DOI article:
Rolfe, Frederick W.: Stories Toto told me, [3]
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.38746#0160
Stories Toto Told Me
■56
did not suit his style of beauty, and so he made himself a brown
habit instead of a grey one, with plain sleeves to show the shape
of his arms, and no pockets in them, and a tippet not round but
pointed like the piece of flesh there is between my shoulders.
And then, because there are always plenty of men ready to run
after something new, he got together so many followers who
wished to dress themselves like him, that the Holy Father preferred
to give them permission to have their own way rather than cause
them to become rebels against our Holy Mother the Church, by
making it difficult for them to be obedient, because the matter
had really no importance to speak of.”
I said that I knew all about that, but that I didn’t believe
that religious men, whether they were Franciscans or sham ones
like the Capuccini, or even Jesuits, would show such jealousy and
envy of each other as appeared in the story of Fra Serafico.
“And there,” said Toto, “I can assure you that you are
altogether wrong. I may tell you that in every religious order
there are two kinds of men—the saints and the sinners ; and of
course, the saints always love each other as Francesco and
Domenico did ; and, by contrary, having submitted themselves to
the infernal dragon who always drives all love out of the hearts of
his slaves and inflames them with the undying fire of envy, the
sinners hate each other with a hatred like the poison of vipers,
and occupy themselves with all kinds of schemes by which they
may bring discredit upon their enemies, the sinners of other orders.
Why, 1 will tell you a tale which is quite true, because I have
seen it, of how some Capuccini—and you will not ask me to say
where their convent is—have done a deed by which much shame
will some day be brought upon a house of Jesuits who live in their
neighbourhood.
“ Well, then, there was a convent of Capuccini, and outside the
grounds
■56
did not suit his style of beauty, and so he made himself a brown
habit instead of a grey one, with plain sleeves to show the shape
of his arms, and no pockets in them, and a tippet not round but
pointed like the piece of flesh there is between my shoulders.
And then, because there are always plenty of men ready to run
after something new, he got together so many followers who
wished to dress themselves like him, that the Holy Father preferred
to give them permission to have their own way rather than cause
them to become rebels against our Holy Mother the Church, by
making it difficult for them to be obedient, because the matter
had really no importance to speak of.”
I said that I knew all about that, but that I didn’t believe
that religious men, whether they were Franciscans or sham ones
like the Capuccini, or even Jesuits, would show such jealousy and
envy of each other as appeared in the story of Fra Serafico.
“And there,” said Toto, “I can assure you that you are
altogether wrong. I may tell you that in every religious order
there are two kinds of men—the saints and the sinners ; and of
course, the saints always love each other as Francesco and
Domenico did ; and, by contrary, having submitted themselves to
the infernal dragon who always drives all love out of the hearts of
his slaves and inflames them with the undying fire of envy, the
sinners hate each other with a hatred like the poison of vipers,
and occupy themselves with all kinds of schemes by which they
may bring discredit upon their enemies, the sinners of other orders.
Why, 1 will tell you a tale which is quite true, because I have
seen it, of how some Capuccini—and you will not ask me to say
where their convent is—have done a deed by which much shame
will some day be brought upon a house of Jesuits who live in their
neighbourhood.
“ Well, then, there was a convent of Capuccini, and outside the
grounds