History of the Penitential Movement Beginning to the Present

History of the Third Order

 “Tell your children less they forget and fall into danger... Make maps as you go remembering the way back from before you were born”.

From Passover Remembered

Innocent III

Spread of heresy  Lack of religious instruction especially for the uneducated and illiterate lower classed  Lack of quality preaching on the part of the clergy.

Itinerant Preachers

 Poverty  Complete adherence to the Church  Obedience to the hierarchy

Serge

First Letter to the Faithful 1LF

  Love God Love one’s neighbor  Resist the sinful tendencies of your fallen nature  Participate in the sacramental life, especially the Eucharist  Act in conformity with the conversion that the person has accepted.

Thirtenth Century



First Martyrs of the Franciscan Order Berard of Barbo and companions.

Canonized by Sixtus V 1481

Chaos

 Second Letter to all the Faithful ( II LF)  Memorial propositi (1221 - 1228) Cardinal Ugolino  Visitor, minister, bursar, 2 messengers  Advisor bishop  Chapter meeting  Male members should not bear arms  Abstinence from solemn oaths

St Bonaventura

Friars Not responsible for tertiaries

 Friars were hindered from doing their own work.

 If a Third Order got into trouble the friars would have to bail him out.

 Friars would have to pay the debts of members of a Third Order.

 Friars would have to secure release for imprisoned tertiaries.

 If one of the women went astray, the friar would be held responsible for having produced “barefoot children”.

Nicholas IV

Rule of Fra Caro 1284 Nicholas IV 1289

 The visitor had to be a Friar Minor rather than a Bishop as guardian of orthodoxy.

 Demanded more severity in confronting heresy and heretics than the Rule of 1221.

 Penitents were to have an active role in the repression of heresy.

Gospel Life

 Love  Metanoia  God as given in Christ

Late Thirteenth Century

Change

 Chapter gatherings  Mass at Church of the friars  Buying of property

Fourteenth Century

Seat of Popes transferred from Italy to France Technique of Knitting is developed More Change

 Cloister  Small communities outlawed  Tension between Friars and Secular clergy  Condemnation in France and Spain  Praise in Italy

Fifteenth Century

 Christopher Colombus arrives in the New World  Introduction of the noon bell in the Catholic World  Seculars living in their homes  Third Order Regular (TOR)

Sixteenth - Eighteenth Century

 1517 Reformation in Germany  1531 Church of England brakes away from the Roman Catholic Church.

 1619 Slavery introduced to North America  1626 St Peters Basilica is completed  1769 Spanish Missions established in California  1775 -1783 American Revolutionary War

Leo XIII

Rule of 1883 I. Reception, Novitiate, and Profession II. Rule of Life III. Office, Visitation, and the Rule Itself.

 Wear a small concealed scapular as a habit  Observe the commandments  Avoid extremes of cost and style  Be temperate in eating and drinking   Fast on only two extra days each year And minimally say daily “twelve Our Fathers, Hail Marys and Glorys.”

Twentieth Century

 Automobile: Symbol of Modern Society 

Winds of Change in the 1960's

Paul VI

Rule of 1978 I. Nature and Purpose of the Third Order II. Norm of Life of the Secular Franciscan III. Essential points of its organization.

 To Live the Gospel  Following Francis  Through Conversion /MET NOIA  In Community  As Seculars  In Vital Reciprocity with All Franciscans

Conclusion

 Live as Seculars  In the World  According to the Rule of 1978 

Not as Carbon Copies of Francis and Clair

Question

First Letter to the Faithful 1LF Rule of 1978

● Love God To Live the Gospel ● Love one’s neighbor ● Resist the sinful of your fallen nature Following Francis Through Conversion/ METÀNOIA ● Participate in the In Community sacramental life, especially As Seculars the Eucharist ● Act in conformity with the In Vital Reciprocity with All Franciscans conversion that the person has accepted.

What do the First Letter to the Faithful and the Rule of 1978 mean for me today?