The Anchoritic Life the early Fathers led

44 Solitude and apostolate 45 Capuchin in the footsteps of Saint Francis

(44) It was manifest throughout Christendom that the holy Order of Saint Francis began in all the provinces friaries were established quite far from the cities and ordinary dwellings. This lasted as long as he lived and is still seen today. Those places are still held in great veneration because Saint Francis and other saints and blessed of our Order have been there. This happened, as appears in the Legend of the Three Companions, because the main intention the Seraphic Saint Francis had was to arrange all his Order for holy contemplation. As the Three Companions say, Francis’ mind was either to find holy martyrdom for preaching the Holy Gospel or to lead an anchoritic life. We read how Saint Mary Magdalen and the early Fathers did this. This illumined the world by living with such austerity in the harsh deserts, as did Saint Paul the first hermit, Anthony, Hilarion and countless others. Francis also had in mind to lead a truly pilgrim life, going preaching more by example than by words for the benefit of his neighbour, in order to live detached from all earthly love. It pleased Our Lord God to reveal to him that He had not just called him for Himself. Rather He wanted to spread his Order throughout the world buy the benefit of everyone. Nonetheless the Order has always been founded more on the spiritual than anything else. The Order has always considered them holy men, all those who have withdrawn into desert places, detached from all earthly things and exercising themselves in holy fasts, silence and holy prayers. And Our Lord God has made them more illustrious with miracles. Therefore holy men have judged this to be the best life that one can lead in this world, a life that is more acceptable to God. On the other hand one sees that preachers without spirit, as educated and gracious as they may be, have born little fruit in their preaching. Rather they have darkened the world more with their bad example. By administering their learning without spirit, they have done great harm to the Church of God.

That which the Holy Spirit instructed him, Father Saint Francis had it written in the Rule: “Let those who do not have letters not care to learn them. Above all, rather, they should desire to have the spirit of the Lord and always pray to God with a pure heart.” This is as if he wanted to say that perfection does not consist in learning but in the perfect love of God. In another place he says, “Many preachers have taken speaking well more into account than doing good. They will feel that they have converted many during their sermons. On judgement day Our Lord will declare. ‘I have converted them, not by your words, but by the tears of holy Friars who, in the perfect observance of the Rule, have prayed insistently for the conversion of sinners.’”

(45) Therefore this was the intention of those first Fathers of ours: to imitate Father Saint Francis by distancing themselves as much as possible from the world, taking up houses usually two miles from the cities. And so as not to have occasion to get tangled up with the world they put it into the Constitutions that the Friars not hear the confessions of seculars, nor go to the dead or accept burials. Not because these things aren’t good, but since we want to live according to our Rule, we are not obliged to do these things nor do we hold this rank in the Church or God. Rather, our obligation is to pray and to preach with good example and sound Catholic doctrine. These other things are the office of secular clerics. For if we want to get involved, cannot do so without displeasing them very much. Many times one has seen great scandals because Religious, through the privilege they have sought to be able to exercise themselves sin the care of souls, have scandalised their neighbour very much indeed.

They not only took up remote places where they lived in the greatest poverty, but there were many who with the permission of the Superiors made little cells on the site itself. They lived there in order to be more withdrawn, fasting continuously on bread and water, in order to dedicate themselves more perfectly to holy contemplation. Some of them didn’t eat bread but fruit and vegetables. This was the reason that they wrote in the first Constitutions: Whoever wants to lead the anchoritic life, when the Superiors have judged that he is suitable for such an undertaking, should not be stopped. Indeed, he should be given every opportunity.” This is because all Companions of Father Saint Francis led an anchoritic life as long as they lived, as we see in Blessed Rufino, Giles, Juniper, Silvester and others whose oratories can still be seen at La Verna, the Carcer of Assisi and other places. Indeed all this was taken from the ancient Fathers who led the solitary life and whom the Church of God has praised and canonised as saints.