Chapter 10

Let the Brothers who are Ministers and Servants of the others visit, warn, and correct them with humility and charity, commanding nothing that would harm the conscience or the Rule.

But let the Brothers who are inferior remember that they have renounced their own will for the love of God: therefore, I command them absolutely to obey their Ministers in all things they have promised to observe for the Lord, which do not harm the conscience or the Rule.

Wherever the Brothers may be, if they feel and recognize that they cannot observe the Rule according to the spirit, they should turn to their Ministers and may address them freely.

Furthermore, let the Ministers receive them with gentleness and charity; and let them treat them so familiarly that the Brothers may speak and act with them as masters would with servants: for it must be this way, that the Ministers be servants to all the other Brothers.

I warn and exhort my Brothers in Our Lord Jesus Christ to be very careful of all kinds of pride, vanity, envy, greed, worldly cares and distractions, gossip, and murmuring. Those who do not have an education should not worry about studying; instead, let them reflect that they should especially desire to be filled with the Spirit of the Lord and His holy operation, to pray to Him always with a pure heart, to maintain humility and patience in persecution and illness, and to love those who persecute, rebuke, and blame us.

For Our Lord says: Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute and slander you. Blessed are those who suffer persecution for righteousness’ sake, for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them. And he who endures to the end will be saved."

Brother Matthew: The passage that begins with Wherever the Brothers may be… and ends with … be servants to all the Brothers, does not correspond to the text that Saint Francis submitted to Pope Honorius III, but rather to the version modified by the latter. Here is the original version:

“Wherever there are brothers who know and recognize that they are incapable of observing the rule literally, they must and may have recourse to their ministers, but the ministers are required to grant the necessary permission to these brothers with kindness and generosity; if they do not wish to do so, the brothers themselves should have permission and obedience to observe it literally, for all the brothers, both ministers and subjects, must be subject to the rules.” ¹

Here is the exchange between Saint Francis and Pope Honorius III on this point. After reviewing the passage in question that Saint Francis submitted for approval ²:

[Pope Honorius III:] “These words, if misinterpreted, could become a source of scandal and division for those who are not firmly established in the knowledge of the truth and in the love of virtue. Therefore, to avoid any danger in this regard, it is important that you change this text slightly.”

[Saint Francis:] “Most Holy Father, it is not I who introduced these words into the rule, but Jesus Christ Himself, who knows better than I what is useful and necessary for the salvation of souls and the maintenance of this religion. Therefore, I should neither change nor can I change them, for there will come a day when the Ministers and the prelates will cause much suffering for those who wish to observe this rule literally, as Our Lord commands.”

[Pope Honorius III:] “Brother Francis, I will ensure that, while fully preserving the meaning of these words, the Ministers understand that they are bound to do what Our Lord asks and what the rule prescribes, and the Brothers that they have full freedom to observe this life and rule strictly.”