BRIEF HISTORY

1
BRIEF HISTORY
OF THE
SECULAR FRANCISCAN ORDER
AND ITS RULES
2
OVERVIEW
The Franciscan Order has over 800 years of
history. St. Francis entered the penitential
movement in the first decade of the 13th century.
It was at St. John Lateran in Rome in 1209 that
Pope Innocent III authorized Francis and his
followers to live the life of a penitent and
preach the Gospel. From this event sprang the
three Franciscan Orders established by St.
Francis that, over time, brought about a
rebuilding of the Church, the Mystical Body of
Christ which at the time was falling into ruin.
The rebuilding continues today. For us, Secular
Franciscans, it is clearly a Journey of Living
faith from the Darkness of Sin to the Light of
Ongoing Conversion and Growth in Divine Wisdom
from Love of the world to Love of the Gospel
from Interior War and Emptiness to Peace and
Fullness of Joy in Christ Within and without and
from the Noise of the World to the Silence of
Listening to the Divine Presence in our hearts.
  This report presents a brief history of the
Secular Franciscan Order in the various periods
of its development including its Rules.
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I. PRE-FRANCIS ERA

• Penitential Movement
• During the first five or six centuries of
  church history, members were required to avoid
  serious sin. The penalty for serious sin was
  excommunication from the community. However, one
  was allowed to rejoin the community on a second
  chance very restrictive basis. This
  reconciliation required severe penance such as
  lifelong fasting, abstinence from attending
  church functions and from reception of the
  Eucharist, external displays of self-degradation
  like wearing sack-cloths, and the like. In time,
  these strict rules became canon law, with the
  bishop authorizing and overseeing reconciliation.
• Changes in restorative penance in Europe and
  Asia were influenced by Celtic monks who
  practiced private penance the priest would
  assign a penance at his discretion, the severity
  in accordance with the gravity of the sin.
• About the same time there were those who
  volunteered to become penitents, with the same
  obligations of the canonical penitents, in order
  to become holy to live like Jesus and the
  Apostles. These volunteers were the precursor of
  the penitential movement, as embraced by St.
  Francis of Assisi.

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• Two kinds of Penitents the Public Penitents and
  the Voluntary Penitents
• The public penitents made expiation for their
  sins in the manner prescribed for days, months,
  and years as established by the Penitentials
• The voluntary penitents remained in the Ordo
  Poenitentium through the Middle Ages.
• The same concept of conversion, as the internal
  and external act by which the Christians, not
  weighed down by serious sin, and therefore not
  obliged to do so, publicly decided to abandon the
  way of life which he had formerly led and to
  devote himself to God in one of the various forms
  of penitential life, reveals that the ultimate
  goal of such a choice was to make God ones point
  of reference and the very reason for life this
  end was obviously very spiritual. This interior
  decision, however, was also externally visible by
  means of the penitential habit.
• The dominant element that seemed to be always
  present in the various religious movements of the
  twelfth century was the continuation and
  diffusion of the desire to return to the gospel
  life of the apostles, considered as the norm and
  model of poverty and of evangelization for the
  whole Church which set the tone for the new
  penitential climate of the century.

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• The Itinerant Preachers
• At the same time, especially in the first fifth
  of the twelfth century, the concept of apostolic
  life acquired a new element in addition to that
  of poverty, namely, preaching, especially in an
  itinerant lifestyle.
• The first itinerant preachers, canons regular,
  were the most significant examples of this. They
  left the canonical life first to become hermits
  and later to begin their itinerant preaching in
  strictest poverty, precisely because at that
  point they felt that these two elements a life
  of poverty and preaching were the essential
  components of a truly apostolic life.

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• Other Penitential Groups
• There were those groups of penitents who
  preceded Francis, whose penitential lives were
  approved by the Holy See. Among the more famous
  were the Waldensians, started by Peter Waldo, a
  rich merchant from Lyons. The Pope approved
  their life of poverty but ruled that, in matter
  of preaching, Peter Waldo and his companions
  should have to submit to the decision of the
  local bishop. The Waldensians continued to
  preach, however, some say, without the permission
  of the bishop or preached in dioceses that were
  not appreciative of their preaching and in some
  locales, they were associated with those of
  suspect orthodoxy. In 1184 they were condemned
  by the Council of Verona.
• The Cathari who adopted a Manichean dualism
  (the body was evil and the spirit was good but
  were marked as heretical.

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• The Humiliati arose among wool workers and
  merchants a decade before the birth of Francis.
  They humiliated themselves for God adopting
  rough clothing and untinted cloth, and developed
  three distinct but not separate groups. The
  clerical element formed the first order, also
  included nuns solemnly consecrated to the
  religious life as it was then understood an
  associate of monastic life- lay brothers and
  sisters, living in adjoining houses formed the
  second order the religious-worker association
  of men and women remaining in the married state
  comprise a third order and Innocent III
  approved them in 1201. Together with the
  Franciscans, they enjoyed the popular support of
  the people but in the 14th century their numbers
  began a slow decline and finally by 1569 the
  order was suppressed by St. Pius V.
• Somehow the structure of the grouping left an
  impression on the penitential movement started by
  Francis.

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II. Francis of Assisi 1181-1226

• Time of Political Uncertainty Social Upheaval
• Francis was born in Assisi, in the region of
  Umbria in 1182, of a rich merchant family that
  of Pietro di Bernadone and his wife, Lady Pica.
• Time of Political Uncertainty As Well As Time of
  Dramatic Cultural Change. The feudal system with
  lords and fiefdoms was the society that was
  diminishing and a mercantile society was
  emerging. Francis was not of noble birth, but his
  father, a cloth merchant, was rich. So Francis
  did associate with the sons of nobles and,
  partied with them.
• Time of Chivalry Francis heard stories of
  knights rescuing ladies fair. This Environment
  influenced Francis to don the armor of a knight
  and go off to battle, which made his father
  proud.
• Time When City States Had Allegiance To The
  Emperor Or To The Holy See. The main reason, that
  Assisi was imperial was that its traditional
  rival, Perugia, was papal.

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III. Francis Conversion Process - 1206

• Francis Servant or Master Dream in Spoleto
  1205
• Pilgrimage to Rome Changing Clothes with a
  Beggar Spring 1206
• Embracing the Leper Early 1206
• San Damiano Giving Money to Priest 1206
• Scene Before Mayor and Bishop Rejecting Money
  and Clothing 1206
• Francis is Called to Rebuild San Damiano
  1206
• FrancisApproval by Innocent III 1209
• It was at this time at St. John Lateran in
  Rome, that Pope Innocent III authorized Francis
  and his followers to live the life of a
  penitent and preach the Gospel.
• Francis Preached the Kingdom of God
• 1. St. Francis appearance on the scene, with
  his strong resolution and simplicity, began the
  restoration of Italian society to a Christian way
  of living.
• 2. Francis laid a spiritual foundation of a
  Christianity based on the simple and radical
  lifestyle of the gospel of Our Lord Jesus.
  Society was getting tired, restless and
  disenchanted with unnecessary conventions in
  their daily affairs.
• 3. These positive changes were made possible
  specifically because of the lay aspect of the
  Third Order, whose peaceful influence was far
  reaching and penetrated many layers of society.

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IV. Francis Exhortation to His Followers

• Francis Exhortation to His Followers
• The very first teachings that Francis set in
  writing addressed to the Brothers and Sisters of
  Penance was the first version of the Letter to
  All the Faithful (1209 1215) or the Volterra
  Letter so called because the document was located
  in the City of Volterra. It was introduced with
  these words These are the words of life and
  salvation. Whoever reads and follows them will
  find life and draw from the Lord Salvation.
• It presently serves as a Prologue to the Rule of
  the Secular Franciscan Order. 
• Letter to All the Faithful (Second Letter) Spring
  of 1220
• It recalls Francis earlier exhortation to the
  Brothers and Sisters of Penance and encourages
  its observance in light of many of the teachings
  of the Fourth Lateran Council.
• The earlier exhortation (Prologue to the Rule of
  the Secular Franciscan Order along with the
  second version, the Later Admonition and
  Exhortation to the Brothers and Sisters of
  Penance, was St. Francis invitation to the
  gospel way of life.

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• The history of the Third Order provides a few
  examples of individuals who accepted the call,
  some of whom became saints. Some of the earliest
  known tertiaries are Count Orlando of Chiusi,
  the donor of Mt. La Verna, Praxedi, the Roman
  recluse to whom Francis gave a habit and cord,
  and Lady Jacopa de Settesoli (Brother Jacopa).
• After St. Francis visit with Cardinal Hugolino
  in 1221 and subsequent canonical establishment of
  the first Secular Franciscan Fraternity, the
  Third Order spread throughout the world.
• Wherever Franciscan Friars and Poor Clares were
  to be found, so was the Third Order. It attracted
  many individuals, some of whom are well known in
  the Church and throughout the world. Individuals
  such as St. Louis of France, St. Ferdinand of
  Castile, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Margaret of
  Cortona, Angela of Foligno, St. Jean Marie
  Vianney (Cure d Ars) Petrarch, Raphael,
  Michaelangelo, Murillo and Christopher Columbus.
  Of all the Franciscan tertiaries, 53 are
  canonized saints with approximately 80 more who
  have been formally beatified.

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V. The Four Franciscan Rules

• Within the 800-year history of the Secular
  Franciscan Order, four Rules were established to
  help guide and govern how the laity were to live
  out the Franciscan Spirituality and Charism in
  the world
• The Rule of Cardinal Hugolino - 1221 - Memoriali
  Propositi
• The Rule of Pope Nicholas IV 1289
• The Rule of Leo XIII - 1883
• The Rule of Pope Paul VI 1978

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VI. The Memoriali Propositi of 1221

• It is universally accepted that 1221 is the
  official year in which the Third Order began.
  This year reflects the canonical establishment of
  the Third Order by Cardinal Hugolino. The
  Memoriali Propositi was the Rule given by the
  Cardinal to the Brothers and Sisters of Penance,
  detailing how they were to live holy lives.
• Built on the concept of fraternity, that the
  Penitents are truly brothers and sisters, bound
  together by mutual charity. Like the 2 Franciscan
  Orders, the Third Order is the School of the
  Gospel and demands adherence to it in thought
  and action.
•  
• The Rule details the daily life of penitents
  regarding
• 1. Modesty in dress, prohibition to take part in
  public entertainment
• 2. Rules of abstinence, fasting and prayer
• 3. The Divine Office sacramental practice.
• 4. Prohibition to carry arms and to avoid
  oaths.
• 5. The Eucharist and meeting of the fraternity
  once a month.
• 6. Visiting the sick, burying the dead and
  offering prayers for them.
• 7. Obligation to make the last will.
• 8. Rules regarding the reception of new members
  in the fraternity.
• 9. The Visitor and disciplinary rule .
• 10. The Election of the officials of the
  fraternity.

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VII. The Rule of Pope Nicholas IV

• Became the first Franciscan Pope on Feb. 15,
  1288. The Rule of Pope Nicholas IV in 1289 was
  issued with the Bull Supra Montem.
• This Rule did not add anything new to the
  existing Memoriali Propositi, but gave the
  document more legislative style.
• The aim of the Rule was to establish a closer and
  juridical relationship with friars of the First
  Order. The aim was successful in that it proved
  to be beneficial in the early years, but it
  subsequently led to an overdependence upon the
  First Order. Issue arose between the Penitents
  and the Friars about the friars doing the
  visitations to the fraternities. As a result,
  Pope Nicholas IV issued another document
  (Unigenitus Dei Filius, reasserting that Friars
  would be the visitors.

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• The Rule has 20 chapters. The contents of the
  individual chapters are as follows
• 1. The Order of Penitents, its catholicity and
  obedience to the Church.
• 2. The reception of novices. Obligation of
  reconciliation with ones neighbor. A public
  profession binding the penitent to the observance
  of the divine commandments. Married women need
  permission of their husbands to join the Order.
• 3. The penitential clothing of the penitents.
• 4. Prohibition to take part in public
  entertainment and feasts.
• 5. Penitential practices of fasting and
  abstinence, with insistence upon the Franciscan
  penitential seasons, but also with the
  evangelical liberty to eat whatever is presented
  to them. Pregnant penitents freed from
  obligation of fasting.
• 6. The Reception of the Sacraments of Penance
  and the Eucharist on Christmas Day, Easter and
  Pentecost.
• 7. Prohibition to carry arms and to render
  military service.
• 8. The reciting of the canonical hours of the
  Divine Office, according to the Franciscan style.
  Participation in the liturgy in cathedral and
  parish churches.
• 9. Obligation to draw up ones last will.
• 10. The Ministers role to ensure that the
  Brothers and Sisters give witness to peace.
• 11. Recourse to ecclesiastical authority to be
  defended against molestation by civil
  authorities.

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• 12. Prohibition to take oaths, without
  authorization of the Apostolic See.
• 13. The daily Eucharist. The monthly meeting of
  the fraternity, including the celebration of the
  Eucharist, the preaching of the Word of God,
  charity to poor and sick members of the
  fraternity.
• 14. Visiting the sick brothers and sisters once
  a week. A decent burial and prayers for the
  deceased member of the fraternity.
• 15. The role of the Minister of the fraternity.
• 16. The Visitator of the fraternity, a member of
  the Order of Friars Minor, with the power to
  correct the shortcomings of the fraternity and to
  expel who rebel against obedience.
• 17. An exhortation to avoid the scandal of
  division in the fraternity.
• 18. The Ordinary or Visitator can dispense
  individual members of the fraternity from the
  ecclesiastical norm of abstinence.
• 19. The disciplinary measures to be taken in
  the case of disobedient members of the
  fraternity, including expulsion from the Order.
• 20. Conclusion The obligatory nature of the
  Rule of the Brothers and Sisters of Penance.
•  
• Third Order Regular. Around the turn of the
  century the practice of profession of religious
  vows developed among those penitents living in
  community. This was the decisive step in the
  complete regularization of the order. Pope John
  XXII, with the Bull Altissimo in divinis of
  November 18,1323, approved and praised this
  action which represented an approval of the
  regular religious life within the Third Order.
• During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Third
  Order was in crisis. To address the concerns of
  the Secular Franciscans, Pope Innocent XI issued
  the Bull, Ecclesiae Catholicae in 1689. This
  document was a commentary and adaptation of the
  Rule to the current times. Although Pope Innocent
  XI defended the autonomy of the Third Order, the
  Visitator still retained broad powers .
  Gradually, the Third Order was losing sight of
  its own identity.

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VIII. The Rule of Pope Leo XIII

• In 1883 Pope Leo XIII issued a rule of the Third
  Order for the society of his time. It was
  promulgated in the apostolic constitution
  Misericors De Filius of May 30, 1883.
• His purpose for a new less rigorous rule was to
  make it more accessible and more appealing, to
  more Catholics.
• 1. The text consisted of three Chapters,
  followed by another three in the form of an
  appendix setting out the indulgences and
  privileges of Tertiaries.
• 2. Reduced to the bare essentials, it retained
  much of the old Rule Nicholas IV and
  modified/completed whatever parts seemed outdated
  and excessively harsh.
• He lost no opportunity during the next few
  years of involving the whole Catholic episcopate
  in its propagation either by encyclicals or by
  exhortation and encouragement.
• The hierarchy responded obediently to the
  Pontiffs wishes, ordinary Christians were fired
  with enthusiasm and within a short time there
  were several million Tertiaries all over the
  world.
• The ferment generated by the action of Pope Leo
  XIII was also marked by the celebration of
  regional, national and international congresses,
  both during and after his pontificate.

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IX. International Congress

• the most important took place in Rome from 22
  to 26 October, 1900.
• It was promoted by the Ministers General of the
  Friars Minor, the Conventuals, the Capuchins and
  the Third Order Regular.
• Out of the Congress two factions became clear
• 1. the individualists who intended to preserve
  the Third Orders character as an association for
  Christian perfection, and
• 2. the socials who, without failing to assume
  the above fundamental point, wished to direct the
  activity of the Tertiaries towards social issues
  following the directive of the Pope.
•  
• In 1912, Pope Pius X issued Tertium Franciscalium
  Ordinem. In it, Pope Pius X asks the friars to
  take spiritual care of the Third Order with the
  aim of promoting spiritual reform. Unfortunately,
  this document made the Third Order excessively
  dependent upon the First Order. Secular
  Franciscan identity became an issue again!
•  
• In the International Congress of 1921 held in
  Rome, the following topics were treated
• 1. The sanctification of the Tertiaries
• 2. The running of the fraternity
• 3. The Franciscan reform of society
• 4. Promotion and apostolate

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• The major output of the 1950 International
  Congress was the declaration
• Votum 10. The Ministers Generals response to
  the request by the national fraternities to
  better define Votum 10 resulted in the following
  statement, as part of larger response
• 1. Of the importance of the Franciscan Third
  Order toward leading a perfect Christian life
  with all its demands, especially at these
  present times
• 2. Of the religious and social activity of the
  Third Order,
• 3. Of our (Ministers Generals) grave duty and
  responsibility with regard to providing for it
  and promoting collaboration and coordination of
  all forces.
• Item 3 was welcomed by the Tertiaries the
  Ministers General directed the friars to assist
  the Third Order.
• The Ministers General also provided their brief
  definition of the Third Order
• Though it is not a religious order in the
  strict sense of the word, the Tertiary
  nevertheless shares the basic advantages of the
  religious life. He enjoys in fact
• 1) A profession, which consecrates him morally
  to God,
• 2) A rule, to serve as a discipline for him
• 3) A special spirit to sustain and inspire him.

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X. Declaration of Pope Succeeding Pope Leo XIII
All of them recommended the Third Order to the
Catholic world

• Pope Pius X who succeeded Pope Leo XIII declared
  on Sept. 8, 1912 in Tertium Franciscalium, that
  the Third Order does not differ from the other
  two (First and Second Order of St. Francis) in
  nature, but only in so far as it pursues the
  same purpose peculiar to itself and that
  Personal sanctification, a movement inward, was
  seen as their duty.
• Pope Benedict XV clearly stated in Sacra
  Propendiem, January 6, 1921 He (St. Francis)
  founded the Order of Tertiaries, an Order in the
  true sense of the word, not indeed bound like the
  other two by religious vows, but distinguished
  by the same simple life and practice of penance.
• Pope Pius XI on April 30, 1926 stated in his
  encyclical Rite Expiates, The general
  restoration of peace and morals was advanced very
  much by the Third Order, which was a religious
  order indeed, yet something unexampled up to
  that time, in so far as it was not bound by vows,
  while it offered all men and women living in the
  world, a means of both observing the
  commandments of God and of pursuing Christian
  perfection.
• Pope Pius XII in his discourse to the Tertiaries
  of Italy on July 1, 1956, said You are an
  Order a lay Order, but truly an Order in the
  true sense of the word, as our predecessor
  Benedict XV of holy memory called it.
• All the sovereign pontiffs since Leo XIII have
  again and again recommended the Third Order to
  the Catholic world. All of them, as well as the
  predecessor of Leo XIII, Pope Pius IX, and Pope
  John XXIII have also set an example by joining
  the ranks of the Franciscan Tertiaries
  themselves.
• The Third Order remained basically a devotional
  society over the years.

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XI. The Pauline Rule of 1978 our present Rule

• Many during the 1950 Congress voiced their
  concern for an updating of Pope Leo XIIIs Rule.
• In 1957, the Third Order was given new General
  Constitutions with the aim of renewing the
  contents of the Rule and giving the Order a
  spiritual, social and apostolic orientation.
• In November 1965, the revisions of the current
  Rule began with the request of the four
  Franciscan Commissaries General, now known as the
  General Assistants to the SFO.
• The request for revision was also to the
  Constitutions and the Ritual.
• In March 1966 shortly after the conclusion of the
  Second Vatican Council, the Ministers General
  gave their blessings to begin work on the
  formulation of a new Rule for the Third Order.
• The request for changes were approved and so
  began the process to update the SFO documents to
  our current version.
• Various commissions had worked on the revisions
  and by June 24, 1978
• Pope Paul approved the new Rule and issued with
  it the Apostolic Letter, Seraphicus Patriarca.
• The Rule presents the spirituality of the
  Secular Franciscans, at least as it had been
  defined within the Rule Project
• 1. To Live the Gospel
• 2. Following Francis
• 3. Through Conversion/Metanoia
• 4. In Community
• 5. As Seculars
• 6. In Life Giving Union with All Franciscans

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• The transition from a less devotional Order to
  a more apostolic Order was helped by the
  National Fraternity Council of the USA with the
  creation of 4 Apostolic Commissions. Currently
  this has been updated to JPIC (Justice, Peace
  and the Integrity of Creation) to conform and
  implement the Seven themes of the Catholic social
  teachings from USCCB.
• The new Rule abrogated all other rules and gave
  the Third Order a new name, changed the previous
  name of, Third Order of St. Francis, to the
  Secular Franciscan Order.
• The insertion by the Ministers General of
  Francis Earlier Exhortation as a Prologue to the
  Rule keeps the freshness of the Franciscan Spirit
  and Charism in every Secular Franciscan heart.
• The Rule is preceded by two letters, the first
  from the four Franciscan General Ministers and
  the second, a letter of Pope Paul VIs approval
  issued by then Secretary of State John Cardinal
  Villot. The four branches of the First Order, all
  participated and assisted in the new Rule and the
  respective four ministers general of the
  Franciscan Family, Fr. Constantine Koser, OFM,
  Fr. Vitale M. Bonmmarco, OFM Conv, Fr. Paschal
  Rywalski, OFM Cap and R. Roland Faley, TOR,
  issued a letter to the Secular Franciscan Order
  of the approval of the new rule. In it, they
  collectively acknowledged the work of the SFOs
  participation of the new rule, encouraged all
  Secular Franciscans with it and offered their
  continued support to walk together in the way of
  the Lord.

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• The Ritual was approved on March 9, 1984.
•  
• Definitive approval of the General Constitution
  was on December 8, 2000.
•  
• The International Statute was approved on
  November 22, 2002.
•  
• The updates to the official documents of the
  Secular Franciscan Order was also accompanied by
  an expectation and encouragement from the Church,
  specifically Pope John Paul II, whose address of
  November 22, 2002 to the Secular Franciscan Order
  at the 10th General Chapter, stated
•  
• The Church expects from the unique Franciscan
  Secular Order a great service to the cause of the
  Kingdom of God in the world today. She wants
  your Order to be a model of organic, structural
  and charismatic union at all levels, so as to
  present yourself to the world as a community of
  love (SFO, Rule, art. 26). From you, Secular
  Franciscans, the Church awaits a courageous and
  consistent witness of Christian and Franciscan
  life that aims at building a more fraternal and
  evangelical world for the realization of the
  Kingdom of God.
•  
• THE UPDATED RULE ADAPTS THE SECULAR FRANCISCAN
  ORDER TO THE NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS OF THE HOLY
  CHURCH IN THE CONDITIONS OF CHANGING TIMES.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

• 1. FUN MANUAL - A Brief History of the Secular
  Franciscan Order and Its Rules by William Wicks,
  SFO
•  
• 2. www.bspenance.org/The_Rule of_1221
• Brothers and Sisters of Penance of St. Francis
  Franciscan Connection
•  
• 3. www.bspenance.org/Franciscan_connection
• - Our Connection to the Franciscan Orders
•  
• 4. www.ofs/ofsstpeters.com/history
• - Order Franciscan Secular St. Peters
  Fraternity
•  
• 5. The Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order 1978
•  
• 6. The Franciscan Journey by Lester Bach, OFM
  Cap.
•  
• 7. St. Francis of Assisi Omnibus of Sources
•  
•  
•  

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PAX ET BONUM    Ana T. Graciano,
OFS