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a God who delights to be
with the simple Prv 3:32 and those rejected by the world.
Chapter XIII
HOW HE FIRST WROTE A RULE WHEN HE HAD ELEVEN BROTHERS, AND HOW THE LORD POPE INNOCENT CONFIRMED IT, AND ABOUT THE VISION OF A TREE
32 When blessed Francis saw that the Lord God was daily increasing Acts 2:47 their numbers, he wrote for himself and his brothers present and future, simply and in few words, a form of life and a rule.a He used primarily words of the holy gospel, longing only for its perfection. He inserted a few other things necessary for the practice of a holy way of life. Then he went to Rome with all his brothers, since he greatly desired that the Lord Pope Innocent the Third confirm for him what he had written. There was in Rome at this time the venerable bishop of Assisi, Guido by name, who honored Saint Francis and all the brothers in everything and revered them with special love. When he saw Saint Francis and his brothers, he reacted strongly at their arrival, as he did not know the reason for it. He feared they wanted to leave their homeland, where the Lord had begun to perform great things through his servants. He greatly rejoiced to have such men in his diocese, for he relied most of all on their life and character. But when he heard the cause and understood their plan, he rejoiced greatly in the Lord Phil 4:10 and promised to give them advice and to offer his support. Saint Francis also approached the reverend lord bishop of Sabina, named John of Saint Paul, who, among the other princes and great men at the Roman Curia, seemed to look down on the things of earth and love the things of heaven.b The bishop received him °kindly and charitably°c and praised highly his wish and plan.
- These are the very terms used by Francis in The Testament to describe the document, the propositum vitae, presented by the first brothers to Pope Innocent III.
- Giovanni de Colonna was known as John of Saint Paul since he was a Benedictine monk of the Monastery of Saint Paul Outside the Walls. A personal friend of Bishop Guido and a confidant of Pope Innocent III and knowledgeable and active in the apostolic movements of the period, he became Cardinal Bishop of Sabina in 1204. He died in 1215. The quotation is taken from the medieval Postcommunion Prayer for the Second Sunday of Advent.
- Thomas describes John of Saint Paul receiving Francis benigne et caritative [kindly and charitably], in other words, with the same dispositions Francis demands of a minister responding to a brother who is experiencing difficulties, cf. LR X 5.
Vita Prima, Fontes Franciscani, p. 305-306
Deus, qui esse cum mundo abiectis
et cum simplicibus, delectatur.
Caput XIII — Quomodo primo regulam scripsit undecim habens fratres, et quomodo dominus papa Innocentius eam confirmavit, et de visione arboris.
321Videns beatus Franciscus quod Dominus Deus quotidie augeret numerum in idipsum a scripsit sibi et fratribus suis, habitis et futuris, simpliciter et paucis verbis, vitae formam et regulam, sancti Evangelii praecipue sermonibus utens, ad cuius perfectionem solummodo inhiabat. 2Pauca tamen alia inseruit, quae omnino ad conversationis sanctae usum necessario imminebant. 3Venit proinde Romam cum omnibus dictis fratribus, desiderans nimium sibi a domino Papa Innocentio tertio quae scripserat confirmari. 4Erat tunc temporis Romae venerabilis Assisinatus episcopus, nomine Guido, qui sanctum Franciscum et omnes fratres in omnibus honorabat, et speciali venerabatur dilectione. 5Cumque vidisset sanctum Franciscum et fratres eius, causam nesciens, ipsorum adventum graviter tulit; timebat enim ne patriam propriam vellent deserere, in qua Dominus per servos suos iam coeperat maxima operari. 6Gaudebat plurimum tantos viros in suo episcopatu habere, de quorum vita et moribus maxime praesumebat. 7Sed audita causa et eorum intellecto proposito, gavisus est in Domino valde spondens eis ad hoc dare consilium et subsidium ferre. 8Accessit praeterea sanctus Franciscus ad reverendum dominum episcopum Sabinensem, nomine Iohannem de Sancto Paulo, qui inter alios Romanae curiae principes et maiores videbatur 'terrena despicere et amare caelestia'. 9Qui eum 'benigne atque charitative' suscipiens, ipsius voluntatem et propositum plurimum commendavit.