Chapter 6

Here John of Fano dwells at length once again on the topic of poverty, above all listing “the actions and cases of ownership taken from Alvarus, Saint Bonaventure and other doctors of the Order”: in all 69 cases. For a systematic summary of these things we refer to the Short Discourse by the same author.

Poverty and humility in questing

Text: But like pilgrims and strangers in this world let them serve the Lord in poverty and humility.

Scrupulous Brother – What kind of poverty do we promise?

Mature Brother – According the Four Masters gospel poverty is to be understood in two ways.

One way is that in the spirit of poverty nothing excessive in temporal things is to be retained but only what is necessary. Another way which is more perfect is that in the spirit of poverty nothing, whether necessary or superfluous, is retained as one’s own but one depends on divine providence and this is called the poverty of questing. This is the style of poverty of the Friars Minor by which they are defined, and it has two aspects.

Firstly, they possess nothing of their own, neither fixed income nor annual rents and the like, since they should serve the Lord in poverty as strangers and pilgrims.

Secondly, the brothers should be poor with regard to the use of what is necessary, with regard to the use of what is required to sustain life as was explained in the first chapter. Thus Exiit § Porro says: It is fitting to that state and profession which has made a vow to imitate Christ voluntarily to remove all ownership and be satisfied with the use of necessary things.

Text: and let them go seeking alms with confidence

Mature Brother – According to the Four Masters, poverty in use is commanded here since the brothers should be both poor and beggars. Thus, the necessary things which they may have through receiving alms they are never permitted to procure, especially by having recourse to spiritual friends or syndics.

Thus, they may beg with confidence and live in poverty to serve the Lord. Thus, when there is a need it is lawful to beg but not otherwise. To beg for excess is no small sin because what kind of poverty is it to possess things and beg for excess?

Saint Francis used to say that to beg, when it is not necessary, is theft since it is robbing the substance of the poor. Thus, he did not want to beg for bread to supply many days, much less for things that were not needed […].

The Pisan says that in addition to theft it is pretending to practice poverty where there is none and thus is hypocrisy. Matthew 23: Woe to you scribes and Pharisees! For you devour widows’ houses […].

Text: they should not be ashamed, for our sakes, our Lord made Himself poor in this world.

It is stupendously wretched to beg like plain people, but it is praiseworthy that we are like Christ.

Saint Francis used to say: “Whenever you see a poor person you ought to hold up to yourself a mirror of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of His most holy mother, who when he was rich in His majesty, became poor and despised in our humble state, was born poor, lived in a very poor state and died poor and naked on the cross and was buried in another person’s grave.”

When he was invited to eat with Cardinals and lords, he went begging first, saying; “I do not want to put aside my regal dignity, heredity [113v] and profession and that of my brothers. Bread which is received as alms is holy bread which is sanctified by the praise and love of God for when we beg it we say: “Praised be God, give us alms for the love of God’! How could we be ashamed of such dignity, honour and glory of poverty, which I see in the King of the world and most worthy Queen Mother and the princes of the earth the holy Apostles? Thus, our Lord Jesus Christ begged as well as His Mother”.

Saint Bernard, Saint Bonaventure and the Pisan say that during the three days Jesus stayed in Jerusalem he lived by begging. Therefore, Saint Francis went begging for alms to give good example to others so that the brothers would not be ashamed. He said that a brother should not go long without asking alms for the great merit and in order to accustom himself to not becoming ashamed and to afford merit to the one who gave the alms.

When a brother came back with alms singing, blessed Francis lifted the sack off his shoulder with great joy kissing the place where the sack had been and blessing the brother.

The height of poverty and the depth of love

Text: This is that sublime height of most exalted poverty because it is the most removed from the world and closest to the kingdom of highest heaven, and as similar as possible to eternal life where there is nothing of earthly things whether individually or in common but where all that is there is spiritual and heavenly.

Text: which has made you, my brothers, heirs since whoever has left everything for the love of God is promised eternal life.

Text: and kings in the kingdom of heaven Matthew 5: Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

having given up everything for the love of God they have become lords in heaven, although they entered possessing nothing.

Text: [114r] having become poor in temporal things, but rich in virtue.

The objective of this kind of poverty is the growth of holiness in virtue with all impediments removed. These poor people, seeing how they live in stricter poverty than others, strive to be more virtuous than others.

Text: Let this be your portion which leads into the land of the living, because of which you will have no part with the land of the dead. This is a most noble exhortation.

Text: Giving yourselves totally to this in such a way that everything that you use may preach poverty.

Text: never wish to seek anything else under heaven for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. It does not say “do not seek” since this was said above, but “do not wish to seek” since it is not poverty that constitutes the vow but the love of poverty. Willpower, as the basis of merit, brings about perseverance.

Text: And wherever the brothers may be and meet one another, let them show that they are members of the same family. Let each one confidently make known his needs to the other.

Because if a mother nourishes and loves her child according to the flesh, how much more diligently should each one love and nourish his spiritual brother?

It is not enough for the friar minor not to hate his brother, as is required of every Christian. But the brothers should show exterior familiarity towards their brothers as a mark of charity as within the one family and should make known their needs to one another as members of the same family. Therefore, visiting brothers are to be received with all kindness, joy and made welcome, washing their feet after the example of the Lord and providing the necessary things with charity, [114v] extending friendship to them. Superiors should be watchful of this […].