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Difference
and originalities |
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Anthony
did not repeat Francis. He has his own unmistakable talents
and his own base of training, which he expresses and develops
in an original way. The two saints have very clear differences.
They
are from different social backgrounds: Francis was the
son of a businessman with aspirations of knighthood; Anthony
was a restless nobleman searching for inner peace. They have
different cultural training: Francis defined himself
as a "simple and illiterate man;" Anthony
was a refined theologian and a fine predicator, scholarly,
a man who read and assimilated books with a passion, who spoke
in a cultured and winning way, a professor and a writer.
They
had different temperaments: Francis spoke to both
high and low clergy in a manner full of respect and self-restraint,
he communicated his observations with reserve. Anthony,
at least in his writings, is aggressive and sometimes
without pity when reproving the pastors of the church for
their vices and wretchedness. He demonstrates this same
bold intrepidity with the powerful, the rich and the sage
of the earth; he boldly says what he thinks, with fearless
determination. On the contrary, Francis avoids reprimands
and blows with the sabre, even though his heart weeps at
injustice, oppression and discrimination.
They
have different vocational histories: Francis was called
to follow poor and crucified Jesus Christ while he
was chasing after ideals of life, knighthood and adventure;
Anthony within a journey of consecrated life that had
already been undertaken.
They
have different evangelical styles: Francis announces
the Gospel with immediacy and simplicity, without
comment (sine glossa); Anthony, who has a great cultural
background, deepens the meaning of the Scripture with
the method of annotation, taking advantage of the knowledge
of the Fathers and the natural sciences of that time.
They
have different life experiences: Francis, the
charismatic leader of a group that lived in the atmosphere
of evangelical European pauperism, the leader of a group
that became an ordo; Anthony, first a restless
Augustinian canon, then follower of the Franciscan movement
in the desire for martyrdom, and then a key player from
the start in the season of evangelical predication of
the Franciscans.
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