Sunday, July 27, 2014
reading "The Wolf and the Saint"
Just a reminder that to read the play from Act I scene i through to Act IV scene iii, you have to scroll to the bottom and read up. This is because I posted the play in the order that it was written, not thinking that every time you look at it, it will always begin at the end. Remember that you may use the play free of charge, but please let me know the results of your production. And if you charge admission, please donate 10% of your intake to a charity such as the Primate's World Relief, the Red Cross, World Vision Canadian Wildlife or the SPCA, or any other similar (preferably Christian) charity.
Monday, July 14, 2014
Franciscan Times
If you look at the Lent 2014 issue of The Franciscan Times, you'll find an article about a writer, Laurence Houseman, younger brother of A.E. Housman. He wrote 45 short plays about the life of St. Francis. These plays are free to be uploaded from the internet. Here's the link to The Franciscan Times, but you have to click on the right issue. So if you're looking for shorter plays about St. Francis, you can try these.
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Act IV scene 3
ACT IV
scene 3 “An
Exultation of Larks”
Setting: The
forest (left side); San Damiano (centre); forest with larks (right side)
CURTAIN
or spotlight opens on the forest
SHEPHERD: What have you heard anything
more about Saint Francis since he got back from the Holy Land? What’s he doing these days?
WOLF: Didn’t you know? Didn’t you hear?
SHEPHERD: Me? Oh, I hardly ever get any news. I’m usually out in the fields with my sheep,
you know.
WOLF: Of course. I suppose you wouldn’t hear much out
there. I like to prowl around outside San Damiano and the various hermitages
of the friars, so I overhear some stories.
Some were stories of miracles and some were about his ministering to the
sick and the poor. Even though, towards
the end not many people were sicker or poorer than he was.
SHEPHERD: The end? You mean, Saint Francis is....
WOLF: Yes. Brother Francis died last October. Before he died, though, God gave him one last
wonderful gift. Have you ever heard of
the Stigmata?
SHEPHERD: Um. I think so, but I’m not sure. It has something to do with sore spots on the
body that look like the wounds Jesus had.
Is that right?
WOLF: Right. Brother Francis spent many hour—even days—in
retreat, praying. He still heard voices
from Jesus. And he saw visions,
too. One really frightened him. He tried to keep it a secret from the friars,
but it wasn’t easy. In fact it was
impossible. That was the stigmata.
SHEPHERD: Is it as painful as it
looks? What do you think? Did he ever tell anyone about that?
WOLF: It must have been painful, but he
didn’t talk about it, except to a few of the
friars. And he didn’t show the
wounds. But we think that it was during
one of those retreats that he received them, right after he saw Jesus in the
last vision—Jesus on the cross, with an expression of love and sorrow on his
face. After the vision vanished, Saint
Francis said he felt a wonderful glow. He
couldn’t keep it a secret forever. Not
when the blood seeped through his tunic and he had to wipe his hands and feet
frequently.
SHEPHERD: That’s amazing. Really amazing.
WOLF: Yes. Excuse me a moment. I get a little choked up when I think about
that. I wish I could have seen it while
he was alive. But I did see Brother
Francis one more time. I think that was
even more wonderful. I was present when
he said farewell to Sister Clare at San Damiano before going to die at home at
Portiuncula.
CURTAIN or
spotlight closes on the forest; opens on San Damiano
SHEPHERD: Tell me about when you saw him
last.
WOLF: I went to see him while he was in
Siena, for the best medical treatment the bishop’s doctors could provide. He
was too weak for us to talk. I think he
recognized me, though. It was clear that
Sister Death was coming for him quickly.
I followed as the friars carried him to San Damiano so Sister Clare
could see him through the grating where she usually received Holy Communion
from the priest. It was evening, and
larks were singing above the trees. Some
friars came in procession, with candles, singing hymns and waving olive
branches. Someone was reading a
psalm. Brother Francis raised his hand
in blessing and farewell for the nuns and friars. That exposed his stigmata wounds and everyone,
especially Sister Clare, gasped when they saw them. And that’s when I saw them, too.
CURTAIN closes
on San Damiano; only the forest scene, filled with animals and the birds.
SHEPHERD: Oh, I wish I could have been
there. It’s no wonder he’s a saint. In fact, everyone has known for years that he
is one. One thing I’d like to ask you,
though. Did you ever get your fourth
order of Franciscans, for the animal kingdom?
WOLF: No, but I’ll try to live by a
Franciscan Rule of Life anyway. Just
like Sister Clare has been doing all these years. She is still waiting for her Rule to be
approved by the Pope. He still doesn’t
like women vowing to live in poverty.
There’s hope for that, though, since he’s seen her lifelong dedication. The rumor is that the Pope might get the
approval to her before she dies. She,
too, is waiting for Sister Death.
SHEPHERD: It seems this story has a very
sad ending.
WOLF: Sad? Oh, no!
It isn’t sad at all. In fact, we
can all learn from the birds that Brother Francis taught in the forest. The birds followed Brother Francis to Porziuncula,
and I’m told that as the saint’s soul left his body, the larks accompanied it
almost all the way to heaven. They
soared up, with a song of praise and in exultation, as Brother Francis went
home to his heavenly father. That’s the
happiest ending there is!
~~THE END~~
Act IV scene 2
ACT IV
Scene 2 “St.
Francis and the Sultan”
Setting: forest
(left side); Muslim camp (centre) ; nativity crèche (right side)
CURTAIN opens on forest scene
SHEPHERD: Did you ever hear anything more about Saint
Francis after he left Assisi?
WOLF:
I heard lots about him! He’s so
famous, and kept very busy. First of all, he preached to the birds and
animals in the forest, and I heard that later he even preached to some
fish. Best of all, he finally managed to
go to preach to the Muslims.
SHEPHERD: Oh-oh!
That’s dangerous! Did they kill
him? Is he a martyr?
WOLF:
As saint, but not a martyr. I
think he would have happily given his life for Christ, but it didn’t happen,
even though he did put himself in great danger.
SHEPHERD: Where did that happen? Was he hurt?
How did you hear about that?
WOLF:
Wait a minute! One question at a
time! It’s quite complicated, because
for the longest time everyone thought Brother Francis was dead. He tried three times to leave Europe to go to
the Holy Land, or Morocco to be martyred.
The first time, it was on an ill-advised crusade called the Children’s
Crusade. The Pope didn’t want them to do
it, but many children and shepherds from all over Europe decided to go to the
Holy Land and rescue Jerusalem from the hands of the Muslims. They left on a boat and all disappeared. Some drowned and some were captured by
pirates and taken to be slaves or killed.
We were sure Brother Francis was among them.
SHEPHERD: But he wasn’t?
WOLF: He might have been, and somehow
got home safe. The next time we heard
about him, he was in Spain trying to cross over to Morocco. But he got sick and came back to Assisi. I didn’t hear about that until he had left
again. This time, apparently, he
actually made it to the Holy Land. At
least, he got to the camp of the Crusaders at Acre.
SHEPHERD: He must have loved that. As you say, he always wanted to be a knight.
CURTAIN closes
on the forest, and opens on the Muslim camp.
WOLF: The word is that he hated it. He was so disappointed with the knights. Even wearing the cross of Christ on their
tunics, they behaved worse than thieves and thugs. But Brother Francis got permission from the Pope’s
representative to go and preach to the Muslim camp. The Sultan was there, and had said that any
man who brought back the head of a Christian would receive a gold coin as a
reward. So Brother Francis and the friar
he had with him, his name was Brother Illuminato, walked for a few days past so-called
Christian crusaders’ camps and Muslim camps to the place where the Sultan was
said to be.
SHEPHERD: Do you think he was afraid?
WOLF: I am sure he must have been. Even when you want to be martyred, it must be
terrifying to be faced with the fact that it could happen any minute. And he was captured! But, he was surely being guarded by angels,
because the Muslims didn’t kill him.
Brother Francis was shouting “Sultan! Sultan!” And probably that saved his life, because he
was taken straight to the Sultan.
SHEPHERD: How did you hear about all
this?
WOLF: I overheard some of Brother
Illuminato’s friends talking about it after they got back. Not many people actually sit down and talk to
me personally, you understand, especially since they believe that the Wolf of
Gubbio is dead. But what I heard was
that the Sultan and Saint Francis got along very well. The Sultan didn’t convert to Christianity,
unfortunately, but he respected Brother Francis’s courage. The Sultan wasn’t really against
Christians. He is said to respect
everyone who accepts that there is only one God. And some of his own advisors are Christians.
SHEPHERD: Then why were they
fighting? Why were they killing
Christians?
WOLF: Well, to begin with, the crusaders
were invaders. The Muslims had lived
there for four or five hundred years before the first crusade took Jerusalem
away from them. Then, gradually, the
Muslims moved back in and there were other crusades. All unsuccessful. But most of all, I think it is as I said, the
crusaders were not really Christians.
They were there for the money they got for fighting and for whatever
they could steal. The Sultan respected
the real Christians, like Brother Francis.
In fact, the Sultan even gave him a gift, a silver and ivory horn to be
blown when calling people to come to peace.
He put it with the crucifix at San Damiano. I haven’t seen it, but it’s a wonderful gift. I can imagine, though, how Brother Francis
must have tried to refuse it. He doesn’t
like to own anything. But there are
times when you can’t say no because you will offend someone.
SHEPHERD: Well, I’m glad he was able to
get to preach to the Muslims.
WOLF: Yes. And even though the Sultan didn’t become a
Christian, at least he became a friend.
And, aside from the gift of the horn, he also guaranteed safe passage
for Brother Francis and Brother Illuminato to visit all the holy places, such
as Bethlehem and Jerusalem. That was
very important, too.
CURTAIN closed
SHEPHERD: I would love to see those
places.
WOLF: Brother Francis understood
that. Did you know that the custom of
having a Nativity Crèche in church at Christmas was started by Saint Francis?
SHEPHERD: Really?
WOLF: It started as just a little
Christmas surprise that Brother Francis wanted to give a friend. Friars from all over came from their
hermitages to celebrate the birth of Jesus together. The re-enactment of the miracle was
beautiful. The little grotto in the
village of Greccio is known as the Chapel of the Crèche. The manger, surrounded by the animals, was
lit up with candles and the friars sang joyful songs. Brother Francis said it was Lady Poverty’s
celebration, because she was there. Our
Lord was born in extreme poverty, and see how beautiful that is!
SHEPHERD: Why Sister Wolf! I believe you are growing quite fond of Lady
Poverty, Brother Francis’s bride.
WOLF: Yes. Well. She does grow on you.
End of Act IV
scene 2
Act IV scene 1
ACT IV
Scene 1 “Thanking the People of Gubbio”
Setting:
forest
(CURTAINS OPEN; CHARACTERS ON STAGE:
WOLF & SHEPHERD
WOLF:
So there you have it. That’s
Brother Francis’ life story, most of it.
After he left Assisi to go and preach, I sort of lost touch. I heard lots of stories about him, but I kept
out of sight.
SHEPHERD: Really?
So, don’t you go to Assisi anymore?
What do you do now? Just hang
around Gubbio? The people there are your
only friends now, I suppose.
WOLF:
I thought you knew. I haven’t
been around Gubbio for several years now.
Not since shortly after Brother Francis left.
SHEPHERD: Wait a minute! I thought you were the famous “Wolf of
Gubbio”! Don’t you depend on those good
people to feed you?
WOLF:
Oh, something like that. Yes, I’m
the famous one you’ve heard about. But,
as I told you in the first place, I’ve changed.
SHEPHERD: So, I suppose that means you’ve found a way
to be kind to them.
WOLF:
Yes. I did that some time ago.
SHEPHERD: I can’t think of much that a wolf could do for
people.
WOLF:
It really didn’t take me long to decide what I had to do. You see, the people were giving me a lot of
food. They couldn’t afford it. But, I suppose, it was better than having me
steal from them. But one day I overheard
some of them talking. They weren’t being
unkind. In fact, I thought they were
being extraordinarily generous. But they
kept mentioning how eating sheep was natural for wolves. How, they thought I would starve if they
didn’t feed me.
SHEPHERD: Isn’t that true?
WOLF:
Not really. While I was in the
forest with Brother Francis, I got to thinking about my family. They don’t steal from shepherds. And no one gives them handouts.
SHEPHERD: What do they do?
WOLF:
They do what is really natural for wolves. They hunt other wild animals. I know.
It isn’t nice to think of that.
Killing other animals. But, those
animals kill others, too. It’s how our
Creator keeps the forest from getting overrun with any one kind of animal.
SHEPHERD: What made you take on stealing sheep? I mean, if hunting wild animals is really
natural for you?
WOLF:
Laziness. It was easier to catch slow moving sheep that were always available
than to use my brains and talent to earn my keep. Then, when the people of Gubbio started
feeding me, and being so nice about it, too, I got to feeling guilty.
SHEPHERD: Odd.
You didn’t feel guilty about stealing the sheep.
WOLF:
True! But I did feel guilty about
taking handouts. Especially when I
realized that it wasn’t necessary. I
could feed myself.
SHEPHERD: I see.
So, did you just say farewell to the people of Gubbio and go back to the
forest?
WOLF:
Not exactly. You see, the people
were feeling so good about helping me out, and had begun to treat me like a
pet, you know, like one of their dogs. I
stayed away a couple of days, but they sent out search parties for me, and
seemed really upset. They had actually
grown to love me. It was quite a
problem.
SHEPHERD: So what did you do? It seems that you couldn’t leave, but you
felt guilty about staying. What choice
did you have?
WOLF:
Well, you know that I’m not the only wolf in the forest. I went back to my pack and told them what had
happened. They were very glad that I had
come home, and would be leading a more natural lifestyle. But there were other young wolves who were
having a tough time learning to hunt.
So, I told them about Gubbio.
SHEPHERD: What?
You set a whole pack of wolves on the people of Gubbio? What sort of kindness is that?
WOLF:
No! I wouldn’t do that! I told the young wolves to take turns and
only take what they needed. No extra
snacks. That way more than one wolf
could eat what the people offered.
SHEPHERD: What did the people of Gubbio think of your
plan?
WOLF:
They never found out. It turns
out that not so many wolves are as lazy as I am. So, after a year or two, they stopped
going. When the people noticed the food
was not being eaten, they set out to look for me again. But this time, I managed to elude them. So they thought I had died.
SHEPHERD: How did you find out about that?
WOLF:
Brother Masseo told me that Brother Francis had heard I had died. But Brother Masseo thought I seemed to be in
pretty good health for a dead guy. He
told me the people of Gubbio were in mourning over me, and had erected a statue
in my honour. Well, I think it was really
in honour of Brother Francis’ taming of this big bad wolf. Anyway, there’s a statue to me in
Gubbio. I think that’s pretty good. It means that I really did return their
kindness, one way or another.
SHEPHERD: Wonderful!
Act III scene 3
ACT
III
Scene 3 “Pray or Preach?”
Setting:
the forest
CURTAIN OPENS
(WOLF
& FRANCIS standing together at one side of the stage)
WOLF: Where are we going now?
FRANCIS: That’s the problem. I don’t know.
I don’t know what to do, now that the numbers of my followers are
getting out of hand. Can you believe
it? I have followers I’ve never
met. They’re all over Italy, and even as
far away as Spain and Portugal, France and Germany, maybe other countries as
well. I can’t even imagine it. I just don’t know what I should be
doing. Not only the numbers are a
problem for me, but my own lifestyle. I
want to do everything. And go
everywhere, but stay here in retreat, as well.
I’m very restless and have no idea what to do next. Do you have any ideas?
WOLF: Who, me?
No. I have no idea what a holy
man with followers all over the world should do. If you have followers, then maybe your job is
to be the alpha wolf, you know, the leader.
FRANCIS: Yes.
But lead where? There’s no point
in leading if I don’t know where I’m going.
WOLF: What do your friends say?
FRANCIS: You know, I think that’s a good idea. I’ll ask them what they think I should
do. I’d start with Clare, but I don’t
like to visit her.
WOLF : Don’t you like her anymore? I thought you two were really close.
FRANCIS: Of course, I still like her. But I think I’ll ask Brother Masseo to speak
to her. Then he can sit down with
Brother Sylvester and get his ideas, too.
Once those three have discussed it, then they can advise me. Thank you, Sister Wolf, for your wise counsel. Brother Masseo! Are you there?
(enter
Masseo)
MASSEO: I’m here, Brother Francis. Did you call?
FRANCIS: Do me a favour, will you? I need your advice on what to do next. Should I stay here and pray for the
Franciscans? Or should I go to them and
preach, as the pope said I should. I
suppose I really do need to do what the pope said. But the Franciscans need my
prayers, too. Oh, I really don’t know
what to do. And what about
missions? I would really like to travel to
the Holy Land. But maybe I should go to
Morocco and be a martyr. They kill
Christians there, you know. I should go
and be a martyr, witness to the truth of the Gospel. But if I’m martyred, who will lead the
Franciscans? And what am I leading them
to do? Oh, Brother Masseo, please go and
speak to Clare and see what she says.
And then go to Brother Sylvester and see what he has to say. And don’t forget to add your own advice. And hurry back, because all this uncertainty
is making me very restless.
MASSEO : I’ll go right away. For now, I’d say it would be a good idea for
you to pray that God will reveal his plan for you to all of us.
FRANCIS: More wise counsel. Thank you, Brother. Come back soon. I’ll stay here and pray. Sister Wolf, will you pray with me?
(exit
Masseo)
WOLF: I’d be happy to, Brother Francis.
FRANCIS & WOLF (silence for 3 beats, then say together):
Amen.
WOLF: Here comes Brother Masseo.
(enter
Brother Masseo)
FRANCIS: Hello, Brother! What is your advice?
MASSEO: Hello, Brother Francis! Hello, Sister Wolf!
FRANCIS: Come and sit down. I’m anxious to hear what you and the others
recommend.
WOLF: We weren’t exactly just sitting here doing
nothing. We’ve been very busy praying.
FRANCIS: True.
Prayers are very important.
MASSEO: We thought so, too. So the other friars wanted to come with me to
speak with you. It will be interesting
to see if the guidance you received in answer to your prayers match the answers
Sister Clare, Brother Sylvester and the others and I received.
FRANCIS: You prayed together?
MASSEO: Yes. I gathered the brothers together and we
sat outside San Damiano and prayed there with Sister Clare and the other
sisters. When our prayers were finished,
we discussed our experiences. We were
amazed that we had all received the same answer. Although, if you think about it, there’s no
reason to be amazed. Why would God give
one solution to one person and a different one to another?
FRANCIS: And what was that answer? I’m really anxious to know what God said to
you and the others.
MASSEO: Well, just out of curiosity, what answer did
you and Sister Wolf get when you prayed?
WOLF: I prayed for God to give us a clear vision of
the future of the church. I saw a forest
without end, and Brother Francis was walking along a path that led out of the
farthest part of the forest. I believe
God wants you to go and preach, not stay and retreat.
FRANCIS: Thank you, Sister Wolf. It’s amazing how similar my own vision
was. I was getting on a ship and sailing
off over the horizon.
MASSEO: Both of your visions are almost exactly what
the friars and the sisters saw. Clearly,
Brother Francis, you are being led to go abroad and preach the Gospel.
FRANCIS: So, what are we waiting for? Let us go with God. Any idea which way we should go first?
WOLF: Since I don’t see any ships near here, I
suggest we start with the forest in my vision.
Since it is right here.
FRANCIS: Good suggestion, Sister. Would you like to accompany me?
WOLF: I think I’ll let you and the friars go without
me. For one thing, in my vision, I saw
you traveling alone, at least, not with any wolves. I’ll be praying for you.
FRANCIS: I won’t go alone. But I can imagine both pros and cons of
having you along. You’d be good company,
and you know your way around the forest.
But on the other hand, you might frighten some people and animals
away. So, I’ll accept your withdrawal
from my party. Brother Masseo? Will you accompany me?
MASSEO: I think I’ll go back and gather the other
friars. We’ll meet you in the forest.
(
exit WOLF & MASSEO ...three beats... MASSEO & SYLVESTER & Elias
& other friars enter)
FRANCIS: Look!
Some of our sister birds up there in the trees! And here are some at our feet. Wait here, Brothers. I’m going to preach to the birds.
(birds
all come to his feet)
(FRANCIS continues): My sister birds, you owe God a
debt of gratitude! Praise God
always! God has provided you with
everything you could possibly desire.
You can fly freely. Praise God
everywhere. You have the most beautiful
feathered coats to protect you from the weather. You have trees for your nests and rocky crags
for refuge. You don’t have to work or
even beg for your food. You have lovely
singing voices. Use them to sing praises
to God, who gave you everything. Don’t
be ungrateful. Praise God! (starts to
sing, and the birds join in)
Brothers!
Come and see! See how happy our
sister birds are! See, they are bowing
their heads. Let’s pray with them. Bless you, my sister birds. (makes the sign
of the cross over the birds at his feet)
BROTHER ELIAS: That’s wonderful, Brother
Francis. I wonder if any other animals
of the forest will react the same way.
FRANCIS: Let’s go on and find out. (they walk on,
animals too)
(enter
WOLF)
WOLF: Hey!
Wait! I’ll join you!
FRANCIS: Sister Wolf! Welcome!
WOLF: I followed you. I thought if I kept out of sight, I could
learn how you would be preaching in the forest.
When I saw you with the birds, how they weren’t afraid of you, I decided
that the animals didn’t need to fear me,
either.
FRANCIS: You seem to be right. Look, here come some deer. They’ve seen you. They are safe, aren’t they?
(DEER
come onstage, stop when they see WOLF).
WOLF: From me?
Of course. I won’t hurt them.
FRANCIS: Do you think they know that?
WOLF: I don’t know.
All right. I’ll stay still and quiet.
Maybe the deer won’t be afraid of me if I don’t move.
(DEER
move closer)
FRANCIS: Come, Brother Deer and Sister Doe. Come and praise God with us. We’ll pray with you.
(DEER
and other animals bow their heads)
WOLF: Amen, and ahem!
FRANCIS: What’s that you said?
WOLF: I think you have a long journey ahead of you,
Brother Francis. I’m going to leave you
for a little while. I’ll catch up with
you in a few days, if that’s all right with you.
FRANCIS: Is there a problem?
WOLF: No. Not
exactly. But it’s been a long day, and I
have to --, I mean, I’ve got to ---, I mean, I’ll just see you later. All right?
FRANCIS: I see.
You’re hungry, and you need to go and, um, beg for something to eat?
WOLF: Something like that.
FRANCIS: I see.
Just remember, well, you know what you should remember.
WOLF: Yes. Of
course. If I want to be a member of the
Fourth Order, I have to start to work on living according to a Franciscan Rule
of Life. You’ll help me with that?
FRANCIS: We can certainly think about it. And pray.
You know, of course, that Clare doesn’t have her rule approved yet? So, it could be that it’ll be a while before
there’s a fourth order.
WOLF: All the more reason for me to be careful. You be careful, too, Brother Francis. Are you planning to go on that sea voyage
now?
FRANCIS: Yes.
I think the time has come to travel to the Holy Land. There’s a war there, you know. Brave knights are fighting a holy crusade to
rescue Jerusalem from the Muslims.
WOLF: Oh. So
you’re going to be a knight again, are you?
I thought you gave up on that idea a long time ago.
FRANCIS: I’m not going to fight!! No, I’m going to preach to the Muslims.
WOLF: I hear that’s a dangerous thing to do. Muslims don’t want to hear the Gospel.
FRANCIS: I know.
That’s why I must go. I must go
with a message of love and peace. Pray
for me.
WOLF: I will.
And, as I said, be careful.
(CURTAINS
CLOSE)
End
of Act III
Act III scene 2
ACT
III
scene
2 “The Third Order”
Setting: forest near
Assisi; then, a ship; then a small church (San Damiano).
(CURTAIN CLOSED: WOLF & FRANCIS at one side of
the stage)
WOLF: Three! You
have three orders? The men are the
friars, the first order, right?
FRANCIS: Right.
WOLF: And the women are the Poor Clares, the second
order. And rightly so, that women should
be second to the men. But what can the
third order be? If neither men nor
women? Wolves? Can I join?
FRANCIS: Hey!
That’s not a bad idea. But you
could form a fourth order, animals. Yes,
but I wonder what the Pope would say.
You’re wrong, though, about the women being second just because they
aren’t men. They’re the second order
because the men’s order was founded first.
It never occurred to me to have women with us. It wouldn’t be proper for women to live in
ruined churches, begging for their food.
It wasn’t until Clare came along and convinced me that their example of
poverty and prayer would be service to God.
And they help with the lepers, too.
That’s very important for all of us.
Do you know what Clare says about herself? She says she is a flower that I planted in my
Garden of Poverty. Isn’t that wonderful?
WOLF: Yes, yes.
But you haven’t explained about the third order. Not men, not women, not even wolves, so...?
FRANCIS: Both men and women. Maybe married, or maybe not. Might include priests, as the first order
does, but mostly lay people like you and me.
Well, like me, anyway. They hold
jobs, have their own homes, raise families, just like everyone else.
WOLF: I don’t understand. If they’re like everyone else, how can they
be Franciscans?
FRANCIS: They live in the world, but they are not of
the world. They live lives of poverty in
that they are generous with what they have.
They hold lightly to the things of this world. They don’t collect valuable treasures and
have things that need guarding. And they
live in the spirit of chastity by being faithful to their families and not
taking advantage of vulnerable people.
As for obedience, they have a Rule of Life, too. And they make a vow to keep that Rule. Above all, they are obedient to Our Lord
Jesus Christ, making every effort to live as the Gospels teach.
WOLF: And what do these people get for following
you? The first and second orders, and
the third?
FRANCIS: You know the Friars, and you’ve seen what
they get, blisters on their feet and sleeping on floors with few covers and
empty stomachs. Not much for themselves,
perhaps. But there are blessings that
are not obvious to outsiders. The same
is true for the Poor Clares, except that they live cloistered lives at San
Damiano. Oh, look! Here come Luchesio and his wife,
Buonadonna. They’re members of the Third
Order. Why don’t they tell you all about
being tertiaries?
(enter
LUCHESIO & BUONADONNA )
WOLF: Great!
I like to get my information first hand.
Why don’t you introduce us, Brother Francis?
FRANCIS: Brother, Sister, come over here! Sister Wolf wants to meet you.
LUCHESIO: Sister Wolf? A wolf is our sister or brother?
FRANCIS: Is that a problem?
BUONADONNA: We’re farmers, you know. Wolves are not, um, usually considered
friends, much less sisters and brothers.
FRANCIS: I hope you’ll make an exception in this
case.
LUCHESIO: I think we can manage that. Especially since we aren’t at the farm right
now.
FRANCIS: Sister Wolf was wondering what you got out
of being Third Order Franciscans. Maybe
you can tell him.
BUONADONNA: It’s a good question. Because at first, I was not as keen as my
husband. He had been a very prosperous
merchant. As his wife, I had everything
I could possibly want. We were a lot
like Brother Francis’ parents, I suppose.
He certainly recognized our greed and selfishness.
LUCHESIO : My greed, especially.
BUONADONNA: But you, at least, were willing to
listen to Brother Francis, and learn that there was a better way to live.
LUCHESIO: It wasn’t easy to hear that I should give
up all our wealth.
BUONADONNA: And the lovely home, beautiful clothes,
and being the envy of all the women in town.
LUCHESIO: I suppose those things meant more to my
wife than to me. But I did love to see
her happy with all the things I was able to buy for her. She definitely was not happy when I came home
and suggested we give it all up and embrace a life of poverty.
BUONADONNA: No, I didn’t like that at all. Fortunately, Brother Francis realized that as
a family we couldn’t live exactly like the Friars Minor or like the Poor
Clares. But we could embrace the spirit
of poverty, if not as completely as the first and second orders.
WOLF: So where do you live, if you aren’t in your
big house?
LUCHESIO: We sold the business and our beautiful
house. That gave us enough money to buy
a little farm that would provide for our basic needs, and we could give the
rest of the money to the poor.
WOLF: Yes.
But what do you get for all that?
You don’t have the blisters and the hungry nights, that the friars and
Brother Francis seem to think are so great. Why do you want to be
Franciscans? What do you get?
FRANCIS: What do they get? How can you ask that? To begin with, they get the same gifts that
God gives to all of us, to enjoy in this life and the next. In addition, you’ve heard from some of my
followers how they feel free in ways they never felt freedom before. It is a life of joy and hope and wonder.
BUONADONNA: Exactly!
That’s true. I’ve never felt so
free and filled with joy than I do now.
Giving to the poor is so rewarding. Watching the food grow in the farm
is better than wandering through a big house filled with expensive trinkets.
LUCHESIO: We don’t have the full joy that you
mentioned, blisters and hunger, but we could do that maybe. In our case, though, there is enough to do at
the farm that keeps us to our Franciscan Rule of Life as it was approved for us
as members of the Order of Penance.
BUONADONNA: By the way, speaking of the farm..
LUCHESIO: Yes, you’re right! We really must get back to work. I hope we’ve answered all your questions,
Sister Wolf.
WOLF: Yes.
Well, Most of my questions. I don’t understand, though, is how being
penitent all the time makes you happy.
But at least you don’t go hungry.
That’s what I really can’t understand.
How can the friars feel joy when they are hungry? Being hungry never makes me joyful! Anyway, I’m glad to have met you. And I’ll remember you whenever I pass a farm,
that you are Franciscans, too.
FRANCIS: Good-bye Brother Luchesio and Sister
Buonadonna! Pax et bonum!
(exit
LUCHESIO and BUONADONNA)
WOLF: Three orders, eh? You know what I keep thinking of? Your idea of a fourth order for us in the
animal kingdom.
FRANCIS: I think that was your idea.
WOLF: Maybe.
But you said you liked it.
FRANCIS: I do.
I’ll have to give it more thought.
I’m not sure I could get a pope to go along with it, though, so don’t
get your hopes up. Besides, we have
other things to consider now though.
I’ll need your help.
(exit
WOLF & FRANCIS to opposite sides of the stage)
Act III scene 1
ACT
III
Scene 1 “Clare and the Second Order”
Setting: the home of Favorone family in Assisi;the
church; forest near San Damiano. Set the
home on the left side of the set, the forest in the centre, and the Benedictine
monastery on the right side of the set.
(CURTAIN
REMAINS CLOSED)
(WOLF
& FRANCIS STAND TOGETHER AT THE SIDE OF THE STAGE)
WOLF: So far yours has been a story with only men in
it. Aren’t there any women in your
villages and towns? All right. There was Pica, your mother, who rescued you
from the cellar. But weren’t there any
women who followed you? I mean, you
aren’t all that ugly. A bit ragged and
not very clean. But when you were
cleaned up and in your fancy clothes, I’m sure you had lots of
girlfriends. Did they all drop you when
you weren’t rich anymore?
FRANCIS: That’s not very fair to the lovely ladies
of Assisi. The fact of the matter is
that when I was young and rich and well-dressed and, as you point out, clean,
the young women of Assisi were kept indoors and away from young rebels like
me. They would stay in with their
mothers and sisters and aunts, away from all men, young and old. Especially young single men. They were guarded against even meeting us. The only time we saw these beautiful girls
was in church. There, they were
surrounded by fathers and brothers. We
might smile at each other, and nod. But
that was all. We could learn one
another’s names and maybe some gossip, but only from married men who knew the
fathers and brothers. The girls, I
suppose, learned about us from married sisters and aunts.
WOLF: That’s all very well, protecting the women and
girls. After all, human girls don’t look
very strong. Certainly not like girl
wolves. I can fight every bit as well as
my brothers. Your girls don’t look like
they could hold their own in a battle.
FRANCIS: Not like wolves, perhaps, but the women
aren’t all that weak. You should have
seen my mother when she got angry. I
stayed out of her way then. But
remember, there are lots of differences between wolves and people. We don’t fight the same way. And we don’t live the same way. The women of Assisi are expected to become wives and mothers, not
warriors.
WOLF: But if you never meet, how can you marry?
FRANCIS: Our parents arrange that. Of course, they have to be of the same social
level and both families have to have enough money to make an agreeable
arrangement.
WOLF: Oh!
That sounds terrible! That’s
business, not romance.
FRANCIS: Who said anything about romance? We’re talking about marriage. These days, in the modern thirteenth century in
the Christian country of Italy, marriage is all about business. At least, that’s true of the upper classes
like my family and friends. That’s one
reason I fell in love with Lady Poverty.
I don’t like commerce, remember?
I’m no good at business. Besides,
these days in this country, romance is left to peasants and shepherds.
WOLF: So, there are no women among your
followers? It’s a men’s club?
FRANCIS: I didn’t say that. There is one very special woman.
WOLF: I know.
Lady Poverty. You’ve told me
about her. I mean real people-type
women.
FRANCIS: Haven’t you heard about Clare?
WOLF: Oh, yes, but I’ve never seen her.
FRANCIS: You won’t.
She’s secluded, along with her followers.
WOLF: Can’t she come out here and introduce herself
like your other followers. I mean, if
she came with her followers, too, wouldn’t that be all right?
FRANCIS: It might be all right. But she won’t do it. She and her followers live in San Damiano
now, and they stay there all the time.
WOLF: I guess her parents don’t care if she goes out
alone. Or is she a peasant?
FRANCIS: Her family is very rich and
influential. She had heard me speak
outside the church, I think. And had
heard from her married girlfriends what my teachings were all about. She was as devout as she was beautiful and
rich. So, when she learned that her
father had found a husband for her, she escaped from the house and came with a
lady friend to our house. Did I tell you
the Benedictines gave us a house to live in?
Anyway, we had it all planned, how we would greet Clare.
WOLF: Planned?
You knew she was coming?
(OPEN
CURTAIN TO REVEAL ONLY THE CHURCH)
FRANCIS: Someone told me that she wanted to join our
little group. Of course, she couldn’t
possibly live among us. It wouldn’t be
proper. So, we approached the Benedictines
who had given us the house for our community.
They agreed to be prepared to receive Clare. *It started on Palm Sunday. Clare had wanted to just come to us, but I
sent her a message to go to the Palm Sunday service to get her holy palm. So she did.
She and the other women of her household dressed in their finest clothes
and entered the church joyfully. But
when the moment came for them to approach the altar to receive their blessed
olive palm, Clare was suddenly seized with shyness and held back. So, the bishop actually came down the steps
and put the palm in her hand. When I saw that, I knew that the Bishop was on
our side.
WOLF: How was that?
FRANCIS: It was the way he looked her, and then
glanced at me.
WOLF: When did she leave her home, though?
FRANCIS: It was the next night, when the family was
all in bed, Clare and her lady companion slipped out the side door.
(CLOSE
CURTAIN ON CHURCH; OPEN CURTAIN ON FAVORONE HOME TO SHOW SIDE DOOR AND THE
FOREST WITH SANTA MARIA DEGLI ANGELI AND THE MONASTERY; MOVE CHURCH TO THE
OTHER SIDE OF THE SET.)
WOLF:
The side door? I thought no one ever
used the side doors in the big houses.
FRANCIS: That’s almost true. The side door was kept barred and bolted and
was opened only when there was a death in the family. The death door, you might call it. It was dark out, of course. So some of the friars were there to help her
through the difficult path from the house and down to Santa Maria degli
Angeli. The friars were all there
waiting for her, singing hymns of praise and thanksgiving. She stood in front of the altar of the
Porziuncula and made her holy vow. She
said, “I want only Jesus Christ, and to live by the Gospel, owning nothing, and
in chastity.” Then I cut off her
hair. We had some simple clothes for her
to change into, replacing the fine silks with coarse wool. Her lady companion removed Clare’s lovely
white veil of chastity that all unmarried girls wear. Clare put on the coarse black veil of penance
we had for her. The Benedictine convent
at Bastia was ready to welcome her immediately, until we could prepare San
Damiano for her.
(Clare
removes white veil, and put on black veil)
WOLF: Very exciting, very dramatic, very
beautiful...
FRANCIS: Yes.
All of that, and very frightening, too.
Her family was not pleased about this, you know. In fact, they were furious. As soon as they learned that she was missing
from home, all the men of the family set out to look for her. It didn’t take them long to figure out that
she had come to join me. Somehow, they
found out that she was at the Benedictine convent.
(men
enter with swords)
MEN’S VOICES (off stage, very loud and very angry): Clare! Come out!
Francis! What have you done with
our daughter? Clare! How can you shame us like this? Come home right now! How dare you disgrace your family!
FRANCIS: They
went with swords drawn against the nuns of the convent. Can you imagine? Shouting at them, demanding she be returned
to her home and family. They said it was
a disgrace. She had shamed the
family. Can you imagine? How can you be a disgrace when you are giving
your life to Jesus Christ? How can this level
of devotion be shaming your family?
Their behaviour was outrageous.
And very frightening.
WOLF: What did you do? Do you have swords? Could you fight them off?
FRANCIS: Swords?
What would we do with swords? I’d
had enough of that sort of thing when I was a youth. We tried to form a barrier between Clare’s
relatives and the entrance to the convent, but it was no use. I think they would have killed us. We couldn’t fight them. They forced their way inside. Clare was brave. She ran to the altar and clung to it,
screaming that she would never go back home.
She was promised to Jesus. Of
course, her family couldn’t understand it.
Or if they understood, they couldn’t accept it.
WOLF: Wait a minute.
I thought they were Christians.
Didn’t they go to the church on Palm Sunday with Clare and the others?
FRANCIS: Yes.
Well, you know, there are Christians and then there are Christians. Some Christians just like to go to church,
maybe because their friends go there. I’m not saying that’s what the Favorone
family was like, but maybe their idea of Christianity did not include such deep
devotion as their daughter showed. And,
I understand that Clare’s father had selected a very eligible man to be her
husband. A rich man of a noble family,
who would bring more honour and more wealth to the family. Leaving such a prospect for a life of poverty
in the church isn’t a good choice when you have worldly ambitions.
WOLF: What convinced them to go away?
FRANCIS: Clare’s clinging to the altar wasn’t
enough, apparently. That is, not until
she pulled off her black veil of penance and revealed her shorn head.
WOLF: Shorn?
You mean like a sheep? I know all
about sheep, you know. Shorn! That’s cut really short.
FRANCIS: Well, I would have given her the tonsure,
only I didn’t think that would go over so well in the convent. You know, this bald circle we friars
have? Clare could be a sister, a nun,
but she could never be a brother. You
agree?
WOLF: I suppose so.
It’s obvious why she had to wear that veil. Shorn!
Really! Did her family leave her
alone after that?
FRANCIS: Yes.
But we couldn’t be sure that they wouldn’t come back when no one was
ready for them, so we moved Clare to another Benedictine convent in another
town. I didn’t like having to do that,
but we had no choice. Her safety was
most important. Still, it was not good
having her so far away.
(Clare
moves to stage right, to the Benedictine monastery altar.)
WOLF: All right.
So you have one woman follower.
But she’s with the Benedictines.
How can she be a Franciscan?
FRANCIS: Oh, she’s a Franciscan all right. And she isn’t the only female
Franciscan. Would you believe it? Soon after Clare joined us, right behind her
came her younger sister, Agnes.
(enter
Agnes)
(FRANCIS continues): And again we had the invasion
by her relatives, screaming to have the girls returned home. This time, the men knew that her head would
have been shorn, so that wouldn’t shock them into flight. And Agnes didn’t think to cling to the
altar. But after all, that hadn’t helped
Clare last time.
WOLF: Did they take Agnes home with them? Or, did something else stop them this time.
FRANCIS: This time it was prayer that stopped
them. You’d think that a few strong men
would have no trouble lifting up a fifteen-year-old girl and carrying her
off. But Agnes was on her knees praying
fervently that God would intervene, if it was his will. And, I suppose it must have been God’s will
to keep the girls, because the men soon gave up trying to lift Agnes. They just went home empty-handed again. By this time, San Damiano was ready to house
Clare and her sister, so we moved them there right away. And the others came, too. San Damiano soon became a lively place, full
of devout women.
(enter
several nuns)
WOLF: The Benedictine nuns?
FRANCIS: No.
Didn’t I tell you? Clare’s mother
came and joined her, and then several other ladies of Assisi came along,
too. I believe Clare will someday have
her rule approved by the pope, but I might not live to see that. The pope doesn’t like the idea of women
living in poverty. Clare loves Lady
Poverty almost as much as I do. The rule
of living in poverty and chastity suits her very well. In fact, they love poverty so much that they
took it in their name. You’ve never
heard of the Poor Clares?
WOLF: Oh!
She’s THAT Clare! Of course! I’ve heard of the Poor Clares. They are very holy women. So, they are also Franciscans?
FRANCIS: Yes.
They are the Second Order of Franciscans.
WOLF: So, you have two orders.
FRANCIS: Three, actually.
WOLF: I can see there’s more to this story.
CURTAINS
CLOSE
Act II scene 3
ACT
II
Scene
3 “Franciscan Friars”
Setting: the road from Assisi to San Damiano.
CURTAIN
OPENS
(Wolf
and Francis strolling along the road, occasionally stopping to chat by the side
of the road.)
WOLF: Good morning, Brother Francis! I’m glad you remembered our meeting. I’m anxious to hear about your freedom. You said you’d tell me about it.
FRANCIS: Good morning, Sister Wolf. Yes, I want to continue with my story. We’re coming to the most important part, I
think. I felt free, but I didn’t know
what would come next in my life. I just
gave it all over to God. I was happy
about that, but sad to have said a final good-bye to my family and my former
life. I’d had it pretty good, you
know. I never had to go hungry. I could play the beggar to see what it was
like. But now it was for real. If no one gave me food, I’d go hungry. I could have starved. But I had left the world once and for all.
WOLF: And your friends? Didn’t they go with you? Didn’t they help you?
FRANCIS: No.
Ever since I’d returned from Rome, I’d grown apart from my friends. I still love to have fun. I love singing and dancing, and I still do
those things. But I also spend a lot of
time in prayer. And my favourite
companions are the lepers down the hill.
WOLF: So you went to live in the leper colony?
FRANCIS: Not immediately. Eventually, though, I spent many hours every
day bathing them and tending their sores.
WOLF: Yuck! How
could you bear to do that?
FRANCIS: It took me a while to do it. I struggled with the horror and repulsion,
until I began to find them beautiful.
WOLF: You’re strange. You love poverty and you find
ugly sores and deformities beautiful.
FRANCIS (laughing): I suppose you’re right. But it’s a matter of seeing Christ whenever
you look at someone. What if you saw
Jesus begging for food on the streets, dressed in rags? Wouldn’t you want to feed him and give him
decent clothes to wear? And if you saw
him with weeping sores and deformed hands and faces, wouldn’t you want to go to
him and comfort him with kisses?
WOLF: Um. I
would probably feed the beggar, but I don’t know about kissing a leper.
FRANCIS: It surprised me, when I actually did kiss a
leper. It surprised him too!
(laughs) But the food people gave
me. That was probably the worst. I gagged when I tried to eat the scraps of
rotten meat and soggy vegetables I was given.
Soon, though, I learned to eat around the worst parts. Now I hardly notice what’s good and what
isn’t. Of course, I do get sick once in
a while. But it’s better than being
rich.
WOLF: Really?
I’ll take your word for it. But
you still haven’t told me where you went to live? So what, exactly, did you do when you left Assisi?
FRANCIS: I was on my way to your village,
Gubbio. I was singing. You know how I love French songs. I was debating about whether or not to stay
at San Damiano and continue working. But
suddenly some robbers jumped me. I don’t
know what they thought they were going to get from me. I had nothing but an old tunic the Bishop’s
gardener had given me as I left Assisi.
The silly fellows asked me who I was.
I was feeling as light as a bird.
So I answered that I was God’s Herald.
Well, they didn’t understand and they had no sense of humour. So, well, it wasn’t a very good result.
WOLF: What happened next?
FRANCIS: They beat me up after I gave them
everything I had. That experience helped
me make up my mind. I stayed at San
Damiano and continued to beg for stones to build the church. So, my whole life was praying, begging,
building, and tending lepers.
WOLF: San Damiano looks quite fine now.
FRANCIS: Yes. Thanks. I had
lots of help, and then I worked on San Pietro and several other ruined churches. I kept myself very busy for a long time. Of course, I also attended church services. The Eucharist is most important to me. The Gospel messages that meant the most to me
were about poverty. The most important
sermon I heard was on February 24th, the feast of St. Matthias. The priest read the Gospel and it said
something about going to preach that the kingdom of God is at hand, and that we
should not have gold or silver or money, not even an extra coat or shoes. I had a few friends who shared my enthusiasm. Let me introduce them to you:
(enter
Bernard of Quintavalle)
BERNARD: Hello.
My name is Bernard of Quintavalle.
I was very very rich. I always
wondered if Francis was as good as he seemed to be. You know how people are. Sometimes they’re good while people are
watching. But as soon as they think no
one can see them, it’s a different story.
Well, I decided to test Francis.
I invited him to stay at my house for a few days. I have a nice big house, but I wanted to
watch him. So, instead of giving him his
own bedroom, I had a second bed made up in my own room for him. At night, he went to bed and pretended to go
to sleep. But I watched, and do you know
what he was really doing?
WOLF: I have no idea. Why don’t you tell me?
BERNARD: He was praying. Almost all night. Maybe all night, for all I know, because I
fell asleep watching him. I was so
impressed by his honesty and his piety that I wanted to be like him. I told him that, and that I’d been rich so
long that I didn’t know if I could give it away. It took me a while, but eventually because I
was with Brother Francis so much, I had to get rid of the things that were
holding me back from being as free and happy as he was.
WOLF: So, then it was just you and Brother
Francis. What did the two of you do
together?
BERNARD: There were three of us, really. I suppose I was the first to join the holy
man. But soon Peter came along.
WOLF: Who’s Peter?
(enter
Peter Cattaneo)
PETER : That would be me. Let me introduce myself. I’m Peter Cattaneo. I was never as rich as Bernard here, but I
had too much of a good thing, too, you might say. I had a very good position as canon of the
cathedral. I had all the right
education, you see. I’m a doctor of law. But for all that, I was never as holy as
Brother Francis. It was clear to me that
he was the one to follow if I wanted to learn to be a true Christian.
WOLF: What did the three of you do, then?
PETER: First we went together to St. Nicholas
Church. Brother Francis went directly
to the altar and knelt in prayer. He
never did anything without praying about it first. I could hear him praying for God’s
guidance. Then he opened the Bible and
read a passage from the Gospel of Matthew.
WOLF: Sorry.
But wolves rarely read the Gospels.
Or anything else for that matter.
Most teachers don’t like us to come into their schools, you see....
PETER: No. I
suppose they don’t. Can you blame them?
WOLF: I think we were talking about you.
PETER: The Gospel of Matthew, actually.
WOLF: Right.
Was it important?
PETER: The gospels are always important. This one confirmed what the gospels always
said to Brother Francis. It was another
message about poverty—his favourite topic, the love of his life, other than
Jesus, that is. It said that if you want
to be perfect, sell whatever you have and give it to the poor. And to follow Jesus. Then in the Gospel of Luke, Brother Francis
read that we should take nothing for our journey, not even money or food or
extra clothes. I think he’d read that
before. But again in Matthew, we read
that followers of Jesus should deny themselves and take up their cross.
WOLF: I haven’t seen him carry a cross.
PETER: There are many ways we all carry crosses, Sister
Wolf. You have your cross, you know.
WOLF: I do?
PETER: Yes.
Your cross is anything that is difficult to do, or that makes it
difficult for you to live the way God wants you to live. For example, it’s very hard for you to be
kind to the people of Gubbio. To leave
their sheep and farms alone.
WOLF: I see. What
cross did you and Brother Francis have?
PETER: Well, that was the wonderful thing about the
first part of the command—to give away our worldly goods. Once we had done that, our load of worries
were gone. We just had to find people
to give us food for ourselves and the lepers, and building stones for the
churches. We could carry Christ’s cross,
you might say.
BERNARD: It’s true.
When I was rich, I had so many things that I had to take care of. I was always worried about being robbed, or
losing something valuable. And I always
needed more money to buy more stuff that would show the world how rich I
was. Once I’d given all that stuff away,
I didn’t have any of those worries anymore.
I was free to pray with an easy conscience. It was wonderful. After all, who needs a lot of useless
stuff. I was free to take on the cross
of caring for the lepers—doing God’s work.
WOLF: So the three of you were poor as the lepers
you were helping. How could you help if
you were just like them?
BERNARD: We still had our health. And people weren’t afraid to come near
us. So we could beg for them and look
after them.
WOLF: That’s a lot of work for three men. But there are more of you now, aren’t there?
PETER: Sylvester joined us next. And for a while we were known as Brother
Francis and his Three Companions.
(enter
Brother Sylvester)
WOLF: Is this Brother Sylvester?
SYLVESTER: Yes.
I’m Sylvester. I have to say I’m
not proud about the way I came to join the Friars Minor. That’s what we’re called now, you know. It means the Little Brothers. I wasn’t rich or educated like Bernard and
Peter here. My burden was that I was
proud and greedy. And, to make matters
worse, I should have known better because I was a priest.
WOLF: What made you change? Did Brother Francis preach to you?
SYLVESTER: You might say that! He always says we should preach the Gospel,
but use words only when necessary. Often
the most effective preaching is done by example. And that’s what he did in my case. You see, it started when I sold him some
stones to use in church building. He had
begged the money, of course, but I didn’t give any thought to that. All I could think of was getting what I
thought was a fair price for the stones.
I looked at the money he gave me, and, to my shame, I complained that it
wasn’t enough.
WOLF: Oh. He
didn’t like that, I bet. What did he
say?
SYLVESTER: That was just it. He didn’t say anything. His silence made me feel embarrassed. But what he did was even worse—or better,
maybe. Certainly it was more
effective. Rather than preach at me, he
simply opened out his money bag and emptied it into my open hands, spilling all
the coins he had collected from generous people. I felt horrible. I realized how selfish I was. And how generous he was, and the people who
had donated their hard-earned cash to the building of churches. When I finally
came and apologized, Brother Francis
kindly accepted me as the third companion.
FRANCIS: They were the best and most generous
friends I could possibly have. Next came
Brother Giles. He was able to give his
cloak to a poor beggar woman.
(enter
Giles)
GILES: It isn’t a bad life, you know. We have a lot of fun. We laugh and sing. People even had a name for us. They called us God’s Jesters.
FRANCIS: It was surprising how fast our numbers
grew. The men came from all over. Come here, men! Introduce yourselves.
(enter
ANGELO, RUFFINO, MASSEO, ILLUMINATO, SABBATINO, JUNIPER, PACIFICO, PHILIP, LEO,
JOHN, ELIAS: each comes in and says his name and leaves the stage.)
FRANCIS: Then I realized that we had twelve men and
more, and that meant I had something very important to do. I went to see my friend the bishop in
Assisi. He warned me about our
lifestyle. How dangerous it was to
depend on the generosity of people to continue forever. And, as our numbers were growing, and
responsible citizens were giving away their belongings to become homeless
beggars, many people were becoming alarmed.
How many would be left who could support us all. They said it was irresponsible. I suppose it was. But what could we do? We were following the Gospels of Christ.
WOLF: What did the bishop advise?
FRANCIS: Well, he agreed with me that if we had
possessions, we’d have to defend them.
So, that wasn’t the answer. I
decided to go to Rome and get the Pope’s
blessing on our rule of life. But it
wasn’t easy to get to see the pope, you know.
You can’t just go and knock on the door of the Vatican and ask to chat
with him. I saw him on the street one
day, and I tried to talk to him. But he
had many people around him to protect him.
It was impossible. But it was so
important. I couldn’t just go home.
WOLF: If it was impossible, then how did you manage
it? I assume you did get to see the
pope?
FRANCIS: You could call it luck, or a coincidence.
But I prefer to call it God’s intervention.
It just happened that my old friend, Bishop Guido, was in Rome and had
connections. Because, I just sat outside
the Vatican and waited. And suddenly,
one of the guards came and told me that the pope wanted to see me. Imagine!
The pope actually asked to see me.
WOLF: How had he heard of you?
FRANCIS: I don’t know if Bishop Guido told him about
me, or if he had seen me from his window.
But I later learned that he had had a bad dream about me. He dreamt that the beautiful big church, the
Lateran, was falling down around him, and I was a pillar holding the roof
up. That’s when he called me in to speak
to him.
WOLF: I don’t get it. Were you the cause of the building falling
down?
FRANCIS: No. I was the pillar holding it up. Me. A
beggar at his door. So he sent for me.
WOLF: Did you get dressed up in fine clothes to go
and speak to him. He’s a pretty
important fellow, I hear.
FRANCIS: Very important! And I went, as I was, to see him in his court, with all the
cardinals around him. There he was, Pope
Innocent, sitting on his throne, waiting for me to tell him what I had on my
mind. I could hardly speak for
trembling. Then, God gave me the
strength and voice to tell the pope about what my friends and I had been doing
at San Damiano and the other churches around Assisi. I told him about our giving up all wealth and
exchanging our fine clothes for beggars’ clothes. I told him about our begging for food for
ourselves and for the lepers we care for.
I asked him to bless our work, and to allow us to have this lifestyle as
our rule of life. I even dared to remind
His Holiness that we were living life as Jesus commanded us in the Gospels.
WOLF: If you call him “His Holiness”, he could
hardly refuse. It was a done deal. I guess you just said thank you very much and
went home.
FRANCIS: You might have thought so. But it wasn’t that easy. Most of the cardinals were against what I was
doing. They agreed with the citizens of
Assisi that our way of life was irresponsible.
One of the cardinals spoke up for us, though. He pointed out that if the Pope rejected us
because our lifestyle was too difficult, then that would mean that the church
was saying that it was impossible to follow Jesus. That would be blasphemy against Christ. In the end, Pope Innocent dismissed me
saying, “Go my brother, and as the Lord inspires you, preach repentance to
everyone. When God has multiplied you in
numbers and grace, come to me again rejoicing and I will grant you more than
this.” I was thrilled. I hurried out of the Vatican afraid he might
call me back and change his mind. As I
left the great hall, I heard him say to his cardinals, “Truly this is the pious
and holy man who shall restore the Church of God.” I came home the happiest man alive, with my
beloved bride Lady Poverty and her beautiful sisters, Obedience, Simplicity and
Trust.
CURTAIN
CLOSES
End
of Act II
Labels:
Angelo,
Bernard of Quintavalle,
Brother Sylvester,
Elias,
Francis of Assisi,
Illuminato,
John,
Juniper,
Leo,
Masseo,
Pacifico,
Peter Cattaneo,
Philip,
Ruffino,
Sabbatino,
Wolf of Gubbio
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)