V - Epilogue

Summary

Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth. And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away (Matt. xiii. 5–6).

Why was Elias a failure as Minister General? He should have been in many ways an ideal choice, for he possessed many of the qualities that were needed by the brethren at that moment. The Order was passing through a critical phase in its evolution. It was composed of very diverse elements which had not fully merged their identity into an integral whole. St Francis had, though with some difficulty, held the ingredients together, but after his death they showed a tendency to separate. There was friction between the learned and the simple, between the clerics and the lay brethren. There were serious differences of opinion as to what was the right future, and the proper mission, of the Order. One group, led by Italians from Umbria and the Marches, accepted St Francis' teaching as perfect and final, and insisted that it should be obeyed strictly and literally; another, to which belonged the masters from the northern universities and the Ministers, believed that it was capable of improvement, and wished it to be modified and supplemented to include features whose worth had been proved by experience in other religious fraternities.