A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE RULE
OF THE SECULAR FRANCISCAN ORDER
Christopher Shorrock OFM Conv.
FRANCIS, FOUNDER OF A SECULAR ORDER OF PENITENTS?
Research is still being carried out today into the origins of what is commonly known as the Third Order of St. Francis; today the Secular Franciscan Order. The position that existed at the end of the nineteenth century, maintaining that there was initially a nucleus of "penitents" grouped around Francis, from which the Friars Minor and the Poor Ladies later broke away against the founder's wishes in order to lead a canonical religious life, has now been abandoned. The opposite position has been also put forward, particularly by a Dominican G.G. Meersseman, who, after comparing the many papal documents relating to the penitential movement from 1221 onward, concludes that, though Francis may not have been the actual founder, he at least deserves recognition for imparting new vitality to already existing groups of brothers and sisters of penance by his urge for evangelical renewal.
If we were to look at the known sources by today's authorities, it would lead to the following conclusions. For many years there had been groups of penitents, who were a product not only of the Church's penitential discipline, but also of a communal commitment - propositum - to evangelical perfection. Thus, at the end of the twelfth century, the order of clerics and the order of monks were joined by the order of penitents, which was given official recognition by the Church. In fact, Francis and his first companions took the name of "Penitents of Assisi" before their Rule received papal approval. Some of these groups placed themselves under the direction of a monastery, or joined new regular institutes such as the Premonstratensians or the Humiliati, forming a "third order" of married or celibate lay people. The commitment of conversion involved a series of renunciations and exemptions, and a distinctive penitential habit, as well as greater strictness than was observed by ordinary Christians regarding fasting and frequency in receiving the sacraments.
Under Innocent III, and even more so under honourius III, mainly owing to the
initiative taken by Cardinal Ugolino, the Holy See was at pains to give the
penitential movement greater cohesion and even a properly defined canonical
status; attempts were also made to immunise it against heresy. The truth was
that this movement was now emerging as a new phenomenon under the revitalising
influence of St. Francis and his Order. The lay Christians of the Italian
municipalities were beginning to express their desire for a more radical form of
Christianity. It was precisely this note of secularity that
distinguished the Franciscan fraternities from the older ones, even the
The first "official" papal bull which clearly recognises St. Francis as the
founder of the Order of Penitents is Nicholas IV's Supra Montem of
1289; but as early as 1238, in a letter to Saint Agnes of Bohemia, Gregory IX
mentions the three orders founded by Saint Francis, "the Friars Minor,
the Enclosed Sisters, and the Penitents." This testimony is all the more
valuable as it comes from the man who took the main initiative in the direction
of Franciscan institutions as Cardinal Protector.
The role of Francis as "founder" of the "Third Order" is under wide
discussion today. The best and fairest summary is Casagrande (1997). To
summarise the two positions, it could be said that some scholars do not deny
that Francis might be responsible for the paternity of his own Order of
Penitents in the role of founder, promoter or spiritual animator (Rivi 1989, pp.
157-58; Stewart 1991, p. 215; D'Alatri 1993, p. 87), while other scholars hold
that Francis did not found any kind of Order of Penance although pious faithful
spontaneously gathered around Francis in fraternities, setting in train a
relationship that ended in an institution. (Rivi 1989, pp. 156-57 gives a good
summary of this position).
D'Alatri (1993, p. 87) puts it as follows:
"Personally I am of the opinion that this Order of penance, in so far as it
was an institution, rather than being the fulfilment of a specific plan of
Francis, should be considered as the result of his penitential animation: then,
after many attempts, both he and the official Church saw the necessity of
establishing precise "norms" and a "way of life" for these new penitents, who
claimed to be connected to Francis and to share his charism."
THE REVIVAL - THE RULE OF LEO XIII (1884) - THE SITUATION TODAY
Since the middle of the nineteenth century several important factors have
played their part in the development of a new and unexpected prosperity for the
Franciscan Third Order, later the Secular Franciscan Order: the restoration of
the First Order in all its different branches with a more social and practical
sense of its apostolate, and a keener awareness of Franciscan modes of action;
the wave of sympathy for St. Francis which began in intellectual circles; and
firm papal support.
The first step was to make use of the printed word through periodicals, which
would spread Franciscan ideals and create links between the different
fraternities. There was a much greater increase in the number of these
publications during and after the pontificate of Leo XIII, so that by 1919 there
were as many as 164 throughout the world, a figure which increased still further
over the next ten years.
Once again, persons of distinction considered it an honour to wear the
Seraphic cord, and sanctity, too, flourished once more in the Franciscan Third
Order, producing some outstanding figures. The following tertiaries devoted
themselves to practical work: Joseph Benedict Cottolengo (d. 1842), Vincentia
Gerosa (d. 1847), Vincent Pallotti (d. 1850), Jean- Marie Vianney (d. 1859),
Joseph Cafasso (d. 1860), Mary Joseph Rossello (d. 1880), John Bosco (d. 1888),
Frances Xavier Cabrini (d. 1917), the Blessed Contardo Ferrini (d. 1902).
Of recent popes, all from Pius IX to John XXIII belonged to the Franciscan
Third Order before their accession to the pontificate, and all have singled it
out for special attention. But it was Leo XIII who gave it preference and
founded upon it his best hopes for the regeneration of Christian society. While
still Bishop of Perugia he had used every possible means to encourage its growth
in all the parishes of his diocese; this enthusiasm increased when he ascended
the papal throne. He took advantage of the seventh centenary of the birth of St.
Francis in 1882 to issue the encyclical Auspicato concessum, which was
a fervent eulogy of the Franciscan Third Order Secular and a strong exhortation
to promote its expansion in every part of the world.
This Pope realised, however, that the old Franciscan institution would never
become an effective worldwide force capable of uniting all lay people of good
will unless the spirit which had given birth to it was adapted to meet the
demands of modern life; he therefore decided to modify the Rule. It was not just
a question of modernising it; the essential was to make it acceptable to the
greatest possible number.
The new Rule was promulgated in the apostolic constitution Misericors Dei
Filius, of May 30, 1884. The text consisted of three chapters, followed by
another three in the form of an appendix, setting out the indulgences and
privileges of tertiaries. Reduced to the bare essentials, it retained as much of
the old Rule as could be adapted to the life of any keen Christian, and modified
or completed whatever parts of it seemed outdated or excessively harsh.
These were the most important articles: members should wear the small
scapular and the cord; they must go through a year's novitiate before
profession; their dress was to be simple and quiet; they must stay away from
profane spectacles, and exercise moderation in eating; they should confess and
take communion once a month, and say twelve "Our Fathers", the Hail Mary and the
Gloria daily, unless they had attended the Divine Office or the Little Office of
the Virgin Mary; they were to make their wills in good time; they should examine
their consciences every day, and, whenever possible, attend daily mass and the
monthly assembly: they were to pay their voluntary contribution toward the
fraternities' expenses and the relief of the poor. There was to be a
redistribution of offices every three years; and an annual visit was to be
carried out as a duty by members of the First Order or the Third Order Regular
appointed by the Guardian in charge of the fraternity.
Having taken this momentous step, the Pope lost no opportunity during the
next few years of involving the whole Catholic episcopate in the propagation of
the Franciscan Third Order Secular, either by encyclicals or by exhortation and
encouragement. The hierarchy responded obediently to the Pontiff's wishes,
ordinary Christians were fired with enthusiasm, and within a short time there
were several million Tertiaries.
The movement even spread outside the Catholic Church. The Third Order of St.
Francis was particularly successful in recruiting members of the Anglican Church
at the end of the nineteenth century, using a different Rule, but the same name.
The Calvinist Monod, founder of a Franciscan Third Order in France, ended his
speech at the unionist congress in Stockholm in 1927 by expressing the wish that
"in all parts of the Christian world a new St. Francis might inspire
missionaries of the Third Order Secular to preach the moral, social, and
spiritual Gospel which alone can preserve us from the dreadful spectacle of
another world catastrophe ...."
The centenary celebrations had been inaugurated on January 6 that year by
Benedict XV with his encyclical Sacra propediem, in which he exhorted
those who had charge of souls to ensure that the already existing tertiary
fraternities became steadily more prosperous, and that others were created where
as yet there were none. The result was a fresh increase in the number of
tertiaries and in the patronage extended by bishops to the Franciscan Third
Order, acting on the unequivocal guidelines laid down by the Holy See. Large
congresses were held in 1926 to mark the seventh centenary of the death of St.
Francis; it was also commemorated by Pius XI in the encyclical Rite expiatis,
which ended with another exhortation to bishops to encourage the faithful as
energetically as they could to join the Third Order. Later these solemn
assemblies were succeeded by more practical and effective national meetings, in
which only provincial delegates took part. Pius XII added words of his own to
the chorus of praise and the injunctions of his predecessors in an audience
which he granted to 4,000 representatives of the fraternities under the
jurisdiction of the four branches of the Franciscan family, on November 20,
1945, and on August 15, 1952, when he commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of
his entrance in the Franciscan Third Order. John XXIII, in his allocution of
July 2, 1961 to the national congress of Italy, and Paul VI in his allocution of
June 23, 1968, and another of May 20, 1971, to a large international gathering
of Franciscan Tertiaries, also expressed their regard for the Franciscan lay
From the beginning of this century there had been a steady decline in the
number of Tertiaries. This trend did not pass unnoticed by the superiors of the
Franciscan families, who for years had been studying ways of revitalising the
Franciscan Third Order Secular by improving its organisation and uniting their
common efforts. The four ministers general of the Friars Minor, Friars Minor
Conventual, Friars Minor Capuchin, and Third Order Regular had from time to time
sent out circulars to their respective families urging superiors to fulfil their
responsibilities to the Third Order. At the same time general, national and
provincial commissariats were created to centralise authority within each
Franciscan family, and organisations formed to establish better liaison and
cooperation among them. Interdisciplinary meetings were held, like the
international assembly of lay directors in 1950, and another in 1975, coinciding
with the great world pilgrimage in Holy Year.
One important event was the publication in 1957 of the Third Order's
General Constitutions by decree of the Sacred Congregation for Religious.
These stressed the secular nature of their vocation - secular holiness,
secular apostolate - and outlined a program for committed Christian living that
was realistic and up to date, especially as regards witnessing and working for
peace and social justice. The possibility of replacing the scapular and cord
with a medallion or badge was accepted. A distinction was drawn between
external authority, exercised by the four Ministers General of the First
Order through general, national, provincial and zonal Commissaries and local
Directors, and the internal authority of local, zonal, provincial,
national, general, and inter-obediential chapters.
In 1973 the World Council of the Franciscan Third Order was established.
At the Second Vatican Council, which strongly emphasised the lay person's
vocation in the Church and set lay organisations committed to the Christian
apostolate on the road to gradual independence, it was also felt necessary to
recognise the autonomous nature of the Franciscan Third Order.
The drafting of a new general Rule was begun in 1968, and the difficult task was finally completed when Pope John Paul II promulgated it on June 24, 1978. The Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and for Societies of Apostolic Life approved the revisions of the General Constitutions on 8th September 1990. At the General Chapter of the Secular Franciscan Order held in Madrid, Spain, in October 1999, further revisions to the General Constitutions were discussed. These were approved on December 8, 2000.