Spirit+Life 143 (January – March 2023)

Spirit+Life 143 (January – March 2023) The celebration of the 800 years since the confirmation of the Franciscan Rule by Pope Honorius III (29 November 1223) will be the main theme of our Review of Franciscan Culture for this year. We have already introduced the theme in the October – December 2022 issue. This time this Review examines Bonaventure’s view of Francis’ role in the composition of the Rule, as he presents it in the Legenda Maior Sancti Francisci. The theme of the confirmation of the Rule is also linked with the question of the identity of the Friars Minor in their quest for observing the Gospel form of life. This issue dwells upon the contents of the 30th Congress of the International Society of Franciscan Studies held in Assisi on 13-15 October 2022, with the theme “Identity and Self-Consciousness of the Friars Minor during the 13th and 14th Centuries.” Another important anniversary on the local scene of Franciscan life in Malta has been the 50 years of the inauguration of the Provincial Library Hall in the Franciscan friary of Valletta on 12 December 1972. This event marked a new beginning in the long 342 year-old history of the Valletta OFM Library, founded in 1681 by Fr. Filiberto Peylabere, and enriched by many volumes belonging to Fr. Liborio Caruana (1660-1718) and especially Fr. Costanzo Vella (1691-1759). The Library Hall is undergoing restoration works and it is hoped that it will soon be ready as a veritable storehouse of knowledge in the fields of Franciscan Studies and Maltese History