SOLILOQUY

by Bonaventure

Christ on the cross bows his head
Waiting for you
That he may kiss you;
His arms are outstretched.
That he may embrace you,
His hands are open,
That he may enrich you;
His body spread out,
That he may give himself totally;
His feet are nailed.
That he may stay there;
His side is open for you,
That he may let you enter there.

BLESSED AGNES OF PRAGUE, VIRGIN, Second Order

Agnes, daughter of Premislaus, king of Bohemia, was born in Prague about the year 1205. She declined an imperial marriage and in 1236 entered the monastery of the Poor Clares that she had founded and which she directed for many years. She enjoyed a close friendship with Saint Clare who wrote several letters to her dealing with Franciscan spirituality. Agnes died between the years 1280-1283.

From the common of virgins, 1441.

From a letter of Saint Clare to Blessed Agnes of Prague
(I. Omaechevarria [Madrid 1970] 324-327)

Poor virgin, embrace the poor Christ

I thank the giver of grace from whom we believe every good and perfect gift comes that he has adorned you with such virtues and made you resplendent with such perfection. You have become a diligent imitator of the perfect Father. May you attain such perfection that his eyes may see no imperfection in you. This is the perfection by which the king will unite you to himself in the heavenly bridal chamber. There he is seated in glory on his star studded throne.

You consider kingly honors of small value and the offers of royal marriage ill-suited to you as a follower of most holy poverty. In the spirit of great humility and ardent love, you follow in the footsteps of him whose bride you are found worthy to be. Since I know that you are held in honor because of your virtues, I refrain from wordiness. I do not wish to burden you with superfluous words though to you noting may seem superfluous from which you may derive a measure of consolation.

One thing however is necessary. I make it the topic of my admonition. I exhort you for the love of him to whom you have offered yourself as a pleasing gift that you be ever mindful of your resolution. Like another Rachel, always cling to your determinations. Hold fast when you have. Keep on doing what you are doing. Do not depart from your course. With swift peace, light tread and unswerving fidelity proceed safely with joy and gladness along the way that leads to salvation. Let no dust gather on your feet. Put no confidence in anything, nor consent to anything that could draw you away from your goal. Let nothing be a stumbling block to keep you from fulfilling your vows to the Most High in that perfection to which the Spirit of God called you.

If anyone tells you anything to the contrary, or suggests anything that would impede you, or seem contrary to God’s calling, even though you must respect him, do not follow his advice. As a poor virgin, embrace the poor Christ. Look at him who became contemplate for your sake and follow him. Be despised in this would for his sake.

Noble queen, fix your gaze upon him, meditate on him, contemplate him in your eagerness to imitate your spouse, the comeliest of men who became the vilest of men for your salvation, despised, buffeted, scourged and dying on the hard cross. If you suffer with him, you shall reign with him; if you mourn with him, you shall rejoice with him. If you die on the cross and him in tribulations, you will have an abode in heaven in the splendor of the saints. Your name in the book of life will be glorious among men.

In recompense for this you will forever share in the glory of heaven in exchange for the fleeting things of earth, and in eternal possessions in exchange for those that perish. And you will live forever.

From: Proper Offices of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds in the Liturgy of the Hours

IF YOU LOOK FOR AN INHERITANCE IN THE WORLD

If you look for an inheritance in the world, you will not be a joint heir with Christ.

What are you doing in the world, my brother, you who are greater than the world? Do you fear poverty? Christ calls the poor blessed. Are you deterred by exertion? No athlete wins a crown without sweat. Are you concerned about food? True faith has no fear of hunger. Are you afraid to lay your body emaciated by fasting on the bare ground? The Lord lies there with you. Does an unkempt disheveled head of hair terrify you? Christ is your head. Does the boundless waste of the desert fill you with fear? Then in your mind walk in paradise for as often as you raise your thoughts to heaven you will not be in the desert. O blessed desert, blossoming with the flowers of Christ! O blessed solitude where are quarried the stones out of which the city of the great King in the Apocalypse is built! O blessed desert enjoying intimate association with God! Add to this also the well known words of the Apostle: I consider the sufferings of the present to be as noting compared with the glory to come to be revealed in us.

Why, then, are you a fainthearted Christian? The Son of man had not whereon to lay his head, yet you set great value on large porticos and spacious dwellings. If you look forward to an inheritance in the world you will not be a joint heir with Christ. The desert loves the poorly clad. The body accustomed to tunics does not tolerate the weight of the breastplate. The head swathed in linen refused to wear the helmet. The rough hilt of the sword chafes the hand grown soft in idleness.

We are earth and ashes, anxious at every moment about our salvation, and soon to be returned to dust. Let us, then, forthwith abandon the fleeting world with all speed. If perchance our stomach is in pain on account of our mortification – a thing that rarely happens – and if we are burning with fever, let us look upon our infirmity as the gateway to eternal life.

Proper Offices of Franciscan Saints and blesseds in the Liturgy of the Hours
The so-called Rule for Monks, excerpts from the works of Saint Jerome the Priest (PL 30, 339D-341A)

THE RULE - Chapter Two –The Way of Life - 4

The Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order 
Chapter Two –The Way of Life

4.
The rule and life of the Secular Franciscans is this: to observe the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ by following the example of Saint Francis of Assisi, who made Christ the inspiration and the center of his life with God and people.

Christ, the gift of the Father’s love, is the way to him, the truth into which the Holy Spirit leads us, and the life which he has come to give abundantly.

Secular Franciscans should devote themselves especially to careful reading of the gospel, going from gospel to life and life to the gospel.