[{{{type}}}] {{{reason}}}
{{/data.error.root_cause}}{{texts.summary}} {{#options.result.rssIcon}} RSS {{/options.result.rssIcon}}
{{/texts.summary}} {{#data.hits.hits}}
{{{_source.title}}} {{#_source.showPrice}} {{{_source.displayPrice}}} {{/_source.showPrice}}
{{#_source.showLink}} {{/_source.showLink}} {{#_source.showDate}}{{{_source.displayDate}}}
{{/_source.showDate}}{{{_source.description}}}
{{#_source.additionalInfo}}{{#_source.additionalFields}} {{#title}} {{{label}}}: {{{title}}} {{/title}} {{/_source.additionalFields}}
{{/_source.additionalInfo}}
Fragments
(1209-1223)
A manuscript of the Worchester Cathedral in England and the passing comments of Thomas of Celano and Hugh of Digne present formative exhortations or quotations from what might have been other versions of an early form of life or rule. While not definitive, these texts or fragments offer insights into not only Francis’s understanding of the Gospel life but also those of his early followers.
I. Fragments Found in a Manuscript in the Worchester Cathedral:a
1[All my brothers: let us pay attention to what the Lord says: Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you Mt 5:44 for our Lord Jesus Christ, Whose footprints we must follow, 1 Pt 2:21 called His betrayer a friend Mt 26:50 and willingly offered Himself to His executioners. Jn 10:18 2Our friends, therefore, are all those who unjustly bring us distress and anguish, shame and]b injury, sorrow and punishment, martyrdom and death; we must love them greatly for we will possess eternal life because of what they bring us.
3Let us CHASTISE our body CRUCIFYING IT with its vices, CONCUPISCENCE and sins, because by living according to the flesh, Rom 8:4 the devil wishes to take away from us the love of Jesus Christ and eternal life and to lose himself in hell with everyone else.c 4Because, by our own fault, we are disgusting, miserable and opposed to good, yet prompt and inclined to evil, 5for, as the Lord says in the Gospel: From the heart proceed and come evil thoughts ET CETERA.
6Now that we have left the world, however, we have nothing else to do but BE EAGER to follow the will of the Lord and to please Him. 7Let us be careful that we are not earth on the path, or that which is rocky or full of thorns, in keeping with what the Lord says in the Gospel: The Word of God is a seed.
- These fragments can be found in a manuscript of the Library of the Worchester Cathedral, Worchester, England, Codex Q 27, dated in the early part of the fourteenth century. It contains various treatises on penance, e.g., in the school of Augustine, Dominic, and Francis. Along with these fragments there is also a copy of Francis’s Testament.
- This and future lengthy bracketed passages are interpolations of Esser as the manuscript is difficult to decipher.
- Those passages placed in capital letters indicated new words or phrases not found in The Earlier Rule.
Fragmenta alterius regulae non bullatae, Fontes Franciscani, p. 123-124
I - Fragmenta codicis Wigorniensis
1[Attendamus, omnes fratres], quod [dicit Dominus]: Diligite [inimicos vestros et benefacite his qui oderunt vos, quia Dominus noster Jesus Christus, cuius sequi vestigia debemus, traditorem suum vocavit] amicum et crucifixoribus [suis sponte se obtulit. 2Amici igitur nostri sunt omnes illi] qui iniuste nobis inferunt [tribulationes, angustias, verecundias, iniurias, et dolores et tormenta, martyrium et mortem; quos multum diligere debemus, quia ex hoc, quod nobis inferunt, habemus vitam aeternam.
3Et castigemus corpus nostrum crucifigentes illud cum vitiis et concupiscentiis et peccatis, quia carnaliter vivendo vult nobis auferre amorem Jesu Christi et vitam aeternam et mittere se ipsum cum anima in infernum; 4quia nos per cuIpam nostram fuimus foetidi, bono contrarii, ad malum prompti et voluntarii; 5quia sicut dicit Dominus: De corde procedunt et exeunt cogitationes malae ET CETERA ...
6sed autem, postquam dimisimus mundum, nihil aliud habere facere, nisi ut solliciti simus sequi voluntatem et placere ipsi; 7multum caveamus, ne simus terra secus viam posita petrosa vel spinosa, secundum quod dicit Dominus in evangelio: Semen est verbum Dei; quod autem secus viam cecidit, conculcatum est ET CETERA USQUE IBI: