Franciscan Studies

On 25 December 2023 we shall be celebrating the 800 years since Saint Francis of Assisi commemorated the Nativity of Jesus in the remote fortified village of Greccio, by re-enacting the Nativity scene in a cave. The celebration of the liturgy of Christmas, with the singing of Matins and the Mass of the Nativity, had as a backdrop a simple environment in which a manger with hay was placed under the altar and an ox and ass introduced close by.

The whole scene can still be contemplated on the walls of the cave-church of Greccio, in the fresco of the Giotto school. On one side the Virgin Mary with Child, and Saint Joseph meditating quietly the mystery of the Virgin birth. On the other side, Saint Francis vested as deacon during the Mass and bending over the Infant Jesus in the manger.

This year the celebration of Christmas assumes this special characteristic of poverty and humility which is evident in the link between the Nativity Grotto of Bethlehem and the tiny cave-church of Greccio.Our issue of Spirit+Life is dedicated to this great mystery of our salvation, which Francis lived in a tangible form during the Christmas celebration in Greccio, where the town of Bethlehem (the house of bread), was rendered visible in the Bread of Life, the Word made flesh, in the manger.Francis contemplated the Nativity of Christ and lived the experience of poverty and humility of the Incarnation. Greccio became a new Bethlehem.

Franciscan life is not just about spirituality or theology. It is, above all, a way of life that touches the core of human existence and relations. Francis of Assisi envisaged a fraternity of brothers who live in constant inter-communication among themselves and with other persons. This kind of commercium is based upon the concept of sharing and stewardship in the poor and simple use of the necessities of life. Thus we can speak about a Franciscan economy. Francis was a son of his times, when the merchant class was emerging as a new way of life in the Italian communes, bringing new wealth but also a richness of new information and intermingling of people and cultures. This issue of our review will deal about the phenomenon of the Franciscan style of economy that forms part and parcel of our Gospel calling and which needs to be re-addressed in the face of today’s challenges, including the issue of creation and demographic unbalance. A second paper will feature the first part of a study on the event of the Nativity scene of Greccio, on the occasion of the 800 years since Francis celebrated Christmas in this tiny hermitage that has gained world fame as a new Bethlehem.

On 22 February 2023 the Maltese OFM Province celebrated a half-day seminar on the occasion of the 800 years of the confirmation of the Regula bullata in 1223. For the occasion Br. Cesare Vaiani ofm, General Definitor and Franciscan scholar, was invited to give a talk to the brothers on the historical aspects of the Rule and its relevance in the life of us, Friars Minor, today. In this issue of our cultural review we are offering an English translation of the paper presented by Br. Cesare. The theme of the Rule is also continued in the paper regarding Saint Francis and the Cardinal Ugo di Ostia, who was cardinal protector of the Order and who helped the saint in the drafting of the text of the same Rule. The year 1223 also marks the moment in which Saint Anthony of Padua became the first lector of theology of the Order in the studium of the friars in Bologna. Two short papers will deal with Anthony of Padua. The first one is dedicated to a rather obscure shrine on Capo Milazzo in Sicily, where Anthony was shipwrecked in 1221, when on his return from Morocco to Spain his ship was blown off course. This event marked the beginning of his journey to Assisi for the general chapter of 1221 and then on to Monte Paolo, from where he eventually moved to go to Bologna to teach theology. The second paper is dedicated to this ministry of lector and its approval by Saint Francis through a short note that forms part of the Writings of Francis, the Letter to brother Anthony.

Spirit+Life 143 (January – March 2023) The celebration of the 800 years since the confirmation of the Franciscan Rule by Pope Honorius III (29 November 1223) will be the main theme of our Review of Franciscan Culture for this year. We have already introduced the theme in the October – December 2022 issue. This time this Review examines Bonaventure’s view of Francis’ role in the composition of the Rule, as he presents it in the Legenda Maior Sancti Francisci. The theme of the confirmation of the Rule is also linked with the question of the identity of the Friars Minor in their quest for observing the Gospel form of life. This issue dwells upon the contents of the 30th Congress of the International Society of Franciscan Studies held in Assisi on 13-15 October 2022, with the theme “Identity and Self-Consciousness of the Friars Minor during the 13th and 14th Centuries.” Another important anniversary on the local scene of Franciscan life in Malta has been the 50 years of the inauguration of the Provincial Library Hall in the Franciscan friary of Valletta on 12 December 1972. This event marked a new beginning in the long 342 year-old history of the Valletta OFM Library, founded in 1681 by Fr. Filiberto Peylabere, and enriched by many volumes belonging to Fr. Liborio Caruana (1660-1718) and especially Fr. Costanzo Vella (1691-1759). The Library Hall is undergoing restoration works and it is hoped that it will soon be ready as a veritable storehouse of knowledge in the fields of Franciscan Studies and Maltese History

The last issue of 2022 of our Franciscan Culture on line Review is dedicated to the upcoming 8^th centenary of the confirmation of the Regula Bullata of the Friars Minor by Pope Honorius III on 29^th November 1223.  An introductory paper studies the issue of identity of the Friars Minor seen against the historical background of the unfolding of Franciscan legislation from the Propositum Vitæ approved by Innocent III in 1209, on to the Regula non Bullata and to the definitive Franciscan Rule confirmed in 1223. The liturgical celebration of the feast of St. Francis is rich in lyric texts composed by Julian of Speyer, a magister cantus in the household of the King of France, and the author of a Vita Sancti Francisci and of the Officium Rhythmicum Sancti Francisci. This Rhymed Office is a work of poetry and music that adds solemnity and dignity to the liturgical celebration of St. Francis, and was composed by Julian himself, with other texts coming from the pen of eminent churchmen, like Pope Gregory IX and Cardinals Thomas of Capua and Rainerio Capocci, all of whom had known St. Francis. A final paper by Kevin Tortorelli OFM is a philosophical reflection upon the anthropological and theological vision of Nietzsche and St. Francis, a rather unusual couple of thinkers!