The letter to San Antonio or [CtaAnt] is a very important letter, because in it St. Francis expresses with an impressive simplicity his preoccupation with the teaching of theology. St. Francis believed that it was better for a soul to be deeply spiritual and saw in education some dangers to the soul, such as getting away from prayer, such as loss of faith or sins such as arrogance and vanity. This is attributed to the fact that Francis, who was a polyglot and thanks to his childhood and youth privileged in a high social class and access to the best education of his time, is therefore believed to prefer spirituality over knowledge, which was to be achieved only on par with faith.
This preoccupied view of education was not shared by his contemporary: Santo Domingo, who saw in the study the best way to strengthen the spirit and get closer to God. This approach to theology represents one of the main historical differences between Franciscans and Dominicans.
St. Anthony was the first priest to enter the then new mendicant order, being a priest, he could instruct the other brothers, hence Francisco called him our "Doctor of the Order", because of his reputation of high education .
To Fray Antonio, my bishop, brother Francisco, salud. I am pleased that you teach sacred theology to the brethren, provided that in the study of it, do not quench the spirit of prayer and devotion, as contained in the Rule. Bibliography
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