Dwellings, and how the Friars slept

24 The first Franciscan houses 25 The first Capuchin friaries 26 Divine Worship 27 Sleeping 28 Nothing in excess, nothing odd

(24) In regard to the establishment, size and way of possessing the places we live in, the first Fathers kept the order that our Seraphic Father Saint Franics gave. It is clear in the Legend of the Three Companions that places be established with the permission and good grace of the Ordinaries; that the site and building too have a designated owner, whether it be it the community or lord, who is obvious to the Friars and the seculars. Furthermore he wanted the place to be surrounded completely by a good hedge-wall built by the owners or by others ordered by them for the undertaking so that the Friars do not get involved with money because of the building. This appears in some eof the exemplary places that our Father Saint Francis took up. He wanted them to built on flat ground and high enough that a tall man can touch the roof with his hand. This is obvious in the places at Speco, Canale, Santo Urbano, Monte Luco at Spoleto, the Carcere in Assisi, Scarzuola, the Romita at Cesi and others. The external walls were lime plastered, while the interior compartments were made with wicker lattice. He wanted them to live there without have any love or attachment to it, like wayfarers. And if robbers went there to steal, no one said anything, as if it did not matter to them.

(25) So our early Fathers took up little places and built them in that form, two or three miles from the towns. They want all the houses to have owners and that once a year they return them to their proper owners, thanking them for having lent the places to them for that time. As a rent they brought them some fruit and a salad. It lasted for many years that the whole Order observed this practice. Nor would they have cut down any tree or cut wood in the forest or on the site assigned to them without the permission of the owners. That stated that it is not permissible for Friars Minors to have forests for cutting wood. The forest is there only to preserve the decorum of the Order. Because it would be unfitting for women and other suspicious persons to be able to enter where they live, they wanted the woods to be enclosed so that they could walk around a little and be able to go there to pray. They were not for cutting wood because just as it is not permissible vines and fields in order pick their fruit, so it is not possible to have forests in order to get wood from them. If it is necessary for some to be cut, they would be cut and received from the proper owners for the love of God, as if they were cut outside of their forest.

When some expenditure was necessary because of the need in those houses to maintain the roof or add rooms, they always had recourse to the proper owners. They did the same with the tools and pots that they used in those friaries. They had them provided by the owners and when they no longer had any use for them, they returned these to them. The Friars always remained free and never had to get involved with money. They did not make many gardens. They gave the herbs to whoever came but did not want them taken to town. That was always shunned.

(26) The churches were always small and often the built them the size of the Holy House of Our Lady of Loreto. They said the Office slowly and well punctuated and not too loudly. As they wrote in the Constitutions they all did the ordinary prayers together in the church. However these prayers where the least of their prayer because once Mass was said almost all the Friars who were not involved in duties of the Order, usually continued in prayer until Terce all the time. After Vespers they did the same until Compline. According to the seasons they withdrew either to the church, their cells, or to the woods.

(27) Regarding sleep, ordinarily they all slept on bare boards. However during the winter some of the feebler or old ones put down a little straw with a covering of made from reeds. They didn’t use sheets until Father Eusebius of Ancona became General, especially in the Province of Saint Francis. However the whole Congregation used to sleep on mats instead of sheets. The majority slept on planks. For pillows many used blocks of wood of bundles or fennel or other herbs. When the seculars entered and saw the cells and their austerity regarding sleeping, they were marvellously edified.

They never slept after Matins but stayed in the church at prayer. Once two Religious came to the friary of Saint Valentine’s in Foligno. In order to observe the Friars they stayed the night. When Matins was finished they saw all the Friars leave. The Religious thought that they had all gone back to bed. To ascertain this they lit a lamp and went to the cells. When they didn’t find them in their cells or in the church they were baffled as to where they might be. Wondering about this the came outside the friary and accidentally came upon some oratories that each of them had made from branches. They heard the Friars scourging themselves. Some were still praying with many tears. To know for sure they stayed there until morning in order to see what they did. They knew that none of them had gone back to bed after Matins but that they had continued on, taking the discipline and praying. In the morning, when they wanted to leave, the Religious said, ‘Fathers, persevere. This is the true Reform, one of deeds and not of words.

(28) They did not want anything superfluous in the friaries. As for serviettes there was enough for one for each Friar and when they washed them there was one spare for each Friar. During the visitations the Vicars had them give away everything that was superfluous for the love of God. And they did this with everything, even jugs, pots, tools, altar linen and the like, because in all the visitations they diligently had them give away the superfluous.

For a long time they used pewter chalices. However because they stained the corporals very much and because of their zeal to show the greatest reverence for the Most Holy Sacrament, they abandoned those. They put in the Constitutions that each house could have two chalices but only with the cup in silver. As for the things of the church they based themselves on the declarations of Nicholas III. He says that it is not permissible for the Friars Minor to have precious vessels or unusual statues that may cost a lot. Therefore all these things should be clean, simple and inexpensive. As for vestments they didn’t want chasubles and other sacred cloths with brocade, silk or other precious materials. They only wanted simple cloth without gold or silver. For many years in our friary in Rome the altar pallium was a mat.

These things marvellously edified the seculars. When they saw that the Capuchins began to build beautiful churches, and to receive very valuable statues, although the friars may have done so for a good reason because of the heresies, none the less those who were aware of our earlier simplicity were quite startled by all this.