CHAPTER XIV.
First Foreign Missions.
"They are gone where Love is frozen, and Faith grown calm and cold,
Where the world is all triumphant, and the sheep have left the fold,
Where His children scorn His blessings, and His sacred shrine despise."
It was about the time of the first chapter that Francis began to feel drawn to foreign fields. The Franciscans had now spread all over Italy, and there was a general desire shown by the brethren to extend their ministrations outside that country. It would appear that at its close, a small number of the brethren were sent out to evangelize the various countries of Europe, Portugal, Hungary, Germany, etc.
For himself Francis had a larger and more daring scheme.
It was the time of the Crusades. All Christian Europe was bending its energies to wrest the tomb of our Saviour out of the hands of the Saracens. Band after band of Crusaders had marched into the Sultan's territory—to suffer defeat and death. Francis was too much of a soldier and knight not be stirred by the tales of bravery and daring which were rife everywhere. But he had his own opinions.
"Is there not," he asked himself, "a more beautiful way of gaining the desired end? Why all this bloodshed? why this wholesale hurrying of men to perdition? why all this strife between the children of one Father? Why has no one ever tried to gain these infidels over on Christ's side? How many lives might be spared, and what an increase there would be for His Church if they succeeded!"
It was a noble thought, and one worthy of Francis. The more he pondered these matters the more convinced he became that it was his duty to put his ideas into practice. He told some of the brethren his purpose, and they, convinced that God led him, made no objection, and in a very short time he was ready to begin his difficult and dangerous undertaking. Peter of Cantani was appointed to take the government of the Order during his absence.
Francis, and his companion, whose name we are not told, embarked at Ancona. How they got their passage without any money we do not know, but it is evident that they managed it somehow. When they were well out to sea, such a storm arose as caused them to seek refuge on the coast of Illyria. It was supposed at first that the delay would only be one of a few weeks, but the stormy weather persistently continuing, it soon became evident that it would be impossible to cross the Levant at that season of the year. This was a great disappointment to Francis, but he was far from being discouraged. He determined to return to Ancona. A vessel was about to sail, and he presented himself as a passenger, but as he had no money they refused to take him on board.
A Dilemma!
Here was a dilemma! But help was at hand. One of the ship's officers, a good man, was touched by the harshness with which the missionaries were treated, so he went to Francis and told him that he would take them on board. He conducted them down into the hold, and hid them behind some horses there. Hardly had they been deposited when an unknown friend brought an enormous basket of provisions, and, giving it to their benefactor, said—
"Take this, take great care of it, and as the need arises, distribute it to the poor brethren you have hidden."
The need soon arose. Another fearful storm beat the vessel about to such an extent that the voyage was prolonged far beyond the usual limit. Provisions were exhausted and a famine threatened the unhappy crew. Then Francis, hearing of the distress, crept out from among the horses, explained his presence, and said that he had food which he would be glad to share with them. The legend tells us that the food was miraculously made to last the voyage; the real fact was probably that the basket contained large supplies of beans, and lentils, and macaroni, and such Italian foods that swell in the cooking, and go a long way.
In Spain.
Arriving at Ancona, Francis began to preach. He had a wonderful time, and a great number of clerics and laymen joined the Order. Part of them Francis took with him to the Portiuncula, and offered them to God as the price of his failure! After watching over them for a few weeks, he left them in good hands, and turned his attention again to foreign mission work. The east had been closed to him, but that was no reason why the west should not open. The enemies of the Christians were as powerful in Spain and North Africa, as in Egypt and the Holy Land. The infidels had just been defeated in battle, and all Europe was talking about the victory gained at Las Navas Tolva. The heart of Francis mourned over these defeated ones. "Supposing they had been defeated," he argued, "their natures were still unchanged, their souls were still unsaved." He began to question if their need was not his call. He thought he heard them crying, "Pass over and help us!" He offered himself to God for this work, and, taking with him his well-beloved Bernardo di Quintavalle, set out for Spain. He had another rough experience of the sea, but this time he reached his goal without any mishap.
It was autumn when they landed in Spain, and without loss of time, they set off for the interior. At the outset of the journey, a little incident occurred which, though unpleasant at the time, God over-ruled for good. They were passing a vineyard, and Bernardo, who was very thirsty, plucked a bunch of grapes to refresh himself with. This was quite an allowable action in Italy, but Spain appeared to have a different code of morals, and one of the servants of the owner seized Bernardo, called him a rogue and a thief, and insisted upon his paying for what he had taken. Bernardo explained that he had no idea of doing wrong, and that he did not possess the smallest piece of money. The man snatched at his mantle, and said that would have to pay for it. But Francis, without discussing the matter with the servant, insisted upon seeing the owner of the vineyard. To him he explained the state of affairs; the mantle was given back, Bernardo was apologized to, and the good Spaniard did even more, he offered his services to Francis, and threw open his house, which became a sort of hostelry for the Order, and any brother was always welcome, night or day, to the best that there was.
The Will of the Lord.
Francis' intention was to go straight to the Mussulmans. He even talked of reaching Morocco. But God led him to stay in Spain longer than he had expected. People were converted everywhere, and branches of the work were established. Who took charge of these new ventures we are not told; doubtless friars from Italy were sent there.
Just as he began to see his way clear to go to the Mussulmans, he was seized with a violent fever. For some time he lay between life and death, and when at last he began to get well, it was perfectly evident that there could be no talk of his going to Morocco. Always submissive, Francis accepted this as the will of the Lord and returned to Italy. The reason why he was led back to the Portiuncula at that particular time seemed to him quite plain afterwards; for, when he got there, he found a number of learned and noble men waiting to offer themselves to him.
Exactly what Francis did after this is not quite clear. Probably he preached round about the North of Italy, and visited the various branches of the work, instructing novices, and establishing fresh centres. At the beginning of the next year we find him attending a conference in Rome, respecting the recovery of the Holy Land. While here, he met Dominic for the first time. Dominic was the founder of another kind of Friar Order. He conceived a great admiration for Francis, and tried very hard to get him to consent to amalgamate the two. This Francis never would consent to do, and the two always remained distinct.
Ugolin's Visit.
The decision of the conference was that the Pope himself should lead a crusade into the Holy Land. He left Rome in May, and passed through the valley of Assisi, where Francis was presiding over a general Chapter. At Perugia he was taken ill with fever. One of his near relatives, Cardinal Ugolino, accompanied him. This man had heard a great deal about Francis from Cardinal Paul, who had just died, and he thought that now would be a good chance to see for himself. Accordingly, followed by his magnificent suite, he travelled back to Assisi. All he saw filled him with wonder; it bore to him the mark of true holiness. What struck him most was the poverty of it the brethren. He had no idea they carried it so far. He went through the roughly constructed cells, saw the beds made of straw, more like the lairs of wild animals, and he could not restrain his tears.
"Alas!" he cried to those who were with him, "what will become of us who need so many superfluities in our lives!"
Ugolino did not stop there. He felt impelled to offer himself to fill the place of Cardinal Paul as Protector of the Order.
"I offer myself to you," he said to Francis; "if you wish it, I will be your helper, counsellor, and support!"
Francis first of all thanked God, and then he answered, "It is with all my heart I salute you, the father and Protector of our religion. I wish all my brothers to you consider you as such!"
There are some historians who declare that this friendship—for a very real friendship sprang up between Francis and Ugolino—was no advantage to the Order, but rather harmed it. There is no evidence of this among the best authorities; they lean rather to a contrary opinion, and we are inclined to believe ourselves that the Order would never have developed as it did but for Cardinal Ugolino. He went back and told the Pope what he had seen, and the old man rejoiced greatly. It was the last joy he had on earth, for he died a few days later.
Growth of the Order.
Time went on, the Order spread and spread till it was impossible for one man to do justice to the whole. To meet the growing need for oversight, Italy was divided into several provinces, these provinces were to be directed by brothers who were called "Ministers" or "Provincial Servants." Francis named Peter Catani for Umbria, Elias for Tuscany, Bennet of Arezzo for the Marches of Ancona, John of Stracchai for Lombardy, Daniel for Calabria. Then it was also decided that Bernardo di Quintavelle was to take charge of Spain, and John of Penna, Germany. Francis himself was to take France, a land he had always been especially drawn to. It was through the intervention of Ugolino that he forewent this mission. Francis stopped at Florence on his way to tell him of his journey. Ugolino saw what Francis could not see, that in view of all their new ventures he could not afford to leave the country just then. Francis argued that he could not stay at home in safety and let the brothers go abroad on dangerous missions, it would raise talk. Ugolino wanted to know if Italy wasn't big enough for him. Francis replied that God had raised them up for the good of the whole world.
"Perhaps so," said Ugolino, "but in any case you cannot go away yet without imprudence. Your Order is only just started, you know the opposition it met with at first; its enemies are not yet disarmed, and your presence is necessary to defend and maintain it."
Francis saw that Ugolino spoke wisely, and he gave in and stayed at home. For some time he was the guest of the Cardinal, and their mutual liking for each other was greatly increased. The more Ugolino saw of Francis the more he loved him, and though he could not see eye to eye with him in everything at first, he eventually came round to his ways. As much as possible Francis lived his simple manner of life in the Cardinals palace. He prayed and meditated, he went out to preach and to beg, and he even brought back his alms into the palace! One day there were a great many people at the table, and Francis was eating the scraps he had begged. Some of the guests began to joke him about it, but Francis maintained that his food was angels' bread, and if they liked he would share it with them. All—prelates, knights and nobles—accepted willingly, some ate their portion, others put it by to keep as a memento. But Ugolino was a little hurt. He took Francis aside and said—
A Quarrel.
"Ah, my brother, wherefore all this begging; you hurt me. Do you not know that my house is yours and your brethren's?"
"My lord," answered Francis, "I have not affronted you; I think I have honored you by imitating in your house our Lord Jesus Christ who taught us to love poverty. For, indeed, I mean only to follow the footsteps of my Master!"
The Cardinal bowed his head.
"Do, my brother, what seems good to you," he said, "the Lord is with you!"
This visit of Francis' to Florence resulted in the establishment of a large convent on the borders of Tuscany and Umbria. This is how it came about. The powerful family of the lords of Baschi were divided. The three sons were in open rebellion on account of questions of personal interest, and they were doing their best to drag into this quarrel the numerous friends of their clients and vassals. It was plain to be seen that bloodshed would be the outcome. Francis was very much grieved when he heard of this dissension, and felt that he must do his best to stop it. Accordingly, he visited the three brothers, Ugolino, Buonconte and Ranicu, in turn, and entreated them in the name of Christ to desist. He succeeded in accomplishing his end, they laid down their arms, amicably settled the vexed question, and a charter of reconciliation was drawn up. Then, wishing to show their gratitude to Francis, they presented him with a beautiful hill, and, building a monastery on it, begged of him to send friars to establish a work there.
A little later, the Cardinal presided over what was known as the "Chapter of Mats," so called because the brothers lived under little tents made of matting. He was very much surprised at all he saw, and said he never expected to find a well-disciplined army! This was a very important Chapter, and many new Provinces were formed. It was conducted very much like the preceding ones.
Failure of the German Mission.
It was either in the middle or just before this Chapter, that the German-Hungarian expedition returned. Their mission had been an utter failure! When questioned as to the reason of this failure, they answered, unanimously—
"No one knows us; our dress, our loneliness, excite distrust. The clergy have united to drive us away, they called us heretics, and left us without defence or protection. We fell into the hands of wicked men and thieves, who ill-treated us; we had to come away!"
This sounded very badly, but the explanation of it lay in the fact that they did not understand the language of the people they went to! How it happened that they were sent, not knowing the language, we cannot say. Perhaps Francis thought that French and Italian would be spoken, or, at least, understood in these countries, or it may be he expected them to be endowed with the gift of tongues. Those who went to Germany knew but one word of the language, "ja"—"yes." In the first town they entered they attracted a great deal of notice, and people asked them if they would like food and a lodging. They did not understand a word of what was said, but they smiled and said "ja." Finding themselves well treated, they determined to use this expression on all occasions.
Unfortunately, the next one asked them if they were heretics, and had come to Germany to preach an evil doctrine. When they again smiled and answered "ja," to their grief and amazement, they were cast into prison, and after having been ill-treated for some time, were driven out of the country.
At the close of the "Chapter of Mats," Francis announced that he was about to proceed to Egypt to preach to the Sultan. Ugolino had decided that things were now on such a solid foundation that he could with safety leave the Order while he took this long journey.