An Analysis - Francis of Assisi's "A Salutation of the Virtues"

A Salutation of the Virtues [1] quoted in the 4-23-13 post [2] began with these words:  "Hail, Queen Wisdom! May the Lord protect You, with Your Sister, holy pure Simplicity!"  Later, Holy Francis said, "Holy Wisdom confounds Satan and all his cunning.  Pure holy Simplicity confounds all the wisdom of this world and the wisdom of the body." [3]

I was going to conclude Holy Wisdom belongs only to God since no human is able to confound "Satan and all his cunning."  That is a lot cunning to confound, an impossible thing for anyone to do.  I was so certain that I was right when moments later it dawned on me that the author of this manuscript, A Salutation of the Virtues, Francis of Assisi, had had the Holy Wisdom to confound Satan and all his cunning. [4]  Holy Francis would not have been able to record this thought had he not. [5] Could Holy Francis have imagined it?  No, since he said it with certainty and authority and continued to expound on it by linking Holy Wisdom with Pure Holy Simplicity and contrasting Holy Wisdom with worldly wisdom. [6]

Although Francis of Assisi started with Holy Wisdom [7] in his composition and ended it with Holy Obedience, I believe that his holy life began with Holy Obedience.  After Holy Francis perfected Holy Obedience, he moved up the ladder of Virtues to Holy Charity by denying the temptations and enduring the pains of the flesh.  By the time Holy Francis perfected Holy Charity, Holy Francis knew he was God's pick but would not allow his pride to surface and was thus able to achieve Perfect Humility.  From Holy Humility, it was a small step for Holy Francis to reach Holy Poverty.  It could be argued that Holy Francis began with Holy Poverty when he abandoned his life of riches.  That is right on the surface but on a deeper level, Holy Francis did not perfect Holy Poverty until he was near the pinnacle of his holiness and still he did not envy the power of the Vatican or the wealth and comfort that come with being a pope and that must have confounded more than a few people in the establishment.  From there, Holy Francis left all the cares of the world and entered the heavenly realm of Holy Simplicity, confounding all of worldly wisdom by making it superfluous and irrelevant.  There was no need for worldly wisdom when Holy Francis left behind all worldly concerns to serve only God.  By serving God wholly and faithfully without any distraction, Holy Francis attained Holy Wisdom.  In Holy Wisdom, there is God and only God and therefore in Holy Wisdom, Holy Francis was able to confound Satan and all of its cunning.


[1] Armstrong, Regis J. O.F.M. Cap. et.al. Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, Volume I, The Saint. Pages 164-5. New York: New York City Press, 2000.
[2] I entitled the previous post Sixth & Seventh Of Many Prayers Of Francis Of Assisi but according to the authors, they are manuscripts that salutes or greets the virtues that belong to the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Thus, technically they are not prayers but I consider them to be prayers.
[3] Armstrong, op cit., p. 164.
[4] Ibid.
[5] In the second paragraph of A Salutation of the Virtues, Holy Francis said no one could own any of the virtues without dying first.  How could then Holy Francis own, as I believe that he did own, all of the virtues when he was still alive?  The answer was in the book's introductory paragraph to the manuscript: "Francis saw these virtues as [the Blessed Virgin Mary's]; yet they are clearly those of any Christian who has died to sin."  Emphasis added.  Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] "Holy Wisdom confounds Satan and all his cunning. Pure holy Simplicity confounds all the wisdom of this world and the wisdom of the body. Holy poverty confounds the desire for riches, greed, and the cares of this world.  Holy Humility confounds pride, all people who are in the world.  Holy Charity confounds every diabolical and carnal temptation and every carnal fear.  Holy Obedience confounds every corporal and carnal wish; binds its mortified body to the obedience of the Spirit and obedience to one's brother, so that it is  subject and submissive to everyone in the world, not only to people but to every beat and wild animal as well that they may do whatever they want with it insofar as it has been given to them from above by the Lord."  Armstrong, op cit., p.165.