St. Anthony of Padua – part 2

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Friar Musings

Before He Was Anthony of Padua. Anthony of Padua was born Fernando Martins de Bulhões on August 15, 1195 in Lisbon, Portugal. His was in a very rich family of the nobility who wanted him to become educated, and they arranged for him to be instructed at the local cathedral school. Against the wishes of his family, however, at the age of 15 he entered the community of Canons Regular at the Abbey of St. Vincent on the outskirts of Lisbon. Monastery life was hardly peaceful for young Fernando, nor conducive to prayer and study, as his old friends came to visit frequently and engaged in vehement political discussions. Continue reading →

St. Anthony of Padua – part 1

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Friar Musings

For more than 100 years, Sacred Heart Catholic Church (in downtown Tampa, FL) had been under the pastoral guidance of the Jesuits. When we Franciscans arrived at Sacred Heart in 2005, we were quite surprised to find that one of the clerestory windows (the ones up high in the nave vault) was Saint Anthony of Padua, a Franciscan contemporary of St. Francis of Assisi. In fact, we Franciscans still have a brief letter, in Francis’ own hand, written to Anthony. Most people know St. Anthony of Padua as the patron saint of lost and stolen articles, but have you ever wondered why he is that particular patron saint?

The Patron Saint of Lost Things. The reason for invoking St. Anthony’s help in finding lost or stolen things is traced back to an incident in his own life. As the story goes, Anthony had a book of psalms that was very important to him. You have to remember this was before the age of the printing press and so all books were of great value, and besides the value of the book, the psalter had the notes and comments he had made to use in teaching students in his Franciscan Order.

A novice who had already grown tired of living religious life decided to depart the community. Besides going AWOL, he also took Anthony’s psalter! Upon realizing his psalter was missing, Anthony prayed it would be found or returned to him, and after his prayer the thieving novice was moved to return the psalter to Anthony and to return to the Order, which accepted him back. Legend has embroidered this story a bit. It has the novice stopped in his flight by a horrible devil, brandishing an ax and threatening to trample him underfoot if he did not immediately return the book. Obviously a devil would hardly command anyone to do something good, but the core of the story would seem to be true. The stolen book is said to be preserved in the Franciscan friary in Bologna.

In any event, shortly after his death people began praying through Anthony to find or recover lost and stolen articles. And the “Responsory of St. Anthony” composed by his contemporary and brother friar, Julian of Spires, proclaims, “The sea obeys and fetters break/And lifeless limbs thou dost restore/While treasures lost are found again/When young or old thine aid implore.”

Francis and the Crusades – Part 3

Posted on June 7, 2013 by Friar Musings

It is important to recognize why Francis came to Damietta during the Fifth Crusade is just one part of his life. How the experience of the crusade and his meeting with the Sultan of Egypt, Al-Malik al-Kamil, may have changed Francis is a different part of the saint’s life. While the early sources about the life of Francis are uniform in Francis’ zeal for evangelization and his desire for martyrdom, many modern scholars dismiss these as hagiographic (“saint making”) embellishments. The modern desire, especially among Franciscan scholars, seems to ensure that Francis “the peacemaker” arrives on the shore of Egypt in 1201. When one looks outside modern Franciscan scholarship, especially to the current medieval specialist, one gains a different perspective. André Vauchez, a French medievalist noted for his recent and thorough book on Francis, thinks that “some commentators are doubtful today [re: martyrdom], fearing to attribute to their hero a suicidal attitude or irresponsible behavior.” Vauchez goes on to write, that “Contrary to what is sometimes affirmed, the search for martyrdom was not in contradiction with his desire to follow Christ, who died on the cross to open to humanity the way to salvation. To face tribulations and dangers, including the loss of life, in order to spread the Christian faith was, from the beginning, a constitutive element of Franciscan sensibility.” Continue reading →

Francis and the Crusades – Part 2

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Friar Musings

The previous two articles give the background for Francis of Assisi’s mission during the time of the Fifth Crusade. The previous article introduced two key ideas that seemed to be part of a strong spiritual movement in Francis’ time: peregrination pro Christo (“wandering for the sake of Christ”) which we would now call “pilgrimage,” and the long-established idea of Christian martyrdom. We have already seen the friars “wandering for Christ” in their trips throughout central Italy. Continue reading →

Francis of Assisi – to this point….

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Friar Musings

Some folks have asked for an updated page for all the articles on St. Francis of Assisi – so here is what we have “to this point.”

Francis of Assisi – The First Missions

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Friar Musings

An earlier article had discussed the problems with the rapid growth of members within in the fledgling community friars. The period from 1213 to 1216 is the most obscure period in Francis’ life and also one of the periods of explosive growth in the movement as the brotherhood spread well beyond Assisi. How many friars joined the fraternity in those years? It is impossible to say, but we do know this: in 1217 the annual meeting (called a “chapter”) made the decision to send out missions across the Alps into northern Europe, the Baltic states, and to the Crusader States in the eastern Mediterranean. Within Italy, six provinces were established; outside of Italy, five provinces were established: Spain, northern and southern France, Germany, and Syria. Continue reading →

Francis and the Crusades – Part 1

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Friar Musings

One of the events of Francis’ life that has received scant public attention was his meeting with the sultan of Egypt, Al-Malik al-Kamil in 1219 during the so-called “Fifth Crusade.” This meeting has loomed large in the imagination of the “Franciscan world” because of its effect on the Rule of Life and in the Franciscan charism of missions, but has only recently gained public attention because of the new era of tensions with the Islamic world. People are surprised to learn that Francis was part of a crusade – a claim that scholars argue to no end as they argue so many other aspects of Francis’ life. Each side has generally already taken a view of the little poor man from Assisi: Francis the loyal churchman or Francis the radical reformer. Those views are often revelatory of how the scholar views the Crusades. And as with all things, history has a context.

Continue reading →

…each in his own language

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Friar Musings

The description of the first Pentecost in the Acts of the Apostles tells us that when devout Jews from many different nations heard the Spirit-inspired proclamation of the gospel by the disciples, “each one heard them speaking in his own language.” The outpouring of the Spirit of God united this very diverse group of people in a powerful moment of God’s self-revelation. Such is the power of Spirit.

Continue reading →

Francis of Assisi – Integrating into the Church

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Friar Musings

Francis finished his military adventures and time as a prisoner of war in early 1205. It was during the latter part of 1205 into 1206 that Francis chose to “leave the world.” In subsequent years , Francis’ model of following Christ began to attract other men to join him in the emerging way of life – even as the “way of life” was being discovered by Francis himself. Francis modeled the life, prayed with the brothers, exhorted them from time to time, and slowly the life began to take shape.

The basic shape of the movement was not all that unique in Francis’ day. There were many other penitential and mendicant movements in the beginning of the 13^th century in western Europe. – some scholars tallying 130 others. Interestingly, only one of them exists today: the Franciscan. Why? Most scholars hold that it was because of Francis’ insistence on being “Catholic” and formally part of the Catholic Church. There are several theories as to the reason for that insistence. Like most things it is a complex reason, but likely primary among the reasons is Francis’ love of the Eucharist. But whatever the reasons, it is no surprise that in 1209 Francis and some of his brothers journeyed to Rome to seek an audience in a consistory with Pope Innocent III in order to receive formal recognition of his proposed way of life. Continue reading →

The Upper Room: all kinds of doors

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Friar Musings

There are all kinds of doors in life.

Doors that lead to new life. We pass through them and life is changed. Passing through the doors of high school graduation to the new world called college. Entering a common life through he doors of marriage – or vows as a Franciscan friar. What was the most significant/memorable door you have passed through into a new life? I bet almost everyone’s passing through was accompanied by trepidation, uncertainty – maybe a tinge of fear – and yet we commit and we pass through to new life.

Not so with all doors There are doors that lock us out. Continue reading →

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