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Elements
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Let
us now take a look at the convergences between the two
saints, whom the Sources celebrate as a couple, preacher
and co-thaumaturge. In the Franciscan tradition, Anthony was
progressively assimilated, as a faithful socius,
to Francis in a sprint of conformitates which
were accentuated as the Franciscan conscience of the primitive
Order was consolidated.
Saint Anthony is an essential and decisive figure in the
affirmation of the Franciscan movement.
What convergences can we find then?
The
love for evangelical poverty: they own nothing of their
own, neither privately nor in the community. They conduct
existences of bitter deprivation which irreparably compromise
their health and strike them down in the primes of their lives.
Social
self-exclusion so as to be close to the poor: both of
them cut themselves off from society, one renouncing the money
of his merchant father, and the other abandoning the comforts
connected to his level of aristocracy. They chose lucidly
to become companions of the poor, the rejected and the unlucky.
A
life of evangelisation and contemplation: they share the
orientation toward a "mixed life," blending
evangelical action among the people with contemplation,
apostolic periods with rests in hermitages, the care
of souls with prayer in silence.
A
refusal of violence:
they both refuse to turn to violence (this is in the period
of the Crusades and at the dawn of the fateful Inquisition):
adhesion to the faith is not the result of coercion, but of
proposals and convictions matured with respect for the enigma
of each person. If they allow for violence it is that
of love and faith ("Peace and Good"), that of hard
personal penitence.
Faithful
to the ecclesiastical hierarchy: they are faithful, without
oscillations, with perfect loyalty, to the papacy and, in
general, to the ecclesiastical hierarchy. Although both very
demanding (in divergent forms, as has been shown), they
do not make mistakes in orthodoxy; they do not make common
cause, neither explicitly nor implicitly, with heretical deviations.
These Catholics of steel, together with their fellow monks,
brought credibility and fascination back to Catholic life,
distancing it from any compromise or yielding with other "ways.".
God
in first place: both saints are a constant example of
the vertical dimension that supports and qualifies the
horizontal one. God is the first to be served, his knowledge,
his love, his service occupy pre-eminent and privileged places.
Contemplari, et contemplata aliis tradere (participate
with others the fruits of contemplation), as Saint Thomas
Aquinas says. Apostolic activity is born and grows in relationship
to God. He is the source of pardon, of peace, of salvation.
The only goal of the evangelical mission is to bring souls
to God, the only true pastor of the flock.
Christ
in the centre: the Son of God made man is at the centre
of their spirituality. They pay special attention to
certain phases of his earthly life such as Christmas
and the Passion. Theirs is a very concrete spirituality
that goes straight to the eyes and heart of the people.
The
presence of Mary: along with the privileged role that
they give, appropriately for their day, to the eucharistic
mystery, there is also the presence of Mary, whose divine
motherhood and courageous poverty, moving humility and exalting
glory are praised.
The
role of nature: they even have the same attitude toward
the creation, although with important original variations.
Nature is the revelation of the omnipotent love of God,
like a chorus of brothers and sisters who teach us to
live in faith and goodness, reflected by the marvellous and
terrible beauty of the Creator. We can find Anthony in joyous
contemplation of the Paduan plains, from the heights of
one of the Euganean Hills. The Thaumaturge breaks out into
praise of the landscape, joyously green and fertile. Another
scene: the walnut tree at Camposampiero. The intellectual,
ethereal Anthony falls in love with a giant plant and
dreams of building, in the embrace of its branches, a little
cell of wood and mats, where he can climb up to a more joyous
quietude. Books, yes, but also poems; austerity, yes, but
also fancy and imagination. His own Writings give witness
to his lyricism, his capacity to metamorphose prosaic reality.
A parallel: the sermon to the fish. "He who had
called the birds' attention to the preaching of the sainted
Father Francis, reunited the fish and called their attention
to the preaching to his son, Anthony." An involvement
with the animal world, in both cases, originating from the
refusal of man to listen to the Word. This attention to
the beauties of nature is very Franciscan.
A
joyous encounter with death: no depression, long faces,
macabre touches, but exultation and inspiration. Anthony
received death singing, just like Saint Francis. Anthony
saw his Lord come toward him, invite him to his heavenly
wedding, and he took flight from this earth singing hymns
to the Assumption. He celebrated the triumph over death.
From this point of view, Anthony and Francis are on the
same wavelength.
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