Compassion on Weaker Brothers

At a certain time when Francis began to have friars, dwelling with them at Rivo Torto near Assisi, one of the friars, in the middle of the night, began crying out, “I am dying!  I am dying!”  All the brothers woke up amazed and frightened.  The holy Father rising, said, “Rise, brothers, and kindle the light!”  And when it was lit, he said, “Who is he that said, ‘I am dying’?”  The brother answered, “It was I.”  And he said to him, “What is the matter, brother?  How do you die?”  And he said, “I die of hunger.” 

And the Father caused the table to be laid right away and like a man full of charity and discretion, ate with him lest he should be put to shame by eating alone, and by his will, all the other friars ate as well.  For that brother and all the other friars who had newly turned to the Lord, used to inflict their bodies beyond measure. 

And after the meal the holy Father said to the other friars, “Dearest, I bid you, each of you, consider his nature because though one of you may be able to sustain himself on less food, yet I will that another who requires more food shall not be bound to imitate the first in this thing, but shall, considering his own nature, give his body what it requires, so that it may be able to serve the spirit.  For as we are bound to beware of superfluity of eating, which harms body and soul, so also must we beware of too great abstinence—nay, even more—since the Lord will have mercy and not sacrifice.”  And he said, “Dearest brothers, this which I have done, to wit, that on account of charity towards my brother, we have eaten together with him, lest he should be ashamed to eat alone, necessity and charity rather forced me to do.  But I say to you that I would not do so again, seeing it would be neither religious nor becoming.  But I will and command you that each of our brothers according to our poverty satisfy his body as it shall be necessary for him.”  For the first friars and the others who came after them for a long time, afflicted their bodies beyond measure with abstinence from food and drink, with vigils, with cold, with roughness of raiment and the labor of their hands; they wore next their flesh very strong iron belts and cats and hair shirts; on which account, seeing by occasion of this the friars might become weak and that some were already in that short time ill, he forbade in a certain chapter any friar to wear anything next the skin except a tunic.

            But we who were with him bear testimony of him, that though in the whole time of his life he was thus discreet and temperate concerning his brothers, yet it was so that they should at no time deviate from the way of poverty and the decorum of our Order.  Nevertheless, the most holy Father himself from the beginning of his conversion unto the end of his life, was austere to his own body, although he was by nature feeble and could not have lived in the world, except delicately.  So, considering on a certain day, that the friars were exceeding the measure of poverty and of decency in their food and in other things, in a certain sermon which he made to sundry brothers, in the presence of all the friars he said, “Let not the brothers think that some allowance is necessary to my body, for because it behooves me to be the form and example of all friars, I wish to use and be content with few and very wretched meats and to use all other things according to poverty and utterly to turn in disgust from things rare and delicate.”

            -Mirror of Perfection Section III, Chapter 27

Francis, even along with Benedict, recognizes that the austere seem, at times, to put a tremendous burden on the weak.  Indeed, this was one of the main concerns of church leadership about the early Franciscan order.  What we all must realize is that everyone is at a different level.  Some have the ability to closely follow the way of Francis.  Others will never follow that way.  The Lord has given us different starting places, and different places to finish.  Not all will be able to pray for hours a day; not all will be scholars of the Bible; not all will sacrifice their lives for Jesus; not all can endure the weight of the need of the world.  Those who can, should accept it, but those who cannot should not feel guilty.  Each of us is given a burden from the Lord, and that burden is sufficient.  Let no one add to it, and let us not feel overburdened to add to it ourselves.

Jesus himself warned us: "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea." (Mark 9:42) Paul also encouraged us: "We who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves." (Romans 15:1)  We need to accept and encourage our weak sisters and brothers, not condemn them or reject them.