The First Novitiate – Friday Fictioneers

RivoTorto photo-by-piya-singh-bittercharm-6The farmhand walks through the Italian woods, heading for home.  His body aches from his labors; his heart aches because he will barely feed his family with what he earned today.  In the twilight, he is passing by an abandoned farmhouse, when he hears the sound of chanting, coming from it.  He peers in, and sees a group of men, dressed in brown robes, kneeling on the dirt floor.  They circle a little thin man, who is leading them in prayer.  The farmhand sees a glow of light emanating from him, touching the others, touching him.  He experiences great peace.





NB:  After Francis of Assisi won provisional papal approval for his rule of life; he and his small group of brothers went down to a small Italian area known as RivoTorto.  There they lived; during the day they cared for lepers.  Some would work in the fields, and get paid in food and drink.  They spent their evenings in prayer, and being taught by Francis.  It was the Order’s first novitiate.  One day, a farmer pushed his donkey into the hut, and pushed the brothers out, into the wider world.

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