1. The importance of poverty. Its various aspects. 2. Poverty of buildings according to Saint Francis 3. the first Capuchin friaries

(1) Great was the fervour that Our Lord God gave to those first servants of God who began the Capuchin Congregation. He they took the perfect observance of the Rule and Testament of our Seraphic Father as the fundamental principle and concern, above all the precept of holy poverty. They felt that it was main reason for the observance of all the other precepts of the rule. Therefore they said, “the rule cannot be observed integrally without the observance of the Testament.” Therefore they considered that poverty consisted in dwellings, clothing and food.

(2) Therefore their main intention regarding dwellings was never to receive any house nor allow one built for them unless it was in conformity with holy poverty. This appears clearly as the expressed intention of Father Saint Francis in the Legend of the Three Companions. One can see examples of this in many little places that still remain in the Province of Saint Francis. From these one can know what there cells were like as well as the offices in the friaries in the Carcere, Speco di Santo Urbino, Speco di Canale, Monte Corvo, Farneto and many others like the friary at Monteluco in Spoleto, or Saint Jacob of Todi and others that our Seraphic Father Saint Francis took. One can see that the dormitory and cells are on the ground floor and made from wickerwork and mud. The height of the dormitory is such that man can touch the ceiling with his hand. The little cells were big enough for a little bed with just enough space between the door and the window to move about.

As appears in the Legend of the Three Companions our Seraphic Father wanted the house of Our Lady of the Angels to be an example for all the Order so that anyone who wanted to build friaries and wanted to know what they should be like. The friars would be mirrored in the friary of Our Lady of the Angels and builders should take it as their model. At the hour of his blessed death he left as a testament and command to his Friars that the place be built from wickerwork and mud and covered with straw or rushes or reeds that grow in marshes. He did want any house with stone walls and mortar. On one occasion in his time the citizens of Assisi built there a little room of mortar and stone and put a tiled roof on it. When Saint Francis returned and saw this house built he called all the Friars immediately. He went personally up onto the roof and began to throw it down in order to demolish it completely. However since some of the citizens were present they said to him, “What are you doing, demolishing the houses of others? We built that house for us and it is ours. Leave it alone then.” When the Seraphic Father heard this he said, “If it yours, yours it is. My Friars will never live here as long as I live.” He never wanted the Friars to live there.

He wanted the holiest Friars of the Order to live there and that no one have the authority to be able to do the visitation there except the General. He wanted the General to be very diligent to assign to that family the holiest Friars in the Order. When one of them should die the General should send some others. He did not want seculars to enter the friary but there should be perpetual silence there. When it necessary to speak among themselves they should speak with the softest voice while standing close enough to one another to be understood. When it is necessary for the Lay Friars who are there to go for alms, he wanted them never to bring home tales from the world but should always exercise themselves in saying Psalms, Offices, Masses and holy contemplation so that this place where the Order began would be a candle from a great lamp burning before the presence of God and that they always pray there for the whole Order. Then the Friars who would visit the holy place out of devotion may take back to all the Order an example of how Friars Minor should live.

(3) Therefore this is what gave great light to the Capuchins and this was their intention. Therefore for all the houses they took up, they wanted them to be assigned buy their owners or the community or lord or by some particular gentleman. Once a year the Guardian of the house would go to the owner and take him a salad or some fruit from the garden. He would thank him for the time he allowed us to live in the house and asked if he would like to let us use it for another year. When it was necessary to repair the roof or something else, they made know the need to the owners or to the workmen assigned by the community. They did they same for the tools used for carpentry or the garden so that they had no need to get involved with money. When some tool or cauldron could no good to be used, they returned them to the owners and they took care of fixing them and to provide for the Friars in their need. And so they remained in holy peace.

When they built a friary they helped manually. What they could do, they did themselves. They did not hamper themselves with the rest. The made the houses poor and not very high. The offices inside were from wicker and mud. And at that time they suffered very much before the places were ready because they had to sleep together in some hut. When we began to have some cells it felt like rising from the dead. With great gladness they said, “Thanks be to the Lord God. Now we have some cells that we have made with our own work. They are in accord with the intention of Father Saint Francis. When a cell was built that they felt was a odd, they all rose up zealously and it was necessary to demolish it completely. The external walls they built mostly with earth and then whitewashed them in such a way that from outside they looked like rendered stonework.