Writings of St. Francis - Letters continued

Epistula ad Fideles I, or First version of the Letter to the Faithful

First Version: Exhortation to the Brothers and Sisters of the Order of Penitents
Thomas of Celano (First Life of St. Francis), 37, tells us that Francis gave a way of life to the brothers who formed part of the "ordo poenitentium", and who wanted to embrace the evangelical life in the world. Kajetan Esser concludes that this letter, in fact, forms the nucleus for this form of life given by Francis, and later approved by the Church in the "Memoriale Propositi" of 1221.  The

text of the letter was discovered by Sabatier in the Guarnacci Library. Sabatier named the document "Verba vitae et salutis".

In his study, "Origins of the Franciscan Order", pp. 44-45, Esser gives us a presentation of the early history of the Order of Penitents, which later developed into the Third Order. "In the only report which refers to the brotherhood as being one of penance the Friars Minor call themselves `viri poenitentiales de civitate Assisii oriundi' [Legend of the three companions, 37]. We will not concern ourselves more deeply here with the problematics of the Franciscan Third Order of the `fratres et sorores de poenitentia in domibus propriis existentes'. By reliable testimony it can be traced only to 1221".  This first version of the Letter to the Faithful has been included in the new Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order approved by Paul VI in 1978.

In the Name of the Lord!

(CHAPTER ONE) THOSE WHO DO PENANCE

All those who love the Lord with their whole heart, with their whole soul and mind, with their whole strength (cf. Mk 12:30) and love their neighbors as themselves (cf. Mt 22:39) 2. and hate their bodies with their vices and sins, 3. and receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, 4. and produce worthy fruits of penance:

5. Oh, how happy and blessed are these men and women when they do these things and persevere in doing> them, 6. since the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon them (cf. Is 11:2) and He will make His home and dwelling among them (cf. Jn 14:23). 7. They are children of the heavenly Father (cf. Mt 5:45) whose works they do, and they are spouses, brothers, and mothers of our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Mt 12:50).


8. We are spouses when the faithful soul is joined to our Lord Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. 9. We are brothers to Him when we do the will of the Father Who is in heaven (Mt 12:50). 10. [We are] mothers, when we carry Him in our heart and body (cf. 1 Cor 6:20) through divine love and a pure and sincere conscience and [when] we give birth to Him through [His] holy manner of working, which should shine before others as an example (cf. Mt 5:16).


11. Oh, how glorious it is, how holy and great, to have a Father in heaven! 12. Oh, how holy, consoling, beautiful and wondrous it is to have such a Spouse! 13. Oh, how holy and how loving, pleasing, humble, peaceful, sweet, lovable, and desirable above all things to have such a Brother and such a Son: our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave up His life for His sheep (cf. Jn 10:15) and who prayed to the Father saying:


14. 0 Holy Father, protect those in your name (Jn 17:11) whom you have given to me in the world; they were yours and you have given them to me (Jn 17:6). 15. And the words which you gave to me, I have given to them, and they have accepted them and have believed truly that I have come from you and they have known that you sent me (Jn 17:8). 16. I pray for them and not for the world (cf. Jn 17:9). 17. Bless and sanctify [them] (Jn 17:17) and I sanctify myself for them (Jn 17:19). 18. Not only for these do I pray, but for those who through their words will believe in me (Jn 17:20), so that they may be made holy in being one (Jn 17:23) as we are one (Jn 17:11). 19. And I wish, Father, that where I am they also may be with me so that they may see my glory (Jn 17:24) in your kingdom (Mt 20:21). Amen.

(CHAPTER TWO) THOSE WHO DO NOT DO PENANCE

1. All those men and women who are not [living] in penance 2. and do not receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ; 3. [who] practice vice and sin and follow [the ways of] wicked concupiscence (Col 3:5) and the desires of the flesh (Gal 5:16); 4. [who] do not observe what they have promised to the Lord, 5. and bodily serve the world by the desires of the flesh (1 Pet 2:11), the anxieties of the world and the cares of this life: 6. [such people] are held fast by the devil, whose children they are and whose works they perform (cf. Jn 8:41). 7. They are blind, since they do not see the true light, our Lord Jesus Christ. 8. They do not have spiritual wisdom, since they do not possess the Son of God, Who is the true wisdom of the Father. 9. It is said of these people: Their wisdom has been swallowed up (Ps 106:27), and: Cursed are those who turn away from Your commands (Ps 118:21). 10. They see [and] acknowledge, they know and do evil deeds, and, knowingly, they lose [their] souls.


11. See, you blind ones, you who are deceived by your enemies: by the flesh, the world, and the devil; because it is sweet to the body to commit sin and it is bitter for it to serve God; 12. [and] because all vices and sins come forth and proceed from the heart of man, as the Lord says in the Gospel (cf. Mk 7:21). 13. And you have nothing in this world or in [the world] to come. 14. And you think you possess the vanities of this world for a while, but you are deceived, since the day and the hour will come to which you give no thought, [of which] you have no knowledge, and [of which] you are ignorant (cf. Mt 25:13). The body becomes sick, death approaches, and this man dies a bitter death. 15. And no matter where or when or how a man dies in the guilt of sin without doing penance and satisfaction, if he is able to perform [some act of] satisfaction and does not, the devil snatches up his soul from his body with so much anguish and tribulation that no one can know it unless he has experienced it.


16. And every talent and power and knowledge and wisdom (2 Chron 1:12) which they think they possess will be taken away from them (cf. Lk 8:18; Mk 4:25). 17. And they leave their substance to their relatives and friends, and these have taken and divided the inheritance among themselves and afterwards they have said: "May his soul be cursed since he could have acquired more and given more to us than he did!" 18. Worms eat the body. And so they have lost body and soul in this passing world, and both will go down to hell where they will be tormented without end.


19. In the love which is God (cf. 1 Jn 4:16), we beg all those whom these letters reach to accept with kindness and a divine love the fragrant words of our Lord Jesus Christ which are written above. 20. And those who do not know how to read should have them read to them frequently. 21. And, since they are spirit and life (Jn 6:64), they should preserve them together with [their] holy manner of working even to the end.


22. And whoever shall not have done these things will be held accountable on the day of judgment (cf. Mt 12:36) before the tribunal of our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Rm 14:10).

Epistula ad Fideles II, or Second version of the Letter to the Faithful

The Letter to the Faithful has probably had an evolution quite similar to that of the Earlier Rule of the Friars Minor. This second version, which is the most developed, is the result of the evolution of the Franciscan penitential movement. The Letter insists upon the dignified reception of the sacraments of penance and the eucharist, in an evident attempt to educate lay persons in the Catholic faith, against the heretical doctrine of the Cathari. Regis J. Armostrong OFMCap, "Francis and Clare. The Complete Works", p. 67 (see below for full biographical indication), states: "The second version of the Letter to the Faithful begins with an emphatic statement concerning the Incarnation. It may well be a catechetical tool promoted by the ideas of the Cathari, members of a heretical sect who maintained that Christ was not God but even less than a man since matter was impure. The Cathari saw Christ as an angel adopted by God who took on the appearance of a man. They propagated their doctrine by embracing an evangelical, poor manner of living. Thus, many aspects of their life resembles that of the Brothers and Sisters of Penance". 

1. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. To all Christian religious: clergy and laity, men and women, and to all who live in the whole world, Brother Francis, their servant and subject, [offers] homage and reverence, true peace from heaven and sincere love in the Lord.


2. Since I am the servant of all, I am obliged to serve all and to administer to them the fragrant words of my Lord. 3. Therefore, on reflecting that, since I cannot visit each one of you in person because of the infirmity and weakness of my body, I have proposed to set before you in this present letter and message the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the Word of the Father, and the words of the Holy Spirit, which are spirit and life (Jn 6:64). 4. Through his angel, Saint Gabriel, the most high Father in heaven announced this Word of the Father—so worthy, so holy and glorious—in the womb of the holy and glorious Virgin Mary, from which He received the flesh of humanity and our frailty. 5. Though He was rich beyond all other things (2 Cor 8:9), in this world He, together with the most blessed Virgin, His mother, willed to choose poverty. 6. And, as the Passion drew near, He celebrated the Passover with His disciples and, taking bread, gave thanks, and blessed and broke it, saying: Take and eat: this is My Body (Mt 26:26). 7. And taking the cup He said: This is My Blood of the new covenant which will be shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins (Mt 26:28). 8. Then He prayed to His Father, saying: Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me (Lk 22:42). 9. And His sweat became as drops of blood falling on the ground (Lk 22:44). 10. Nonetheless, He placed His will at the will of the Father, saying: Father, let Your will be done (Mt 26:42); not as I will, but as You will (Mt 26:39). 11. And the will of the Father was such that His blessed and glorious Son, Whom He gave to us and [Who] was born for us, should, through His own blood, offer Himself as a sacrifice and oblation on the altar of the cross: 12. not for Himself through Whom all things were made (cf. Jn 1:3), but for our sins, 13. leaving us an example that we should follow in His footprints (cf. 1 Pet 2:21). 14. And [the Father] wills that all of us should be saved through Him and that we receive Him with our pure heart and chaste body. 15. But there are few who wish to receive Him and be saved by Him, although His yoke is sweet and His burden light (cf. Mt 11:30).


16. Those who do not wish to taste how sweet the Lord is (cf. Ps 33:9) and love the darkness rather than the light (Jn 3:19), not wishing to fulfill the commands of God, are cursed; 17. of them the prophet says: They are cursed who stray from your commands (Ps 118:21). 18. But Oh, how happy and blessed are those who love God and do as the Lord Himself says in the Gospel: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself (Mt 22:37, 39).


19. Let us love God, therefore, and adore Him with a pure heart and a pure mind because He Who seeks this above all else has said: The true worshipers will adore the Father in spirit and in truth (Jn 4:23). 20. For all those who worship Him are to worship Him in the spirit of truth (cf. Jn 4:24). 21. And let us praise Him and pray to Him day and night (Ps 31:4), saying: Our Father Who art in heaven (Mt 6:9), since we should pray always and never lose heart (Lk 18:1).

22. We must also confess all our sins to a priest, and receive from him the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. 23. He who does not eat His Flesh and does not drink His Blood (cf. Jn 6:55, 57) cannot enter the Kingdom of God (Jn 3:5). 24. Yet let him eat and drink worthily, since he who receives unworthily eats and drinks judgment to himself not recognizing—that is, not discerning—the Body of the Lord (1 Cor 11:29). 25. Moreover, let us perform worthy fruits of penance (Lk 3:8). 26. And let us love our neighbors as ourselves (cf. Mt 22:39). 27. And if there is anyone who does not wish to love them as himself, at least let him do no harm to them, but rather do good.


28. But those who have received the power to judge others should exercise judgment with mercy as they themselves desire to receive mercy from the Lord. 29. For judgment will be without mercy for those who have not shown mercy (Jas 2:13).


30. Let us then have charity and humility; let us give alms since this washes our souls from the stains of [our] sins (cf. Tob 4:11; 12:9). 31. For people lose everything they leave behind in this world; but they carry with them the rewards of charity and the alms which they gave, for which they will have a reward and a suitable remuneration from the Lord.


32. We must also fast and abstain from vices and sins (cf. Sir 3:32) and from any excess of food and drink, and be Catholics. 33. We must also visit churches frequently and venerate and show respect for the clergy, not so much for them personally if they are sinners, but by reason of their office and their administration of the most holy Body and Blood of Christ which they sacrifice upon the altar and receive and administer to others. 34. And let all of us firmly realize that no one can be saved except through the holy words and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ which the clergy pronounce, proclaim and minister. 35. And they alone must administer [them], and not others. 36. But religious especially, who have left the world, are bound to do more and greater things without however leaving these undone (cf. Lk 11:42).


37. We must hate our bodies with [their] vices and sins, because the Lord says in the Gospel: All evils, vices, and sins proceed from the heart (cf. Mt 15:18-19; Mk 7:23). 38. We must love our enemies and do good to those who hate us (cf. Mt 5:44; Lk 6:27). 39. We must observe the commands and counsels of our Lord Jesus Christ. 40. We must also deny ourselves (cf. Mt 16:24) and place our bodies under the yoke of service and holy obedience, as each one has promised to the Lord. 41. And no one is to be obliged to obey another in anything by which a sin or a crime is committed.


42. The one to whom obedience has been entrusted and who is esteemed as greater should be as the lesser (Lk 22:26) and the servant of the other brothers. 43. And he should use and show mercy to each of his brothers as he would wish them to do to him were he in a similar position (cf. Mt. 7:12). 44. Nor should he become angry with a brother because of a fault of that brother, but with all patience and humility let him admonish him and support him.


45. We must not be wise and prudent according to the flesh; rather, we must be simple, humble, and pure. 46. And let us hold ourselves in contempt and scorn, since through our own fault all of us are miserable and contemptible, vermin and worms, as the Lord says through the prophet: I am a worm and no man, the scorn of men and the outcast of the people (Ps 21:7). 47. We must never desire to be over others; rather we must be servants and subject to every human creature for God's sake (1 Pet 2:13). 48. And upon all men and women, if they have done these things and have persevered to the end, the Spirit of the Lord will rest (Is 11:2) and He will make His home and dwelling among them (cf. Jn 14:23). 49. They will be children of the heavenly Father (cf. Mt 5:45) whose works they do. 50. And they are spouses, brothers, and mothers of our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Mt 12:50). 51. We are spouses when the faithful soul is joined to Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. 52. We are brothers when we do the will of His Father Who is in heaven (cf. Mt 12:50). 53. [We are] mothers when we carry Him in our heart and body (cf. 1 Cor 6:20) through love and a pure and sincere conscience; we give birth to Him through [His] holy manner of working, which should shine before others as an example (cf. Mt 5:16).


54. Oh, how glorious it is, how holy and great, to have a Father in heaven! 55. Oh, how holy, consoling, beautiful, and wondrous it is to have a Spouse! 56. Oh, how holy and how loving, pleasing, humble, peaceful, sweet, lovable, and desirable above all things to have such a Brother and Son, Who laid down His life for His sheep (cf. Jn 10:15) and [Who] prayed to the Father for us saying: Holy Father, protect those in your name whom you have given to me (Jn 17:11). 57. Father, all those whom you gave me in the world were yours and you have given them to me (Jn 17:6). 58. And the words which you gave to me I have given to them; and they have accepted them and truly know that I came from you and they have believed that you have sent me (Jn 17:8). 59. I pray for them and not for the world (cf. Jn 17:9); bless and sanctify them (Jn 17:17), and I sanctify myself for their sakes so that they may be holy (Jn 17:19) in being one as we are (Jn 17:11). 60. And I wish, Father, that where I am they also may be with me so that they may see my glory (Jn 17:24) in your kingdom (Mt 20:21).


61. Let every creature in heaven, on earth, in the sea and in the depths, give praise, glory, honor, and blessing to Him Who suffered so much for us, Who has given so many good things, and [Who] will [continue to] do so for the future.

62. For He is our power and strength, He Who alone is good [Who] is most high, [Who is] all-powerful, admirable, [and] glorious; [Who] alone is holy, praiseworthy, and blessed throughout endless ages. Amen.


63. All those, however, who are not [living] in penance and do not receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ; 64. [who] practice vice and sin and walk [the paths of] wicked concupiscence (Col 3:5) and evil desires; 65. who do not observe what they have promised and bodily serve the world by the desires of the flesh (1 Pet 2:11), the cares and anxieties of this world, and the preoccupations of this life: 66. [such people] are deceived by the devil, whose children they are and whose works they perform (cf. Jn 8:41). They are blind because they do not see the true light, our Lord Jesus Christ. 67. They do not have spiritual wisdom because they do not have within them the Son of God Who is the true wisdom of the Father. Of these people it is said: Their wisdom has been swallowed up (Ps. 106:27). 68. They see [and] acknowledge, they know and do evil, and, knowingly, they lose (their) souls. 69. See, you blind ones, [you who] are deceived by our enemies, the flesh, the world, and the devil. For it is sweet to the body to commit sin and bitter to it to serve God, because all evils, vices, and sins come from and proceed from the heart of men, as the Lord says in the Gospel (cf. Mk 7:21, 23). 70. And you have nothing in this world or in [the world] to come. 71. You think that you possess the vanities of the world for a while, but you are deceived, since the day and the hour will come to which you give no thought, of which you have no knowledge and of which you are ignorant.

72. The body grows weak, death approaches, family and friends come, saying: "Put your affairs in order." 73. See, his wife and his children, relatives and friends pretend to cry. 74. Looking at them, he sees them weeping [and] is moved by an evil impulse. As he thinks to himself, he says: "Look, I put my soul and body, as well as everything I have, into your hands." 75. Certainly, that man is cursed who confides and entrusts his soul and body and all his possessions into such hands; 76. for, as the Lord says through the prophet, Cursed is the man who confides in man (Jer 17:5). 77. And immediately they summon the priest to come. The priest says to him: "Do you wish to receive pardon for all your sins?" 78. He responds: "I do." "Do you wish to make restitution as far as you can from your substance for all that you have done and for the ways [in which] you have defrauded and deceived people?" 79. He responds: "No." 80. And the priest asks: "Why not?" "Because I have placed everything in the hands of relatives and friends." 81. And he begins to lose the power of speech and thus that miserable man dies.


82. But let everyone know that whenever or however a person dies in mortal sin without making amends when he could have done so and did not, the devil snatches up his soul out of his body with so much anguish and tribulation that no one can know it unless he has experienced it. 83. And every talent and power and knowledge which he thinks he possesses (cf. Lk 8:18) will be taken away from him (Mk 4:25). 84. And [whatever] he leaves his relatives and friends they will snatch up and divide among themselves. And afterwards they will say: "May his soul be cursed since he could have acquired more and given us more than he did." 85. Worms eat [his] body. And so he loses body and soul in this brief life, and will go down to hell where he will be tormented without end.


86. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 87. I, Brother Francis, your little servant, ask and implore you in the love which is God (cf. 1 Jn 4:16) and with the desire to kiss your feet, to receive these words and others of our Lord Jesus Christ with humility and love, and observe [them] and put [them] into practice. 88. And to all men and women who will receive them kindly [and] understand their meaning and pass them on to others by their example: If they have persevered in them to the end (Mt 24:13), may the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit bless them. Amen.