Abstract

When Thomas of Celano wrote these words in his first hagiography of the poverello, his intention, quite naturally, was to focus attention on Francis. But it is notable that Celano wrote that Francis conformed himself to the poor. Francis learned how to be Christian and how to live out his faith by modeling his life on the anonymous poor who surrounded him. But when looking at histories of the various Franciscan orders—including the Third Order and Order of Poor Clare sisters—the role of the laity, especially the anonymous poor is ignored.2 The role of the anonymous laity has been largely forgotten with the possible exception of frequent mention of lepers whose encounter with Francis marked a significant turning...