Capuchin Friars Minor

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An autonomous branch of the firstFranciscan Order, the other branches being theFriars Minor simply so called (but until lately usually known as Observants or Recollects), and theConventual Friars Minor. This division of the firstFranciscan Order has come about by reason of variousreforms; thus the Observants were a reform which separated from theConventuals, and the Capuchins are a reform of the Observants.

Genesis and development

The Capuchin Reform dates from 1525. It had its origin in the Marches, the Italian province where, after Umbria, theFranciscan spirit seems to have found its most congenial dwelling-place. Cut off by the mountains from the great highways ofItaly, the inhabitants of the Marches have to this day retained a delightful simplicity of character and blend a mystical tendency with a practical bent of mind. They may be said to possess the anima naturaliter Franciscana, and it is easy to understand the quick response of the people of this province to theFranciscan teaching, and the tenacity with which thefriars of the Marches clung to the primitive simplicity of the order. We have a monument of the enduring vigour of theFranciscan spirit in the Marches in the "Fioretti di San Francesco", wherein the first freshness of theFranciscan spirit seems to have been caught up and enshrined. From the Marches, too, we get another book, of a very different character, but which in its own way bears eloquent witness to thezeal of the brethren of this province for poverty, the "Historia VII Tribulationum" of Angelo Clareno. And atCamerino, on the borders of the province, are preserved therelics ofBlessed John of Parma, another of the leaders of the "Spiritual" Friars. The Marches were, in fact, from the earliest days of the order, a centre of resistance to the secularizing tendency which found an entrance amongst thefriars even in the days ofSt. Francis, of which tendency the famous Brother Elias is the historic type.

At the beginning of the sixteenth century theFranciscans in the Marches, as elsewhere, were divided into the two distinctfamilies ofConventuals and Observants or Zoccolanti. The dividing line between the twofamilies was their adhesion to the primitive ideal ofFranciscan poverty and simplicity; theConventuals accepted revenues bypapaldispensation; the Observants refused fixed revenues and lived by casualalms. At least such was the principle; but in practice the Observants had come themselves to relax the principle under various legal devices. Thus, though they would not accept money themselves, they allowed secularpersons, styled syndics, to accept money for their use; they accepted chaplaincies to which were affixed regular stipends. To those who looked to the primitive custom of the order, such acceptances seemed but legalized betrayal of the rule, nor were these relaxations at any time allowed to pass without protest from the morezealous of the Observants. But the question was not merely concerning this or that point; it was one of general tendency. Was the order to maintain itself in the simplicity and unworldliness of St. Francis, or was it to admit and bow to the spirit of the world? Was it to be dominated by the spirit of St. Francis or by the spirit of Brother Elias? Such was the question as it shaped itself in the minds of the reformingfriars; and one has to recognize this truly to appreciate the history of the variousFranciscan reforms. The difficulty which met each reform, as it arose and acquired an independent constitution, was the difficulty which meets every unworldly ideal in its attempt to propagate itself in the actual world. To live on and endure it must take to itself a secular embodiment, and in the process is apt to acquire something of the secular spirit; and the more unworldly the original ideal, the more difficult is its process of secular development. This is peculiarly so in the case of areligious community like theFranciscan Order, which aims at realizing a principle of life so entirely opposed to the principles commonly accepted in the world at large. Hence it is that the Observants, after breaking away from theConventuals, themselves gave rise to various reforms which aimed at a more perfect return to the primitive type. In this way the Capuchin Reform took its origin from amongst the Observants of the Marches. The leader of the reform was Father Matteo di Bassi, a member of the Observant community in theDiocese of Fermo. He was an exemplary religious and azealous preacher. It is said thatLeo X had given him permission to institute a reform amongst the Observants; but if so Father Matteo did not avail himself of the permission, perhaps because of the death of that pontiff. But in 1525, a year of Jubilee, he went toRome and whilst there obtained fromClement VII leave to wear the Capuchin habit and to live in strictest poverty. Matteo di Bassi was finally led to this step by an incident which recalls to mind the history of St. Francis. The friar had been attending a funeral and was returning to hisconvent, when he met a beggar by the wayside barely clad. Moved with compassion, Father Matteo gave the beggar part of his own clothing. Shortly afterwards the friar was inprayer when he heard a voice, which three times admonished him, saying "Observe the Rule to the letter". Whereupon he arose, and took an old habit, and made a long pointed hood out of the cappa, and donning the habit at once set out forRome. This story, retailed by all the earliest chroniclers, makes it certain that the aspiration to observe the rule to the letter was the one compelling motive of the reform, and that the taking of the habit with the long pointed hood was the symbol of this aspiration. For the habit in this shape was supposed to be the original form of theFranciscan habit, whilst the habit with the cappa and small rounded hood was held by many to be an innovation introduced with the spirit of relaxation. Certain it is that the habit adopted by Father Matteo and his followers was known in the order before their time. In the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, is a copy of analtar-piecedating from the fifteenth century, representingOur Lady with a number offriars gathered under her outspread mantle; and they are wearing a habit similar in form to that of the Capuchins. In a picture of St. Francis in thelibrary ofChristchurch,Oxford, attributed to Margaritone, we find the same form of habit; and in at least one other instance of early portraiture of the Seraphic saint he seems to have been represented with a habit of this sort. (See "On the Authentic Portraiture of St. Francis of Assisi", by N. H. J. Westlake, London, 1897.)Thomas of Celano again seems to speak of it as a novelty that a certain friar went about wearing a habit "with the hood not sewn to the tunic" (II Celano, 32 — ed. d'Alençon, Rome, 1906). And at the Ognisanti, inFlorence, is preserved a habit, said to be one worn by St. Francis, the hood of which is sewn to the tunic. At any rate the reformingfriars, in assuming the pointed hood sewn to the habit, claimed to be assuming the form of habit worn by St. Francis and the firstfriars, and in their eyes it was a symbol of their return to the primitive observance.

In putting his hand to the reform, Matteo di Bassi had no intention of separating himself from thejurisdiction of the Observants; he thought rather to introduce the reform amongst them. All he asked fromClement VII was liberty for himself and otherfriars of a like mind to wear the habit of St. Francis, to observe the rule strictly in accordance with the earliest tradition, and to preach the Word ofGod in the world. From the days of St. Francis himself the liberty of the stricter observance had been allowed; and thefriars enjoying such liberty had usually dwelt apart in small houses or hermitages, but under the effectivejurisdiction of the superiors of the order. But when, on Matteo di Bassi's return fromRome, two otherfriars, Louis ofFossombrone and his brother Raphael, sought to join the new reform, they were stoutly opposed by the superiors, especially by the minister provincial, John ofFano, who, however, himself eventually joined the Capuchins. Nevertheless, the twofriars were at length, through the intervention of the Duke ofCamerino allowed to proceed toRome. On 18 May, 1526, they received from theCardinal-Bishop ofPalestrina, the Grand Penitentiary, theBrief, "Ex parte vestrâ", wherebyClement VII formally allowed them, together with Matteo di Bassi, to separate from the community of the Observants and live in hermitages, in order that they might be free to observe the rule as they desired; and, to protect them against molestation on the part of the superiors of the order, they were placed under the protection of theBishop ofCamerino. They were by the sameBrief permitted to aggregate others to their manner of life. They were, however, still considered to belong to the Observantfamily, though separated from the community; but on 3 July, 1528, owing to the continued opposition of the Observant superiors,Clement VII, by theBull "Religionis zellus", released them from their obedience to the Observants and constituted them a distinctfamily of the order, in a certain dependence, however, upon the Master-General of theConventuals, to whom it belonged to confirm thevicar-general to be elected by the new reform.

In the following April, 1529, the first chapter was held at Albacina. At this time the reform numbered eighteenfriars and fourconvents or hermitages. Matteo di Bassi having been electedvicar-general, the chapter drew up the new constitutions designed to safeguard the primitive observance of the rule. No one can read these "Constitutions of Albacina" without being struck with the similarity of tone and purpose between them and the "Speculum Perfectionis", about which so much has been heard since M. Paul Sabatier published his edition in 1898. The provisions relating to poverty and studies would almost seem an echo of that celebrated legend. Thus, when "hermitages ormonasteries" are to be erected, the constitutionsdecree that no more land is to be taken than is in keeping with their poor estate; the houses are to be built, if possible, of mud and wattles, but earth and stones may be used where wattles cannot be obtained; the churches, however, shall be of more becoming structure, yet small and narrow. Thefriars are to bear in mind the admonition of St. Francis that their churches and houses must be such as to proclaim that those who dwell in them are butpilgrims and strangers on the earth. The houses are to be built outside the cities or towns, yet not far distant from them. In the houses near large cities not more than twelvefriars might dwell, and in the other houses not more than eight — "for such indeed was the will of St. Francis as is set forth in the chronicles of the Order." The proprietorships must always be vested in the municipality or the donor, who may turn thefriars out at will, and should this happen thefriars are to go out at once without delay and seek another place. To each house a hermitage must be attached, where thefriars may retire for solitary contemplation. In regard toalms they were not to quest for meat, eggs, or cheese, but they might receive these things when offered spontaneously. They were never, however, to lay in a store of food, but to depend on dailyalms. At the utmost they might receive sufficient food to last for three days, and rarely for one week. They are forbidden to have syndics or procurators to receiveproperty for them. — "No other syndic shall there be for us save Christ our Lord; and ourprocurator and protector shall be the mostBlessed virgin Mother of God; our deputy shall be our blessed Father Francis; but all other procurators we absolutely reject." The preachers were to be kept busy in the vineyard of the Lord, not only duringLent, but at all other times. They were not, however, allowed to use many books; two or three at most were deemed sufficient. They sermons were to be simple and plain, without studied rhetoric; nor were they to be allowed to receive any remuneration for their preaching. Classes for the study of literature were not be established; but they might study the Scriptures and such devout authors as "loveGod and teach us to embrace the Cross of Christ". Thefriars were not to hear the confessions of seculars except in cases of extreme necessity. In the houses of the order only one Mass was to be said each day, at which all thepriests should be present, except onSundays and solemn feasts, when all might celebrate; nor were they to receive any honoraria for Masses. They were, moreover, forbidden to follow funerals or celebrate dirges, except in case of necessity. Finally, they were to go barefoot, shod only in simple sandals; and to recite theDivine Office at midnight even on the three last days ofHoly Week; and on no account were extra Offices to be added to the canonical Office, so that thefriars might have more time for privateprayer.

Such were the "Constitutions of Albacina". Their intention is evident to any one conversant with the earlyFranciscan legends: they sought to re-establish theFranciscan life in the spirit and letter of the earliestFranciscan tradition. One point needs explanation here. In the earliest pontifical documents concerning the new reform, it is stated that thefriars are to be free to observe the rule strictly in theeremitical life. The meaning of this, however, was not that they should behermits in the sense of living always a retired and solitary life. Matteo di Bassi had asked ofClement VII liberty to observe the Rule of St. Francis in hermitages, to preach the Word ofGod in the world, and to bring sinners to repentance. The preaching of the Word ofGod was an essential feature of the Capuchin reform. We have already seen how the constitutions of the order bade the preachers be frequently employed in their work ofsouls at all times of the year. Matteo di Bassi himself had no sooner received the sanction ofClement VII than he returned to the Marches and began to preach and to nurse the sick during the pestilence which swept through the Marches in 1525. The explanation, however, is simple enough to those whoknow theFranciscan legends. Amongst theFranciscans the hermitage stood in opposition to the largeconvent. The first houses of the order were built outside the city walls in some quiet spot where thefriars, when not engaged in active ministry for others, could live undisturbedly in the cultivation of the spirit. These houses were small, and only a fewfriars dwelt in the same place. Besides the small communities, there were also hermitages, technically so called, at some distance from the community, whither thefriars might retire for a still more secluded life. The originalFranciscan life was thus a commingling of the active life with theeremitical. As the order increased in numbers, largeconvents were built in which the simplicity and seclusion of the originalFranciscan community were in great measure lost; in these large houses it became impossible to observe the primitive standard of poverty, and the tendency was to conform to the more complex life and ceremonial of the monastic orders, properly so called. Hence every reform of the order turned again towards the ideal of the small community and the more secluded situation, where the original simplicity and poverty could more easily be maintained.

Matteo di Bassi remainedvicar-general of the reform only for two months; then he resigned hisjurisdiction into the hands of Louis ofFossombrone, as commissary general, in order that he might be free to give himself to the work of the apostolate. From this time he can hardly be said to belong to thefamily of the reform; though he seems to have still availed himself of the privileges granted him in 1525 byClement VII. He died in 1552 and was buried in the church of the Observants inVenice, where his body was for a long time accorded the honours given to therelics of asaint, until a recentdecree of the Congregation of Sacred Rites restricted such honours to those formallybeatified. But though not formallybeatified, Matte di Bassi is styled 'Blessed" in themartyrologies of the order. During the government of Louis ofFossombrone the reform began to spread quickly and widely. Shortly after the Chapter of Albacina thefriars were invited toRome and given a house, Santa Maria dei Miracoli, near the Flaminian Gate, from which they removed in the following year to theconvent of Santa Euphemia near Santa Maria Maggiore. Meanwhile a movement for reform was taking place amongst the Observants of Calabria, which was to have a marked influence upon the development of the reform in the Marches. Twofriars, Louis ofReggio and Bernardine ofReggio, surnamed lo Giorgio, had, about the same time that Matteo di Bassi had visitedRome, also arrived in theEternal City, and with the sanction ofClement VII had attempted to reform movement amongst the Observants of Santi Apostoli. Their efforts proving futile, they obtained leave, in 1526, to return to Calabria and choose threeconvents for their purpose. They assumed the name of Recollects - a name very generally given to the reformingfriars, for the reason stated above. Here, as in the Marches, the superiors of the Observants regarded the reform with disfavour and treated the reformers as rebellious subjects; hence, at a chapter held by the Minister General of the Observants, atMessina, in 1532, the Calabrian Recollects petitioned to be allowed to pass to the Capuchinjurisdiction. Their petition, however, only drew upon them further rebuke. As they continued to persist in their demand, the minister general obtained from thepope aBrief ofexcommunication against them; but this was shortly withdrawn through the intervention of the Duke ofNocera and the Duchess ofCamerino, and the Calabrian Recollects passed into the Capuchinfamily, forming the first province of the order outside of Marches.

Following the example of the Calabrians, the mostzealous Observants began to pass over to the Capuchins in such numbers thatPaul III, at the instance of the Minister General of the Observants, issued two Briefs, the firstdated 18 December, 1534, and the second 12 January, 1535, forbidding any more Observants to be received by the Capuchins until the next general chapter of the Observantfamily. The second of these Briefs is noteworthy by reason of the fact that in it thefriars of the new reform are for the first time called Capucini — Capuchins. Hitherto, in the pontifical documents they had been styled Fratres Ord. S. Francisci Capucciati. But in theBrief of 12 January, 1535, thepope adopted the name already conferred upon the new reform by the populace, who, seeing the long hoods, at once called thefriars Cappuccini. Henceforth thefriars are officially styled "Friars Minor of the Order of St. Francis, Capuchin".

At the chapter of the order held atRome in November, 1535, Bernardine ofAsti was electedvicar-general. He was a remarkable man — the genius and saviour of the new reform. He combined greatprudence and power of organization with a rarehumility and sweetness of character. He had held high office amongst the Observants before he joined the Capuchins in 1534. He died in 1554, and is styled blessed in themartyrology of theFranciscan Order. His election was providential, for the Capuchinfamily had now to pass through a time of storm and stress, which the wisdom and fame of Bernardine ofAsti, in great measure, enabled it to survive. Hardly had Bernardine ofAsti taken up the reins of government than Louis ofFossombrone created a disturbance amongst thefriars, alleging that the election was invalid. He himself had aspired to the headship of the order. A new chapter was thereupon convoked, in April, 1536, and Bernardine ofAsti was again elected, whereupon Louis ofFossombrone threw off the habit andapostatized. His apostasy perhaps influencedPaul III when on 3 January, 1537, he forbade the Capuchins to establish any houses of their reform outsideItaly. But a greater blow fell in 1542 whenBernardine of Siena — the famous Occhino, not to be confounded with Saint Bernardine, who d. in 1444 — the successor of Bernardine ofAsti asvicar-general,apostatized and joined theProtestant Reformers. Thescandal caused by this defection gave new vigour to the efforts of those who were opposed to the Capuchins, and at this time it was seriously considered at the Roman Court whether they should be suppressed. In fact it was generally said amongst the people that their suppression was already decreed. To dispel this rumour the newvicar-general, Francis ofJesi, assembled two hundred of his brethren atAssisi for the feast of the Portiuncula, in 1543. But it was Bernardine ofAsti who pleaded the cause of the reform at theCouncil of Trent and averted the threatened disaster. And by his eloquent pleading he saved not only the new reform from extinction, but also the essential character of theFranciscan Order. For theconciliar Fathers had resolved that in future allreligious orders should possess commonproperty, and not be dependent uponalms. This resolution struck at the very fundamental principle of theFranciscan life, since, according to the Rule of St. Francis, hisfriars were to possessproperty neither individually nor in common, but to depend for their daily sustenance upon their labour and uponalms. As St. Francis had pleaded for this absolute poverty beforePope Innocent III, so Bernardine ofAsti now pleaded before the council, and with such success that the Capuchin Friars and the Observants were expressly exempted from the general law and allowed the privilege of common, as well as of individual, poverty. By a providential coincidence, whilst the fate of the new reform was hanging in the balance, it received a new recruit in a poor countryman who was destined perhaps more than anyone else to establish the Capuchinfamily in thelove and veneration of the Roman people: this was St. Felix of Cantalicio, thelay brother friend ofSt. Philip Neri. But in a short while the cloud passed away, and the Capuchinfamily grew with amazing swiftness in numbers and in fame. At the chapter of 1536 the reform numbered five hundredfriars; in 1587 it had increased to five thousand nine hundred and fifty-threefriars. In 1574Gregory XIII revoked thedecree ofPaul III, and granted Capuchins theright to establish ultramontane provinces; and in 1619 the reform was released from all dependence upon theConventuals, and given a minister general of its own election. It need hardly be said that, as the order increased in numbers and spread to various countries, it was foundnecessary to modify the stringent regulations of the first constitutions. TheCouncil of Trent compelled the Capuchins to establish courses of studies for thefriars destined for thepriesthood; largerconvents were built, and the regulation forbidding thefriars to hear the concessions of secular people was rescinded. Yet a constant effort was made to maintain the simplicity of theFranciscan life. Notwithstanding theCouncil of Trent, the Capuchins obtained fromSt. Pius V for theirlay brothers the privilege of voting in the elections of the order, thus conserving the original democratic character of theFranciscan family. In the ordinances of the general chapter of 1613 great stress was laid on simplicity of life, and regulations were made forbidding such innovations as high masses and introduction of spiritual exercises fornovices, after the manner of theJesuits. The same spirit and intention are found in the definitive constitutions formally approved byUrban VIII, in 1643. This pontiff had already, by adecree of the Sacred congregation of Bishops and Regulars (30 April, 1627), declared the Capuchins to betrue sons of St. Francis, and on 28 June of the same year had issued theBull "Salvatoris et Domini", in which he reaffirmed a former constitution ofPaul V, "Ecclesiæ Militantis", of 15 October, 1608, setting forth that the Capuchins are the spiritual descendants of St. Francis in the direct line, and not a mere offshoot of theFranciscan Order.

In the time ofUrban VIII the reform numbered over seventeen thousandfriars in forty-two provinces; a century later, at the general chapter of 1754, there were representatives from sixty-three provinces, and the number of thefriars was given as thirty-two thousand eight hundred and twenty-one. But during theFrench Revolution the order suffered severely; nearly all the provinces were disorganized or suppressed; and in the subsequent revolutions on theEuropean continent the Capuchins suffered the fate of all thereligious orders, being continually oppressed and dispersed. Yet during the last twenty years a notable revival has taken place. In 1889 the order had 636 houses and 7852friars; in 1906 there were 731 houses and 9970friars, divided into 56 provinces.

Influence of the reform upon the general history of the Church

The Capuchins, together with theJesuits, were the most effective preachers and missionaries of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. We have already seen that the privilege granted byClement VII to Matteo di Bassi was not only to observe the Rule of St. Francis in its primitive simplicity, but also to go about preaching the Word of God. In this matter thefriars of the reform were but reasserting the primitiveFranciscan life; and it is to be noted that the method of their apostolate was also thoroughly in accord with what the early legends of the order tell us about St. Francis's method. In their preaching they eschewed artificial oratory and set forth their message with simplicity and directness which came from the heart. But perhaps what most endeared them to the people, and gave them that singular power with all classes to which the history of the times bears witness, was their all-embracing charity. The picture of the Capuchin friar drawn byManzoni in "I Promessi Sposi" is historical. In their apostolate they not merely preached from thepulpits; they mingled in the daily life of the people, ministering to suffering humanity in its temporal as well as its spiritual needs. In the frequent pestilences which devastatedItaly andEurope generally in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Capuchins were constantly found doing a notable part in the service of the sick. The annals of the order and the chronicles of the times tell us of the heroism of thefriars in the pestilences which swept through NorthernItaly andSpain in 1589, throughSwitzerland in 1609, throughGermany in 1611. In the great pestilence of 1630 thefriars took charge of the lazarettos atMilan, and acted as confessors, nurses, cooks, and dispensers to the victims. They did the same atMarseilles andFreiburg. AtSiena thefriars were assembled for the provincial chapter when the pestilence broke out; they prorogued the chapter and went out to nurse the sick, and forty-three of them fell victims to their charity. During the pestilence of 1636 in Franche-Comté, so many Capuchins died in ministering to the sick thatUrban VIII allowed youngclerics to beordainedpriests before the canonical age to take the place of those who had succumbed.St. Laurence of Brindisi, sent as missionary Apostolic toGermany in 1599, began his apostolate by nursing the sick in the pestilence of that year. Undoubtedly their universal charity, united to the austerity of their lives, accounts for much of their success as missionaries, whether withCatholics or non-Catholics.

And not only were they popular with the multitude; they had the confidence of the authorities. This is shown in the frequent choice of thefriars by thepopes and princes to fill responsible positions. Thus in thewars against theTurks in the sixteenth century, it was usually the Capuchins who were appoint edchaplains and spiritual directors to theChristian forces. In theVenetian expedition of 1571, a number of Capuchins accompanied theVenetian navy by command ofSt. Pius V, and at the battle ofLepanto, Father Anselmo da Pietramolara was in the thick of the fight, urging on theChristian forces with raised crucifix; in fact, it was his indomitablebravery which prevented the ship he was in from being captured by theTurks. Thefriars were similarly employed in the struggles of the German princes against theTurks in the seventeenth century.St. Laurence of Brindisi, in 1610, went aschaplain general with theChristian army, and so did Venerable Mark of Aviano, in 1687. It is pleasing to note that thefriars obtained, fromGregory XII, power to absolveChristians who, during thewars, freed or hid captiveTurks.

They were moreover not infrequently commissioned to transact affairs of state.St. Laurence of Brindisi was sent as ambassador by the Emperor Rudolph to solicit the alliance ofSpain with the Catholic League ofGermany.Gregory XIII employed the Capuchins to negotiate for the ransom ofChristian captives inAlgiers. Father Giacinto da Casale was commissioned byGregory XV to unite theCatholic princes ofGermany in defence of the Faith. Sometimes their personal influence, without any official status, enabled them to intervene with success in public matters, as inSwitzerland, when the canton of Appenzell was hesitating whether to ally itself with theCatholic cantons or with theProtestant, the Capuchins went in and drew Appenzell to theCatholic side. In similar fashion, in 1637, aSwiss Capuchin acted as arbitrator in the canton of Aargau. These public acts testify to the great influence acquired by thefriars in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; but their influence was gained by hard and strenuous labours both as home and as foreign missionaries. They were to be found everywhere, preaching and ministering to the people. Not only were they established in almost every country ofEurope, but as foreign missionaries their activity seems almost incredible. At the general chapter of 1662 the list of foreign missions served by thefriars included the Congo, Benin,Morocco,Egypt,Ethiopia,Smyrna, Mingrelia,Cyprus, Mesopotamia, Chaldea, Ecbatana, Kurdistan,Persia, Tatary,Brazil,New Granada,Canada, Morea, the Grecian Archipelago, whilst they also had missions, underPropaganda, in Rhætia, the Grisons, and the Valtellina.

As "home" missionaries they were mainly instrumental in reforming thepulpit, substituting solid teaching, with burning and convincingpiety, for the vapid rhetoric so common amongst the preachers of the sixteenth century. Their object was always to reach the heart of the people. To be convinced of the solidity andpiety of their preaching, one has only to consult the many books of sermons and treatises of devotion which the missionaryfriars have left us. According toBaronius and the chroniclers of the order, the devotion of the Quarant' Ore owes its origin to the missionaryzeal of the Capuchins. Father Giuseppe da Ferno is said to have been the first to expose theBlessed Sacrament for forty hours'prayer, during a mission he was preaching in the Duomo atMilan, in 1637. Giuseppe da Ferno certainly wrote a treatise on the method of the Quarant' Ore, and from this time we find frequent mention of the devotion in the missionary chronicles of the order. But the supreme monument to their missionaryzeal is theCongregation of the Propaganda itself. This congregation was instituted byGregory XV, in 1622, at the suggestion of Father Girolamo da Narni,Vicar-General of the Reform. He was a noted preacher and experienced in missionary labours. When the congregation was established, its first prefect was the CapuchinCardinal of Sant' Onofrio; and its firstmartyr was another Capuchin,St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, whom the propaganda had appointed Prefect of the Mission of Rhætia. Thefriars had already been established for some years inSwitzerland, whither they had been called bySt. Charles Borromeo in his capacity as Protector of theCatholics in those parts. The saint, backed byPope Gregory XIII, had requested the general chapter of 1581 to sendfriars thither, and the chapter had at once acceded to the request. Such was their success in combating theerrors of theCalvinists and in preserving the Faith in many cantons that to this day they are accorded a privileged position in the churches of theCatholic cantons as confessors and preachers. It was in the Grisons that Saint Fidelis wasmartyred, in 1622. Here theCalvinists had practically gained over the whole population, as also in the Valtellina, and only by heroic efforts were thefriars able to keep alive any remnant of the Faith. The missions in these parts are still under thejurisdiction of the Capuchins.

InSavoy thefriars, under the leadership of Father Cherubino da Mariana, the friend of St. Francis of Sales, were at work in 1596, and the mission of Thonon was especially given into their charge in 1610. Father Cherubino also introduced thefriars into the Vallese in 1610, at which time, as St. Francis of Sales reported, the religious condition of that country seemed hopeless. UnderSt. Laurence of Brindisi twelve Capuchins were sent, in 1599, to combat the influence ofProtestantism inGermany, where by their public controversies withProtestants, as well as by their preaching, they did much to win back many to the Faith. They rapidly established houses in all parts of SouthernGermany, and in 1611 they were established in the Rhine Provinces by Father Francis Nugent, a distinguishedIrish friar.

On the foreign missions they were equally energetic. The first foreign mission was undertaken in 1551, when twofriars were commissioned byJulius III to go to Constantinople. They were, however, expelled, after beingimprisoned and tortured. But we find them shortly afterwards in Crete, where Father Ignazio d'Apiro established five missionary centres in two years, besides ahospital atCanea. He was a man well versed in Oriental languages. He died in 1569. About this time two Capuchins wereput to death in Palestine. But it was at the general chapter of 1581 that thefriars put their hand definitively to the matter of foreign missions. They then obtained a faculty fromSixtus V to send missionaries to the East, and a band offriars, amongst whom wasSt. Joseph of Leonessa, were despatched to Constantinople. Imprisonment and torture awaited them; but from that time thefriars have held fast to their missions in theTurkish dominions. In 1623 thePropaganda commissioned the Capuchins to found missions inSyria,Egypt, andAbyssinia. Sixfriars were sent to Constantinople, where they at once established aschool for the study of Oriental languages; others went toAleppo, Alexandria, andArmenia. Their method was to openschools wherever they settled, and they were active in publishing books. As a result of their labours inSyria at this time, aschismaticArmenianmetropolitan and aschismatic Greekmetropolitan sought reunion with theChurch. In 1618 the general chapter, at the request ofPaul V, sent missionaries to the Congo. They encountered great difficulties, owing to theDutch traders, and success seemed hopeless. Yet they struggled on till 1654, when a fresh effort was made, and a new band of missionaries was sent out, includingFather G. Antonio Cavazzi, the writer of a well-known work on the Congo.

From Aleppofriars were sent, in 1630, to Cairo, under the leader ship of the Blessed Agathange de Vendôme, one of the most remarkable missionaries of the seventeenth century. He was an Arabic scholar, and had published books in Arabic setting forth theCatholicFaith. On the coming of thefriars to CairoUrban VIII addressed a letter to theCatholics inEgypt, bidding them welcome thefriars and accord them every assistance. But unhappily thefriars found that their work amongst theCopts, for whose reunion with theRoman See they more particularly laboured, was hindered chiefly by thescandalous lives of theEuropeanCatholic merchants. Yet thefriars obtained leave from theCopticPatriarch ofAlexandria to preach in the churches of theCopts, and thepope even granted them permission to celebrateMass in the same churches. Father Agathange's influence with theCopts was such that he persuaded the Coptic patriarch to appoint for theCopts inAbyssinia abishop who would live in peace with theCatholics. In 1637 Father Agathange, together with Father Cassian deNantes, enteredAbyssinia, but owing to the treachery of a GermanLutheran they were at once seized andimprisoned, and the following year sufferedmartyrdom. The Capuchin mission inAbyssinia was thus brought swiftly to a close, but only to be renewed in later years. Towards the end of the last century thefriars were again established in the dominions of the Negus, chiefly through the exertions of the celebrated Capuchin missionary afterwards known as Cardinal Massaïa. He has left a record of his experiences in his book, "I miei trentacinque anni nell' alta Etiopia" (Rome andMilan, 1895).

Towards the middle of the seventeenth century thefriars established missions inIndia at Surat, Pegu, Golconda, and Madras, and a little later atPondicherry. The story of their Indian missions is much the same as elsewhere; they establishedschools, wrote books in the vernacular of the country, held public conferences with the learnedheathen, and found their chief obstacle in theEuropean traders — in this case, the Portuguese. At the present day the missions inIndia are amongst the most important in the order: theArchdiocese of Agra (the premier diocese inIndia), the Dioceses ofLahore and Allahabad, and the Prefecture of Rajputana, are entirely served by Capuchins. They still carry on their work inAsia Minor, where they have a flourishing missionaryseminary atSmyrna. Other present-day missions are in Central and South America, inArabia and Somaliland, in the Seychelles,Philippines, and Caroline Islands, inAbyssinia and Mesopotamia; whilst inEurope they carry on missionary work in Constantinople andBulgaria. In 1906 eight hundred and fifty-fivefriars of the reform were engaged in foreign missionary labour.

The reform has produced few writers of the first order in literature or scholarship, though the "Bibliotheca Scriptorum Ord. Min. Cap." (Genoa, 1680; Venice, 1747) gives the names of a great number of writers and goodly list of works, many of them of no mean merit. But most of their writings are connected with their apostolic labours — books of sermons, devotional treatises, and works dealing with the history of the missions. In this last department they have produced several valuable works, such asCavazzi's treatise on the Congo,Dionigi Carli's book on the customs, rites, and religion of the people ofAfrica, Merolla da Sorrento's account of the Congo and South Africa, and Cardinal Massaïa's work onAbyssinia. In the seventeenth century theFrench Capuchins were noted for their studies of Oriental languages, and in view of the present revival of the Celtic tongues, it may be recalled that a Breton Capuchin, Gregorius de Rostrenen, published in 1732 "Dictionarium Gallo-Celticum, seu Gallo-Aremoricum" (Rennes, 1732) and "Grammatica cum Syntaxi Gallo-Celtica, seu Gallo-Aremorica" (Rennes, 1738). InScriptural exegesisBernardine a Piconio has a deservedly high name as the author of the "Triplex expositio" (1706), whilst in the sixteenth century Francis Titelmann, who left thetheological chair ofLouvain to put on the habit of St. Francis, gainedEuropean repute by his treatises on Scripture and his controversy withErasmus. Amongst devotional writings, the works of Gaetano da Bergamo, published in the first half of the eighteenth century, have an enduring value; his treatise onhumility and meditations on the Passion have both been translated into English. Benedict Canfield's treatise "On the Holy Will of God" has an enduring place in ascetical literature. Amongst moderntheologians of merit a place must be given to Albert of Bulsano; and as an authority on canon law theBelgian CapuchinPiatus is much esteemed. In the late revival ofFranciscan historical studies, Père Edouard d'Alençon has issued new editions of the "Sacrum Commercium" (Rome, 1900), and the legends ofThomas of Celano (Rome, 1906). Amongst the chroniclers of the order the first place must be given to Boverius, a man of great learning not only as an historian, but as a controversial writer of the sixteenth century. In 1640 Carolus de Arembergh published at Cologne "Flores Seraphici", a voluminous work concerning the noted members of the order.

But the Capuchinfriars have at all times been men of action rather than students, and the enormous influence they possessed in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was due to their extensive labours as home and foreign missionaries and to the universality of their genius in dealing with the spiritual needs of the people. Amongst the special marks of favour shown them by theHoly See must be mentioned their custody of the Holy House of Loreto, given to them in 1608, and the fact that since 1596 they have had the privilege of supplying the Apostolic preacher at the Roman court.Pope Urban VIII was a special patron of the order. His friendship with thefriars was in part due to the fact that his brother, Antonio Barberini, afterwardsCardinal of Sant' Onofrio, was a member of the order. Thispope built for them the famousconvent of the Barberini inRome, the architect of which was himself a Capuchin friar, Fra Michaele da Bergamo; and the new church attached to theconvent was the first church inRome to be dedicated inhonour of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin. Theconvent was opened with great solemnity on 15 April, 1631, andUrban VIII signalized the event by appointing Fra Michaele architect of the Apostolic palace. Theconvent was the headquarters of the order until a few years ago, when the minister general and his curia were expelled by the Italian government, which now uses the greater part of theconvent as a barracks, leaving only a fewfriars to take care of the church. We may here take note that the reform has given manycardinals andbishops to theChurch; sixteen of its members have beencanonized orbeatified, and the cause of others is in process atRome with a view tocanonization.

That thefriars came in for much of the abuse levelled against theChurch and especially against thereligious orders, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, only testifies to their influence andzeal. Except theJesuits, noreligious order has, perhaps been more vilely lampooned. InFrance, during the seventeenth century, book after book appeared defaming thefriars; one of these was translated into English and published inLondon in 1671 under the title of "The Monk's Hood pull'd off, or the Capuchin Fryar described".

The reform in English-speaking countries

It was in 1599 that the firstfriars of the reform came toEngland. These were Father Benedict Canfield, an Englishman, and Father Chrysostom, a Scotchman. Benedict Canfield was ofPuritan parentage, but had embraced theCatholicFaith whilst yet a student. As a friar he was reputed a powerful preacher, and was a writer of note. But he had hardly landed inEngland when he and his companion were seized andimprisoned. He was released at the end of three years and expelled the kingdom. Amongst otherfriars who came toEngland about this time were Father Archangel, "the Scotch Capuchin", who became the subject of a popular Italian biography, written by thePapal LegateRinuccini, in which, however, the author'simagination played freely around historical fact; and Epiphanius Lindsay, described in the Memoir of P. Cyprien de Gamache as "son of the Count of Maine", but probably of thefamily of the Lindsays, lairds of Mains in Kirkcudbrightshire. But in 1630 the missionaries were withdrawn, when Henrietta Maria, Queen of Charles I, brought over twelve Capuchins as royalchaplains. Under the protection of the court, thefriars publicly celebratedMass and preached, sometimes holding controversies with theProtestants, and they are said to have made many conversions. Their mission, however, was abruptly terminated when Queen Henrietta went toHolland to solicit aid for the king against the Parliament. The royalchapel was closed, and thefriars told to consider themselvesprisoners in their own house. They were afterwards sent back toFrance. They returned at the Restoration of Charles II, but only for a few years. From this time no Capuchin seems to have come toEngland untilFather Arthur O'Leary, the brilliantIrish friar, settled inLondon, in 1789, ostensibly aschaplain to the Spanish Embassy, but really to minister to theIrishCatholics, for whom he built St. Patrick's Church in Soho Square. He died in 1802. The present province ofEngland was not established until the latter end of the last century, through the instrumentality of Father Louis of Lavagna, an Italian friar, who came toEngland in 1850 with the intention of proceeding toCanada, but having arrived inLondon he was induced to stay there and minister to the wants of theCatholics in the district of Peckham. Here he built a small church, and at his request otherfriars were sent over to assist him. At this time theFranciscan Order had virtually died out inEngland. Only one Father of the Recollect Province founded in the time ofQueen Mary remained, and he ended his days a few years later in the house of the Capuchins at Pontypool, thus creating a link between the newFranciscan foundation and the old.

The order rapidly took root on English soil. Ten years after the coming of Father Louis of Lavagna thefriars had four canonical communities at Peckham, Pantasaph,Chester, and Pontypool, besides several stations; during the next few years they established several houses in theDiocese of Southwark, so that in 1873 it was thought expedient to erect the English houses into a canonical province. The province is yet too young to afford much matter in the way of history of general interest; but it may be noted that in little more than half a century thefriars have established thirty-five missions, most of which have been given over to thebishops when they were able to support asecular priest; besides theparochial work thus entailed, they are continually employed in missionary labours outside their ownparishes. In 1904 severalfriars of the province were sent to establish a house in Mendocino,California, which is to be the centre for missionary work in Mendocino county, now given into their charge by theArchbishop ofSan Francisco. They also have undertaken to supply missionaries for theVicariate of Aden inArabia. In 1905, at the request of theBishop ofSouthwark, thefriars undertook a unique mission toCatholic hop-pickers. Every year in the month of September there is a large exodus of theLondon poor into the hop-gardens of Kent; of these poorCatholics average yearly about ten thousand. Until 1905 no provision was made for the spiritual needs of theCatholic hop-pickers, and hardly any of them during the period of picking were able to hear Mass or receive thesacraments. Now each year when the hop-picking begins, Capuchinfriars, assisted bySisters of Mercy and lay workers, men andwomen, go down to the hop-district. The work has distinctive characteristics. The majority of the hop-pickers are of the very poorest class, whence chiefly comes the leakage from theChurch; they seldom enter a church, and often are lost to thepriest in the shiftings and maze ofLondon life. In the Kentish hop-gardens they come again under the influence of thepriest and religion. The work is as yet in its infancy, but it is big with possibilities for regaining to the Faith the indifferent and lapsed amongst ourCatholicLondon poor; and it is characteristicallyFranciscan in its object and methods, for once again the friar is seen celebratingMass and preaching in the open fields amongst the ill-clad and the hungry. In 1906 thefriars were able to restore one of the broken links in the history of EnglishFranciscans by their return toOxford, once glorified by the learning amidst poverty of the sons of the Poverello. On the outskirts of the city they have secured aschool for the training of candidates for the order, whence they can look down upon Merton College, where, according to tradition,Duns Scotus lectured, and upon the site of the ancient friary where therelics ofBlessed Agnellus of Pisa — sent by St. Francis to establish the English province — were enshrined until their dispersion in the reign ofHenry VIII.

It was in 1615 that the first friar of the Capuchin reform came toIreland, Father Stephen Daly. He was sent over by father Francis Nugent, whom in 1608, had received apapal commission to establish the reform in his native land. According to Bernardine of Colpetrazo, the other branches of theFranciscan Order had, in 1549, petitioned the general chapter of the Capuchins to send overfriars to introduce the reform into theFranciscan houses of that country; but this was impossible, since at that time thedecree ofPaul III was still in force which forbade the Capuchin reform to establish houses outsideItaly. Francis Nugent, the actual founder of theIrish province, was a remarkable man. He had already introduced the reform into the Rhine country when he petitioned the Roman authorities to set aside a house of the order for the reception ofIrishfriars. Accordingly, theconvent of Charleville, in the Low Countries, was given him for this purpose, and thither theIrishfriars from all provinces were sent to form a community whence theIrish foundation might be begun. Theconvent of Charleville thus became thenovitiate and alma mater of the province ofIreland. In 1615, first Stephen Daly and then four otherfriars were sent over. At first they lived separately wherever they could; but in 1623 or 1624 (the exactdate seems uncertain) they took a house in Bridge Street,Dublin, where they lived in community. But in 1630 the house was seized by the Lords Justices and conferred upon theUniversity ofDublin. Thefriars, however, remained in the country, and were gradually reinforced in numbers: several of them sufferedimprisonment and banishment for the Faith. In 1642, theIrish mission numbered fifty-onefriars, with houses inDublin, Slane,Limerick, Mullingar, Drogheda, andCork. In 1733 they had fourteen houses inIreland and two inFrance, and were that year erected into a canonical province. Just then began one of the saddest periods in the history of theIrish people. Persecution and famine for a time seemed to break the spirit of the people; vocations became scarce, and theIrish province became almost extinct. It lingered on, however. In 1771Father Arthur O'Leary built achurch inCork, and thefriars reopened houses inDublin and Kilkenny. The last days of the old province were made illustrious by the apostolic labours of the world-famous Father Theobald Mathew, the propagator of the temperance movement. After being for a while united with thefriars inEngland under a commissary-general, theIrishfriars were again, in 1873, formed into a separate "custody", with autonomous government, and in 1885 the canonical province was re-established. There are now fourconvents of the order inIreland, with eighty- ninefriars. From the days of Father Mathew, theIrishfriars have been to the front in forwarding the temperance movement initiated by him; but in October 1905, theIrishhierarchy formally entrusted to them the preaching of a national crusade of temperance. Since then thefriars are to be found in all parts of the country carrying out their mission.

On the American continent the Capuchins not only have flourishing missions in Central and south America, they have also two provinces in theUnited States a missionary district inCalifornia, served by the English province, and missions inCanada, served by Frenchfriars. The present establishment of thefriars in theUnited States dates from 1857; but there were missionary Capuchins in the present territories of theUnited States andCanada early in the seventeenth century. In 1632friars of the province ofParis were put in charge of the missions inAcadia. The centre of the mission was at Port Royal, now Annapolis, but it extended from Hancock County, inMaine, northwards, to the Bay of Chaleur. They seem also to have had missions in the Antilles, for in 1641 the friar, Father Pacifique, wasmurdered there whilst on a visitation of the missions. The missions in Acadia were in a flourishingcondition when theEnglishPuritans broke up the settlement in 1655 and expelled thefriars. Yet in 1656 thefriars were still at work amongst theMicmac Indians. In 1714French Capuchins were invited to undertake missions in Louisiana by the coadjutorBishop of Quebec, de Mornay, himself a Capuchin Friar. They remained there until 1770, when for political reasons, Spanishfriars took the place of their French brethren. They had missions inNew Orleans, St. Louis,Galveston,Mobile, Pensacola,Natchez,Natchitoches, and other places. But in 1800 thefriars were withdrawn. In 1787 two Germanfriars were in charge of theHoly Trinity Church, Philadelphia.

But, as has been said, the present establishment of thefriars in theUnited States dates from 1857; and its history is one of romantic incidents in the history of the reform. The chance visit of a youngSwiss from theUnited States to his native land, and his recital of the spiritual needs of America, inspired twosecular priests inSwitzerland with theidea of introducing the Capuchin Order into theUnited States. They resigned theirparishes and, going out to America, were given Mt. Calvary,Wisconsin, as the site of a Capuchinconvent, by theBishop ofMilwaukee. At the express with ofPope Pius IX these twosecular priests were then clothed with the religious habit and commissioned to lay the foundation of a new province. At the present day this province has houses at Mt. Calvary,Milwaukee, New York,Brooklyn,Detroit, Appleton, and Yonkers. In New York they have fourparishes, and threeparishes in Milwaukee; at Mt. Calvary they have a flourishing college, begun in 1864. Besides the province of Mt. Calvary, there is also the province ofPennsylvania, established byBavarian andWestphalianfriars, driven from their native home by theKulturkampf. The first house of this province was established atPittsburg in 1874; but it was not till 1882 that the province became autonomous, at which time it had houses in Pittsburg, Herman, Pa.; Victoria, Kan.; Peoria, Metamora, Ill., and Cumberland, Md. The fathers of this province have introduced into theUnited States a charitable institution which has had remarkable success inGermany, the Seraphisches Liebeswerk — the "Seraphic Work of Charity". Thissociety aims at assisting destituteCatholic children to obtainCatholiceducation, by placing them in institutions or in privatefamilies. The centre of this work is at the Capuchinconvent,Pittsburg, Pa.

InCanada, theFrench Capuchins have houses inOttawa and Quebec, and a missionary centre for work amongst theMicmac Indians at Sainte-Anne de Restigouche. The work carried on here is reminiscent of the heroic days of theCanadian mission. From the mission centre the fathers make missionary tours amongst the scattered Indians. TheMicmac number about four thousand; they are much attached to their religion and language, and show no signs of decay.

Amongst Capuchins of note who have laboured in North America, mention must be made of Ignazio Persico,Bishop ofSavannah from 1870 till 1872, and afterwardscardinal. Anothercardinal still living, Cardinal Vives y Tuto, took hisvows as a Capuchin Friar at Santa Clara College,San Francisco, in 1872, and was for a time a member of the community atMilwaukee. Nor may we omit the name of Bishop Charbonel, who resigned theSee of Toronto to take the Capuchin habit. It was he who invited the saintly friar, Louis of Lavagna, founder of the present English province, to take up missionary work in Toronto in 1856. The friar only lived nine months after reaching Toronto, drying on 17 March, 1857; yet during that short period he had gained the reputation of a saint.

Thus are the Capuchins, together with their brethren of the otherfamilies of theFranciscan Order, taking up again in English-speaking lands the traditions of past centuries with renewed vigour. The troubles of the past may have purified, they have not broken, theFranciscan spirit.

By way of distinction from other religious, the Capuchin Friars in most countries append the "O.M. Cap."(Ordinis Minorum, Capuccinorum) after their names; but inEngland andIreland they sign "O.S.F.C." (Ordinis Sancti Francisci, Capuccinorum) in accordance with the use of the ancient English province.

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