“Leah’s Forbidden Bedchamber”. Sacred Scripture in the Bull of Canonization “Mira circa nos”

Abstract

An important document for the history and spirituality of the Franciscan Order is the Canonization Bull of St. Francis of Assisi, issued by Pope Gregory IX in 1228. It depicts the figure of Saint Poverello against the background of numerous biblical figures and images. This paper is a commentary on the text of the Bull, in particular on its biblical feature. Linguistic remarks on the translation are followed by an evaluation of available sources of the text and a statistic of biblical references present in the papal document. The central part of the paper is the presentation of biblical characters, both of the New and Old Testaments, which, according to the intention of the author of the bull, are types referring to the figure of St. Francis: Apostle Paul, Abraham, Jacob, Jephthah, Samson and Shamgar, Noah, Gideon, Moses, David, Job and Simon the High Priest. In this way, St. Francis of Assisi appears as one of the special figures in the history of salvation.