[Asceticism and Mystical Theology.doc]

Beginning in the thirteenth century Francis of Assisi (d. 1226) and his followers carried the asceticism of dispossession to a new extreme through their efforts to imitate the lifestyle of Christ as closely as possible and devote themselves to “lady poverty”.  They sought to negate as far as possible the concept of personal or corporate ownership, whether of property or the necessities of daily life.  Abandoning as well the monastic tradition of stable communities in fixed locations, Francis’ “brothers” or fratres (“friars”) adopted a lifestyle of peripatetic begging, deliberately rendering themselves dependent for their survival on the charity of others.  This mendicant lifestyle had long been prefigured by wandering ascetics in the Eastern churches; however with Francis’ followers it acquired in the West formal approval by the hierarchy and it offered the possibility of participation or imitation of that lifestyle by laypersons eager to follow the friars’ example.

        With the passing of time Francis’ followers were compelled by necessity to establish organized communities on property ostensibly owned by others, but they maintained a mode of Christian asceticism that refused to be defined by the older Benedictine model of stability to a place or particular community.  Their stability and loyalty was to the concept of the whole Order, divided into regional provinces within which personnel could be shuffled as needed for the sake of work or communal harmony.  In contrast to abbeys, traditionally built in remote locales, the friars’ mendicant existence necessitated their settling in towns and cities, where they soon felt called to minister to the poor with whom they lived in solidarity.  Their lifestyle was partially adopted by Dominic de Guzmán (d.1221) whose Dominicans (“Order of Preachers”) represent a second form of friars, who quickly embraced both the ministry of preaching to the laity and of teaching in the newly-founded universities of Europe.

        The ideal of extreme dispossession that frees the ascetic practitioner for the noble works of education, teaching and service of the poor won adherents among clergy and laity alike, who were able to formally identify with both Franciscan and Dominican ideals through membership in “third orders” affiliated to the friars.  Such lay affiliates also served as living reminders that many significant aspects of extreme poverty are unattainable by those who take vows in religious orders.  While members of religious orders in both East and West make a point of doing without certain conveniences and luxuries, they remain insulated by the support of their communities from the social and psychological torments that continually haunt the truly poor, such as daily uncertainty concerning shelter, food, and livelihood.

        The asceticism of radical dispossession as a means of identifying with the poor and of serving the spiritual and educational needs of others continues to have relevance today.  The need for a nearly-universal restructuring of human lifestyle in order to safeguard natural resources is becoming daily more evident.  The limiting of wasteful human activity may be necessary for the survival of the human species.  It is possible that, if more widely embraced, the asceticism of the friars may help serve not only the mystical goal of serving and seeing the other as Christ, but also of helping safeguard nature and the terrestrial environment and thus preserving these goods for future generations.

This Webpage was created for a workshop held at Saint Andrew's Abbey, Valyermo, California in 2003....x....  ’ “”.