Article 1

On the Observance of the Commandments and Evangelical Counsels

First of all, as we have learned that some doubt whether the Brothers of the said Order are obliged to observe both the counsels and the evangelical precepts; either because at the beginning of the Rule it is stated, The Rule and life of the Friars Minor consist in observing the holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ, living in obedience, without property, and in chastity; or because it is said elsewhere, when the year of probation is completed, that they be received to make their profession of obedience, promising always to observe this way of life and this Rule; or again because at the end of the same Rule one reads these words, that we observe poverty, humility, and the holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which we have firmly promised to observe.

Although this article and some others of the said Rule were clarified by Pope Gregory IX, our predecessor of blessed memory, in the year 1230, nevertheless, due to the violent and extraordinary attacks of those who rose against the Brothers and their Rule, and due to several remarkable cases that have occurred since that time, his declaration appears obscure in some points, imperfect in others, and insufficient regarding several things contained in the Rule.

We, wishing to remedy these kinds of defects by another declaration that perfectly explains all difficulties, and to remove from all minds, through a more precise and extended interpretation, even the slightest doubt that one could have on this matter.

We say that, since at the beginning of the Rule it is stated, not absolutely, but with some modification, restriction, and specification, The Rule and life of the Friars Minor consist in observing the holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ, living in obedience, without property, and in chastity; three articles which the same Rule continues to explain very precisely, although it adds others in terms of command, prohibition, counsel, warning, exhortation, and in other terms equivalent to some of these; it is clear that, according to the spirit of the Rule, what seems to be said absolutely and without restriction in the profession, promising always to observe this way of life and this Rule, and what is at the end, that we observe the holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which we have firmly promised to observe, must be understood according to the modification, restriction, and specification placed at the beginning of the Rule; that is, that this observance of the Gospel must be modified, limited, and specified by the three articles of obedience, poverty, and chastity, which are indicated in the same Rule.

For there is no appearance that Saint Francis, having once advanced a thing with some restriction, intended without any reason, when he repeated it in passing, that the restriction he had placed there would no longer be found; moreover, the rules of both Rights teach us that things at the beginning, middle, and end usually refer to one another.

Even suppose someone were to say absolutely and without restriction: “I promise to observe the holy Gospel,” unless by this he intended to commit to observing all the counsels, which would be very difficult and even impossible to practice literally; in which case it is evident that such a commitment would be a trap for the one making it; it is clear that this promise should be understood only as the observance of the Gospel as it is taught by Jesus Christ; that is, those who engage in it observe the precepts as precepts and the counsels as counsels.

And Saint Francis himself makes it clear through the order he maintains throughout the Rule, that this is the meaning he gives to the same words; since he proposes certain evangelical counsels as counsels in terms of warning, exhortation, and advice, and others as precepts in terms of prohibition and command: which evidently proves that in what he said, he did not intend that the Brothers, by the profession they made of this Rule, were obliged to observe all evangelical counsels as precepts, but only those expressed in the Rule in terms of command or prohibition, or in equivalent terms.

Therefore, in order to place the conscience of the Friars Minor in perfect tranquility, we declare that by virtue of the profession they have made of the said Rule, they are obliged to observe only the evangelical counsels marked in it in terms of command or equivalent terms. As for some other counsels still found in the Gospel, the Brothers should observe them more than the ordinary Christians, since by the profession they have made, they have embraced a state of perfection, and have offered themselves to God as perfect holocausts through the renunciation of all worldly things.

In a word, by the vows of their profession, they are committed to observing the things in the Rule—commandments, counsels, and everything else—only in the manner in which they are marked; that is, they are absolutely obliged to keep as precepts those placed in mandatory terms. As for the observance of other things contained in terms of warning, exhortation, instruction, and others, it is all the more just and reasonable that the Brothers apply themselves to them, since having made themselves imitators of such an excellent Father, they have engaged by their own choice to follow Jesus Christ more faithfully than others.