THE MENDICANT ORDERS – AN IMPORTANT MODEL OF RENEWAL IN A NEW HISTORICAL EPOCH
They were given this name
because of their characteristic feature of "begging", in other words
humbly turning to the people for financial support in order to live their vow
of poverty and carry out their evangelizing mission. The best known and most
important of the Mendicant Orders that came into being in this period are the
Friars Minor and the Friars Preachers, known as Franciscans and Dominicans.
Thus they are called by the names of their Founders, respectively Francis of
Assisi and Dominic de Guzmán. These two great saints were able to read
"the signs of the times" intelligently, perceiving the challenges
that the Church of their time would be obliged to face.
A first challenge was the
expansion of various groups and movements of the faithful who, in spite of
being inspired by a legitimate desire for authentic Christian life often set
themselves outside ecclesial communion. They were profoundly adverse to the
rich and beautiful Church which had developed precisely with the flourishing of
monasticism. In recent Catecheses I have reflected on the monastic community of Cluny,
which had always attracted young people, therefore vital forces, as well as
property and riches. Thus, at the first stage, logically, a Church developed
whose wealth was in property and also in buildings. The idea that Christ came
down to earth poor and that the true Church must be the very Church of the poor
clashed with this Church. The desire for true Christian authenticity was thus
in contrast to the reality of the empirical Church. These were the so-called
paupers' movements of the Middle Ages. They fiercely contested the way of life
of the priests and monks of the time, accused of betraying the Gospel and of
not practising poverty like the early Christians, and these movements countered
the Bishops' ministry with their own "parallel hierarchy".
Furthermore, to justify their decisions, they disseminated doctrine
incompatible with the Catholic faith. For example, the Cathars' or
Albigensians' movement reproposed ancient heresies such as the debasement of
and contempt for the material world the opposition to wealth soon became
opposition to material reality as such, the denial of free will and,
subsequently, dualism, the existence of a second principle of evil equivalent
to God. These movements gained ground, especially in France and Italy, not only
because of their solid organization but also because they were denouncing a
real disorder in the Church, caused by the far from exemplary behaviour of some
members of the clergy.
Both Franciscans and
Dominicans, following in their Founders' footsteps, showed on the contrary that
it was possible to live evangelical poverty, the truth of the Gospel as such,
without being separated from the Church. They showed that the Church remains
the true, authentic home of the Gospel and of Scripture. Indeed, Dominic and
Francis drew the power of their witness precisely from close communion with the
Church and the Papacy. With an entirely original decision in the history of
consecrated life the Members of these Orders not only gave up their personal
possessions, as monks had done since antiquity, but even did not want their
land or goods to be made over to their communities. By so doing they meant to
bear witness to an extremely modest life, to show solidarity to the poor and to
trust in Providence alone, to live by Providence every day, trustingly placing
themselves in God's hands. This personal and community style of the Mendicant
Orders, together with total adherence to the teaching and authority of the
Church, was deeply appreciated by the Pontiffs of the time, such as Innocent
III and Honorious III, who gave their full support to the new ecclesial
experiences, recognizing in them the voice of the Spirit. And results were not
lacking: the groups of paupers that had separated from the Church returned to
ecclesial communion or were gradually reduced until they disappeared. Today
too, although we live in a society in which "having" often prevails
over "being", we are very sensitive to the examples of poverty and
solidarity that believers offer by their courageous decisions. Today too,
similar projects are not lacking: the movements, which truly stem from the
newness of the Gospel and live it with radicalism in this day and age, placing
themselves in God's hands to serve their neighbour. As Paul VI recalled in Evangelii Nuntiandi, the world listens willingly to
teachers when they are also witnesses. This is a lesson never to be forgotten
in the task of spreading the Gospel: to be a mirror reflecting divine love, one
must first live what one proclaims.
The Franciscans and Dominicans
were not only witnesses but also teachers. In fact, another widespread need in
their time was for religious instruction. Many of the lay faithful who dwelled
in the rapidly expanding cities, wanted to live an intensely spiritual
Christian life. They therefore sought to deepen their knowledge of the faith
and to be guided in the demanding but exciting path of holiness. The Mendicant
Orders were felicitously able to meet this need too: the proclamation of the
Gospel in simplicity and with its depth and grandeur was an aim, perhaps the
principal aim, of this movement. Indeed, they devoted themselves with great
zeal to preaching. Great throngs of the faithful, often true and proper crowds,
would gather to listen to the preachers in the churches and in the open air;
let us think, for example, of St Anthony. The preachers addressed topics close
to people's lives, especially the practice of the theological and moral
virtues, with practical examples that were easy to understand. They also taught
ways to cultivate a life of prayer and devotion. For example, the Franciscans
spread far and wide the devotion to the humanity of Christ, with the commitment
to imitate the Lord. Thus it is hardly surprising that many of the faithful,
men and women, chose to be accompanied on their Christian journey by Franciscan
or Dominican Friars, who were much sought after and esteemed spiritual
directors and confessors. In this way associations of lay faithful came into
being, which drew inspiration from the spirituality of St Francis and St
Dominic as it was adapted to their way of living. In other words, the proposal
of a "lay holiness" won many people over. As the Second Ecumenical Vatican Council recalled, the call to
holiness is not reserved to the few but is universal (cf. Lumen Gentium, n. 40). In all the states of
life, in accordance with the demands of each one of them a possibility of
living the Gospel may be found. In our day too, each and every Christian must
strive for the "high standard of Christian living", whatever the
class to which he or she belongs!
The importance of the
Mendicant Orders thus grew so vigorously in the Middle Ages that secular
institutions, such as the labour organizations, the ancient gilds and the civil
authorities themselves, often had recourse to the spiritual counselling of
Members of these Orders in order to draw up their regulations and, at times, to
settle both internal and external conflicts. The Franciscans and Dominicans
became the spiritual animators of the medieval city. With deep insight they put
into practice a pastoral strategy suited to the social changes. Since many
people were moving from the countryside to the cities, they no longer built
their convents in rural districts but rather in urban zones. Furthermore, to
carry out their activities for the benefit of souls they had to keep abreast of
pastoral needs. With another entirely innovative decision, the Mendicant Orders
relinquished their principle of stability, a classical principle of ancient
monasticism, opting for a different approach. Friars Minor and Preachers
travelled with missionary zeal from one place to another. Consequently they organized
themselves differently in comparison with the majority of monastic Orders.
Instead of the traditional autonomy that every monastery enjoyed, they gave
greater importance to the Order as such and to the Superior General, as well as
to the structure of the Provinces. Thus the Mendicants were more available to
the needs of the universal Church. Their flexibility enabled them to send out
the most suitable friars on specific missions and the Mendicant Orders reached
North Africa, the Middle East and Northern Europe. With this adaptability,
their missionary dynamism was renewed.
The cultural transformations
taking place in that period constituted another great challenge. New issues
enlivened the discussion in the universities that came into being at the end of
the 12th century. Minors and Preachers did not hesitate to take on this
commitment. As students and professors they entered the most famous
universities of the time, set up study centres, produced texts of great value,
gave life to true and proper schools of thought, were protagonists of
scholastic theology in its best period and had an important effect on the
development of thought. The greatest thinkers, St Thomas Aquinas and St
Bonaventure, were Mendicants who worked precisely with this dynamism of the new
evangelization which also renewed the courage of thought, of the dialogue
between reason and faith. Today too a "charity of and in the truth"
exists, an "intellectual charity" that must be exercised to enlighten
minds and to combine faith with culture. The dedication of the Franciscans and
Dominicans in the medieval universities is an invitation, dear faithful, to
make ourselves present in the places where knowledge is tempered so as to focus
the light of the Gospel, with respect and conviction, on the fundamental
questions that concern Man, his dignity and his eternal destiny. Thinking of
the role of the Franciscans and the Dominicans in the Middle Ages, of the
spiritual renewal they inspired and of the breath of new life they communicated
in the world, a monk said: "At that time the world was ageing. Two Orders
were born in the Church whose youth they renewed like that of an eagle"
(Burchard of Ursperg, Chronicon).
SAINT
FRANCIS OF ASSISI – FOUNDER OF THE ORDER OF FRIARS MINOR
"A sun was born into the world". With these
words, in the Divine Comedy (Paradiso, Canto XI), the great Italian poet Dante Alighieri
alludes to Francis' birth, which took place in Assisi either at the end of 1181
or the beginning of 1182. As part of a rich family his father was a cloth
merchant Francis lived a carefree adolescence and youth, cultivating the
chivalrous ideals of the time. At age 20, he took part in a military campaign
and was taken prisoner. He became ill and was freed. After his return to
Assisi, a slow process of spiritual conversion began within him, which brought
him to gradually abandon the worldly lifestyle that he had adopted thus far.
The famous episodes of Francis' meeting with the leper to whom, dismounting
from his horse, he gave the kiss of peace and of the message from the Crucifix
in the small Church of St Damian, date pack to this period. Three times Christ
on the Cross came to life, and told him: "Go, Francis, and repair my
Church in ruins". This simple occurrence of the word of God heard in the
Church of St Damian contains a profound symbolism. At that moment St Francis
was called to repair the small church, but the ruinous state of the building
was a symbol of the dramatic and disquieting situation of the Church herself.
At that time the Church had a superficial faith which did not shape or
transform life, a scarcely zealous clergy, and a chilling of love. It was an
interior destruction of the Church which also brought a decomposition of unity,
with the birth of heretical movements. Yet, there at the centre of the Church
in ruins was the Crucified Lord, and he spoke: he called for renewal, he called
Francis to the manual labour of repairing the small Church of St Damian, the
symbol of a much deeper call to renew Christ's own Church, with her radicality
of faith and her loving enthusiasm for Christ. This event, which probably
happened in 1205, calls to mind another similar occurrence which took place in
1207: Pope Innocent III's dream. In it, he saw the Basilica of St John Lateran,
the mother of all churches, collapsing and one small and insignificant
religious brother supporting the church on his shoulders to prevent it from
falling. On the one hand, it is interesting to note that it is not the Pope who
was helping to prevent the church from collapsing but rather a small and
insignificant brother, whom the Pope recognized in Francis when he later came
to visit. Innocent III was a powerful Pope who had a great theological
formation and great political influence; nevertheless he was not the one to renew
the Church but the small, insignificant religious. It was St Francis, called by
God. On the other hand, however, it is important to note that St Francis does
not renew the Church without or in opposition to the Pope, but only in
communion with him. The two realities go together: the Successor of Peter, the
Bishops, the Church founded on the succession of the Apostles and the new
charism that the Holy Spirit brought to life at that time for the Church's
renewal. Authentic renewal grew from these together.
Let us return to the life of
St Francis. When his father Bernardone reproached him for being too generous to
the poor, Francis, standing before the Bishop of Assisi, in a symbolic gesture,
stripped off his clothes, thus showing he renounced his paternal inheritance.
Just as at the moment of creation, Francis had nothing, only the life that God
gave him, into whose hands he delivered himself. He then lived as a hermit,
until, in 1208, another fundamental step in his journey of conversion took
place. While listening to a passage from the Gospel of Matthew Jesus' discourse
to the apostles whom he sent out on mission Francis felt called to live in
poverty and dedicate himself to preaching. Other companions joined him, and in
1209 he travelled to Rome, to propose to Pope Innocent III the plan for a new
form of Christian life. He received a fatherly welcome from that great Pontiff,
who, enlightened by the Lord, perceived the divine origin of the movement
inspired by Francis. The Poverello of Assisi understood that every charism as a gift of
the Holy Spirit existed to serve the Body of Christ, which is the Church;
therefore he always acted in full communion with the ecclesial authorities. In
the life of the Saints there is no contradiction between prophetic charism and
the charism of governance, and if tension arises, they know to patiently await
the times determined by the Holy Spirit.
Actually, several 19th-century
and also 20th-century historians have sought to construct a so-called
historical Francis, behind the traditional depiction of the Saint, just as they
sought to create a so-called historical Jesus behind the Jesus of the Gospels.
This historical Francis would not have been a man of the Church, but rather a
man connected directly and solely to Christ, a man that wanted to bring about a
renewal of the People of God, without canonical forms or hierarchy. The truth
is that St Francis really did have an extremely intimate relationship with
Jesus and with the word of God, that he wanted to pursue sine glossa: just as it is, in all its
radicality and truth. It is also true that initially he did not intend to
create an Order with the necessary canonical forms. Rather he simply wanted,
through the word of God and the presence of the Lord, to renew the People of God,
to call them back to listening to the word and to literal obedience to Christ.
Furthermore, he knew that Christ was never "mine" but is always
"ours", that "I" cannot possess Christ that "I"
cannot rebuild in opposition to the Church, her will and her teaching. Instead
it is only in communion with the Church built on the Apostolic succession that
obedience too, to the word of God can be renewed.
It is also true that Francis
had no intention of creating a new Order, but solely that of renewing the People
of God for the Lord who comes. He understood, however, through suffering and
pain that everything must have its own order and that the law of the Church is
necessary to give shape to renewal. Thus he placed himself fully, with his
heart, in communion with the Church, with the Pope and with the Bishops. He
always knew that the centre of the Church is the Eucharist, where the Body of
Christ and his Blood are made present through the priesthood, the Eucharist and
the communion of the Church. Wherever the priesthood and the Eucharist and the
Church come together, it is there alone that the word of God also dwells. The
real historical Francis was the Francis of the Church, and precisely in this
way he continues to speak to non-believers and believers of other confessions
and religions as well.
Francis and his friars, who
were becoming ever more numerous, established themselves at the Portiuncula, or
the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli, the sacred place par excellence of
Franciscan spirituality. Even Clare, a young woman of Assisi from a noble
family, followed the school of Francis. This became the origin of the Second
Franciscan Order, that of the Poor Clares, another experience destined to
produce outstanding figures of sainthood in the Church.
Innocent III's Successor, Pope
Honorius III, with his Bull Cum Dilecti in 1218 supported the unique development of the first
Friars Minor, who started missions in different European countries, and even in
Morocco. In 1219 Francis obtained permission to visit and speak to the Muslim
sultan Malik al-Klmil, to preach the Gospel of Jesus there too. I would like to
highlight this episode in St Francis' life, which is very timely. In an age
when there was a conflict underway between Christianity and Islam, Francis,
intentionally armed only with his faith and personal humility, travelled the
path of dialogue effectively. The chronicles tell us that he was given a
benevolent welcome and a cordial reception by the Muslim Sultan. It provides a
model which should inspire today's relations between Christians and Muslims: to
promote a sincere dialogue, in reciprocal respect and mutual understanding (cf.
Nostra Aetate, 3). It appears that later,
in 1220, Francis visited the Holy Land, thus sowing a seed that would bear much
fruit: his spiritual sons would in fact make of the Sites where Jesus lived a
privileged space for their mission. It is with gratitude that I think today of
the great merits of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land.
On his return to Italy,
Francis turned over the administration of his Order to his vicar, Br Pietro
Cattani, while the Pope entrusted the rapidly growing Order's protection to
Cardinal Ugolino, the future Supreme Pontiff Gregory IX. For his part, the
Founder, dedicated completely to his preaching, which he carried out with great
success, compiled his Rule that was then approved by the Pope.
In 1224, at the hermitage in
La Verna, Francis had a vision of the Crucified Lord in the form of a seraph
and from that encounter received the stigmata from the Seraph Crucifix, thus
becoming one with the Crucified Christ. It was a gift, therefore, that
expressed his intimate identification with the Lord.
The death of Francis his transitus occurred on the evening of 3
October 1226, in the Portiuncula. After having blessed his spiritual children,
he died, lying on the bare earthen floor. Two years later Pope Gregory ix
entered him in the roll of saints. A short time after, a great basilica in his
honour was constructed in Assisi, still today an extremely popular pilgrim
destination. There pilgrims can venerate the Saint's tomb and take in the
frescoes by Giotto, an artist who has magnificently illustrated Francis' life.
It has been said that Francis
represents an alter Christus, that he was truly a living icon of Christ. He has
also been called "the brother of Jesus". Indeed, this was his ideal:
to be like Jesus, to contemplate Christ in the Gospel, to love him intensely
and to imitate his virtues. In particular, he wished to ascribe interior and
exterior poverty with a fundamental value, which he also taught to his
spiritual sons. The first Beatitude of the Sermon on the Mount "Blessed are
the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 5: 3) found a
luminous fulfilment in the life and words of St Francis. Truly, dear friends,
the saints are the best interpreters of the Bible. As they incarnate the word
of God in their own lives, they make it more captivating than ever, so that it
really speaks to us. The witness of Francis, who loved poverty as a means to
follow Christ with dedication and total freedom, continues to be for us too an
invitation to cultivate interior poverty in order to grow in our trust of God,
also by adopting a sober lifestyle and a detachment from material goods.
Francis' love for Christ
expressed itself in a special way in the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament of
the Eucharist. In the Fonti Francescane (Writings of St Francis) one reads such moving
expressions as: "Let everyone be struck with fear, let the whole world
tremble, and let the heavens exult, when Christ, the Son of the living God, is
present on the altar in the hands of a priest. Oh stupendous dignity! O humble
sublimity, that the Lord of the universe, God and the Son of God, so humbles
himself that for our salvation he hides himself under an ordinary piece of
bread" (Francis of Assisi, Scritti, Editrici Francescane, Padova 2002, 401).
In this Year for Priests, I would also like to recall a piece of advice that
Francis gave to priests: "When you wish to celebrate Mass, in a pure way,
reverently make the true sacrifice of the Most Holy Body and Blood of our Lord
Jesus Christ" (Francis of Assisi, Scritti, 399). Francis always showed
great deference towards priests, and asserted that they should always be
treated with respect, even in cases where they might be somewhat unworthy personally.
The reason he gave for this profound respect was that they receive the gift of
consacrating the Eucharist. Dear brothers in the priesthood, let us never
forget this teaching: the holiness of the Eucharist appeals to us to be pure,
to live in a way that is consistent with the Mystery we celebrate.
From love for Christ stems
love for others and also for all God's creatures. This is yet another
characteristic trait of Francis' spirituality: the sense of universal
brotherhood and love for Creation, which inspired the famous Canticle of
Creatures. This
too is an extremely timely message. As I recalled in my recent Encyclical Caritas in Veritate, development is sustainable
only when it respects Creation and does not damage the environment (cf. nn.
48-52), and in the Message for the World Day of Peace this year, I also underscored
that even building stable peace is linked to respect for Creation. Francis
reminds us that the wisdom and benevolence of the Creator is expressed through
Creation. He understood nature as a language in which God speaks to us, in
which reality becomes clear, and we can speak of God and with God.
Dear friends, Francis was a
great Saint and a joyful man. His simplicity, his humility, his faith, his love
for Christ, his goodness towards every man and every woman, brought him
gladness in every circumstance. Indeed, there subsists an intimate and
indissoluble relationship between holiness and joy. A French writer once wrote
that there is only one sorrow in the world: not to be saints, that is, not to
be near to God. Looking at the testimony of St Francis, we understand that this
is the secret of true happiness: to become saints, close to God!
May the Virgin, so tenderly
loved by Francis, obtain this gift for us. Let us entrust ourselves to her with
the words of the Poverello of Assisi himself: "Blessed Virgin Mary, no one
like you among women has ever been born in the world, daughter and handmaid of
the Most High King and heavenly Father, Mother of our Most Blessed Lord Jesus
Christ, spouse of the Holy Spirit. Pray for us... to your most blessed and
beloved Son, Lord and Master" (Francesco di Assisi, Scritti, 163).
SAINT ANTHONY
OF PADUA
Anthony of Padua, or of Lisbon, as he is also
called with reference to his native town. He is one of the most popular Saints
in the whole Catholic Church, venerated not only in Padua, where a splendid
Basilica has been built that contains his mortal remains, but also throughout
the world. Dear to the faithful are the images and statues that portray him
with the lily a symbol of his purity or with the Child Jesus in his arms, in
memory of a miraculous apparition mentioned in several literary sources.
With his outstanding gifts of intelligence,
balance, apostolic zeal and, primarily, mystic fervour, Anthony contributed
significantly to the development of Franciscan spirituality. He was born into a
noble family in Lisbon in about 1195 and was baptized with the name of
Fernando. He entered the Canons who followed the monastic Rule of St Augustine,
first at St Vincent's Monastery in Lisbon and later at that of the Holy Cross
in Coimbra, a renowned cultural centre in Portugal. He dedicated himself with
interest and solicitude to the study of the Bible and of the Church Fathers,
acquiring the theological knowledge that was to bear fruit in his teaching and
preaching activities. The event that represented a decisive turning point on
his life happened in Coimbra. It was there, in 1220, that the relics were
exposed of the first five Franciscan missionaries who had gone to Morocco,
where they had met with martyrdom. Their story inspired in young Fernando the
desire to imitate them and to advance on the path of Christian perfection. Thus
he asked to leave the Augustinian Canons to become a Friar Minor. His request
was granted and, having taken the name of Anthony, he too set out for Morocco,
but divine Providence disposed otherwise. After an illness he was obliged to
return to Italy and, in 1221, participated in the famous "Chapter of the Mats"
in Assisi, where he also met St Francis. He then lived for a period in complete
concealment in a convent at Forlì in northern Italy, where the Lord called him
to another mission. Invited, in somewhat casual circumstances, to preach on the
occasion of a priestly ordination, he showed himself to be endowed with such
knowledge and eloquence that the Superiors assigned him to preaching. Thus he
embarked on apostolic work in Italy and France that was so intense and
effective that it induced many people who had left the Church to retrace their
footsteps. Anthony was also one of the first if not the first theology teachers
of the Friars Minor. He began his teaching in Bologna with the blessing of St
Francis who, recognizing Anthony's virtues, sent him a short letter that began
with these words: "I would like you to teach the brethren theology".
Anthony laid the foundations of Franciscan theology which, cultivated by other
outstanding thinkers, was to reach its apex with St Bonaventure of Bagnoregio
and Bl. Duns Scotus.
Having become Provincial Superior of the Friars
Minor in northern Italy, he continued his ministry of preaching, alternating it
with his office of governance. When his term as Provincial came to an end, he
withdrew to a place near Padua where he had stayed on various other occasions.
Barely a year later, he died at the city gates on 13 June 1231. Padua, which
had welcomed him with affection and veneration in his lifetime, has always
accorded him honour and devotion. Pope Gregory IX himself, having heard him
preach, described him as the "Ark of the Testament" and subsequent to
miracles brought about through his intercession canonized him in 1232, only a
year after his death.
In the last period of his life, Anthony put in
writing two cycles of "Sermons", entitled respectively "Sunday
Sermons" and "Sermons on the Saints" destined for the Franciscan
Order's preachers and teachers of theological studies. In these Sermons he
commented on the texts of Scripture presented by the Liturgy, using the
patristic and medieval interpretation of the four senses: the literal or
historical, the allegorical or Christological, the tropological or moral, and
the anagogical, which orients a person to eternal life. Today it has been
rediscovered that these senses are dimensions of the one meaning of Sacred
Scripture and that it is right to interpret Sacred Scripture by seeking the
four dimensions of its words. St Anthony's sermons are theological and
homiletical texts that echo the live preaching in which Anthony proposes a true
and proper itinerary of Christian life. The richness of spiritual teaching
contained in the "Sermons" was so great that in 1946 Venerable Pope
Pius XII proclaimed Anthony a Doctor of the Church, attributing to him the
title "Doctor Evangelicus", since the freshness and beauty of the
Gospel emerge from these writings. We can still read them today with great
spiritual profit.
In these Sermons St Anthony speaks of prayer as
of a loving relationship that impels man to speak gently with the Lord,
creating an ineffable joy that sweetly enfolds the soul in prayer. Anthony
reminds us that prayer requires an atmosphere of silence, which does not mean
distance from external noise but rather is an interior experience that aims to
remove the distractions caused by a soul's anxieties, thereby creating silence
in the soul itself. According to this prominent Franciscan Doctor's teaching,
prayer is structured in four indispensable attitudes which in Anthony's Latin
are defined as obsecratio, oratio, postulatio, gratiarum actio. We might translate them in the following
manner. The first step in prayer is confidently opening one's heart to God;
this is not merely accepting a word but opening one's heart to God's presence.
Next, is speaking with him affectionately, seeing him present with oneself;
then a very natural thing presenting our needs to him; and lastly, praising and
thanking him.
In St Anthony's teaching on prayer we perceive
one of the specific traits of the Franciscan theology that he founded: namely
the role assigned to divine love which enters into the sphere of the
affections, of the will and of the heart, and which is also the source from
which flows a spiritual knowledge that surpasses all other knowledge. In fact,
it is in loving that we come to know.
Anthony writes further: "Charity is the
soul of faith, it gives it life; without love, faith dies" (Sermones
Dominicales et Festivi II,
Messagero, Padua 1979, p. 37).
It is only the prayerful soul that can progress
in spiritual life: this is the privileged object of St Anthony's preaching. He
is thoroughly familiar with the shortcomings of human nature, with our tendency
to lapse into sin, which is why he continuously urges us to fight the
inclination to avidity, pride and impurity; instead of practising the virtues
of poverty and generosity, of humility and obedience, of chastity and of
purity. At the beginning of the 13th century, in the context of the rebirth of
the city and the flourishing of trade, the number of people who were
insensitive to the needs of the poor increased. This is why on various
occasions Anthony invites the faithful to think of the true riches, those of
the heart, which make people good and merciful and permit them to lay up
treasure in Heaven. "O rich people", he urged them, "befriend...
the poor, welcome them into your homes: it will subsequently be they who
receive you in the eternal tabernacles in which is the beauty of peace, the
confidence of security and the opulent tranquillity of eternal satiety" (ibid.,
p. 29).
Is not this, dear friends, perhaps a very
important teaching today too, when the financial crisis and serious economic
inequalities impoverish many people and create conditions of poverty? In my
Encyclical Caritas in Veritate I recall: "The economy needs ethics in order to function correctly
not any ethics whatsoever, but an ethics which is people-centred" (n. 45).
Anthony, in the school of Francis, always put
Christ at the centre of his life and thinking, of his action and of his
preaching. This is another characteristic feature of Franciscan theology:
Christocentrism. Franciscan theology willingly contemplates and invites others
to contemplate the mysteries of the Lord's humanity, the man Jesus, and in a
special way the mystery of the Nativity: God who made himself a Child and gave
himself into our hands, a mystery that gives rise to sentiments of love and
gratitude for divine goodness.
Not only the Nativity, a central point of
Christ's love for humanity, but also the vision of the Crucified One inspired
in Anthony thoughts of gratitude to God and esteem for the dignity of the human
person, so that all believers and non-believers might find in the Crucified One
and in his image a life-enriching meaning. St Anthony writes: "Christ who
is your life is hanging before you, so that you may look at the Cross as in a
mirror. There you will be able to know how mortal were your wounds, that no
medicine other than the Blood of the Son of God could heal. If you look
closely, you will be able to realize how great your human dignity and your
value are.... Nowhere other than looking at himself in the mirror of the Cross
can man better understand how much he is worth" (Sermones Dominicales
et Festivi III, pp. 213-214).
In meditating on these words we are better able
to understand the importance of the image of the Crucified One for our culture,
for our humanity that is born from the Christian faith. Precisely by looking at
the Crucified One we see, as St Anthony says, how great are the dignity and
worth of the human being. At no other point can we understand how much the
human person is worth, precisely because God makes us so important, considers
us so important that, in his opinion, we are worthy of his suffering; thus all
human dignity appears in the mirror of the Crucified One and our gazing upon
him is ever a source of acknowledgement of human dignity.
SAINT
BONAVENTURE
St Bonaventure, in all
likelihood born in 1217, died in 1274. Thus he lived in the 13th century, an
epoch in which the Christian faith which had deeply penetrated the culture and
society of Europe inspired imperishable works in the fields of literature, the
visual arts, philosophy and theology. Among the great Christian figures who
contributed to the composition of this harmony between faith and culture
Bonaventure stands out, a man of action and contemplation, of profound piety
and prudent government. He was
called Giovanni di Fidanza. An episode that occurred when he was still a boy deeply marked his life,
as he himself recounts. He fell seriously ill and even his father, who was a
doctor, gave up all hope of saving him from death. So his mother had recourse
to the intercession of St Francis of Assisi, who had recently been canonized.
And Giovanni recovered.
The figure of the Poverello of Assisi became even more
familiar to him several years later when he was in Paris, where he had gone to
pursue his studies. He had obtained a Master of Arts Diploma, which we could
compare with that of a prestigious secondary school in our time. At that point,
like so many young men in the past and also today, Giovanni asked himself a
crucial question: "What should I do with my life?". Fascinated by the
witness of fervour and evangelical radicalism of the Friars Minor who had
arrived in Paris in 1219, Giovanni knocked at the door of the Franciscan
convent in that city and asked to be admitted to the great family of St
Francis' disciples. Many years later he explained the reasons for his decision:
he recognized Christ's action in St Francis and in the movement he had founded.
Thus he wrote in a letter addressed to another friar: "I confess before
God that the reason which made me love the life of blessed Francis most is that
it resembled the birth and early development of the Church. The Church began
with simple fishermen, and was subsequently enriched by very distinguished and
wise teachers; the religion of Blessed Francis was not established by the
prudence of men but by Christ" (Epistula de tribus quaestionibus ad
magistrum innominatum, in Opere di San Bonaventura. Introduzione generale, Rome 1990, p. 29).
So it was that in about the
year 1243 Giovanni was clothed in the Franciscan habit and took the name
"Bonaventure". He was immediately sent to study and attended the
Faculty of Theology of the University of Paris where he took a series of very
demanding courses. He obtained the various qualifications required for an
academic career earning a bachelor's degree in Scripture and in the Sentences.
Thus
Bonaventure studied profoundly Sacred Scripture, the Sentences of Peter Lombard the theology
manual in that time and the most important theological authors. He was in
contact with the teachers and students from across Europe who converged in
Paris and he developed his own personal thinking and a spiritual sensitivity of
great value with which, in the following years, he was able to infuse his works
and his sermons, thus becoming one of the most important theologians in the
history of the Church. It is important to remember the title of the thesis he defended
in order to qualify to teach theology, the licentia ubique docendi, as it was then called. His
dissertation was entitled Questions on the knowledge of Christ. This subject reveals the
central role that Christ always played in Bonaventure's life and teaching. We
may certainly say that the whole of his thinking was profoundly Christocentric.
In those years in Paris,
Bonaventure's adopted city, a violent dispute was raging against the Friars
Minor of St Francis Assisi and the Friars Preachers of St Dominic de Guzmán.
Their right to teach at the university was contested and doubt was even being
cast upon the authenticity of their consecrated life. Of course, the changes
introduced by the Mendicant Orders in the way of understanding religious life,
of which I have spoken in previous Catecheses, were so entirely new that not
everyone managed to understand them. Then it should be added, just as sometimes
happens even among sincerely religious people, that human weakness, such as
envy and jealousy, came into play. Although Bonaventure was confronted by the
opposition of the other university masters, he had already begun to teach at
the Franciscans' Chair of theology and, to respond to those who were
challenging the Mendicant Orders, he composed a text entitled Evangelical
Perfection. In
this work he shows how the Mendicant Orders, especially the Friars Minor, in
practising the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, were following the
recommendations of the Gospel itself. Over and above these historical circumstances
the teaching that Bonaventure provides in this work of his and in his life
remains every timely: the Church is made more luminous and beautiful by the
fidelity to their vocation of those sons and daughters of hers who not only put
the evangelical precepts into practice but, by the grace of God, are called to
observe their counsels and thereby, with their poor, chaste and obedient way of
life, to witness to the Gospel as a source of joy and perfection.
The storm blew over, at least
for a while, and through the personal intervention of Pope Alexander IV in
1257, Bonaventure was officially recognized as a doctor and master of the
University of Paris. However, he was obliged to relinquish this prestigious
office because in that same year the General Chapter of the Order elected him
Minister General.
He fulfilled this office for
17 years with wisdom and dedication, visiting the provinces, writing to his
brethren, and at times intervening with some severity to eliminate abuses. When
Bonaventure began this service, the Order of Friars Minor had experienced an
extraordinary expansion: there were more than 30,000 Friars scattered
throughout the West with missionaries in North Africa, the Middle East, and
even in Peking. It was necessary to consolidate this expansion and especially,
to give it unity of action and of spirit in full fidelity to Francis' charism.
In fact different ways of interpreting the message of the Saint of Assisi arose
among his followers and they ran a real risk of an internal split. To avoid
this danger in 1260 the General Chapter of the Order in Narbonne accepted and
ratified a text proposed by Bonaventure in which the norms regulating the daily
life of the Friars Minor were collected and unified. Bonaventure, however,
foresaw that regardless of the wisdom and moderation which inspired the
legislative measures they would not suffice to guarantee communion of spirit
and hearts. It was necessary to share the same ideals and the same motivations.
For this reason Bonaventure wished to present the authentic charism of Francis, his life and his teaching. Thus he zealously collected documents concerning the Poverello and listened attentively to the memories of those who had actually known Francis. This inspired a historically well founded biography of the Saint of Assisi, entitled Legenda Maior. It was redrafted more concisely, hence entitled Legenda minor. Unlike the Italian term the Latin word does not mean a product of the imagination but, on the contrary, "Legenda" means an authoritative text, "to be read" officially. Indeed, the General Chapter of the Friars Minor in 1263, meeting in Pisa, recognized St Bonaventure's biography as the most faithful portrait of their Founder and so it became the Saint's official biography.
What image of St Francis
emerged from the heart and pen of his follower and successor, St Bonaventure?
The key point: Francis is an alter Christus, a man who sought Christ
passionately. In the love that impelled Francis to imitate Christ, he was
entirely conformed to Christ. Bonaventure pointed out this living ideal to all
Francis' followers. This ideal, valid for every Christian, yesterday, today and
for ever, was also proposed as a programme for the Church in the Third
Millennium by my Predecessor, Venerable John Paul II. This programme, he wrote
in his Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte, is centred "in Christ
himself, who is to be known, loved and imitated, so that in him we may live the
life of the Trinity, and with him transform history until its fulfilment in the
heavenly Jerusalem" (n. 29).
In 1273, St Bonaventure
experienced another great change in his life. Pope Gregory X wanted to consecrate
him a Bishop and to appoint him a Cardinal. The Pope also asked him to prepare
the Second Ecumenical Council of Lyons, a most important ecclesial event, for
the purpose of re-establishing communion between the Latin Church and the Greek
Church. Boniface dedicated himself diligently to this task but was unable to
see the conclusion of this ecumenical session because he died before it ended.
An anonymous papal notary composed a eulogy to Bonaventure which gives us a
conclusive portrait of this great Saint and excellent theologian. "A good,
affable, devout and compassionate man, full of virtue, beloved of God and human
beings alike.... God in fact had bestowed upon him such grace that all who saw
him were pervaded by a love that their hearts could not conceal" (cf. J.G.
Bougerol, Bonaventura, in A. Vauchez (edited by), Storia dei santi e della santità
cristiana. Vol.
VI. L'epoca del rinnovamento evangelico, Milan 191, p. 91).
Let us gather the heritage of
this holy doctor of the Church who reminds us of the meaning of our life with
the following words: "On earth... we may contemplate the divine immensity
through reasoning and admiration; in the heavenly homeland, on the other hand,
through the vision, when we are likened to God and through ecstasy... we shall
enter into the joy of God" (La conoscenza di Cristo, q. 6, conclusione,
in Opere
di San Bonaventura. Opuscoli Teologici / 1, Rome 1993, p. 187).
BLESSED DON
SCOTUS
Blessed John Duns Scotus, who
lived at the end of the 13th century. An ancient epitaph on his tombstone sums
up the geographical coordinates of his biography: "Scotland bore me,
England received me, France taught me, Cologne in Germany holds me". We
cannot disregard this information, partly because we know very little about the
life of Duns Scotus. He was probably born in 1266 in a village called,
precisely, "Duns", near Edinburgh.
Attracted by the charism of St Francis of Assisi, he entered the Family of the Friars Minor and was ordained a priest in 1291. He was endowed with a brilliant mind and a tendency for speculation which earned him the traditional title of Doctor subtilis, "Subtle Doctor". Duns Scotus was oriented to the study of philosophy and theology at the famous Universities of Oxford and of Paris. Having successfully completed his training, he embarked on teaching theology at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge and then of Paris, beginning by commenting, like all the bachelors of theology of his time, on the Sentences of Peter Lombard. Indeed, Duns Scotus' main works are the mature fruit of these lessons and take the name of the places where he taught: Ordinatio (called in the past Opus Oxoniense – Oxford), Reportatio Cantabrigiensis (Cambridge), Reportata Parisiensia (Paris). One can add to these at least the Quodlibeta (or Quaestiones quodlibetales), a quite important work consisting of 21 questions on various theological subjects. Duns Scotus distanced himself from Paris, after a serious dispute broke out between King Philip IV the Fair and Pope Boniface VIII, rather than sign a document hostile to the Supreme Pontiff as the King requested of all religious, preferring voluntary exile. Thus he left the country, together with the Franciscan Friars, out of love for the See of Peter.
Attracted by the charism of St Francis of Assisi, he entered the Family of the Friars Minor and was ordained a priest in 1291. He was endowed with a brilliant mind and a tendency for speculation which earned him the traditional title of Doctor subtilis, "Subtle Doctor". Duns Scotus was oriented to the study of philosophy and theology at the famous Universities of Oxford and of Paris. Having successfully completed his training, he embarked on teaching theology at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge and then of Paris, beginning by commenting, like all the bachelors of theology of his time, on the Sentences of Peter Lombard. Indeed, Duns Scotus' main works are the mature fruit of these lessons and take the name of the places where he taught: Ordinatio (called in the past Opus Oxoniense – Oxford), Reportatio Cantabrigiensis (Cambridge), Reportata Parisiensia (Paris). One can add to these at least the Quodlibeta (or Quaestiones quodlibetales), a quite important work consisting of 21 questions on various theological subjects. Duns Scotus distanced himself from Paris, after a serious dispute broke out between King Philip IV the Fair and Pope Boniface VIII, rather than sign a document hostile to the Supreme Pontiff as the King requested of all religious, preferring voluntary exile. Thus he left the country, together with the Franciscan Friars, out of love for the See of Peter.
Dear brothers and sisters,
this event invites us to remember how often in the history of the Church
believers have met with hostility and even suffered persecution for their
fidelity and devotion to Christ, to the Church and to the Pope. We all look
with admiration at these Christians who teach us to treasure as a precious good
faith in Christ and communion with the Successor of Peter, hence with the
universal Church.
However, friendly relations
between the King of France and the Successor of Boniface VIII were soon
restored and in 1305 Duns Scotus was able to return to Paris to lecture on
theology with the title of Magister regens [regent master], now we would
say "Professor". Later his Superiors sent him to Cologne as Professor
of the Franciscan Studium of Theology, but he died on 8 November 1308 when he
was only 43 years old, leaving nevertheless a consistent opus.
Because of the fame of his
holiness, his cult soon became widespread in the Franciscan Order and Venerable
Pope John Paul II, wishing to confirm it,
solemnly beatified him on 20 March 1993, describing him as the "minstrel
of the Incarnate Word and defender of Mary's Immaculate
Conception" (Solemn Vespers, St Peter's Basilica; L'Osservatore
Romano [ore]
English edition, n.3, 24 March 1993, p. 1). These words sum up the important
contribution that Duns Scotus made to the history of theology.
First of all he meditated on
the Mystery of the Incarnation and, unlike many Christian thinkers of the time,
held that the Son of God would have been made man even if humanity had not
sinned. He says in his "Reportatio Parisiensis": "To think that God would
have given up such a task had Adam not sinned would be quite unreasonable! I
say, therefore, that the fall was not the cause of Christ's predestination and
that if no one had fallen, neither the angel nor man in this hypothesis Christ
would still have been predestined in the same way" (in III Sent., d. 7, 4). This perhaps
somewhat surprising thought crystallized because, in the opinion of Duns Scotus
the Incarnation of the Son of God, planned from all eternity by God the Father
at the level of love is the fulfilment of creation and enables every creature,
in Christ and through Christ, to be filled with grace and to praise and glorify
God in eternity. Although Duns Scotus was aware that in fact, because of
original sin, Christ redeemed us with his Passion, Death and Resurrection, he
reaffirmed that the Incarnation is the greatest and most beautiful work of the
entire history of salvation, that it is not conditioned by any contingent fact
but is God's original idea of ultimately uniting with himself the whole of
creation, in the Person and Flesh of the Son.
As a faithful disciple of St
Francis, Duns Scotus liked to contemplate and preach the Mystery of the saving
Passion of Christ, as the expression of the loving will, of the immense love of
God who reaches out with the greatest generosity, irradiating his goodness and
love (cf. Tractatus de primo principio, c. 4). Moreover this love was not only revealed on
Calvary but also in the Most Blessed Eucharist, for which Duns Scotus had a
very deep devotion and which he saw as the Sacrament of the Real Presence of
Jesus and as the Sacrament of unity and communion that induces us to love each
other and to love God, as the Supreme Good we have in common (cf. Reportatio
Parisiensis, in
IV Sent., d. 8,
q. 1, n. 3). As I wrote in my Letter for the International Congress in Cologne
marking the seventh centenary of the death of Blessed Duns Scotus, citing the thought of our
author: “just as this love, this charity, was at the origin of all things, so
too our eternal happiness will be in love and charity alone: ‘willing, or the
loving will, is simply eternal life, blessed and perfect’” (AAS 101 [2009], 5).
Dear brothers and sisters,
this strongly "Christocentric" theological vision opens us to
contemplation, wonder and gratitude: Christ is the centre of history and
of the cosmos, it is he who gives meaning, dignity and value to our lives! As
Pope Paul vi proclaimed in Manila, I too would like to cry out to the
world: [Christ] "reveals the invisible God, he is the firstborn of
all creation, the foundation of everything created. He is the Teacher of
mankind, and its Redeemer. He was born, he died and he rose again for us. He is
the centre of history and of the world; he is the one who knows us and who
loves us; he is the companion and the friend of our life.... I could never
finish speaking about him" (Homily, Mass at Quezon Circle, Manila; 29 November 1970).
Not only Christ's role in the
history of salvation but also that of Mary is the subject of the Doctor
subtilis' thought.
In the times of Duns Scotus the majority of theologians countered with an
objection that seemed insurmountable, the doctrine which holds that Mary Most
Holy was exempt from original sin from the very first moment of her
conception: in fact, at first sight the universality of the Redemption
brought about by Christ might seem to be jeopardized by such a statement, as
though Mary had had no need of Christ or his redemption. Therefore the
theologians opposed this thesis. Thus, to enable people to understand this
preservation from original sin Duns Scotus developed an argument that was
later, in 1854, also to be used by Bl. Pope Pius IX when he solemnly defined
the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. And this argument is that of
"preventive Redemption", according to which the Immaculate Conception
is the masterpiece of the Redemption brought about by Christ because the very
power of his love and his mediation obtained that the Mother be preserved from
original sin. Therefore Mary is totally redeemed by Christ, but already before
her conception. Duns Scotus' confreres, the Franciscans, accepted and spread
this doctrine enthusiastically and other theologians, often with a solemn oath,
strove to defend and perfect it.
In this regard I would like to
highlight a fact that I consider relevant. Concerning the teaching on the
Immaculate Conception, important theologians like Duns Scotus enriched what the
People of God already spontaneously believed about the Blessed Virgin and
expressed in acts of devotion, in the arts and in Christian life in general
with the specific contribution of their thought. Thus faith both in the
Immaculate Conception and in the bodily Assumption of the Virgin was already
present in the People of God, while theology had not yet found the key to
interpreting it in the totality of the doctrine of the faith. The People of God
therefore precede theologians and this is all thanks to that supernatural sensus
fidei,
namely, that capacity infused by the Holy Spirit that qualifies us to embrace
the reality of the faith with humility of heart and mind. In this sense, the
People of God is the "teacher that goes first" and must then be more
deeply examined and intellectually accepted by theology. May theologians always
be ready to listen to this source of faith and retain the humility and
simplicity of children! I mentioned this a few months ago saying:
"There have been great scholars, great experts, great theologians,
teachers of faith who have taught us many things. They have gone into the
details of Sacred Scripture... but have been unable to see the mystery itself,
its central nucleus.... The essential has remained hidden!... On the other
hand, in our time there have also been "little ones" who have
understood this mystery. Let us think of St Bernadette Soubirous; of St Thérèse
of Lisieux, with her new interpretation of the Bible that is
"non-scientific' but goes to the heart of Sacred Scripture" (Homily, Mass for the Members of the International
Theological Commission, Pauline Chapel, Vatican City, 1 December 2009).
Lastly, Duns Scotus has
developed a point to which modernity is very sensitive. It is the topic of
freedom and its relationship with the will and with the intellect. Our author
underlines freedom as a fundamental quality of the will, introducing an approach
that lays greater emphasis on the will. Unfortunately, in later authors,
this line of thinking turned into a voluntarism, in contrast to the
so-called "Augustinian and Thomist intellectualism". For St Thomas
Aquinas, who follows St Augustine, freedom cannot be considered an innate
quality of the will, but, the fruit of the collaboration of the will and the
mind. Indeed, an idea of innate and absolute freedom - as it evolved,
precisely, after Duns Scotus - placed in the will that precedes the intellect,
both in God and in man, risks leading to the idea of a God who would not even
be bound to truth and good. The wish to save God's absolute transcendence and
diversity with such a radical and impenetrable accentuation of his will does
not take into account that the God who revealed himself in Christ is the God
"Logos", who acted and acts full of love for us. Of course, as Duns
Scotus affirms, love transcends knowledge and is capable of perceiving ever
better than thought, but it is always the love of the God who is
"Logos" (cf. Benedict XVI, Address at the University of Regensburg, 12 September 2006). In the human
being too, the idea of absolute freedom, placed in the will, forgetting the
connection with the truth, does not know that freedom itself must be liberated
from the limits imposed on it by sin. All the same, the Scotist vision does not
fall into these extremes: for Duns Scotus a free act is the result of the
concourse of intellect and will, and if he speaks of a “primacy” of the will,
he argues this precisely because the will always follows the intellect.
In speaking to Roman
seminarians last year I recalled that "Since the beginning and throughout
all time but especially in the modern age freedom has been the great dream of
humanity" (Discourse at the Roman Major Seminary, 20 February 2009). Indeed, in
addition to our own daily experience, modern history actually teaches us that
freedom is authentic and helps with building a truly human civilization only
when it is reconciled with truth. If freedom is detached from truth, it
becomes, tragically, a principle of the destruction of the human person's inner
harmony, a source of prevarication of the strongest and the violent and a cause
of suffering and sorrow. Freedom, like all the faculties with which the human
being is endowed, increases and is perfected, Duns Scotus says, when the human
being is open to God, making the most of the disposition to listen to his
voice: when we listen to divine Revelation, to the word of God in order to
accept it, a message reaches us that fills our life with light and hope and we
are truly free.
SAINT DOMINIC
GUZMAN – FOUNDER OF THE ORDER OF PREACHERS
St Dominic, the Founder of the Order of
Preachers, also known as Dominican Friars. His successor at the head of the
Order, Bl. Jordan of Saxony, gives a complete picture of St Dominic in the text
of a famous prayer: "Your strong love burned with heavenly fire and
God-like zeal. With all the fervour of an impetuous heart and with an avowal of
perfect poverty, you spent your whole self in the cause of the Apostolic
life" and in preaching the Gospel. It is precisely this fundamental trait
of Dominic's witness that is emphasized: he always spoke with God and of God. Love for the Lord and for neighbour, the
search for God's glory and the salvation of souls in the lives of Saints always
go hand in hand.
Dominic was born at Caleruega, Spain, in about
1170. He belonged to a noble family of Old Castile and, supported by a priest
uncle, was educated at a famous school in Palencia. He distinguished himself
straight away for his interest in the study of Sacred Scripture and for his
love of the poor, to the point of selling books, that in his time were a very
valuable asset, in order to support famine victims with the proceeds.
Ordained a priest, he was elected canon of the
Cathedral Chapter in Osma, his native diocese. Although he may well have
thought that this appointment might bring him a certain amount of prestige in
the Church and in society, he did not view it as a personal privilege or as the
beginning of a brilliant ecclesiastical career but, rather, as a service to
carry out with dedication and humility. Are not a career and power temptations
from which not even those who have a role of guidance and governance in the
Church are exempt? I recalled this a few months ago during the consecration of
several Bishops: "We do not seek power, prestige or esteem for
ourselves.... We know how in civil society and often also in the Church things
suffer because many people on whom responsibility has been conferred work for
themselves rather than for the community" (16 September 2009).
The Bishop of Osma, a true and zealous Pastor
whose name was Didacus, soon spotted Dominic's spiritual qualities and wanted
to avail himself of his collaboration. Together they went to Northern Europe,
on the diplomatic missions entrusted to them by the King of Castile. On his
travels Dominic became aware of two enormous challenges for the Church of his
time: the existence of people who were not yet evangelized on the northern
boundaries of the European continent, and the religious schism that undermined
Christian life in the South of France where the activity of certain heretical
groups was creating a disturbance and distancing people from the truth of the
faith. So it was that missionary action for those who did not know the light of
the Gospel and the work of the re-evangelization of Christian communities
became the apostolic goals that Dominic resolved to pursue.
It was the Pope, to whom the Bishop Didacus and Dominic went to seek advice, who asked Dominic to devote himself to preaching to the Albigensians, a heretical group which upheld a dualistic conception of reality, that is, with two equally powerful creator principles, Good and Evil. This group consequently despised matter as coming from the principle of evil. They even refused marriage, and went to the point of denying the Incarnation of Christ and the sacraments in which the Lord "touches" us through matter, and the resurrection of bodies. The Albigensians esteemed the poor and austere life in this regard they were even exemplary and criticized the riches of the clergy of that time. Dominic enthusiastically accepted this mission and carried it out with the example of his own poor and austere existence, Gospel preaching and public discussions. He devoted the rest of his life to this mission of preaching the Good News. His sons were also to make St Dominic's other dreams come true: the mission ad gentes, that is, to those who do not yet know Jesus and the mission to those who lived in the cities, especially the university cities where the new intellectual trends were a challenge to the faith of the cultured.
This great Saint reminds us that in the heart
of the Church a missionary fire must always burn. It must be a constant
incentive to make the first proclamation of the Gospel and, wherever necessary,
a new evangelization. Christ, in fact, is the most precious good that the men
and women of every time and every place have the right to know and love! And it
is comforting to see that in the Church today too there are many pastors and lay
faithful alike, members of ancient religious orders and new ecclesial movements
who spend their lives joyfully for this supreme ideal, proclaiming and
witnessing to the Gospel!
Many other men then joined Dominic de Guzmán,
attracted by the same aspiration. In this manner, after the first foundation in
Toulouse, the Order of Preachers gradually came into being. Dominic in fact, in
perfect obedience to the directives of the Popes of his time, Innocent iii, and
Honorius iii, used the ancient Rule of St Augustine, adapting it to the needs
of apostolic life that led him and his companions to preach as they travelled
from one place to another but then returning to their own convents and places
of study, to prayer and community life. Dominic wanted to give special
importance to two values he deemed indispensable for the success of the
evangelizing mission: community life in poverty and study.
First of all Dominic and the Friars Preachers
presented themselves as mendicants, that is, without vast estates to be administered.
This element made them more available for study and itinerant preaching and
constituted a practical witness for the people. The internal government of the
Dominican convents and provinces was structured on the system of chapters which
elected their own superiors, who were subsequently confirmed by the major
superiors; thus it was an organization that stimulated fraternal life and the
responsibility of all the members of the community, demanding strong personal
convictions. The choice of this system was born precisely from the fact that as
preachers of the truth of God, the Dominicans had to be consistent with what
they proclaimed. The truth studied and shared in charity with the brethren is
the deepest foundation of joy. Blessed Jordan of Saxony said of St Dominic:
"All men were swept into the embrace of his charity, and, in loving all,
he was beloved by all.... He claimed it his right to rejoice with the joyful
and to weep with the sorrowful" (Libellus de principiis Ordinis
Praedicatorum autore Iordano de Saxonia, ed. H.C. Scheeben [Monumenta Historica Sancti
Patris Nostri Dominici, Romae, 1935].
Secondly, with a courageous gesture, Dominic
wanted his followers to acquire a sound theological training and did not
hesitate to send them to the universities of the time, even though a fair
number of clerics viewed these cultural institutions with diffidence. The
Constitutions of the Order of Preachers give great importance to study as a
preparation for the apostolate. Dominic wanted his Friars to devote themselves
to it without reserve, with diligence and with piety; a study based on the soul
of all theological knowledge, that is, on Sacred Scripture, and respectful of
the questions asked by reason. The development of culture requires those who
carry out the ministry of the Word at various levels to be well trained. I
therefore urge all those, pastors and lay people alike, to cultivate this
"cultural dimension" of faith, so that the beauty of the Christian
truth may be better understood and faith may be truly nourished, reinforced and
also defended. In this Year for Priests, I ask seminarians and priests to
esteem the spiritual value of study. The quality of the priestly ministry also
depends on the generosity with which one applies oneself to the study of the
revealed truths.
Dominic, who wished to found a religious Order
of theologian-preachers, reminds us that theology has a spiritual and pastoral
dimension that enriches the soul and life. Priests, the consecrated and also
all the faithful may find profound "inner joy" in contemplating the
beauty of the truth that comes from God, a truth that is ever timely and ever
alive. Moreover the motto of the Friars Preachers contemplata aliis tradere helps us to discover a pastoral yearning in the
contemplative study of this truth because of the need to communicate to others
the fruit of one's own contemplation.
When Dominic died in 1221 in Bologna, the city
that declared him its Patron, his work had already had widespread success. The
Order of Preachers, with the Holy See's support, had spread to many countries
in Europe for the benefit of the whole Church. Dominic was canonized in 1234
and it is he himself who, with his holiness, points out to us two indispensable
means for making apostolic action effective. In the very first place is Marian
devotion which he fostered tenderly and left as a precious legacy to his
spiritual sons who, in the history of the Church, have had the great merit of
disseminating the prayer of the Holy Rosary, so dear to the Christian people
and so rich in Gospel values: a true school of faith and piety. In the second
place, Dominic, who cared for several women's monasteries in France and in
Rome, believed unquestioningly in the value of prayers of intercession for the
success of the apostolic work. Only in Heaven will we understand how much the
prayer of cloistered religious effectively accompanies apostolic action! To
each and every one of them I address my grateful and affectionate thoughts.
SAINT ALBERT
THE GREAT
One of the great
masters of medieval theology is St Albert the Great. The title
"Great", (Magnus), with which he has passed into history indicates the
vastness and depth of his teaching, which he combined with holiness of life.
However, his contemporaries did not hesitate to attribute to him titles of
excellence even then. One of his disciples, Ulric of Strasbourg, called him the
"wonder and miracle of our epoch".
He was born in
Germany at the beginning of the 13th century. When he was still young he went
to Italy, to Padua, the seat of one of the most famous medieval universities.
He devoted himself to the study of the so-called "liberal arts":
grammar, rhetoric, dialectics, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music, that
is, to culture in general, demonstrating that characteristic interest in the
natural sciences which was soon to become the favourite field for his
specialization. During his stay in Padua he attended the Church of the
Dominicans, whom he then joined with the profession of the religious vows.
Hagiographic sources suggest that Albert came to this decision gradually. His
intense relationship with God, the Dominican Friars' example of holiness,
hearing the sermons of Blessed Jordan of Saxony, St Dominic's successor at the
Master General of the Order of Preachers, were the decisive factors that helped
him to overcome every doubt and even to surmount his family's resistence. God
often speaks to us in the years of our youth and points out to us the project
of our life. As it was for Albert, so also for all of us, personal prayer,
nourished by the Lord's word, frequent reception of the Sacraments and the
spiritual guidance of enlightened people are the means to discover and follow
God's voice. He received the religious habit from Bl. Jordan of Saxony.
After his ordination
to the priesthood, his superiors sent him to teach at various theological study
centres annexed to the convents of the Dominican Fathers. His brilliant
intellectual qualities enabled him to perfect his theological studies at the
most famous university in that period, the University of Paris. From that time
on St Albert began his extraordinary activity as a writer that he was to pursue
throughout his life.
Prestigious tasks
were assigned to him. In 1248 he was charged with opening a theological studium
at Cologne, one of the most important regional capitals of Germany, where he
lived at different times and which became his adopted city. He brought with him
from Paris an exceptional student, Thomas Aquinas. The sole merit of having
been St Thomas' teacher would suffice to elicit profound admiration for St
Albert. A relationship of mutual esteem and friendship developed between these
two great theologians, human attitudes that were very helpful in the
development of this branch of knowlege. In 1254, Albert was elected Provincial
of the Dominican Fathers' "Provincia Teutoniae" Teutonic Province
which included communities scattered over a vast territory in Central and
Northern Europe. He distinguished himself for the zeal with which he exercised
this ministry, visiting the communities and constantly recalling his confreres
to fidelity, to the teaching and example of St Dominic.
His gifts did not
escape the attention of the Pope of that time, Alexander iv, who wanted Albert
with him for a certain time at Anagni where the Popes went frequently in Rome
itself and at Viterbo, in order to avail himself of Albert's theological
advice. The same Supreme Pontiff appointed Albert Bishop of Regensburg, a large
and celebrated diocese, but which was going through a difficult period. From
1260 to 1262, Albert exercised this ministry with unflagging dedication,
succeeding in restoring peace and harmony to the city, in reorganizing parishes
and convents and in giving a new impetus to charitable activities.
In the year
1263-1264, Albert preached in Germany and in Bohemia, at the request of Pope
Urban iv. He later returned to Cologne and took up his role as lecturer,
scholar and writer. As a man of prayer, science and charity, his authoritative
intervention in various events of the Church and of the society of the time
were acclaimed: above all, he was a man of reconciliation and peace in Cologne,
where the Archbishop had run seriously foul of the city's institutions; he did
his utmost during the Second Council of Lyons, in 1274, summoned by Pope
Gregory X, to encourage union between the Latin and Greek Churches after the
separation of the great schism with the East in 1054. He also explained the
thought of Thomas Aquinas which had been the subject of objections and even
quite unjustified condemnations.
He died in his cell
at the convent of the Holy Cross, Cologne, in 1280, and was very soon venerated
by his confreres. The Church proposed him for the worship of the faithful with
his beatification in 1622 and with his canonization in 1931, when Pope Pius XI
proclaimed him Doctor of the Church. This was certainly an appropriate
recognition of this great man of God and outstanding scholar, not only of the
truths of the faith but of a great many other branches of knowledge; indeed,
with a glance at the titles of his very numerous works, we realize that there
was something miraculous about his culture and that his encyclopedic interests
led him not only to concern himself with philosophy and theology, like other
contemporaries of his, but also with every other discipline then known, from
physics to chemistry, from astronomy to minerology, from botany to zoology. For
this reason Pope Pius XII
named him Patron of enthusiasts of the natural sciences and also called him
"Doctor universalis" precisely because of the vastness of his
interests and knowledge.
Of course, the
scientific methods that St Albert the Great used were not those that came to be
established in the following centuries. His method consisted simply in the
observation, description and classification of the phenomena he had studied,
but it was in this way that he opened the door for future research.
He still has a lot
to teach us. Above all, St Albert shows that there is no opposition between
faith and science, despite certain episodes of misunderstanding that have been
recorded in history. A man of faith and prayer, as was St Albert the Great, can
serenely foster the study of the natural sciences and progress in knowledge of
the micro- and macrocosm, discovering the laws proper to the subject, since all
this contributes to fostering thirst for and love of God. The Bible speaks to
us of creation as of the first language through which God who is supreme
intelligence, who is the Logos reveals to us something of himself. The Book of
Wisdom, for example, says that the phenomena of nature, endowed with greatness
and beauty, is like the works of an artist through which, by analogy, we may
know the Author of creation (cf. Wis 13: 5). With a classical similitude in the
Middle Ages and in the Renaissance one can compare the natural world to a book
written by God that we read according to the different approaches of the
sciences (cf. Address to
the participants in the Plenary Meeting of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, 31 October
2008; L'Osservatore Romano English edition, 5 November 2008,
p. 6). How many scientists, in fact, in the wake of St Albert the Great, have
carried on their research inspired by wonder at and gratitude for a world
which, to their eyes as scholars and believers, appeared and appears as the
good work of a wise and loving Creator! Scientific study is then transformed
into a hymn of praise. Enrico Medi, a great astrophysicist of our time, whose
cause of beatification has been introduced, wrote: "O you mysterious
galaxies... I see you, I calculate you, I understand you, I study you and I
discover you, I penetrate you and I gather you. From you I take light and make
it knowledge, I take movement and make it wisdom, I take sparkling colours and
make them poetry; I take you stars in my hands and, trembling in the oneness of
my being, I raise you above yourselves and offer you in prayer to the Creator,
that through me alone you stars can worship" (Le Opere. Inno alla
creazione).
St Albert the Great
reminds us that there is friendship between science and faith and that through
their vocation to the study of nature, scientists can take an authentic and
fascinating path of holiness.
His extraordinary
open-mindedness is also revealed in a cultural feat which he carried out
successfully, that is, the acceptance and appreciation of Aristotle's thought.
In St Albert's time, in fact, knowledge was spreading of numerous works by this
great Greek philosopher, who lived a quarter of a century before Christ, especially
in the sphere of ethics and metaphysics. They showed the power of reason,
explained lucidly and clearly the meaning and structure of reality, its
intelligibility and the value and purpose of human actions. St Albert the Great
opened the door to the complete acceptance in medieval philosophy and theology
of Aristotle's philosophy, which was subsequently given a definitive form by St
Thomas. This reception of a pagan pre-Christian philosophy, let us say, was an
authentic cultural revolution in that epoch. Yet many Christian thinkers feared
Aristotle's philosophy, a non-Christian philosophy, especially because,
presented by his Arab commentators, it had been interpreted in such a way, at
least in certain points, as to appear completely irreconcilable with the
Christian faith. Hence a dilemma arose: are faith and reason in conflict with
each other or not?
This is one of the
great merits of St Albert: with scientific rigour he studied Aristotle's works,
convinced that all that is truly rational is compatible with the faith revealed
in the Sacred Scriptures. In other words, St Albert the Great thus contributed
to the formation of an autonomous philosophy, distinct from theology and united
with it only by the unity of the truth. So it was that in the 13th century a
clear distinction came into being between these two branches of knowledge,
philosophy and theology, which, in conversing with each other, cooperate
harmoniously in the discovery of the authentic vocation of man, thirsting for
truth and happiness: and it is above all theology, that St Albert defined as
"emotional knowledge", which points out to human beings their
vocation to eternal joy, a joy that flows from full adherence to the truth.
St Albert the Great
was capable of communicating these concepts in a simple and understandable way.
An authentic son of St Dominic, he willingly preached to the People of God, who
were won over by his words and by the example of his life.
Dear brothers and
sisters, let us pray the Lord that learned theologians will never be lacking in
holy Church, wise and devout like St Albert the Great, and that he may help
each one of us to make our own the "formula of holiness" that he
followed in his life: "to desire all that I desire for the glory of God,
as God desires for his glory all that he desires", in other words always
to be conformed to God's will, in order to desire and to do everything only and
always for his glory.
SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS
In his Encyclical Fides et Ratio my venerable Predecessor, Pope
John Paul II, recalled that "the Church has been
justified in consistently proposing St Thomas as a master of thought and a
model of the right way to do theology" (n. 43). It is not surprising that, after St Augustine,
among the ecclesiastical writers mentioned in the Catechism of the Catholic Church St Thomas is cited more than
any other, at least 61 times! He was also called the Doctor Angelicus, perhaps because of his virtues
and, in particular, the sublimity of his thought and the purity of his life.
Thomas was born between 1224
and 1225 in the castle that his wealthy noble family owned at Roccasecca near
Aquino, not far from the famous Abbey of Montecassino where his parents sent
him to receive the first elements of his education. A few years later he moved
to Naples, the capital of the Kingdom of Sicily, where Frederick II had founded
a prestigious university. Here the thinking of the Greek philosopher Aristotle
was taught without the limitations imposed elsewhere. The young Thomas was
introduced to it and immediately perceived its great value. However, it was
above all in those years that he spent in Naples that his Dominican vocation
was born. Thomas was in fact attracted by the ideal of the Order recently
founded by St Dominic. However, when he was clothed in the Dominican habit his
family opposed this decision and he was obliged to leave the convent and spend
some time at home.
In 1245, by which time he had
come of age, he was able to continue on the path of his response to God's call.
He was sent to Paris to study theology under the guidance of another Saint,
Albert the Great, of whom I spoke not long ago. A true and deep friendship
developed between Albert and Thomas. They learned to esteem and love each other
to the point that Albert even wanted his disciple to follow him to Cologne,
where he had been sent by the Superiors of the Order to found a theological studium.
Thomas then
once again came into contact with all Aristotle's works and his Arab
commentators that Albert described and explained.
In this period the culture of
the Latin world was profoundly stimulated by the encounter with Aristotle's
works that had long remained unknown. They were writings on the nature of
knowledge, on the natural sciences, on metaphysics, on the soul and on ethics
and were full of information and intuitions that appeared valid and convincing.
All this formed an overall vision of the world that had been developed without
and before Christ, and with pure reason, and seemed to impose itself on reason
as "the" vision itself; accordingly seeing and knowing this
philosophy had an incredible fascination for the young. Many accepted
enthusiastically, indeed with a-critical enthusiasm, this enormous baggage of
ancient knowledge that seemed to be able to renew culture advantageously and to
open totally new horizons. Others, however, feared that Aristotle's pagan
thought might be in opposition to the Christian faith and refused to study it.
Two cultures converged: the pre-Christian culture of Aristotle with its radical
rationality and the classical Christian culture. Certain circles, moreover,
were led to reject Aristotle by the presentation of this philosopher which had
been made by the Arab commentators. Avicenna and Averroës. Indeed, it was they
who had transmitted the Aristotelian philosophy to the Latin world. For
example, these commentators had taught that human beings have no personal
intelligence but that there is a single universal intelligence, a spiritual
substance common to all, that works in all as "one": hence, a depersonalization
of man. Another disputable point passed on by the Arab commentators was that
the world was eternal like God. This understandably unleashed never-ending
disputes in the university and clerical worlds. Aristotelian philosophy was
continuing to spread even among the populace.
Thomas Aquinas, at the school
of Albert the Great, did something of fundamental importance for the history of
philosophy and theology, I would say for the history of culture: he made a
thorough study of Aristotle and his interpreters, obtaining for himself new
Latin translations of the original Greek texts. Consequently he no longer
relied solely on the Arab commentators but was able to read the original texts
for himself. He commented on most of the Aristotelian opus, distinguishing
between what was valid and was dubious or to be completely rejected, showing
its consonance with the events of the Christian Revelation and drawing
abundantly and perceptively from Aristotle's thought in the explanation of the
theological texts he was uniting. In short, Thomas Aquinas showed that a
natural harmony exists between Christian faith and reason. And this was the
great achievement of Thomas who, at that time of clashes between two cultures
that time when it seemed that faith would have to give in to reason showed that
they go hand in hand, that insofar as reason appeared incompatible with faith
it was not reason, and so what appeared to be faith was not faith, since it was
in opposition to true rationality; thus he created a new synthesis which formed
the culture of the centuries to come.
Because of his excellent
intellectual gifts Thomas was summoned to Paris to be professor of theology on
the Dominican chair. Here he began his literary production which continued
until his death and has something miraculous about it: he commented on Sacred
Scripture because the professor of theology was above all an interpreter of
Scripture; and he commented on the writings of Aristotle, powerful systematic
works, among which stands out his Summa Theologiae, treatises and discourses on
various subjects. He was assisted in the composition of his writings by several
secretaries, including his confrere, Reginald of Piperno, who followed him
faithfully and to whom he was bound by a sincere brotherly friendship marked by
great confidence and trust. This is a characteristic of Saints: they cultivate
friendship because it is one of the noblest manifestations of the human heart
and has something divine about it, just as Thomas himself explained in some of
the Quaestiones of his Summa Theologiae. He writes in it: "it is evident that charity is
the friendship of man for God" and for "all belonging to him"
(Vol. II, q. 23, a. 1).
He did not stay long or
permanently in Paris. In 1259 he took part in the General Chapter of the Dominicans
in Valenciennes where he was a member of a commission that established the
Order's programme of studies. Then from 1261 to 1265, Thomas was in Orvieto.
Pope Urban IV, who held him in high esteem, commissioned him to compose
liturgical texts for the Feast of Corpus Christi, which we are celebrating
tomorrow, established subsequent to the Eucharistic miracle of Bolsena. Thomas
had an exquisitely Eucharistic soul. The most beautiful hymns that the Liturgy
of the Church sings to celebrate the mystery of the Real Presence of the Body
and Blood of the Lord in the Eucharist are attributed to his faith and his
theological wisdom. From 1265 until 1268 Thomas lived in Rome where he probably
directed a Studium, that is, a study house of his Order, and where he began writing his Summa
Theologiae (cf.
Jean-Pierre Torrell, Tommaso d'Aquino. L'uomo e il teologo, Casale Monf., 1994, pp.
118-184).
In 1269 Thomas was recalled to
Paris for a second cycle of lectures. His students understandably were
enthusiastic about his lessons. One of his former pupils declared that a vast
multitude of students took Thomas' courses, so many that the halls could barely
accommodate them; and this student added, making a personal comment, that
"listening to him brought him deep happiness". Thomas' interpretation
of Aristotle was not accepted by all, but even his adversaries in the academic
field, such as Godfrey of Fontaines, for example, admitted that the teaching of
Friar Thomas was superior to others for its usefulness and value and served to
correct that of all the other masters. Perhaps also in order to distance him
from the lively discussions that were going on, his Superiors sent him once
again to Naples to be available to King Charles i who was planning to
reorganize university studies.
In addition to study and
teaching, Thomas also dedicated himself to preaching to the people. And the
people too came willingly to hear him. I would say that it is truly a great
grace when theologians are able to speak to the faithful with simplicity and
fervour. The ministry of preaching, moreover, helps theology scholars
themselves to have a healthy pastoral realism and enriches their research with
lively incentives.
The last months of Thomas'
earthly life remain surrounded by a particular, I would say, mysterious
atmosphere. In December 1273, he summoned his friend and secretary Reginald to
inform him of his decision to discontinue all work because he had realized,
during the celebration of Mass subsequent to a supernatural revelation, that everything
he had written until then "was worthless". This is a mysterious
episode that helps us to understand not only Thomas' personal humility, but
also the fact that, however lofty and pure it may be, all we manage to think
and say about the faith is infinitely exceeded by God's greatness and beauty
which will be fully revealed to us in Heaven. A few months later, more and more
absorbed in thoughtful meditation, Thomas died while on his way to Lyons to
take part in the Ecumenical Council convoked by Pope Gregory X. He died in the
Cistercian Abbey of Fossanova, after receiving the Viaticum with deeply devout
sentiments.
The life and teaching of St
Thomas Aquinas could be summed up in an episode passed down by his ancient
biographers. While, as was his wont, the Saint was praying before the Crucifix
in the early morning in the chapel of St Nicholas in Naples, Domenico da
Caserta, the church sacristan, overheard a conversation. Thomas was anxiously
asking whether what he had written on the mysteries of the Christian faith was
correct. And the Crucified One answered him: "You have spoken well of me,
Thomas. What is your reward to be?". And the answer Thomas gave him was
what we too, friends and disciples of Jesus, always want to tell him:
"Nothing but Yourself, Lord!" (ibid.,
p. 320).
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