Couldn’t the same be said of the Franciscans, too?
I love how Dante has St. Thomas recount the life of St. Francis in
Canto XI of his
Paradiso and, reciprocally, the Franciscan St. Bonaventure recount the life of the Dominican St. Dominic in
Canto XII. It definitely brings things into perspective.
Let’s put things into perspective. After a rather tumultuous life, Dante eventually became a Franciscan Brother of Penance (Secular Franciscan). In those days, they were truly penitents, not simply a group that met once a month. They followed the rule of St. Francis very literally. This came about after he reflected a great deal on the debates between the Dominicans and the Franciscans in Florence, where the Dominicans promoted Aquinas and his system and the Franciscans promoted Bonaventure and Franciscan Mysticism. Dante was moved by the Franciscans’ love for the mystical and love of Love. It is said that he even participated in some of these debates.
We should understand that when these great theological minds debated, they were not like CAFers. They were not out for blood, nor out to win an argument or push an agenda. Debates were more scholarly than the ones that we have here. They followed rules and they meant to expose a point, not to score points. The merits were awarded not on the content, but on the presentation. You wanted to impress your listeners by your erudition. In other words, these folks were not enemies, not even in disagreement with each other. They were scholars, pure and simple.
The Franciscans won over the common people and the Dominicans won over the scholars. That’s been happening since then. Both sides were happy, because both wanted to bring souls to Christ.
The fact was that Bonaventure and Aquinas got into trouble at the University of Paris when the mendicants were kicked out. They united their forces to get back into the university and they triumphed. It was not the Summa of either that triumphed, but the holiness and tenacity of both men.
They were each other’s greatest admirers. Bonaventure admired Aquinas’ genius and his system. Aquinas admired Bonaventure’s love for St. Francis. It’s said that Aquinas was moved when Bonaventure said that the only way that he would accept being a bishop and a cardinal was if he could remain at his post in the order. He was unwilling to leave his friars. When asked why, his response was almost childlike. “I promised to take care of the brothers.” Bonaventure had been elected the Minister General the year before. He had also been assigned to be the scullery maid at the friary in Paris, two assignments that he took very seriously.
He read Aquinas’ Summa and gave him feedback. Aquinas also read his work and gave him feedback. Interestingly, they died within a few months of each other.
There is a very beautiful story about Aquinas in Franciscan history. It seems that he had brought a part of his Summa to share with his buddy, Bonaventure. When the friar went to get Bonaventure, he was unable to get his attention. The friar reported to Aquinas that Brother Bonaventure was contemplating the life of the Holy Father (Francis not the pope). Aquinas smiled and said, “Leave the saint to attend to his saint.” He left. There was always a fraternal relationship between them.
Not on a Carmelite altar.
It is my understanding that Aquinas was not a fan of the Carmelites and actually worked towards our demise, though that did not happen (Thank God!).
Actually, that story has been misunderstood over the centuries. It began with a misunderstanding. That’s probably why the story has been misunderstood.
As far as everyone was concerned, the Carmelites were hermits who lived in Palestine. When they returned to Europe and Pope Honorius grants them mendicant status, there was a lot of misunderstanding. That’s what happens when you don’t have mass communication. Some erroneously believed that they were heretics. It just happened that St. Albert has also written a rule for the Humiliati. Though the Humiliati themselves were not heretics, there were heretical groups that came from them. Because the Brothers of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel come with a rule by St. Albert, this sent up all kinds of red flags. Was this just another version of heretics from the same line that could be traced back to the Humiliati?
As I understand it, there was also a conflict among the friars as to their priority, a life of solitude, silence and prayer or an apostolic life.
I was not only Aquinas, but many leaders in the Church at the time who were uncomfortable with these new mendicants who were allegedly hermits the day before. I’m not saying allegedly. That’s how they appeared. I have read ancient references to the White Friars by the Franciscans of the day. Though the Franciscans did not oppose the presence of the Carmelites, they were not so sure what to think. When St. Louis IX, who was then the General Minister of the Franciscan Brothers and Sisters of Penance, opened the Carmelite Priory in Paris, everyone breathed easily. St. Louis was a respected and holy man, the shadow that had been cast over the new friars was finally gone. That would be my guess, if I had to extrapolate from the little information that we actually written by Aquinas about the White Friars as they were known.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
