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The particular Franciscanism of Anthony is a rich field for
investigation. He was trained in quite different environments,
he had a different (which is not a synonym for adverse) temperament
and spiritual outlook for being a satellite of Francis, being
to him like the moon is to the sun. Even the first companions
entered into the group of "Penitents of Assisi" as
adults; but they shared years of life with Francis, they felt
his influence, they were able to develop their creativity
and charisma, in harmony with their guide, since they participated
in the same evangelical adventure.
Keep in mind that there is no "normal type" of
Franciscan: one is not a follower of Francis, but of Christ,
the only teacher, to whom Francis refers. One can be called
a follower of Saint Francis, since he himself has no other guide
than the Only Child of God, only Saviour and Redeemer, the only
Way-Truth-Life.
Anthony brought with him to his new life as a Minor Monk,
his training as an Augustinian Canon, but he quickly assimilated
the values of his new family. They were these values to
illuminate him and make him understand that God wanted him to
take another path. These values, born in the heart of Francis
and transmitted to his monks, make Anthony a Franciscan.
The
fact that Anthony was foreign, along with his training and his
special qualities, brought a providential "contamination"
to the emerging Order, almost like a complementary soul.
Anthony did not participate in the primitive fraternitas
phase. Anthony is part of a minor branch that was international
and of the Po, which developed, for the most part, far
from Umbria and Francis, and matured in apostolic activity
in close connection with the Roman curia, with the preaching
monks, with the places of study and with the local churches.
The
novelty that these monks introduced was the direct
assumption of duties of ecclesiastical reform, guided by Rome,
unrelated to Francis and the initial group of his followers
for whom evangelical testimony, and nothing else, was worthwhile.
For them, the pastoral duties of guidance, teaching,
education and training in the church and in society prevailed
decidedly over the pure and simple profession of the Gospel
among the poor and the excluded, in a life of service and
humble subjugation. (Rigon)
Saint
Anthony is also important from an iconographic point of
view. After 1230, Francis and Anthony were represented in
the same way and in the same dimensions. Even in the stained-glass
windows in Assisi they are displayed together with the founders
of the church, the apostles; the ten apostles accompany the
two founders of the Franciscan order; in iconography it is
also curious that Anthony often is shown with the cross of
the Saviour, like Saint Francis is shown with a book and the
cross.
Here,
too, significant differences can be seen: Francis
represents the impossible dream and the direct encounter
with God sine glossa, while Anthony is "he who
confronts the concrete needs of a suffering humanity in danger,
in clear contrast to Francis, who figures in symbolic episodes
where the interlocutor is God." At least from the iconographic
reading of the stained-glass windows in Assisi which offer
keys to a correct reading of primitive Franciscanism. Where
Francis displays the wound of his stigmatised rib and blesses,
holding in his hand a book decorated with the cross and the
Gospel, Anthony holds an undecorated book with two hands,
as if to symbolise culture, science and the world of scholarship.
Beyond
this historical revision, what main Franciscan traits can
be found in Saint Anthony? Let's take a look at four:
poverty, being a missionary, the contemplative and the ecclesiastic
dimensions.
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