Section 6 - Principles
Day 1
Jesus the Master speaks, Very truly, I tell
you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a
single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life
lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal
life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be
also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honour. (Jn 12.24-26)
The Master sets before us in the example of
his own sacrifice the secret of fruit-bearing. He surrenders himself to death,
and lo! he becomes the source of new life to myriads. Lifted up from the earth
in sacrifice, he draws unto him all those multitudes of which the Greeks, whose
coming kindled his vision, are the foretaste and prophecy. The life that is
cherished perishes: the life that is renounced is eternal. (cf Jn 12.20-21)
Day 2
This law of renunciation and sacrifice,
which is the law of the Master’s own life and fruit-bearing, he lays also upon
his servants, bidding them follow him in the same path. To those who thus follow
he promises the ineffable reward of union with himself and acceptance by the
Father. The object, therefore, of the First Order, is to build up a body of men
and women who, accepting Christ as their Lord and Master, will seek to follow
him in the way of renunciation and sacrifice as an act of witness and for the
loving service of his brothers and sisters in the world.
The Three Conditions of Life
Day 3
The community, recognising that God has at
all times called certain of his children to embrace a state of celibacy for the
kingdom of heaven’s sake, that they may be free to give themselves without
distraction to his service, sets before itself the aim of building up a body of
men and women who shall be completely dedicated to him alone both in body and
spirit.
These, after a sufficient period of
probation, voluntarily in response to God’s call, dedicate themselves to a life
of devotion to our Lord under the conditions of poverty, chastity and obedience.
Day 4
It is not without reason that these three
conditions have ever been embraced by those desiring to live the life of
religious detachment; for they stand for the ideal of perfect renunciation of
the world, the flesh and the devil, which are the three great enemies of the
spiritual life.
Poverty
Day 5
The Master willingly embraced a life of poverty in this world. He was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor. ( 2 Cor 8.9)
He chose a stable for his birthplace and for his upbringing the house of a village carpenter. Even that home he left in early manhood and became a wayfarer, with nowhere to lay his head. (Matt 8.20).
Us also he calls to poverty. Whoever serves me must follow me. (Jn 12.26)
None of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions. (Luke 14.33)
The brothers and
sisters, therefore, seek to be poor in spirit. They desire to escape from the
love of the world and the things that are in the world and rather, like their
patron Saint Francis, to be in love with poverty. They covet only the
unsearchable riches of Christ. They recognise, indeed, that while some of their
members may be called to a literal following of Saint Francis in a life of
actual penury and extreme simplicity, for most so high an ideal will not be
possible.
Day 6
The brothers and sisters desire to possess
nothing which cannot be shared by those around them and such things as will help
to satisfy their needs.
They receive no pay and own no personal
possessions. They live as a family having all things in common. They receive for
their use the simple necessities of life. Yet what they receive they regard not
as their own but rather as lent to them for a season.
Nor must they, while excluding the snare of
the world from their individual lives, allow it to return in the corporate
community, where it may work a wider and more fatal destruction. It would be
small gain were they to surrender their personal possessions only to live in
luxury through the abundance of the common stock. Therefore the community must
turn away from excess. The buildings it erects and the style and manner of life
which it permits must be the simplest that are consistent with good health and
efficient work. If there is money beyond what such simple needs require, let it
be spent in works of mercy and service, or else be used for the house of God,
which it is right and seemly with proper moderation to adorn, or for the
purchase of books which are necessary to the work of study.
Day 7
In all things let the brothers and sisters
exhibit the simplicity of true Franciscans who, caring little for the world
where they are but strangers and pilgrims, have their hearts set on that
spiritual home where their treasure is. (Matt 6.21)
Chastity
Day 8
The brothers and sisters are bound, like
all Christians, to resist and by God’s grace to conquer the temptations of the
flesh and to live lives of purity and self-control. They must ever strive
through faithful self-discipline and prayer to be chaste both in mind and body.
Furthermore, that they may promote unhindered devotion to the Lord (1 Cor 7.35),
and give themselves wholly to his work, being wedded only to Christ, their true
spouse, they embrace of their own will the vocation of celibacy. They do this
not because they believe that the unmarried state is in itself higher than the
married, but because they believe that for them the unmarried state is that in
which God wishes them to serve him. Therefore they look to him with confidence
to give them the grace needed for this life which, if they should undertake it
contrary to his will, would be to them a state of greater rather than less
distraction than that of marriage.
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Day 9
In thus accepting the state of chastity,
the brothers and sisters must ever be on their guard against the temptation to
self-centeredness, coldness or a lack of sympathy with the interests of others.
Their espousal to Christ must not weaken or mar their human affections. Rather
must their union with him enable them to love more richly with his love all with
whom they are brought in contact.
Obedience
Day 10
The Master, who, coming into the world not
to do his own will but the will of him that sent him, became obedient to the
point of death – even death on a cross (Phil 2.8), says to those who follow him,
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls. ( Matt 11.29)
The brothers and sisters desire, therefore,
to surrender their wills to the will of God, in the spirit of perfect obedience,
that being delivered from self-will and pride they may find true freedom and
peace and be ready instruments which he can use for his purposes.
Day 11
Further, by voluntarily accepting the Rule
as binding upon them, the brothers and sisters pledge themselves to abide by
this Rule and to obey the decisions of the Chapter, by which the common mind of
the community is expressed and interpreted.
It is the work of the Ministers to
administer the Rule and to see that the decisions of the Chapter are observed.
Their directions, therefore, unless they order something contrary to the Rule or
in itself sinful, must be promptly and cheerfully carried out. In their absence
obedience is due to their Assistants. Brothers or sisters put in charge of a
department of work are also to be obeyed in that department. But none may on any
authority act contrary to the guiding of their own consciences. The Ministers
are, like the other members, under obedience to the Rule and Chapter and are
bound to exercise their authority, not in a spirit of partiality or pride or
selfishness, but with equal consideration and love and with humble prayer for
the divine wisdom.
Day 12
The obligation of particular obedience
within the community is gladly accepted by the members, not as something
different from the obedience which they owe to God, but rather as part of that
obedience. They are confident that, if God has called them to a life under Rule,
they will, in fulfilling the obligations of that life, be most truly obeying him
and that whatever limitations or humiliations their obedience may involve will,
if cheerfully accepted, be a means by which pride is vanquished and a more
perfect consecration achieved.
When working away from the community, the
brothers and sisters should put themselves under the discipline of the parish or
society in which they are staying.
The Three Ways of
Service
Day 13
The brothers and sisters seek to serve
their Master by the life of devotion, by sacred study and by works. In the life
of the community as a whole all these three ways must find full and balanced
expression. It is not, indeed, to be expected that all will devote themselves
equally to each of these three tasks. It is right that their several employments
should vary according to the particular ability which God has given them, as
that some should, with the approval of their Minister, give themselves in large
measure to prayer and contemplation, others to the pursuit of learning and the
writing of books and others mainly to the ministry of active service. Yet must
room be found in the lives of all for at least some measure of each of these
three employments.
Prayer
Day 14
Praise and prayer constitute the atmosphere
in which the brothers and sisters must strive to live. They must endeavour to
maintain a constant recollection of the presence of God and of the unseen world.
An ever-deepening devotion to Christ is the hidden source of all their strength
and joy. He is for them the One all-lovely and adorable, God incarnate,
crucified and risen, whose love is the inspiration of service and the reward of
sacrifice.
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Day 15
That their union with this Lord and Master
may be ever renewed and strengthened, the brothers and sisters unite in offering
daily before God the memorial of his death and passion and feeding often upon
his sacrificial life. The Holy Eucharist is the centre round which their life
revolves. It is above all the heart of their prayer life.
The time of morning prayer is the
preparation of mind and spirit for entrance within the sanctuary. The meditation
which follows later is the opportunity for quiet tryst with him who through the
sacrament, is present inwardly, and for feeding on him in the heart by faith
with thanksgiving. The services of intercession and thanksgiving are times when
those who have been thus joined with him in communion and meditation may plead
with God in sure reliance on his promise: if you abide in me, and my words abide
in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you, (John 15.7), and
also thank him for continuous experience of its fulfilment.
The evening office is the renewed offering
of praise and prayer to the same Lord at the end of the day’s work, and in its
closing silence the hearts of all are together steeped afresh in the peace of
that inward uncreated light which, as the shadows of life deepen, abides
unchanged. Compline is the Master’s blessing of protection and peace.
Day 16
The brothers and sisters must strive ever
to remember how essential is the work of prayer to every department of their
lives. Without the constant renewal of divine grace the spirit flags, the will
is weakened, the conscience grows dull, the mind loses its freshness and even
the bodily vigour is impaired. They must, therefore, always be on their guard
against the constant temptation to let other work encroach upon the hours of
prayer, remembering that if they seek in this way to increase the bulk of their
activity it can only be at the cost of its true quality and value.
They must be regular and punctual in their
attendance at corporate prayer. They must also bear in mind that it is of little
value to be present at the common devotions in a formal or careless spirit. They
must seek to make of each office an offering of true devotion from the heart.
The reverent, ordered and earnest offering of the corporate worship is the very
heart of the community’s life.
Day 17
So, too, the brothers and sisters must
guard with jealous watchfulness the times of private prayer. They must remember
that corporate worship is not a substitute for the quiet communion of the
individual soul with God, and they must strive to go forward to ever fuller
enjoyment of such communion, till they are living in so constant a remembrance
of God’s presence that they do indeed pray without ceasing. (1 Thess 5.17).
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Day 18
It is to assist such an attitude and
practice of recollection that the rules of silence have been laid down and the
brothers and sisters will welcome and use such silence, regarding it not as the
imposition of an artificial restraint, nor merely as an external rule to be
observed by refraining from speech, but as the opportunity for growing in the
sense of the divine presence. They will welcome in a like spirit the retreats
and days of quiet which the community’s Rule provides as times when, in the
withdrawal from all external distractions, the life of the spirit may be renewed
and deepened.
In these and suchlike ways, the brothers
and sisters will seek to keep ever fresh and living their devotion to Christ
their Lord; and when through human frailty they fail in their high endeavour,
they will yet return again to Christ with humble contrition and earnest purpose
of amendment; and they will hold in special esteem that sacrament of penance and
absolution whereby they are cleansed from sin and renewed in the life of grace.
Study
Day 19
The true knowledge is the knowledge of God.
The highest wisdom is that holy wisdom whereby the soul is made one with God.
The first place, therefore, in the brothers’ and sisters’ work of study will
always be given to the study and practice of the way of the soul’s ascent to God
and the devotional study of the scriptures as one of the chief aids to that end.
They will study also the teaching of the Christian saints concerning the
spiritual life.
It is the hope of the community that some
of its houses may be not only homes of prayer but also homes of learning. It is
out of this recognition of the value and importance of study that some of the
hours each day are set apart for this purpose under the Rule; and it is mainly
for the uninterrupted securing of these hours that the rule of the lesser
silence is laid down whenever possible.
Works
Day 20
Jesus the Master took on himself the form
of a servant. He came not to be served but to serve. (Mark 10.45) He went about
doing good; curing all who were sick; bringing good news to the poor; binding up
the broken- hearted. (Acts 10.38), (Matt 8.16). Those who would claim to be his
servants and follow him must be diligent in ministry to others. (Luke 4.18),(Isa
61.1) The active works by which the brothers and sisters seek to serve their
Master begin within the house and garden. (1 Thess 5.17).
The sweeping, dusting and other menial
offices, as well as certain forms of manual work, are apportioned among them so
that all may contribute their share to the work of the household and the cost of
their own living. All must be capable of engaging in some form of manual work.
All must consider the interests of the community in its work for God and study
strict economy. Brothers and sisters will do their own work as far as possible.
Saint Francis said that the idle (member) has no place in the community.
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Day 21
Outside the special works of service to the
community itself there are many opportunities of ministry, particularly to the
uncared-for, the sick, the suffering and needy. The community sets before it, as
the special programme of service which it would like to be able to carry out,
those acts of mercy the doing of which even to the humblest the Master declares
that he will accept as done unto himself. By helping in the relief of poverty we
may give him food and drink.
By hospitality to strangers we may take him
in. By relieving those homeless and naked we may clothe him. By caring for the
sick we may relieve him. By visiting the prisoners we may cheer him. (cf Matt
25.35-35)
The community does not, indeed, expect ever
to have at its disposal many funds for the administration of charitable relief,
but it will gladly lend its members in the work of such relief and co-operate
with others who are doing it. In all such work, the community will seek to serve
all irrespective of creed, offering its services not as a bribe but as a
reflection of the love of Christ himself.
Day 22
But chiefest of all forms of service that
the brothers and sisters can offer must ever be the effort to show others in his
beauty and power the Christ who is the inspiration and joy of their own lives.
They will seek to do this, not in a spirit of aggression, nor with contempt for
the beliefs of others, but rather because, knowing in their own experience the
power of Christ to save from sin and to give newness of life, they must needs
seek to share their own supreme treasure. Out of the fullness, therefore, of
devoted love they would seek to give their belovèd Master to all. They must
remember that, in this task of showing Christ to others the witness of life is
more eloquent than that of words. Franciscans must, therefore, seek rather to be
living lives through which Christ can manifest himself than to preach much in
public. Nevertheless, there will be some amongst them called more particularly
to the ministry of the Word, and all must be ready at all times to give an
answer for the faith that is in them, (cf 1 Pet 3.15) and particularly to guide
all who are sincerely seeking after truth. They must also be ready by
instruction and prayer and spiritual direction to strengthen the faith of
Christians and lead them forward in the spiritual life.
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Day 23
The brothers and sisters must be glad at
all times to relieve those who come to them for help or counsel. They must never
give the impression that they have no time for such ministry. Rather must they
be ready to lay aside all other work, including even the work of prayer, where
such service is immediately required, confident that such a negligence will
surely be well-pleasing to the Servant of all.
The Three Notes of
the Order
Day 24
The three notes which must ever in special
degree mark the lives of the brothers and sisters are humility, love and joy. If
these prevail within its members, the object of the community will be fulfilled
and its work fruitful. If they are lacking, it will be unprofitable and barren.
Humility
Day 25
The brothers and sisters will strive to
keep ever before them the example of him who emptied himself, taking the form of
a slave (Phil 2.7) and who, on the last night of his life, humbly in the guise
of a slave washed his disciples’ feet. (cf Jn 13.4-5). They will ever seek after
his pattern to clothe themselves with humility in their dealings with one
another. (1 Pet 5.5). Humility is the recognition of the truth about God and
ourselves, the recognition of our own insufficiency and dependence, seeing that
we have nothing which we have not received. It is the mother of all Christian
virtues. As Saint Bernard of Clairvaux has said, No spiritual house can stand
for a moment save on the foundation of humility. It is the first condition of a
happy life within the family. Thus those in the house must remember that
brothers and sisters who are always confident that they are right and eager to
impose their opinion on others, will themselves be unhappy as chafing under the
discipline of subordination and correction and will also make the life of the
family unhappy by marring that distinctive atmosphere of harmony and order which
depends on everyone doing their allotted task with cheerfulness. The glad
acceptance of the rule of obedience, and the loyal fulfilment of orders that are
distasteful or difficult, will be one sure means of growing in this grace.
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Day 26
The brothers and sisters must also refrain
from all contemptuous thoughts one of another, and not seeking for pre-eminence
must regard others as better than themselves. (Phil 2.3) The faults that they
see in others must be subjects for prayer rather than criticism and they must be
more diligent to take the log out of their own eye than the speck out of their
neighbour’s eye. (Matt 7.5) They must be ready not only gladly, when invited, to
go and sit down at the lowest place (Luke 14.10), but rather of their own accord
take it. Nevertheless, if entrusted with a work of which they feel incapable or
unworthy, they must not shrink from accepting it on the plea of humility, but
attempt it confidently through the power (of Christ) made perfect in weakness (2
Cor 12.9).
In their relations also with those outside,
the brothers and sisters must strive to show their Master’s humility. They must
welcome gladly all opportunities of humble service that come to them and never
desire pre-eminence or praise. In particular they must resist the temptation to
consider themselves superior to others because dedicated to a life of religion,
realising how much greater often are the sacrifices and difficulties of those
engaged in the ordinary professions of life and how much more nobly they face
them.
Love
Day 27
The Master says, By this everyone will know
that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13.35) Love
is thus the distinguishing feature of all true disciples of Christ. It must be
specially an outstanding note in the lives of those who are seeking to be
specially consecrated to Christ as his servants. God is love. (1 John 4.8) and,
for those whose lives are hidden with Christ in God, (Col 3.3), love will be the
very atmosphere which surrounds all that they do. This love the brothers and
sisters must show towards all to whom they are united by natural ties of
relationship or friendship. They will love them not less but more as their love
for Christ grows deeper.
They will love also with a special
affection those to whom they are united within the family of the community,
praying for each individually and seeking to grow in love for each. They must be
on their guard against all that injures this love: the bitter thought, the hasty
retort, the angry gesture; and never fail to ask forgiveness of any against whom
they have sinned. They must seek to love equally with others those with whom
they have least natural affinity. For this love of one another is not simply the
welling up of natural affection but a supernatural love which God gives them
through their common union with Christ. As such it bears testimony to its divine
origin. Our Lord intended the unity of those who believe in him to be a special
witness to the world of his divine mission. The community must show the
spectacle of a Christian family whose members, even though they be of varied
race and education and character, are bound into a living fellowship by this
supernatural love.
Lastly, in all their relationships with
those, whether Christians or not, with whom their work brings them in contact
they will seek to show forth this same supernatural Christ-like love; and,
remembering that love is measured by sacrifice, they will seek gladly to spend
whatever gifts they may possess of body, mind and spirit in the service of those
to whom God calls them to minister.
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Joy
Day 28
Finally, the brothers and sisters,
rejoicing in the Lord always (Phil 4.4) must show forth in their lives the grace
and beauty of divine joy. They must remember that they follow the Son of Man,
who came eating and drinking (Luke 7.34), who loved the birds and the flowers,
who blessed little children, who was a friend of tax collectors and sinners (cf
Mark 10.16), who sat at the tables alike of the rich and the poor. They will,
therefore, put aside all gloom and moroseness, all undue aloofness from the
common interests of people and delight in laughter and good fellowship. They
will rejoice in God’s world and all its beauty and its living creatures, calling
(nothing) profane or unclean. (Acts 10.28)
They will mingle freely with all kinds of
people, seeking to banish sorrow and to bring good cheer into other lives. They
will carry with them an inner secret of happiness and peace which all will feel,
if they may not know its source.
Day 29
This joy, likewise, is a divine gift and
comes only from union with God in Christ. As such it can abide even in days of
darkness and difficulty, giving cheerful courage in the face of disappointment
and an inward serenity and confidence in sickness and suffering. Those who
possess it can be content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and
calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever they are weak, then they are
strong. (2 Cor 12.10) Day 30
These three notes of humility, love and
joy, which should mark the lives of the brothers and sisters, are all
supernatural graces which can be won only from the divine bounty. They can never
be attained through our own unaided exertions. They are miraculous gifts of the
Holy Spirit. But it is the purpose of Christ our Master to work miracles through
his servants; and, if they will but be emptied of self and utterly surrendered
to him, they will become chosen vessels of his Spirit and effective instruments
of his mighty working, who is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we
can ask or imagine. (Eph 3.20)
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Other sections
Section 1
Click here for
the "About section", where you will find more information regarding St Francis,
St Clare, the time the saints lived in, the Pilgrimage to Assisi, Franciscan
tradition and why after you?
Section 2
Click here for
the "Franciscan Praying" section, where you will find relevant prayer/praying
details: Centred on Christ, Christ in Creation, Christ in the crib, Christ on
the cross, Christ in The Eucharist, a Franciscan icon, Prayers of St Francis,
Praying with SSF, How I pray, Join us in chapel, Pray for us
Section 3
Click here for
the "Living as Franciscans" section, where you will find: Life in community, A
passion for justice and peace, Sharing the gospel, A day in the life, The
Anglican Francisan Story, The wider picture of being Franciscan
Section 4
Click here for
"Franciscan News" section
Section 5
Click here for
"Pray for us" section - containing the prayer diary and intercessions list for
our brothers and sisters
Section 6
