Chapter 18

Source: Google Books

Of the marvelous Chapter that Saint Francis held at Saint Mary of the Angels, where more than five thousand brothers were seen

The faithful servant of Christ, Saint Francis, wished to hold a General Chapter of his Order at Saint Mary of the Angels, and he gathered there more than five thousand of his brothers. Saint Dominic, General and founder of the Order of Preachers, who was then traveling from Burgundy to Rome, turned aside with seven of his religious to attend; and there was also present a cardinal very devoted to Saint Francis, to whom this blessed man had foretold that he would become pope.

This prelate, who had left Perugia, where the Court was then located, to come to Assisi, visited the Chapter every day. At times he sang Mass there, at other times he preached, and it was always a happiness and a consolation for him to be able to be among this holy assembly.

At the sight of these brothers seated in the plain around the convent of Saint Mary, divided into groups of forty, eighty, and one hundred; at the sight of these men occupied in speaking of God, devoted to prayer, to tears, and to works of charity; at the sight of this gathering held in such profound silence and such great modesty that not the slightest murmur or movement that could cause distraction was heard; at the sight of so considerable a multitude governed by such exact discipline, he felt transported with admiration and, shedding tears, cried out in the fervor of his soul:

“Yes, it is truly here that the camp and the army of the knights of God is found.”

In so great an assembly, not a light word or a jest was heard; if some brothers gathered together, it was to pray, recite the Office, weep for their sins and those of their benefactors, and to speak of the salvation of souls.

The whole plain where the brothers were gathered was covered with tents made of hurdles or mats; they were divided into different groups according to the various provinces to which the brothers who lived in them belonged; and it was this circumstance that caused the Chapter to be given the name of the Chapter of the Hurdles or Mats.

The bare ground served as a bed for the brothers, only a few took a little straw; a stone or a piece of wood served them as a pillow. Such mortification aroused such great devotion in all those who were witnesses of it or who heard of it, and the report of the holiness of the religious spread so quickly that from Perugia, where the Court of the Pope was then held, and from the other regions of the Valley of Spoleto, there soon came running to see them a crowd of counts, barons, knights, and other noblemen; cardinals, bishops, and abbots also arrived with a great number of clerics.

All wished to be witnesses of a gathering so numerous, so holy, so admirable for the examples of humility it presented, indeed, such a gathering as the world had never seen before. They came above all to see the most holy leader of this pious militia, he who had taken so fair a prey from the world and gathered so holy a flock to lead it in following Jesus Christ, the true shepherd.

Once the General Chapter was assembled, Saint Francis, the Father and Minister, in the fervor that animated him, began to explain the word of God and to preach what the Holy Spirit inspired in him. These are the words that formed the subject of his discourse:

“We have promised great things to God, but He has promised us even greater ones: let us keep the former and sigh after the latter. Pleasure is short, punishment is eternal: sufferings are light and glory is infinite.”

These words, which he developed with fervor, stirred the brothers to obedience and confirmed them in it. They led them to reverence for Holy Church their mother, to fraternal charity, to prayer for all sinners, to patience in afflictions, to moderation in prosperity, to modesty, to chastity, to peace and concord with God, with their neighbor, and with their own conscience, and finally to the love and observance of holy poverty.

Saint Francis added further:

“By the merit of holy obedience, I command you, all of you who are gathered here, to have no anxiety concerning your subsistence and other temporal needs; apply yourselves solely to praying and praising God, leave to Him all care of providing for your bodily necessities, and be without concern, for this good Father has a very special solicitude for you.”

This command was received by all the brothers with gladness in their hearts and joy on their faces; and when Saint Francis had ceased speaking, they all set themselves to prayer.

Meanwhile Saint Dominic, witness of all that was taking place, was greatly astonished at the recommendation that Saint Francis had just made to his brothers, and he regarded it as imprudent. He could not understand how so great a multitude of men could be maintained without any of them concerning themselves with what was necessary for their subsistence.

But the first shepherd, the blessed Christ, wishing to show the care He has for His flock and the singular love He bears for His poor, at once inspired the inhabitants of Perugia, Spoleto, Foligno, Spello, Assisi, and the other surrounding regions to bring what was necessary for the support of this holy gathering. Soon men were seen arriving, leading beasts of burden, horses, and carts loaded with bread, wine, beans, cheeses, and everything that the poor of Christ might need. Tables, pots, cups, glasses, and, in short, all the utensils necessary for their meals were also brought; and those considered themselves the happiest who could contribute the most to serving them. It went so far that knights, barons, and other noblemen whom curiosity had brought to the place of the Chapter eagerly hastened themselves to serve the brothers with humility and respect.

At this sight, seeing that Providence watched in so special and manifest a manner over these holy religious, Saint Dominic recognized the rashness of the judgment he had made in regarding as imprudent the orders that Saint Francis had imposed. He went to find him and, throwing himself at his feet, humbly confessed his fault and said to him:

“Yes, truly, God takes a very special care of His holy poor, and I did not know it; but henceforth I too promise to observe the holy poverty of the Gospel; and, in the name of God, I curse all the brothers of my Order who would wish to retain any property.”

Saint Dominic therefore withdrew greatly edified by the faith that animated Saint Francis, by the spirit of poverty that he had admired in so numerous and well-ordered an assembly, by the divine Providence that manifested itself in so striking a manner, and by the good works that multiplied with such zeal.

It was also during the time of this Chapter that Saint Francis learned, by revelation, that a great number of brothers were wearing upon their flesh small iron hearts and iron circles, which caused a multitude of infirmities that rendered most of them unable to devote themselves to prayer when they still had strength enough not to succumb entirely.

Immediately, like a father full of prudence, he ordered, in the name of obedience, all those who wore these instruments of mortification to remove them and lay them down before him. The brothers obeyed, and up to five hundred small hearts and an even greater number of iron circles that had been worn on the arm or elsewhere were counted; all this formed an enormous heap. Saint Francis forbade the brothers to take any of them back.

Finally, the Chapter having ended, after strengthening them in good and teaching them the means of preserving themselves from sin despite the perversity of the world, he gave them the blessing of God and his own, and sent them back to their provinces filled with holy joy.