Franciscan Rule of 1223: Full Text

Chapter I - Observance of the Holy Gospel

The rule and life of the Friars Minor is this, namely, to observe the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, living in obedience, without anything of one's own, and in chastity.

Brother Francis promises obedience and reverence to Pope Honorius and his successors canonically elected and to the Roman Church. And the other friars are bound to obey Brother Francis and his successors.

Chapter II - How the Friars Should be Received

If some wish to undertake this life and come to our friars, let them send them to their provincial ministers, to whom alone and to no others is it granted to receive the friars.

Let the ministers then diligently examine them concerning the Catholic faith and the sacraments of the Church. And if they believe all these things and wish to faithfully profess and observe them until the end; and they do not have a wife or, if they do, their wife has already entered a monastery or has given them permission with the authority of the diocesan bishop, after having taken a vow of chastity; and the wives are of such an age that no suspicion can arise about them;

let them tell them the word of the holy Gospel, that they go and sell all that they have and try to give it to the poor. If they cannot do so, it is enough for them to have the good will. And let the friars and their ministers take care not to be concerned about their temporal affairs, so that they may dispose of them freely according to the inspiration of the Lord.

"If, however, they ask for advice, the ministers can send them to God-fearing people so that with their help they give their goods to the poor." Then let them grant them the garments of probation, namely two tunics without a hood and the cord and the breeches and the capuce down to the cord, unless it seems otherwise to the ministers according to God.

"When the year of probation is completed, let them be received to obedience, promising to always observe this life and the Rule." And in no way will it be lawful to leave this Religion according to the decree of the Lord Pope; since, as the Gospel says, no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.

And those who have already promised obedience, let them have a tunic with a hood and another without it, for those who wish to have it. And those who are forced by necessity may wear shoes. And let all the friars wear humble garments that they can patch with sackcloth and other pieces with the blessing of God.

Whom I admonish and exhort not to despise and not to judge men whom they see dressed in soft and colored garments and who use delicate food and drink, but rather let each one judge and despise himself.

Chapter III - Divine Office, Fasting, and Travel

Let the clerics recite the Divine Office according to the rite of the Holy Roman Church, except for the psalter, and therefore they may have breviaries. Let the lay brothers say twenty-four Our Fathers for Matins, five for Lauds; for Prime, Terce, Sext, None, for each of these, seven; for Vespers twelve; for Compline seven; and let them pray for the dead.

And let them fast from the feast of All Saints until the Nativity of the Lord. The holy Lent, however, which begins from the Epiphany and lasts continuously for forty days and which the Lord sanctified with His fast, those who voluntarily spend it in fasting are blessed by the Lord, and those who do not wish to are not obliged to do so. But the other one, until the Resurrection of the Lord, let them spend it fasting. At other times they are not bound to fast, except on Fridays. In cases of manifest necessity, the friars are not bound to corporal fasting.

I counsel, admonish, and exhort my friars in the Lord Jesus Christ that, when they go through the world, they do not quarrel, nor avoid disputes of words, nor judge others; but be gentle, peaceful and modest, meek and humble, speaking honestly with everyone, as is fitting.

"And they should not ride unless they are forced by evident necessity or infirmity. Into whatever house they enter, let them first say: Peace to this house. And according to the holy Gospel, they may eat of all the foods that are set before them."

Chapter IV - Prohibition of Receiving Money

I firmly order all the friars that in no way should they receive money or pecunia directly or through an intermediary.

However, for the necessities of the sick and for clothing the other friars, the ministers alone and the custodes, through spiritual friends, should take diligent care according to the places, the circumstances, the climate of the regions, as it will seem to suit the necessity, always saving, as has been said, that they receive in no manner money or pecunia.

Chapter V - The Work of the Friars

Those friars to whom the Lord has granted the grace of working, let them work with fidelity and devotion, so that, having banished idleness, the enemy of the soul, they do not extinguish the spirit of holy prayer and devotion to which all other temporal things must serve.

As a reward for their work for themselves and for their friars, let them receive the things necessary for the body, except money or pecunia, and this humbly, as befits servants of God and followers of most holy poverty.

Chapter VI - Poverty and Alms

Let the friars appropriate nothing for themselves, neither house, nor place, nor any other thing. And as pilgrims and strangers in this world, serving the Lord in poverty and humility, let them go for alms with confidence. Nor should they be ashamed, because the Lord made Himself poor for us in this world.

This is, my dearest brothers, the excellence of the most high poverty, which makes you heirs and kings of the kingdom of heaven, making you poor in things and rich in virtues. This be your portion which leads you to the land of the living. And to this poverty, dearest brothers, totally united, be unwilling to have anything else under heaven, forever, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And wherever the friars are and find themselves, let them show themselves as family to one another. And let each one confidently make known to the other his necessities, 'since if the mother nourishes and loves her carnal son, with how much more affection ought one to love and nourish his spiritual brother?'

And if one of them falls ill, the other friars must serve him as they would wish to be served.

Chapter VII - Penance for Friars Who Sin

If some friars, at the instigation of the enemy, have mortally sinned, for those sins for which it has been ordered among the friars to have recourse to the provincial ministers alone, the aforesaid friars are bound to have recourse to them as soon as they can without delay.

The ministers then, if they are priests, let them impose penance on them with mercy; if they are not priests, let them have it imposed by other priests of the Order, as it will seem more expedient, according to God.

And they must beware of not becoming angry or resentful over the sin committed by a friar, since anger and resentment hinder charity in themselves and in others.

Chapter VIII - Election of the Minister General

All the friars are always bound to have one of the friars of this Order as the minister general and servant of the entire fraternity, and they must firmly obey him. At his death, the election of the successor shall be made by the provincial ministers and the custodes in the Chapter of Pentecost, at which the provincial ministers are always bound to attend wherever it is established by the minister general; and this once every three years or within a greater or lesser term, as it will be ordered by the aforesaid minister.

And if sometimes it seems unanimously to the provincial ministers and the custodes that the said minister is not fit for the service and common good of the friars, the aforesaid ministers and custodes, to whom the election is entrusted, are bound in the name of the Lord to elect another custode for themselves.

After the Chapter of Pentecost, the individual ministers and custodes may, if they wish and deem it expedient, gather their friars to chapter once in the same year.

Chapter IX - The Preacher Friars

Let the friars not preach in the diocese of any bishop if they have been forbidden by the same bishop. And let no friar dare to preach to the people unless he has first been examined and approved by the minister general of this fraternity and has received from him the office of preaching.

"I also admonish and exhort the same friars that in their preaching their words be weighed and chaste for the utility and edification of the people, announcing to the faithful vices and virtues, punishment and glory with brevity of speech, since the Lord spoke brief words on earth."

Chapter X - Admonition and Fraternal Correction

The friars who are ministers and servants of the other friars, let them visit and admonish their friars and correct them with humility and charity, not ordering them anything that is against their soul and our Rule.

The friars who are subjects, let them remember that for God they have denied their own will. 'Wherefore I firmly order them to obey the ministers in all those things which they promised the Lord to observe and which are not contrary to the soul and our Rule.'

And wherever there are friars who know and realize that they cannot spiritually observe the Rule, they must and may have recourse to their ministers. And let the ministers receive them with charity and benevolence and show them such familiarity that they can speak and act with them just as masters speak and act with their servants; for indeed it must be so, that the ministers be the servants of all the friars.

I admonish and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ, that the friars beware of all pride, vain glory, envy, avarice, the cares and anxieties of this world, detraction and murmuring.

And if they do not know letters, let them not worry about learning them, but attend to what they ought to desire above all things: to have the Spirit of the Lord and His holy operation, to pray always with a pure heart and to have humility, patience in persecutions and infirmities 'and to love those who persecute, rebuke, and slander us, since the Lord says: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute and slander you. Blessed are those who are persecuted for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And he who perseveres to the end, he shall be saved.'

Chapter XI - Prohibition of Entering Monasteries of Nuns

I firmly order all the friars not to have suspicious familiarity or conversations with women, and not to enter monasteries of nuns, except those to whom a special license has been given by the Apostolic See. Nor let them be godfathers of men and women, lest on this occasion scandal arise among the friars and by the friars.

Chapter XII - Mission Among the Saracens and Infidels

Those friars who, by divine inspiration, wish to go among the Saracens and other infidels, let them ask permission from their provincial ministers. The ministers, however, shall not give permission to anyone except those whom they deem fit to be sent.

Moreover, in obedience, I order the ministers to ask the Lord Pope for one of the cardinals of the Holy Roman Church who shall be governor, protector, and corrector of this fraternity; so that always submissive and subject at the feet of the same Holy Church, established in the Catholic faith, we may observe the poverty, the humility, and the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, which we have firmly promised.