Being Franciscan

Nicholas Worssam SSF

Description

Franciscan spirituality, with its characteristic simplicity, joy, openness and welcome to all, compassionate action and love for creation - all undergirded by prayer and study, offers as compelling a vision for today’s world as when Francis of Assisi first responded to God’s call over 800 years ago. For all seeking inspiration for living the Franciscan charism today, this lively and informed guide introduces its key figures and essential writings. The author, an Anglican Franciscan friar and theologian, draws out the movement’s core teachings from its founding figures and its earliest texts: · Francis and the essence of prayer and reconciliation with all created things; · Clare of Assisi and contemplative practice; · Giles of Assisi, solitude, storytelling and spiritual direction; · Bonaventure, study and spiritual wisdom · Angela of Foligno and mystical experience; · Jacapone da Todi and praise in poetry and song. Intended as an introduction to living the Franciscan charism today, this also includes a reader’s guide with questions for personal or group discussion.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Monasticism
• Religion

Informations

• Publié par: Hymns Ancient & Modern
• Date de parution: 20 septembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781786224323
• Langue: English

Extrait

Being Franciscan
Living the Tradition
Nicholas Alan Worssam SSF





© Nicholas Alan Worssam 2022
Published in 2022 by Canterbury Press
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ISBN 978-1-78622-430-9
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Contents
Acknowledgements
Foreword by Bishop David Walker

Introduction

1. The Founder: Francis of Assisi (1182–1226)
2. The Companion: Clare of Assisi (1194–1253)
3. The Hermit: Giles of Assisi (1190–1262)
4. The Penitent: Margaret of Cortona (1247–1297)
5. The Scholar: Bonaventure of Bagnoregio (1217/21–1274)
6. The Visionary: Angela of Foligno (1248–1309)
7. The Poet: Jacopone da Todi (c. 1230–1306)

Epilogue

Bibliography
Appendix: Questions for Reflection and Discussion





[Jesus said,] ‘Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you.’
(Luke 10.5–6)

For the great desire of blessed Francis was that he, as well as his brothers, would abound in such good deeds for which the Lord would be praised. He used to tell them, ‘As you announce peace with your mouth, make sure that greater peace is in your hearts. Let no one be provoked to anger or scandal through you, but may everyone be drawn to peace, kindness and harmony through your gentleness. For we have been called to this: to heal the wounded, bind up the broken, and bring others to a knowledge of the truth.’
From The Legend of the Three Companions
( Francis of Assisi: Early Documents , vol. 2, pp. 101–2)




Acknowledgements
With grateful thanks to those who have read the first drafts of this book, and made invaluable comments and suggestions, especially to Dr Stephanie Cloete, Dr William E. Crozier, Br Joseph Emmanuel SSF, Fr John-Francis Friendship TSSF, and to Christine Smith, Rachel Geddes and all at Canterbury Press.
My thanks also go to my brothers and sisters in the Society of St Francis for their encouragement and support.
I dedicate this book to my parents, Bernard and Beryl. May they rest in peace.
Excerpts from Regis J. Armstrong, J. A. Wayne Hellmann and William J. Short (editors), 1999–2000, Francis of Assisi: Early Documents (abbreviated here as FA:ED ), Volume 1 The Saint ; Volume 2 The Founder ; Volume 3 The Prophet , Hyde Park, NY: New City Press. Used with permission.
Excerpts from Regis J. Armstrong, 2006, Clare of Assisi: Early Documents (CA:ED), The Lady , Hyde Park, NY: New City Press. Used with permission.
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.



Foreword
To be a Christian can never be confused with simple assent to doctrinal principles. It is about following the Jesus whom we believe to be both Son of God and a human being; one who walked this earth 2,000 years ago. Hence, from the very first centuries of the Church, Christians have looked not only to Jesus but to the lives led by those who have appeared to follow him most closely. One such life is that of Francis, the poor man of Assisi, the somewhat accidental founder of one of the great religious movements of the early second millennium. A man whose influence still impacts the lives of so many today; Christians like Brother Nicholas Alan SSF, who seek to ‘follow Jesus after the example of St Francis’.
An early challenge for any religious movement is whether and how it continues to grow and flourish beyond the life and leadership of its founder. A movement of the Holy Spirit must always be greater than simply the attractiveness of a charismatic instigator. Here, we read of the lives not only of Francis and his friend and contemporary Clare, but of a handful of Franciscan saints, drawn from the movement’s first century, who each exemplified aspects of what it means to follow Jesus after the example of Francis.
Unusually for a founder, Francis resigned leadership of his Order. His calling was not to be the administrator of an institution, but to be an example of this particular form of life to which God was calling women and men. These formed the First Order brothers, the Second Order enclosed sisters, and the Third Order for those with secular responsibilities respectively. The individuals celebrated in this book are likewise exemplars of the Franciscan charism. They are foremost among the people who shaped Franciscan life into the form that has been handed down to us today. These are the people to whom Franciscans such as myself return for guidance and inspiration.
When we look to the great traditions of the Religious or Monastic life in the Western Church, we are inclined to think of them as being shaped primarily by their vows and Rule, as was the earlier Benedictine tradition. Or we turn to their pattern of prayer and discipline, as with the Spiritual Exercises on which Ignatius of Loyola founded the Jesuit movement. The Franciscan tradition indeed has its key vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, and Francis himself wrote various versions of the First Order Rule, which were later revised (some would say watered down) on multiple occasions. Franciscans too have created patterns of prayer, and sought to share them with the wider Church. However, what carries the Franciscan movement forward is much less its documents and disciplines than the lives of its most prominent disciples. Hence the importance of this book, in which those lives are set out for us, examples to imitate in whatever way we can as we seek to follow Jesus in the spirit of St Francis.
David Walker, Bishop of Manchester



Introduction: Being Christian and Franciscan
What does it mean to be a Franciscan? Is it someone who wears a brown robe and sandals; or someone inspired by the life of Saint Francis of Assisi? Is a Franciscan someone who is disturbed by the suffering of those who are poor, or by the perilous state of our planetary ecosystem; or simply someone who likes animals? Come to that, what does it mean to be a Christian? There are many ways to express our religious identity and probably most of the definitions we choose for ourselves will change fairly drastically at different stages of our lives. One of the ways of responding to these questions that makes most sense to me is the definition of being one who follows in the way of Francis of Assisi, or Jesus of Nazareth – becoming a companion of Francis and Jesus, or perhaps one who follows in their footsteps, even if it seems an audacious claim to make. And the means by which that commitment to follow in the way is articulated is to tell stories. Not in the sense of making things up, but in the sense of allowing the narratives of Christianity and the Franciscan tradition to be the framework around which I build my faith. The Franciscan tradition is deeply rooted in story-telling: stories about Francis of course, but also about his companions, such as Clare and Giles, later followers like Bonaventure and Angela of Foligno, and some of the slightly more obscure figures I will be talking about in this book. ‘This is my story, this is my song,’ goes the refrain of an old revivalist hymn, and this book is about discerning the song of the Franciscans in the first century after Francis, with the hope that in our own day we may learn the new song that Francis and his friends are teaching us today. Perhaps it will help if in this introduction I sing some verses of my own song, not so much for the buzz of performance, but to suggest what instruments I bring to the symphony of the song of Francis and his companions. As Franciscans together practise and perform their parts in this symphony, it may become clearer what melodies and harmonies can be claimed as intrinsically Franciscan, and what may be discordant and best discarded, allowed to blow away on the wind.
There are many ways of becoming, or being, a Christian. I would say from my own experience that the Christian faith is more of a journey than an arrival. We are all on the way, like blind Bartimaeus of Jericho (Mark 10.52), and God gives us various companions as we journey on, helping us to keep our eyes on the destination far beyond us all. Indeed, the Acts of the Apostles describes Christians as followers of ‘the Way’ (Acts 24.14) and that seems to me to capture the mood of exploration, the stumbling and the getting up again, that so often characterize my tentative steps forward.
For me, a layer of my unfolding identity as a follower of Christ on the Way was my growing identity as a Franciscan. It began at Hilfield Friary in Dorset, now a sanctuary of ecological awareness, with a resident community of people dedi