The Charisms of St Francis

Saint Francis of Assisi founded the Franciscan order around the turn of the thirteenth century in Italy as part of the vita apostolica, the apostolic life. In various contemporary writings on the Franciscans, it is clear that there are several charisms in their order. According to James Matenaer, a charism is defined as a “gift of the Holy Spirit given for the good of the whole Church.”¹ There are several prominent ones evident in texts, such as preaching and respect for priests; they were needed for building up the Church at the time.

One of the Franciscans’ most prominent charisms is having a deep respect for priests. During the twelfth century, there was a massive wave of anti-clericalism in Europe, with the rise of various heretical sects including the Waldensians.² In one of his writings on Saint Francis of Assisi, Franciscan friar Thomas of Celano discussed how he treated clergy members,

“He embraced priests, doctors of divine law and the entire ecclesiastical order with great affection, teaching that they are to be honored above all others by men.”³

In “A Letter to the Clergy”, Saint Francis of Assisi explains this deep respect:

“We have and see nothing corporally of the Most High except [His] Body and Blood, and the words through which we have been made and have been redeemed.”⁴

Basically, he is saying that priests deserve respect because they consecrate bread and wine at Mass, turning these substances into the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ. This was extremely important to Francis, because the Eucharist was the closest any human being could get to God.

Also in this letter, he discusses how everyone should treat the Eucharist. Specifically, he says that all Catholics must have “a sense of piety concerning all these things, since the good Lord offers Himself into our hands and we handle Him and receive Him daily with our mouth”⁵, because receiving the Eucharist is God coming into the body of a mere creature.

Respect for the clergy was needed because there was a rise in various heretical sects of Catholicism that denied a need for a structured hierarchy in a church. The anti-clerical movement was so prevalent that the leader of one of these sects, Peter Waldo, said he would not listen to the order of the bishop of Lyon to stop preaching. Waldo claimed he was following the command in the Gospel to preach the news of the Savior, and no human could prevent him from accomplishing this divine directive.⁶ His followers were called the Waldensians, and he led them during their split from the Catholic Church. However, shortly before his death, some Waldensians were brought back into the Church.⁷ This is just one example of anti-clericalism that existed around the lifetime of Saint Francis of Assisi. There was a need for people who had a deep respect for the clergy, and Saint Francis of Assisi filled this void by spreading his message of love for the people who made up the Church hierarchy.

Another prominent charism of the early Franciscans is preaching. Thomas of Celano comments that Francis,

“gathering [his brothers] them two by two, sent them off for different parts of the world with the ministry of announcing peace and preaching penance.”⁸

This event happens right at the beginning of the order, and this shows that preaching was part of the early Franciscans’ raison d’être. Francis and his brothers preached to the ends of the earth, with a range of missionary locations.

In “The Earlier Rule,” Francis gives his brothers instructions on how to preach to Muslims (whom he calls Saracens) and other non-Christians. Francis says that “they must make themselves vulnerable to their enemies, both visible and invisible”, before quoting Jesus, Who said that persecution was to be expected.⁹ This rule was written in 1221, a few years after the martyrdom of the Franciscan friars in North Africa. It shows how essential missionary activities were to the early Franciscan order.

He goes on to say that, even if they do not preach by their words, that “all the brothers, however, should preach by their deeds.”¹⁰ This quote shows that it was an expectation for the men in Franciscan order to preach, with it be verbally or by their actions. From the earliest times, Franciscans were expected to preach through every means necessary, and to not be afraid of any potential consequences that they might endure while preaching the Gospel.

This charism of preaching was necessary for the Catholic Church in the early thirteenth century. In his Life of Our Blessed Father Francis, Thomas of Celano later relates the story of how Pope Innocent III

“commanded the brothers to preach penance to all and promised that he would entrust greater and more important things to them later …
[H]e left the city and set out into the world.”¹¹

The current pope thought it was extremely important for preaching to occur. As previously mentioned, the Franciscans went on various missionary trips to all the known world. In 1215, Brother Giles of Assisi went on a mission to the Holy Land as part of the Crusades.¹² In 1219, a few Franciscans went to Morocco to preach to the Muslims who lived there. However, the Muslims were not receptive, and all of the Franciscans were martyred because of their missionary endeavors.¹³ This shows how seriously the Franciscans took this missionary zeal.

In conclusion, it is clear from history that these two gifts, of preaching and of respect for the clergy, helped shape the world around the early Franciscans; they multiplied from the original twelve to 5,000 within their first ten years. The Franciscans continue their mission to spread the Gospel today, numbering over 13,000 throughout the world.

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