one, namely the Ven. Padre Giovanni da Fano. He persecuted our Reform like an unleashed lion. However he didn’t do this with a bad intention. Rather, he thought he was doing the right thing and that it was indeed needed in order to preserve the body of the Order. It seemed to him that the Capuchin Reform would destroy his Order. However, when this man of God realised that the Reform came from His Majesty, he no longer wished it harm. On the contrary. As he has said many times, “I felt that I could not save myself if I did not uphold the reputation of the Capuchins – and not just with words. I had to join them and let everyone know that I recognised I had harmed these poor fellows who were better than I.”

There was no shortage of others but I will say nothing about them so as not to go on too long. These persecuted our Congregation very severely. Then, enlightened by God, they joined us and led their lives in such a way that they performed many miracles.

Therefore, this was the fitting beginning, growth and progress of our Congregation. Since if those Fathers he promoted theior Reform their Reform, if they would have truly done this, God would not have permitted any other. Instead those difficulties brought many holy men to the Capuchin reform of the Capuchins since, after their obvious experience, they had completely given up hope of being able to carry out another reform in the body of the Order.

In conformity with the prophecies, the Capuchin Reform was well timed and very opportune for the need of the Order. Therefore we can say that God – and not men – accomplished it. There are so many signs of this, and in many ways we have become certain of it, since amid so many travails no power on earth could have been able to do if if the hand of God was not at work.