The head of authority will one day give it to the world, so thoroughly modified and altered that Francis's name at the head of such a document will give but small promise, and quite indirectly, that it will contain his personal opinion.
Never was man less capable of making a Rule than Francis.

In reality, that of 1210 and the one which the pope solemnly approved in November 29, 1223, had little in common except the name.

In the former all is alive, free, spontaneous; it is a point of departure, an inspiration; it may be summed up in two phrases: the appeal of Jesus to man, "Come, follow me," the act of man, "He left all and followed him." To the call of divine love man replies by the joyful gift of himself, and that quite naturally, by a sort of instinct.

At this height of mysticism any regulation is not only useless, it is almost a profanation; at the very least it is the symptom of a doubt.

Even in earthly loves, when people truly love each other nothing is asked, nothing promised.
The Rule of 1223, on the other hand, is a reciprocal contract.