The Maltese Franciscan Province of Friars Minor is proud to announce the imminent publication of two volumes entitled “Fonti ghall-Hajja ta’ San Frangisk t’Assisi” (Sources for the Life of Saint Francis of Assisi). The volumes, containing a total of 1412 pages, will be available as from 4 October 2005. They are the result of more than twenty years of painstaking work by a group of Franciscan friars from Malta, who translated the critical Latin editions of these Sources into Maltese. The friars who worked in the translations are Noel Muscat OFM, Marjanu Vella OFM (died 25 February 1988), and Joseph Benedict Xuereb OFM.

The Sources for the Life of Saint Francis are documents of great historical value, which regard the life of Saint Francis and the beginnings of the Order of Friars Minor. They were written between 1226 and the end of the 14th century. These Sources (in Latin “Fontes”) are authentic witnesses of the history of the Church and medieval Europe, which was the social and cultural context in which the great Franciscan family came to light. As works of literature they vary in style from the “legenda” (Legend) to the “compilatio” (Compilation), from prose texts to poetic compositions, from documents born within the Franciscan family to works coming from witnesses outside the Franciscan Order.

The two volumes of the Sources in Maltese are updated with introductions to the various Sources, with a detailed bibliography, with countless footnotes and with indexes of Scriptural references, persons, places and themes, with the aim of stimulating personal study and being instruments of reference for all those who are interested in the beginnings of the Franciscan movement. The choice of two volumes has been made purely for practical purposes, because the work is voluminous and necessitates a division. However, a historical indication has been chosen, in order to give a more logical sequence to the various Sources. Volume 1 starts from 1226 and goes on till 1257, the date of the election of St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio as Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor. Volume 2 starts from the Major Life of Saint Francis written by Bonaventure (1260) and goes on to the end of the 14th century.

The volumes contain a presentation in Italian by Fr. Johannes Baptist Freyer OFM, the Rector Magnificus of the Pontificia Universita’ Antonianum of the Order of Friars Minor in Rome. The introductions, notes, bibliography and indexes have been coordinated by Noel Muscat OFM, who is currently Secretary for Formation and Studies in the Holy Land Custody, as well as lecturer at the Franciscan International Study Centre in Canterbury, UK. Marjanu Vella OFM, a well-known Maltese poet, had translated some poetic texts, notably the Canticle of Creatures. Joseph Benedict Xuereb OFM had already published the transaltions of the Major Life of Saint Francis and the Fioretti, and was Minister Provincial of the Maltese Province, President of the International Research Centre of the Order at Grottaferrata, and Secretary at the Pontificia Unversita’ Antonianum.

The work of translating Franciscan texts began in 1986 with the publication of the Writings of Saint Francis and Saint Clare of Assisi, and has continued ever since, with the publication of some of the Sources by the Editing house of the Maltese Franciscan Province, Edizzjoni TAU. The publication of the Sources is the first one to mark the 25th anniversary of the founding of Edizzjoni TAU in 1982, by Fr. Raymond Camilleri OFM. The aim will be that of continuing the commemoration with the publication of the Sources for the Life of Saint Clare, for the Life of Saint Anthony, and Texts from the writings of Franciscan Saints and Mystics. The initiative is also a contribution by the Maltese OFM Province to the 800 anniversary of the foundation of the Order of Friars Minor.

The volumes will be on sale from Fr. George Aquilina OFM, Franciscan Friary, 291, Saint Paul Street, Valletta VLT 07, Tel. 21251131, as from 5th October, with the price of Lm18 for both volumes. A pre-publication offer of Lm15 is also being given to those who order the volumes before 4th October. The volumes have been published by Publishers Enterprises Group Ltd (P.E.G.) of San Gwann.