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

PovertyComplete adherence to the ChurchObedience to the hierarchy

SergeFirst 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 BonaventuraFriars 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 IVRule 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 CenturyChange

Chapter gatherings Mass at Church of the friars Buying of property

Fourteenth CenturySeat of Popes transferred from Italy to France

Technique of Knitting is developedMore 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

QuestionFirst Letter to the Faithful

1LF

● Love God

● Love one’s neighbor

● Resist the sinful of your

fallen nature

● Participate in the

sacramental life, especially

the Eucharist

● Act in conformity with the

conversion that the person

has accepted.

Rule of 1978 To Live the Gospel Following Francis Through

Conversion/METÀNOIA In Community As Seculars In Vital Reciprocity with

All Franciscans

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