Article 2

On the poverty that the Brothers must observe, and the renunciation of all kinds of property

As it is expressly stated in the Rule, chap. 6, that the Brothers shall have nothing of their own, neither house, nor place, nor any other thing; this must be observed both individually and in common, as Gregory IX and some of our other predecessors have declared; and as there have been people lacking reason who attempted to discredit and poison by their artifices and calumnies such a perfect renunciation. To prevent the high perfection of the Brothers from being obscured and distorted by the malicious words of these people,

We declare that the renunciation of all kinds of property, both individually and in common, made for the love of God, is meritorious and holy; that Jesus Christ taught it through his words and authorized it by his example, when he showed the way of perfection; that the first founders of the Church militant drew from this sacred source, and that subsequently they transmitted it in all its purity, through their lives and their teachings, as through so many channels, to those who wish to lead a perfect life.

One should not imagine that this is contrary to what is said somewhere, that Jesus Christ had money: for although the works of Jesus Christ are perfect, nevertheless he practiced perfection in all his conduct, in such a way that he did not disdain sometimes to accommodate the imperfections of the weak; thus raising on one side the path of the perfect, and on the other not condemning that of the imperfect.

Thus, he represented the weak in his person when he carried money; and he also submitted to certain other weaknesses of humanity, as the Gospel testifies, to accommodate them, not only according to the flesh, but also according to the spirit.

For, in taking on human nature, he so perfectly united all things that, without losing any of the greatness that belongs to him, and without ceasing to be perfect in all his actions, he humbled and emptied himself in everything he borrowed from us; and by humbling himself out of an excess of charity to act in a manner proportioned to our weakness, he did not at all depart from the rules of the highest perfection.

Finally, Jesus Christ practiced and taught perfection; he also did things that showed imperfection and weakness: as appears regarding money and when he fled; but he did all this in a perfect manner and remained always perfect, to show at the same time to the perfect and the imperfect that he was the way of salvation, he who came to save both, and who finally willed to die for all.

Therefore, let no one inappropriately say that those who thus renounce, for the love of God, all kinds of property, put themselves in danger of death, that they are self-murderers, or that they tempt God. For the Friars Minor abandon themselves so completely to divine Providence for all the necessities of life that they do not reject the means suggested by human prudence; on the contrary, they subsist either on what is given to them freely, or on what they humbly ask in alms, or on what they earn by their labor: three means of living expressly prescribed in the Rule.

If the faith of the Church, according to the promise of the Savior, should never fail, good works will never cease; and this is enough to remove from the poor of Jesus Christ all cause for fear or mistrust. After all, if all these aids were ever to fail, which must in no way be thought likely, in such a case it would be permitted for the Friars Minor, as for any other person, to provide for their needs by the means that everyone may rightly use in extreme necessity, since such necessity has no law.

But one must not conclude from the fact that the Brothers renounce all kinds of property that they renounce at the same time the use of things. For one must distinguish in temporal goods the fund, the property, the possession, the usufruct, the right of use, and the mere use in fact. Now, as this use is absolutely necessary for life, although one can do without everything else, it is certain that there can be no human condition that renounces it. But it was reasonable that, in a state in which one voluntarily undertakes to imitate the extreme poverty of Jesus Christ, one should strip oneself of all property, contenting oneself with the necessary use of the things one receives.

Nevertheless, by renouncing in this way all kinds of property, and even the domain of the things one uses, it does not follow that one renounces this mere use; because, as it is only in fact and not by right, it gives no legal claim on the thing one uses, leaving only the utility derived from it. On the contrary, the Friars Minor are permitted by their Rule, as is very just and equitable, to use moderately the things they need to subsist and to fulfill the obligations of their state, except what they must observe regarding money, as we shall discuss below; and they may have the use of these things as long as the one who gave them finds it proper, in accordance with what is noted later in this document.

It is true that jurisprudence has ordered that, in temporal goods, the use or usufruct could not be forever separated from ownership; but this regulation does not destroy what we have just said, because it was made only in favor of the interest of the owners, who would derive no benefit from the goods they control if they never had their use. Now, it cannot be said that the ownership of things whose use is left to the poor is useless to the owner, since it grants a kind of right to eternal life, and it suits the condition of the evangelical poor; and what should make its utility better known to him is that it secures eternal goods in exchange for temporal goods.

Furthermore, it is certain that the blessed confessor of Jesus Christ, Saint Francis, did not claim, in composing his Rule, to renounce the necessary use of anything whatsoever: far from it, he taught and practiced the opposite during his life, since he himself used temporal things according to his needs, and he indicates in several places in his Rule that such use is permitted for the Friars Minor.

For he says first, that the Clerics perform the Divine Office as soon as they can have Breviaries: by which he clearly shows that they must have the use of a Breviary and other books proper for performing the Divine Office. He ordains in another chapter, that the Ministers and Custodes take great care to provide, by means of spiritual friends, for the needs of the sick and for the clothing of the other Brothers, as they judge necessary with respect to places, times, and cold countries. When he exhorts the Brothers to engage in honest work to avoid idleness, he adds, with respect to the reward of their work, that they receive for themselves and for their Brothers what is necessary for life. He says elsewhere, that the Brothers go confidently to ask alms; and he warns them in another place not to say anything in their preaching that is not in the purity of doctrine and according to the rules of prudence, proper to instruct and edify the people, presenting vices and virtues, punishment and glory.

Now, it is certain that this presupposes knowledge: one cannot acquire knowledge without study, and it is not possible to study well without having books for one’s use; it is therefore evident, from all these passages of the Rule, that the Brothers may have the use of what is necessary for their sustenance, their clothing, the divine service, and the study of holy things. And no sensible person can fail to understand, after all that has been said, that not only is it possible and permitted to observe said Rule with perfect disappropriation; but also that it is a perfect and meritorious state, all the more meritorious because those who make profession of it distance themselves further from temporal things for the love of God, as we have already indicated.