difficulties by declaring that whatever was given to the friars became his—the Pope’s—property. He also instructed them to appoint a layman as syndic to each of the monasteries, who should undertake (in the Pope’s name, not that of the friars—the distinction is one of theological life or death) the financial and legal matters which the letter of the rule forbade the friars to undertake; gradually, too, brothers of the third order, who make no vow of poverty, were introduced into the friaries as servants, and a superior could thus always have a treasurer at hand.
In England the friars never troubled either syndic or lay-brother. The superior of each monastery had his safe and bank account, no priest ever went out with an empty pocket, and the authorities made contracts (from which the Pope’s name is wisely excluded) and went to law like every nineteenth century Christian. In Belgium the modified scheme of holy poverty (which would have made Francis of Assisi die a still more premature death) is followed out faithfully. All food is sent in in kind by the surrounding peasantry except, usually, meat and beer, which are bought through the syndic: a lay-brother is constantly wandering about the country begging provisions for the friars, and the response is generous both in quantity and quality. The brown habit is sure to elicit sympathy—especially in the form of liquid, and even the railway officials accept a note from the friary when a ticket is necessary: I have travelled all over
