Did Francis say this?
Francis of Assisi is said to have said, "Preach the gospel at all times; when necessary, use words." Maybe not.
Mark Galli says in ChristianityToday.com "Many have noted how Francis modeled his life on Jesus. But it wasn't just about the life of poverty, but also the life of preaching."
He began preaching early in his ministry, first in the Assisi church of Saint George, in which he had gone to school as a child, and later in the cathedral of Saint Rufinus. He usually preached on Sundays, spending Saturday evenings devoted to prayer and meditation reflecting on what he would say to the people the next day.He soon took up itinerant ministry, sometimes preaching in up to five villages a day, often outdoors. In the country, Francis often spoke from a bale of straw or a granary doorway. In town, he would climb on a box or up steps in a public building. He preached to serfs and their families as well as to the landholders, to merchants, women, clerks, and priests—any who gathered to hear the strange but fiery little preacher from Assisi.
He apparently was a bit of a showman. He imitated the troubadours, employing poetry and word pictures to drive the message home. When he described the Nativity, listeners felt as if Mary was giving birth before their eyes; in rehearsing the crucifixion, the crowd (as did Francis) would shed tears.
Contrary to his current meek and mild image, Francis's preaching was known for both his kindness and severity. One moment, he was friendly and cheerful—prancing about as if he were playing a fiddle on a stick, or breaking out in song in praise to God and his creation. Another moment, he would turn fierce: "He denounced evil whenever he found it," wrote one early biographer, "and made no effort to palliate it; from him a life of sin met with outspoken rebuke, not support. He spoke with equal candor to great and small."
Read the rest here.
Francis' greatest significance for the history of preaching may not be his own example but rather his admonition to the friars in the second rule (1223) "to preach vices and virtues, punishment and glory." Those words would be taken up again and again, not least by the Fathers at the Council of Trent in the decree on preaching, as well as by St. Ignatius and the Jesuits. What that meant, above all, was that preachers should focus on "amendment of life" and not doctrine--or to put it in contemporary jargon--to focus on the practical.
Jonathan Greiser
Posted by Jonathan![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/nav-commenters.gif)
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May 22, 2009 7:27 PM
I think the author of the article, in referencing postmodernism -- that the purported quote is somehow appealing to the postmodern mind because of our distrust of words -- is to some extent misunderstanding both Francis and postmodernism. (It's not that words have no meaning, but that meaning ultimately resides in minds -- but that's another topic.)
Let me stick with Francis. Whether he actually said the words attributed to him, it is evident he put them into practice. I can think of a few incidents that typify this approach of "acted parable" (which is very much in keeping with the prophetic tradition). Most famously, when he was asked to proclaim the Christmas gospel, he invented the creche. (Similarly, he is credited with introducing the Stations of the Cross for those who could not make pilgrimage to the Holy Land). He was a master of the grand gesture, after the fashion of some of the Hebrew prophets.
A more delightful story is the one about the brother who wanted a breviary. Francis scolded him: "So you want a breviary, do you? Next you'll be asking for a comfortable chair to sit in? And then you'll start calling out to your brothers, 'Oh, bring me my breviary...'" At which point Francis reached into the cold campfire ashes, pulled out a handful and vigorously rubbed them on the brother's head, while saying, "I am your breviary!"
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May 23, 2009 9:37 AM