THIRD
041
THIRD
bom, 1907); The Catholic Church in the United Slates, I, II (New
York, 1909); Official Catholic Directory (New York.)
Ferdinand Heckmann.
VI. Third Order of St. Francis (Reoular AND Secular; Male and Female), a branch of the great Franciscan family. Wc deal here: A. with the secular Third Order; B. with the regular.
A. Origin, Development, and Present State of the Secular Third Order. — It has been beheved for some time that the Third Order of St. Francis was the oldest of all Third Orders, but historical evidence is against such an opinion. For, besides similar institu- tions in some monastic orders in the twelfth century, we find, before the foundation of St. Francis, a Third Order, properly so called, among the Humiliati, confirmed together with its rule by Innocent III in 1201 (see text in Tiraboschi, "Vetera Humiliatorum monumenta", II, Milan, 1767, 12S). But if the Third Order of St. Francis was not the first of its kind, it was, and still is, undoubtedly the best known and most widely distributed and has the greatest influence. About its origin there are two opposite opinions. According to Karl Miiller, Mandonnet, and others, the Secular Third Order is a survival of the original ideal of St. Francis, viz. a lay-confrater- nity of penitents, from which, through the influence of the Church, the First and Second Orders of the Friars Minor and the Poor Clares have been detached. According to others, St. Francis merely lent his name to pre-existing penitential lay-confraternities, with- out having any special connexion with or influence on them. The two opinions arc equally at variance with the best texts we have on the subject, such as Thomas of Celano, "Vita prima", I, 1.5; Julian of Spires, "OfRce of St. Francis: Third Antiphon at Lauds"; Gregory IX, Bull of 7 June, 1230 (Bull. Franc, I, 6.5); St. Bonaventure, "Leg. Maior", IV, G; Bernard of Besse, in "Anal. Franc", III, 686. .According to these sources, St. Francis really founded a Third Order and gave it a Rule. If we complete these notices with some early papal Bulls bearing on the penitential movement and with the account given by Mariano of Florence (end of the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth century) we can state what follows:
The preaching of St. Francis, as well as his own living example and that of his first disciples, exercised such a powerful attraction on the people that many married men and women wanted to join the First or the Second Order. This being incompatible with their slate of life, St. Francis found a middle way: he gave them a rule animated by the Franciscan spirit. In the composition of this rule St. Francis was assisted by his friend Cardinal Ugolino, later Gregory IX. As to the place where the Third Order was first introduced nothing certain is known. Of late however the preponderance of opinion is for Florence, chiefly on the authority of Mariano of Florence, or Faenza, for which the first papal Bull (Pottha.st, "Regesta I'ontificum", 6736) known on the subject is given, whilst the "Fioretti" (ch. xvi), though not regarded a.s .an historical .authority, assigns Cannara, a small town two hours' walk from Fcjriitmcula, as the birthi)lace of the Tliirri Order. M;iiinn<)andtheBuIlforF.aenza(16Dec.,1221 ) point to 1221 a.s the earhest date of the institution of the Third Order, and in fact, besides these and other sources, the oldest preserved rule bears this <late at its head. Tliis Rule wa.s published by P. Sabatier and H. Boehmer (see bibliograpliy), and contained origi- nally twelve chapters, to which at the time of Gregory IX (1227) a thirteenth was added. It prescribes simplicity in dress (1), considerable fasting and absti- nence (2-3), the canonical office or other prayers in.stead (4-.5), confession and communion thrice a year, and forbids carrying arms or taking solemn oaths without necessity (6); every month the brothers XIV.^1
and sisters have to assemble in a church designated
by the ministers, and a religious has to give them an
instruction (7); they also exercise the works of charity
with their brothers (8); whenever a member dies
the whole confraternity has to be present at the fu-
neral and to pray for the departed (9) ; everyone has to
make his last will three months after his reception;
dissensions among brothers and sisters or other
persons are to be settled peaceably; if any troubles
arise with local authorities (he ministers ought to
act with the counsel of the bishop (10). No heretic
or anyone suspected of heresy can be recei\ed, and
women only with the consent of their husbands (11);
the ministers have to denounce shortcomings to the
visitor, who will punish the culprits; every year two
new ministers and a treasurer are to be elected; no
point of the rule obliges under pain of sin (12). On
account of the prohibition of arms and unnecessary
oaths, the followers of this rule came into conflict
with local authorities, a fact of which we have evidence
in many papal BuUs all through the thirteenth cen-
tury, issued to safeguard the privileges of the Ter-
tiaries (see list of these Bulls in Mandonnet, "Les
Regies", 146-47).
Wadding ("Annales Min.", ad a. 1321, n. 13) gives another longer redaction of the rule, which is almost identical with the one solemnly confirmed by Nicho- las IV through the Bull "Supra montem", 17 Aug., 1289. This last form has for long been considered as the work of St. Francis, whilst Karl Miiller denied any connexion of St. Francis with it . If we compare the rule published and approved by Nicholas IV with the oldest text of 1221, we sec that they substantially agree, slight modifications and different dispositions of chapters (here 20 in number) excepted. Through a most interesting text pubhshed by Golubovich (Arch. Franc. Hist., II, 1909, 20) we know now that this Rule of Nicholas IV was approved on the petition of some Italian Tertiaries. Another recent publica- tion by Guerrini (Arch. Franc. Hist., I, 1908, 544 sq.) proves that there existed in the thirteenth cen- tury Third Order Confraternities with quite different rules. On the whole, it can safely be affirmed that until Nicholas IV there was no Rule of the Third Or- der generally observed, but besides the one quoted above, and probably the most widely spread, there were others of more local character. The same might be said as to the government of the confraternities. Besides their own officials, they had to have a visitor, who seems to have been usually appointed by the bishop. In 1247 Innocent IV ordered that the Friars Minor were to assume the direction of the Tertiaries in Italy and Sicily (Bull. Franc, I, 464), but about twenty years later when St. Bonaventure wrote his question: "Why do not the Friars Minor iiromote the Order of 'Penitents'?" (Op. om., VUI, :i6S) the contrary had practically prevailed. Nicholas IV in- troduced unity of rule .and of direction into the Third Order, which henceforward was entrusted to the care of the Friars Minor.
If we except a few i)oints, bearing especially on fasts and abstinence, mitigated by Clement VII in 1.526 and Paul III in 1.547, the Rule a.s given by Nicholas IV remained in vigour till 1SS3, when Leo XIII, hinisilf a tertiary, tlirough the Apostolic C'onstitution "Miseri- cors Dei Filius", modified the text, adajiting it more to the modern slate and needs of tlie soiiety. All Bub.stantial points, however, remained; only the daily vocal i)rayer8 were reduced, as also the fasts and abstinences, whilst the former statute of confession and communion thrice a year was changed into monthly comnnmion. Other jioints of (he modified Rule of LeoXIII are of great social and religious im- portance, such as the prohibition of jionip in dressing, of frequenting theatres of doulitfid character, and keei)ing and reading papers and books at variance with faith and morals. The direction is entrusted to
