A Franciscan Academy
A FRANCISCAN ACADEMY THE effects of the Franciscan centenary continue to reveal themselves. Scarcely had the memorable year come to an end when there came the news that Friar Roger Bacon's code...
...It is well to admit that the mission which is primarily of the spirit may be made more effective by uniting it with the interests and the energy of the mind...
...and to further international relations among tertiaries...
...Just a little earlier, critics had arrived at a new summary of their information concerning Duns Scotus, thus revealing more definitely the nature of this great critic's teaching and its character as the complement of other scholastic doctrine...
...Great Americans beyond number have been impressed by his peace, his serenity, and his spiritual earnestness...
...In return, the Franciscan has always been reverenced, not primarily as the great teacher, but as the great arbiter...
...Meanwhile the Franciscans themselves, particularly in the United States, have kept up a vigorous interest in the development of their intellectual tradition...
...Scarcely had the memorable year come to an end when there came the news that Friar Roger Bacon's code had been deciphered, with the result that the extent of his scientific knowledge is now much more widely discernible...
...It will seem curious to many that Roger Bacon himself, for all his interest in scientific method, was one of the first to complain that many who spoke Greek knew "absolutely nothing about the rules of grammar...
...It follows that the more we see of him in American intellectual life, the more we shall avoid the bitternesses of prejudice and argument...
...427...
...Historically speaking, it was the Franciscan who foresaw the development of modern science and who tried to anticipate the argument which led to Calvinism and Jansenism...
...Inside the Church its effect has almost always been either to soften the sternness of other interpretations of doctrine or to prepare men's souls for life under changing intellectual conditions...
...All these things encourage one to believe that the plan to establish an "Academic Circle of the Third Order" in New York City will meet with success...
...The things which might be achieved by such a circle are many...
...to contribute, as far as possible, toward the solution of social and moral problems according to the spirit of Saint Francis...
...It is surprising to what an extent the spirit of Saint Francis can coordinate individuals and destroy prejudices...
...A bulletin issued by the Reverend Kilian Henn-rich enumerates a few of these: to extend the Third Order among the educated classes...
...Indeed, the point was of such concern to him that he wrote the first scientific Greek grammar, which encouraged other members of his order to lay the foundations of Greek lexicography...
...A recent issue of Franciscan Studies is a significant indication of this interest, outlining as it does the history of the vast linguistic studies undertaken by the friars...
...Because the Third Order is the great channel of Franciscan influence among laymen, through it there must come the practical efficacy of the treasures gathered by the Franciscan mind...
Vol. 5 • February 1927 • No. 16
