VERBUM SERAPHICUM
PAX ET BONUM APRIL -- 2000 A. D. AVE MARIA
"If thou wilt
be perfect, go, sell what thou hast, and give to the poor,
. . . and come follow Me." Matthew 19:21
|
INTRODUCTION This is the third issue of VERBUM SERAPHICUM: a newsletter for vocations to traditional Franciscan life. The purpose of this publication is to provide information that assists in the discernment of a supernatural vocation to religious life and to the priesthood. O Mary, Mediatrix of every Grace, pray for us! THE FEAR OF GOD: Part II By. St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio, OFM But secondly the fear of the Lord rises in us from the consideration of the perspicacity of the Divine Wisdom. Whence Job: For He is the only One; and no one can avert His thoughts. And about that I am troubled by His face and considering Him, I am disquieted by fear (Job 23:13,15). — He is the only One, that is, from Himself alone does he have being, and all other things from Him. And as from the first being all things flow, so God is the Cause of all. Therefore if God is the Cause of all, there is no creature, which is not naked in His eyes, because He himself sees and attentively gazes upon the thoughts of men. For that reason Job in the person of the man considering the Divine Wisdom, which weighs all other things, says: Considering Him, I am disquieted by fear. Whence upon this the Psalms: Who respects the earth and makes it tremble (Ps 103:32) etc.; the Gloss says: "God then respects the earth and makes it tremble, when He brightens earthly man in respect to His grace and converts him to his original Principle, through which all others are derived and governed. And then man trembles thoroughly". -- For that reason a man ought to consider, what he thinks, what he speaks, and what he does; because God sees all things. Whence Boethius in his book On the Consolation says: "If you do not want to be concealed, there is a great, unspoken necessity of your being proved, since all other things you do in the sight of the Judge who sifts all other things". And in Ester it is said: I saw Thee, Lord, as does the Angel of God, and thoroughly disturbed was my heart because of the fear of Thy glory; for Thou art very wonderful, Lord, and Thy Face is full of graces (Est. 15:16). -- I saw Thee, Lord, as does an angel of God. An angel sees and circumspects all things, he approves |
good things and reproves evil ones; likewise, an angel loves the good and hates evil. The third origination of the fear of the Lord is from the consideration of the severity of the Divine Vengeance. Whence in Habakuk: Lord, I have heard what is heard of Thee and I fear. I have heard and thoroughly disturbed is my stomach ; from speaking my lips thoroughly tremble. May rot step into my bones and gush beneath me, that I may rest on the day of tribulation (Hab 3:2,16). He says: I have heard what is heard of Thee and I fear, that is, that which is said, when it is said: Go, accursed ones, into the eternal fire (Mt 25:41). He says: May rot step into my bones and gush beneath me, that I may rest on the day of tribulation. Not only on the day of tribulation or of the severity of the Last Judgment, but of whatever other judgment, because God's judgments are very many. Whence the Psalm: Fasten together my flesh with Thy fear, for I am afraid of Thy judgments (Ps 118:120). St. Francis of Assisi, pray for us! The Difference Between Priesthood and Religious Life It is easier for a man to discern a vocation to the priesthood than a vocation to religious life. And this is because it is natural for a man to conceive of himself in the state and duties of a father and protector of the community. But it is difficult for a man to discern a vocation to religious life; because human nature of itself is not inclined to a life of mortification, sacrifice, and discipline for the sake of the love of God. Priesthood and religious life are two of the three great components of the trinitarian nature of Holy Mother Church. There are laity who are the adopted sons of God the Father and who live in the world so as to sanctify themselves and others. There are members of the laity whom God calls to the priesthood. These He chooses from all eternity to the Ambassadors of God the Son to mankind; teaching, ruling, and sanctifying things and souls. Finally, there are the religious, whom God calls from all eternity to devote their entire existence to communion with the Holy Spirit, in thought and word and deed. These follow Christ in poverty, chastity, and obedience and seek to be first of all sons of God the Father and of Mary, their Immaculate Mother. |
VERBUM SERAPHICUM
PAX ET BONUM APRIL -- 2000 A. D. AVE MARIA
"If thou wilt
be perfect, go, sell what thou hast, and give to the poor,
. . . and come follow Me." Matthew 19:21
|
The priesthood is conferred by the Sacrament of Orders, which places an indelible supernatural mark upon the soul. The mission of the priest is to sanctify others; and so he must strive to interiorize the spirit of the priesthood's self-sacrifice, charity, and zeal, in his own life so as to obtain grace to be holy himself. The priesthood as a state of life presupposes holiness of life. Religious life is a supernatural invitation to live the life of perfection. It is undertaken not by Sacrament but by a decision of the will, expressed through unbreakable bonds of vows. A vow is a promise made to God to do something good. Religious vows are promises to observe the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience. One can live the consecrated life in community or outside of community. In the former case, one is a religious properly speaking. Religious life of its nature is an interior call which moves one to personal sanctification; a religious can only sanctify others by exteriorizing his vocation and giving good example of the grace which God bestows on the soul in prayer. Religious life presupposes a life ruled by a life of prayer, penance, and mortification. To be a religious is to be the servant, disciple, knight, soldier and loyal follower of Christ the King. Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, have mercy on us! WHAT IS TRADITIONAL FRANCISCAN
LIFE? The vocation to be a Friar Minor of the Observance (OFM) is traditionally that of the one who observes the Rule of St. Francis in the manner proposed by the Roman Pontiffs, that is, without any mitigation. The classical observance of the Rule was confirmed by Popes Nicholas III (c. 1280 A.D.), Clement V (c.1310 A.D) and St. Innocent XI (c. 1680 A.D.) This observance required not only those elements which characterized all religious communities (e.g. recitation of the office, renunciation of personal property, perpetual chastity of mind and body, obedience to lawful superiors in accord with the rules of the Church and institute) but also those exceptional and unique counsels of Christ Jesus, which His Own Immaculate Mother and the Apostles themselves (excepting Judas Iscariot) observed at the beginning of Christianity. |
Some of these distinctive counsels, which God Himself taught for the sake of perfecting those who were His disciples were: 1)
Communal Poverty: the renunciation of the ownership not only of one's
personal goods; but also of the rights of the religious community to own
property of any kind. Only the use of things, owned by benefactors, was
allowed. Communal poverty requires the life of mendicancy. There is very great wisdom in the observance of the Rule of St. Francis without mitigations. By undertaking this one is placed in a form of life which continually challenges the individual to believe humbly and simply all that Christ taught, even the evangelical counsels which are most opposed to human prudence and bodily comfort. This is a safe path; because no one rightly trusts so completely in God as to live the life of a beggar, as St. Francis did, unless one is determined to live with a pure heart and actually pursue the honor and glory of God above and before all personal and communal self interest. Since Christ is God one can be sure that He will come to the daily actual assistance of the needs of His servants who strive to do His will more perfectly and to serve the Church. There is never any reason to doubt that Christ will not prove His own words and teachings true; He is God and He alone is worthy of unlimited trust. Published by The Franciscan
Archive, http://www.franciscan-archive.org |