Chapter 6

(97) Carefully considering the most exalted poverty of Christ, King of heaven and earth, who at His birth did not find even a small place in the inn for His dwelling here below ¹, lived during His life as a stranger in another’s house ², and finally had nowhere to lay His head at His death; and further observing how complete His destitution was, our Holy Father Francis, desiring that his Brothers imitate Him, forbade them in the Rule to have anything as their own; so that, freed from all things, like pilgrims on earth and citizens of heaven, they may walk more ardently in the ways of God.

Wishing therefore truly to imitate so noble an example of Christ and to observe exactly the seraphic precept of celestial poverty, without prejudice to the rights of the Holy See, we declare that we indeed have, both individually and in common, no temporal right, domain, property, possession, usufruct, or juridical use of anything whatsoever, not even of that which we are obliged to use ³, nor of the houses in which we live.

Nevertheless, simple factual use of all things necessary for life and for the fulfillment of our duties of state is not forbidden to us; but this use must be strict and moderate, as the Rule prescribes.

(98) Therefore we order that the Brothers, when they wish to erect a house, after obtaining the consent of the Provincial Chapter, or, outside of Chapter, that of the Provincial Definitory, shall first go, as our humble Father Francis taught us, to present themselves to the Ordinary of the place and ask him for permission to erect said house in his diocese ⁴. Having received this permission, as well as the approval of the Minister General and his Definitory, and the rescript of the Apostolic See, they shall come to an agreement with the benefactors and the civil authorities of the locality or site.

(99) Likewise, to avoid all disorder, it is forbidden to abandon any house without an extremely grave reason, without the consent of the Chapter, or outside of Chapter that of the Provincial Definitory, the permission of the Minister General and his Definitory, and the approval of the Apostolic See ⁵.

(100) In order to be in a position to provide spiritual services to seculars and to receive temporal assistance from them, we order that our Houses not be built either too far from towns or villages, nor, however—except for just and serious reasons—so near that we would be exposed to frequent visits that could not fail to harm regularity.

(101) And since, as pilgrims in this world like the ancient Patriarchs, we must live in modest and poor houses, we exhort the Brothers to remember the words by which our Seraphic Father forbids in his Testament to receive in any way the churches and dwellings built for them if they are not in conformity with the most exalted poverty; and with even greater reason it is forbidden for them to have such buildings constructed themselves, or to allow sumptuous ones to be built for them ⁶; for Friars Minor must not, in order to please the great ones of the earth, displease God, transgress the Rule, scandalize their neighbor, and violate the Gospel poverty they have vowed.

There must be a great difference between the vast palaces of the rich and the small dwellings of the poor, beggars, pilgrims, and penitents.

(102) Let our churches be simple yet decent, very clean, and capable of inspiring piety ⁷; and let us not seek to have them large and spacious, under pretext of preaching more easily in them; for we will edify much more, according to the mind of our Seraphic Father, by preaching in other churches rather than in our own, especially if doing so would be to the detriment of holy poverty. Let there be only one bell, small and weighing about seventy kilograms.

(103) Let sacristies in all our houses be small but convenient and sufficiently provided, according to local needs, with sacred vessels and ornaments ⁸; and let everything, especially the priestly vestments, be clean; corporals and purificators must always be very white and perfectly neat.

(104) For vestments, altar furnishings, and other objects used for divine worship, neither gold nor silver shall be used, except for the tabernacles of the Most Blessed Sacrament, chalices, ciboria, monstrances, and the vessels for the Holy Oils. Candlesticks shall be of wood simply turned on a lathe ⁹. Missals, breviaries, and all other books shall be bound poorly and without elaborate ornamentation.

(105) The Brothers shall ensure that nothing precious, elaborate, or superfluous appears in anything pertaining to divine worship, being fully convinced, as Pope Clement V says ¹⁰, that God desires and values more the holy works of a pure heart than precious and richly adorned objects. We must therefore strive to make the most exalted poverty shine forth in all that is necessary for our use ¹¹; and it will inflame our hearts with the love of the riches of heaven, which are all our treasure, delight, and glory. Therefore, when Provincial Superiors, during visitation, find such precious, elaborate, or superfluous things, they shall punish those who have received them as disobedient and enemies of the simplicity of our Order, and shall see to their removal from our houses with the necessary precautions and in accordance with the prescriptions of the Holy See ¹².

(106) Let our convents be built simply but solidly, and suitably arranged for the needs of the religious community. Accordingly, the cells shall have a volume of about thirty cubic meters. The doors shall be about one meter ninety in height and eighty centimeters in width; the windows ninety centimeters in height and sixty in width. As for the dormitory corridors, their width must be one meter eighty centimeters. The height of the refectory should be proportionate to its length, but ordinarily not exceed three meters eighty centimeters, unless the air is bad, in which case it may be increased somewhat.

All other offices shall be likewise small, humble, poor, and of plain appearance, so that everything may preach humility, poverty, and contempt of the world. And where civil laws or the particular circumstances of the country do not permit adhering to the humble form of our constructions, let it at least be observed inside; and if even this cannot be done, let the Superiors strive not to depart too far from our simplicity and poverty. In such cases nothing shall be done without having obtained the approval of the Minister General and his Definitory.

(107) To avoid errors in the choice of sites, construction, and arrangement of cells—by making them larger than stated above—it is decreed that in each Province the Provincial Superior and his Definitors shall appoint at Chapter two Brothers of the most exemplary, zealous, and capable in the Province, who shall be charged, together with the Provincial Superior and his Definitory, with choosing the sites of houses to be built and drawing up the plans, which they shall sign, and according to which construction must proceed. They shall strive to dispose these so well that no later changes will be necessary. If disagreement arises among them, either about the choice of sites or the formation of plans, we will that the matter be settled by majority vote taken secretly.

(108) Let the Brothers entrusted with the office of construction be exact and careful in enforcing in all things the form prescribed above; their conscience would remain burdened by any notable enlargements they might permit without necessity; let them model themselves on the small dwellings of the poor and not on the palaces of the great; and let all the Brothers strive, if they are commanded, to bring their help to the work, in all humility, peace, and charity. Moreover, it is expressly forbidden to all Brothers ¹³ to interfere in the monetary expenditures required for construction; they shall leave this care to those charged with it, but shall admonish them humbly and charitably if they observe any disorder or superfluous expense.

(109) Let there be in all our houses a part reserved for the sick, or at least a suitable and healthy room, provided with necessities, as well as an oratory. Furthermore, we exhort all Provincial Superiors to establish in one or two of their convents best suited to this purpose a common infirmary for sick religious.

(110) It is also prescribed that in all our houses a small heated room be set aside to receive, when needed, with charity and according to our poverty, pilgrims or strangers, and especially religious dedicated by state to the service of God.

(111) When construction is completed, the local Superior shall not presume to build or destroy anything without the authorization of the Provincial Superior, who shall grant it only after thoroughly examining whether there is true necessity; and when it concerns matters of great consequence, he shall only give permission after obtaining the consent of his Definitory and the Fabricians. We further order that our houses already built may not be enlarged without a very grave reason and without the written permission of the General Definitory.

(112) It is also forbidden to cut vines, fruit trees, or others planted simply for ornament or pleasure that may be found within the enclosure of our houses, without the advice of the Discreets and the permission of the Provincial Superior, who must impose a salutary penance on whoever dares to violate this prohibition.

(113) In order to preserve at the same time the purity of the Rule, proper order in divine worship, and the most exalted poverty, we order that in finished convents there shall ordinarily be at least twelve Brothers, who, gathered in the name of the most lovable Jesus, forming but one heart and one soul, shall strive to tend toward ever greater perfection.

They shall apply themselves without ceasing to the practice of divine love and fraternal charity, edifying one another, giving good example to all, and combating their disordered inclinations, because, according to the word of our divine Savior: The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent bear it away ¹⁴, that is, those who do violence to themselves.

(114) And since total stripping away of worldly things is the most effective means to conquer one’s passions, tend to perfection, maintain in our hearts a burning love of God, uphold fraternal charity, and thus, after having tasted in advance on this earth the peace of the blessed, more easily merit the kingdom of heaven, we order that, in conformity with the prescriptions of the Church, common life be observed in its entirety, with fervor and constancy, in every house and by all the Brothers, Superiors as well as subjects ¹⁵. This common life consists in all goods, stipends, gifts, and everything which, under any title whatsoever, comes to the religious, being handed over to the Superiors and used for the needs of the religious family; so that the house provides for all in common the same food, the same clothing, and everything necessary.

Consequently, let the Superiors not refuse their subjects anything that is necessary, and let the latter not demand anything superfluous. We therefore strongly recommend Superiors to show themselves full of charity and solicitude, and subjects to maintain religious reserve. We warn the Provincial Superiors that if the observance of perfect common life is not in force in their Provinces, they shall, without more, be deprived of the right to validly receive novices for clothing and profession ¹⁶.

(115) It shall therefore be forbidden for the Brothers to give anything to seculars without the permission of the local Superiors, who themselves may neither give nor allow others to give anything except objects of minimal and insignificant value. When the object in question is of some importance, the permission of the Provincial Superior is always required, and he must remain within the limits assigned by law ¹⁷.

(116) The voluntary poor man, in his absolute destitution, possesses all things and lives happily, fears nothing, desires nothing; he can lose nothing because his treasure is secure. Nevertheless, to truly and effectively remove everything that could become an occasion for ownership, we forbid all Brothers to have keys for their cells, chests, or other furnishings, except for Superiors, officers charged with keeping things they must distribute to the community, and those who, for a particular reason, have obtained permission from the Superior.

(117) We will that the Brother who is found guilty of ownership shall be deprived of active and passive voice for one year or more, according to the case. He shall also, for the same time, be deprived of every office of the Order. If these penalties cannot be applied to him, he shall be severely punished in another manner by the Provincial Superior. And if any Brother, notoriously guilty of ownership, should die impenitent, he shall be deprived of ecclesiastical burial.

He shall likewise be punished, according to the gravity of the offense, who, refusing to observe perfect common life ¹⁸, claims a right over Mass stipends, the stipends of his preaching, his spiritual or manual works, as well as over gifts made to him personally; likewise he who would deposit books or other objects outside our houses without the approval of the Provincial or local Superior.

(118) According to Gospel doctrine, Christians—and especially Friars Minor, who have chosen the way of most exalted poverty to follow more closely Christ, the spotless mirror—must convince themselves that their heavenly Father can and wants to provide for their needs. Therefore, unlike the pagans, who, not believing in divine Providence, are forced to seek worldly goods with anxiety and excessive preoccupation—goods which the Most High Lord generously lavishes even upon irrational animals—the Brothers, as true children of the eternal Father, must cast aside all earthly concern, place themselves entirely under the dependence of His divine liberality, and abandon themselves to the care of His infinite goodness. Thus we forbid that in any of our houses provisions be made—save for a few days—of anything whatsoever, even necessities of life, whenever they may be procured by daily begging.

However, if it concerns things that can be obtained only rarely, or once a year, or only by recourse to money, a greater provision may be made according to the needs of times and places.

(119) And to prevent any confusion that might be among us a source of discord and failure in charity, we order that the limits of the begging areas, and the boundaries of both Provinces and convents, be respectively determined by the General Definitory and the Provincial Definitory. Superiors shall entrust the task of begging only to professed religious who are experienced and of mature age, and they shall never assign this task to those still occupied with studies.

(120) When benefactors send superfluous things, the Brothers shall refuse them with humble thanksgiving, or accept them only on the condition of distributing them, according to the indications of the Provincial Superior, to other houses or to the poor, remembering that we are in an inn, where we eat the sins of the people ¹⁹, and that we shall have to give a strict account of everything.

Therefore the Brothers must beware above all, amid the abundance of alms that may be bestowed on them by the favor of the great or the veneration of the people, of abandoning their most holy mother, poverty, like bastard sons of Saint Francis. But let them always remember these beautiful words that this seraphic Father often repeated in his holy transports of love: I have never been a thief of alms, procuring or using them beyond necessity; I have never wanted to receive everything I needed, for fear that other poor might be deprived of their share. To act otherwise would be theft ²⁰.

(121) In order to provide for the needs of the sick and to procure for them all necessary and possible help, as piety dictates, as the Rule prescribes, as fraternal charity demands, and following the example of our Seraphic Father, who did not blush to beg publicly for meat for them, we order that the local Superior, as soon as a religious falls ill, entrust to a charitable and capable Brother the care of assisting him in all his needs; if he shows negligence in serving the sick, he shall be warned, and if the warning remains ineffective, he shall be punished by the Superior.

Likewise, the Provincial Superior shall correct and seriously punish the local Superior who has not shown attentive care for his sick. If the sick man’s condition requires change of air and place, let this be provided as soon as possible.

(122) On the other hand, we earnestly exhort the sick to remember our state and, so as not to violate holy poverty to the detriment of their soul, that they entrust the care of their health to their physician and the infirmarian. As soon as the local Superior sees that the illness becomes dangerous, he must not fail to warn the sick man so that, knowing the gravity of his condition, he may prepare himself suitably to receive the sacraments.

Finally, let each Brother consider what he would want done for him if he were in the same state, and let him remember this maxim so clearly expressed in the Rule by our Seraphic Father, that no mother should be more affectionate, compassionate, or devoted to her only son than the Friar Minor should be toward his spiritual Brother.