Who's ready for another full week of hard-hitting saintly action? Well, clearly YOU are since a) you're reading this and b) you've been hitting "refresh" on your web browser continually since 7:50 am EST just in case the SEC erred and posted this matchup a few minutes early.
After an entire weekend experiencing LMW (Lent Madness Withdrawal) symptoms, your balm has been delivered in the form of Francis of Assisi vs. John Wycliffe. Time to pull out the ubiquitous Wycliffe bird bath that likely graces your garden and start reading about these two medieval saints.
Speaking of birds and other creatures great and small, we hope you read the SEC's statement released over the weekend assuring the Lent Madness public that no animals were harmed in the formation of the 2015 bracket.
But enough stalling. The Madness is back. Get to it!
Francis of Assisi
Francis was born into a wealthy family in the early twelfth century. His younger years were spent like many rich young men of the day — partying rather than praying. A series of events, including an imprisonment and a serious illness, began to shift Francis’s priorities and awareness. On a pilgrimage to Rome, Francis was moved to compassion by encounters with beggars outside St. Peter’s Cathedral.
When Francis returned home, he broke from his old life, taking up the disciplines of poverty and devotion. While attending Mass one day, Francis heard the words of Jesus from Matthew’s Gospel, asking his disciples to leave all and follow him. These words guided Francis’s life henceforth. He became an itinerant preacher embracing poverty, humility, and devotion to the Holy Eucharist. He soon had people joining him in his example of ministry. When the number of followers reached twelve, Francis wrote a rule for the group and soon obtained papal approval for the “friars minor” as they called themselves.They continued to grow and encouraged a similar society for women (founded by Clare of Assisi) as well as a Third Order for lay associates.
Francis was not a priest and evidence that he might have been a deacon comes mainly from the account by Bonaventure, who wrote of Francis’s use of a cave in the Italian village of Grecio to preach about the Nativity. Francis used a manger and two live animals (an ox and an ass) to teach about the Babe of Bethlehem. Thus, we have the first recorded account of a crèche. The hay Francis used in the crèche was reported to have cured local cattle of disease.
There are many legends surrounding Francis’s interactions with animals. From preaching to birds to freeing fish and rabbits caught for meals, Francis was often reported to call these creatures “Brother” and “Sister.” The source of the stories is unclear, but Francis expressed his love of creation and an understanding that we are in relationship not just with each other as humans but with all of creation in his “Canticle of Brother Sun.” While Francis composed several other prayers, he most likely was not the author of the prayer most commonly attributed to him — "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace” — since its composition date is 1912, several centuries after Saint Francis died.
In prayerful preparation for Michaelmas 1224, Francis received the stigmata, the five wounds of Christ. He received care for these wounds in several cities, but in 1226 he requested to be taken back to Portiuncula, the site of the church where he first heard the words from Matthew bidding him to give up all he had and live the gospel. He died where his call was birthed on October 3, 1226, and he was canonized less than two years later.
He devoted himself to a life of preaching the gospel by caring for the poor as one of them, by honoring God in all creation, by his profound devotion to prayer and humility, and by his forming community to join him in God’s ministry.
Collect for Francis of Assisi
Most high, omnipotent good Lord, grant your people grace to renounce gladly the vanities of this world: that following the way of blessed Francis, we may for love of you delight in your whole creation with perfectness of joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
John Wycliffe
John Wycliffe was an early supporter of reform in the Roman Catholic Church. Born in Yorkshire, England, Wycliffe received an excellent education at Oxford University. He earned his doctorate in 1372 and came to be considered one of Oxford’s leading philosophers and theologians. Remembered by the Church as both a translator and controversialist, Wycliffe conformed to the mold of faithful people who did amazing things but would probably never be anyone’s first choice to share a beer with (see also John the Baptist, Cardinal Walsingham, and the Apostle Paul).
Not everyone was a fan of Wycliffe’s criticism of the doctrine of transubstantiation, his challenge of indulgences, and his repudiation of private confession. His deep belief that every Christian should have access to scripture in their own language made him a forerunner of the Protestant Reformation and Public Enemy #1 for the Roman Catholic Church.
He was summoned to appear before the Bishop of London in 1377 to answer to the charges of heresy, but before the trial could start, recriminations on both sides filled the air and erupted into an open fight, ending the trial. Three months later, Pope Gregory XI issued five church edicts against Wycliffe, in which Wycliffe was accused on eighteen counts and was called “the master of errors.”
The Church tried to silence him but it was too late. Wycliffe had by this time many followers known as Lollards. They preached anticlerical and biblically centered reform. The more the Church attacked and suppressed Wycliffe’s teachings, the more determined his followers became. At one point the Lollards were driven underground, but they remained a constant source of irritation to the English Catholic authorities until the English Reformation made their views the norm.
John Wycliffe died December 28, 1384, from a stroke. In May 1415 he was declared a heretic, and his writings were banned. Wycliffe’s impact on the church was so great that forty-three years after his death, officials dug up his body, burned the remains, and threw the ashes into the River Swift as a protest against his teachings.
Collect for John Wycliffe
O God, your justice continually challenges your Church to live according to its calling: Grant us who now remember the work of John Wycliffe contrition for the wounds which our sins inflict on your Church, and such love for Christ that we may seek to heal the divisions which afflict his Body; through the same Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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236 comments on “Francis of Assisi vs. John Wycliffe”
Translation of the Bible, making Jesus more accessible to the masses. After all isn't that what the church is supposed to do, lead people to Jesus? The curmudgeonly Wycliffe for me. Although St Francis has been one of my favorites since seeing the simple wood carvings of him in Santa Fe when I was little.
Looks like this will be the first losing vote I cast, but seeing just what kind of effect Wycliffe had on the entrenched powers of his day I couldn't resist.
My EfM group just read about Wycliffe and the Lollards. Gotta give it to a man who so upset the powers that be that 40 years later they dug him up so they could execute his bones!
This was a painful choice, the Morning Star of the Reformation up against the perennial favorite Saint. My Baptist roots deeply admire anyone providing Scripture to people in their own language, but my husband is a former Franciscan, so in the interest of family harmony...
I love Wycliffe and have his translations. But Francis has had such an important role in the lives of so many of my friends, I had to vote for him.
This was a tough one for me surprisingly. I ended up going with Francis, although there is a lot I like about Wycliffe. Francis seems to be all about love; Wycliffe seems to be more about righteousness. Both are good and worthy, but I choose love.
This was a tough one because Wycliffe was a courageous man. However, my love of St Francis and his compassionate ministry won out.
We all like Francis... how can you not? But Wycliffe showed a strength of character, a commitment to truth, and a willingness to stand up to power that gets my vote. Imagine his dedication to translate the Bible with quill by candlelight so people could read Scripture in their own language. That is commitment.
Although Francis was a gentle soul, Wycliffe got out there and put it all on the line for reform. My vote goes for Wycliffe.
I vote for St. Francis. He cared for the poor and was loving and kind. He had a love of creation and understood that we are not just in relationship with other humans - but all of creation.
Thank you to Francis of Granby for your book & movie recommendations. It's an excellent list!
A favorite from St. Francis:
“Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”
― Francis of Assisi
While the prayer is beautiful, it was not written by St. Francis. As noted in the LM biography, its earliest known publication is 1912. It was first (mistakenly) attributed to St. Francis in 1927. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_of_Saint_Francis
I have to say I was somewhat relieved to learn that Francis had not written that prayer. Although few could fault the sentiments in it, it always seemed to be more full of "me" and "I" than something Francis actually had written would have been.
And the "courage" thing, and the "Francis in his cave" thing. Surely a reading of Francis 's historical life, setting the sentimental accretions aside (but not discarding them -- they're wonderful in their own right), can leave no doubt that the man had great courage, and, though like us he needed solitude and unlike us took time to enjoy it, was very, very far from being a hermit.
Excellent points, Davis. Contrary to what some seem to think, Francis was in fact a rebel; he was courageous; he did not live his life in a cave; etc. His legacy is real, profound and abiding. Those allergic to "sentimentality" might do well to look beyond the garden statues.
An English reformer from North Yorkshire who advocated a vernacular Bible - it has to be Wycliffe.
I'd love to see some Lent Madness match ups someday of just the people who contributed to making the scriptures available to the laity. Luther, Coverdale, Tyndale, Wycliffe, even the committee that produced the KJV. Wycliffe doesn't stand a chance against Francis, but I hope this competition raises awareness of the debt we owe to nerdy, crotchety people who translate and study the nuances of ancient tongues so that the rest of us can receive what the ancients thought and knew.
I am eternally grateful to such people and to those who carry on in their tradition. In their honor, John Wycliffe gets my vote today as well.
Linda, our church has stained glass windows honoring Wycliffe, Tyndale, and the translators of the KJV (one each); if the Lent Madness SEC ever decides to include them all, we can offer one-stop copyright-free graphics! We have a Francis window also, but my heart is with Wycliffe for the same reasons many have already mentioned.
All credit to St. Francis for his love of animals, the poor, and all creation. My vote, nevertheless, goes to Wycliffe, because he risked martyrdom for his belief that Christians should be able to read Scripture in their own languages.
Francis will no doubt win, and is the face of Christianity as it should be, loving and radically kind. The Dalai Lama and Francis would have a beer together, if they drank beer.
However, I'm going to vote for Wycliffe. Not only did his translations spread the Word, but they have provided a corpus of translated texts that have helped preserve or at least memorialize the vanishing languages and cultures of the world.
I am so in debt to Wycliffe for the legacy of translations — I have about 50 different ones. The publishers of those are also in debt to him, as I am to them.
This was a tougher choice than I thought it would be. Wycliffe's biography is pretty compelling. The Church can use an irritant or two, and I like to support the underdog. But I went for Francis partly because we desperately need peacemakers in the world now, and I'm not sure we need a lot more Bible translators. Besides, I'm not always sure giving people unfettered access to the Bible has been an altogether good thing.
Had to chuckle when I read your comment. Yes. When you see what some alleged Christians have done with their access to the Bible, it does give you pause doesn't it?
My dog wanted me to vote for St Francis, but alas, my dog can't vote. I went with Wycliffe
How many boomers among us weren't impacted by the movie "Brother Sun, Sister Moon" (aka ~"Romeo & Juliet" meets "Love Story" by way of "Jesus Christ Superstar" minus the rockin' soundtrack~)?
Still, my vote goes to Wycliffe whose questioning of and acting against authority should have carried us all through the turbulent "Sixties"!
Tom Gerald: You won me over! (And thanks for the reminder there's still room for this boomer.)
What Carol said, (9:44 am post).
I hate to say it, but the very fact of Francis's phenomenal popularity, even among the irreligious who may not even understand what his life and work were all about but just like statues of someone with a bird on his shoulder, counts against him in my book--even though I think his "Canticle to the Sun" is one of the greatest hymns in Christian history. On the other hand, I'm rather fond of contentious and controversial reformers who are an irritation to authorities, particularly at a time (before and during the Reformation) when the authorities were spectacularly wrong.
Jesus was also very popular among people who didn't really understand what his life and work were all about! As a Franciscan tertiary, I see that very popularity as a sign that people are hungry for gentleness and deep joy, and I figure it's an opening to tell them more about what Francis (and Jesus!) were all about!
And while neither seems to have been particularly cranky, and only one of them was executed for it, both Jesus and Francis were very much reformers who were an irritation to authorities! Francis received support from some within the church establishment, but fierce opposition from others!
None of which is to disrespect what Wycliffe did, which was very very important, and I reap the benefits from it every day when I read the scriptures in English translation!
I was prepared to vote for Francis, but I read the write up on Wycliffe and was reminded of the need for those who challenge and push for reform. The fact that they dug him up to burn his remains, to me, means that he must have been on to something that deeply disturbed the comfortable in the church. I'm sure Francis will win, and that will be fine with me. But my vote went to the reformer.
I adore my two rescue puppies. Next one I get I will name Frank in honor of St. Francis. The legacy of his commitment to the least of these is a spirit of social justice is at the heart of what Christianity should always be. However, my vote goes to Wycliffe in what I know is a losing cause today. His commitment to access to the Bible in the vernacular has had the effect of at least documenting (if not saving) multiple indigenous languages. More importantly, that idea, that we all have the right to understand our faith on our own educated terms and not have it dictated to us is also bedrock to social justice Christianity. He was gifted with the "speak truth to power" gene that is also part of social justice. And finally, gotta love a guy who was so dangerous that "officials dug up his body, burned the remains, and threw the ashes into the River Swift as a protest against his teachings." Must have been onto something!
I have a great fondness for Francis of Assisi. I think his gentle spirit towards all of creation is greatly needed in a day when the creation is being destroyed. We need to understand that we are in relationship with the creation, and that it is not there for us to exploit. Learning about Francis can help us with that. The current Pope took the name Francis to honor him, and I think his work is generally in line with the work of Francis. If Francis of Assisi wins the Golden Halo, I will buy the mug. 🙂
When I first saw the names I thought Francis but having read about them both above I am going for Wycliffe because he wanted me to be able to read the bible. And having your bones dug up, burnt and strewn in a river just because someone didn't like what you did in your life is so cool.
It's hands down for Wycliffe!
Where would we be without vernacular scripture? eh?
Francis is almost an urban legend. So many things about him are fictional. And, yes, not all truth is factual. But - - -.
I really admire Wycliffe. Courageous and intelligent and well educated. My kind of guy!
St. Francis already gets plenty of press. Today had to vote for someone who sought to bring the Word of God to all people in their own language - Go Wycliffe!
Well, I can't think of anyone I'd pick over Francis, but I've enjoyed learning about Wycliffe.
I'd like to point out, however, that in his time Francis was just as much of a rebel and reformer of the church as Wycliffe. He was courageous in his opposition to the excesses of the institution and wasn't exactly the darling of the Vatican!
Although Im an Anglican and applaud Wycliffe's efforts and successes in reforming the Roman Catholic Church of his day, I have to vote for St. Francis. He preached reform by his way of life without words. As a lover of nature, animals and people, I identify more with him than with Wycliffe.
As a Roman Catholic I just have to vote for Wycliffe. He "got it" long before anyone else did. I was relieved to read that he died of natural causes before they could go medieval on him. And even then they had to go and dig him up later and burn him just -- because. Not one of the RC Church's finer moments. He was one gutsy guy. Francis was a sweetheart, but he's got plenty of positive PR going for him already. Wycliffe today.
Right brain! Left brain!
Love St. Francis all the way! My hand surprised me and voted for Wycliffe!
We must do what the Holy Spirit calls us to...both did this! I greatly appreciate the determination to challenge authority when needed. Wycliffe all the way!