Review of Franciscan Culture
The presence of Fr. Noel Muscat ofm, editor of this Review of Franciscan Culture, in the friary of Santa Marija ta’ Ġesù in Valletta, Malta, as archivist and librarian, is an asset for the inclusion of historical information regarding the Franciscan presence in Malta. In this issue a paper is dedicated to the figure of an 18th century Maltese Franciscan, Fr. Giovanni Antonio Mercieca who, in 1731, wrote an interesting Chronicle on the history of the first two friaries of the Franciscan Observance in Malta, both dedicated to Santa Maria di Gesù, in the old capital of Rabat-Mdina (Città Notabile) and in the city of Valletta built by the Knights of St. John during the 16th century. The Chronicle covers more than 250 years of history, and is a precious source of information for the historical and artistic legacy of the Franciscan Friars Minor in Malta. Another short paper is dedicated to a painting of St. Blaise, that used to hang in the Franciscan church of Valletta, and is now in the same friary, and its link with the community of merchants from the maritime republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik in Croatia) of which St. Blaise is the patron saint. These Dalmatian merchants traded with Malta under the Order of St. John. In the study of Franciscan Sources there is a presentation on the figure of St. Francis in the Legenda aurea by Jacopo de Voragine. Lastly we present a translation of a paper by Roberto Rusconi on the Formulation of the Minoritic Rules during the first quarter of the 13th century. This paper is also presented because this year we commemorate the 800 years of the Regula non bullata (1221).
Franciscan Studies 