On February 24, 1209, St. Francis of Assisi received approval to found his religious order. One of its defining characteristics was taking the vow of poverty to its furthest extreme.

Just seven years later on December 22, 1216, St. Dominic de Guzman founded his religious order of mendicant preachers seeking salvation through proclaiming the Gospel. Both thirteenth century religious orders relied completely upon charity, rather than earning money, intending that their members would not accumulate a single cent.

However, the Franciscans and Dominicans were unable to sustain their lives devoted to Christ without a reliable place to lay their heads. Monasteries have a history of acquiring wealth – sometimes in considerable sums – despite their desire to lead a life of poverty. Just as the ascetic monks before them succumbed to the wealthy class’s generosity, in time many of the new orders began to own private property corporately. The Council of Trent granted formal permission for this arrangement to all but two orders (the Franciscans and Capuchins).

This brief monastic history demonstrates the temporal reality of human life. While the two saints’ goal of living without possessions is noble, man’s earthly needs cannot simply be eliminated. In both cases, human...