Francis of Assisi, the Knower and the Least of God, always had clear in his conscience the importance and necessity of the contemplative life, tempered by work that keeps idleness at bay and conforms to Christ. He demanded this for himself and for his brothers. He went so far as to say that serving his brothers was worth more than any stay in the hermitages, where he himself loved to go when he could.

We read in his writings: "And I worked with my own hands, and I want to work; and I firmly want all the other brothers to work as befits honesty. Those who do not know, let them learn, not for the greed of receiving the reward of work, but to set an example and keep idleness at bay" (FF 119).

Furthermore: "We are convinced that [...] those who live differently in hermitages have been reproached a great deal. Many, in fact, transform the place of contemplation into idleness and the hermit's way of life, instituted to allow souls perfection, reduces it to a place of pleasure [...] Certainly this reproach is not for everyone. We know that there are saints [...] who follow excellent laws in the hermitage" (FF 765).

Even among the friars there was discussion about whether to live in contemplation or action, in fact in the Major Legend it is written:

"While, firm in their holy purpose, they faced the Spoletana valley, they began to discuss whether they should spend their lives among the people or dwell in solitary places. 

But Francis, the servant of Christ, not trusting in his own experience or that of his own, entrusted himself to prayer, to insistently seek what the disposition of the divine will was on this point.

He was thus enlightened with an answer from Heaven and understood that he had been sent by the Lord for this purpose: to win souls for Christ [...] And so he chose to live for all, rather than for himself alone, spurred on by the example of the One who deigned to die, He alone, for all men" (FF1066).

But love for prayer and listening to the Word always accompanied his actions and those of his brothers.

"The tireless dedication to prayer [...] had brought the man of God to such clarity of spirit that [...] he scrutinised the depths of the Scriptures with a clear and acute intellect. He read the sacred books and kept tenaciously imprinted in his memory what he had once assimilated: for he continually ruminated with affectionate devotion what he had listened to with an attentive mind" (FF1187).

Transformed into prayer, without failing in service:

Francis had a special predilection for the Word of God, and in him, without failing in the services to be rendered to his neighbour, he always gave priority to listening to what the Lord asked or taught, fixing it well in his mind.

He had chosen the good part that no one could take away from him. 

Indeed, the Sources instruct us in this regard:

"He spent all his time in holy recollection in order to imprint Wisdom in his heart; he feared to turn back if he did not always make progress.

And if at times there were urgent visits from seculars or other matters, he would cut them off rather than finish them, to take refuge again in contemplation [...].

He was always looking for a secluded place, where he could unite himself not only with his spirit, but with his individual limbs to his God" (FF 681).

"Often without moving his lips, he would meditate for a long time within himself and, concentrating the external powers within, he would lift himself up with his spirit to heaven. In this way he directed his whole mind and affection to the one thing he asked of God: he was not so much a praying man as he himself was transformed into a living prayer" (FF 682).

He had understood the essence of the Gospel.

When he was infirm and full of pain, to a friar who had learned from Francis to take refuge in the Scriptures and who now invited him to have them read to him for relief, the Saint replied:

"It is good to read the testimonies of Scripture, and it is good to seek in them the Lord our God. But, as for me, I have already taken so much from the Scriptures as to be more than sufficient for my meditation and reflection. I need no more, Son: I know Christ poor and crucified' (FF 692).

Jesus, to the one who asks: "And who is my neighbour?" (Lk 10:29) answers by telling a story.

When faced with someone lying on the ground, one should not pass by, but rather come to his aid, take care of him, because every person who is beaten is one's neighbour, whoever he may be.

The Poverello, who had received mercy from the Lord, had learned the lesson well enough to apply it "sine glossa", literally towards everyone, starting with the most needy and marginalised of his time.

The Poor Man's encounter with lepers constitutes a fundamental page in his growth in the Spirit.

It was a crossroads that profoundly modified him and changed the coordinates of his interior life.

For those unfortunate people he feels compassion and "passion", willing to help them in any way he can, because he is the Suffering Servant.

We read in his wonderful Testament

"The Lord gave me, Brother Francis, to begin to do penance in this way: when I was in sin, it seemed to me too bitter to see lepers; and the Lord himself led me among them and I used Mercy with them.

And as I turned away from them, what seemed bitter to me was changed to sweetness of soul and body" (FF 110).

Thus "the Saint goes among the lepers and lives with them, to serve them in every need for the love of God. He washes their decaying bodies and heals their virulent sores [...].

For the sight of lepers, as he attests, was at first so unbearable to him, that as soon as he saw their shelter two miles away, he plugged his nose with his hands.

But here is what happened: at the time when he had already begun, by the Grace and virtue of the Most High, to have holy and wholesome thoughts, while he was still living in the world, one day a leper stood before him: he did violence to himself, approached him and kissed him.

From that moment he decided to despise himself more and more, until through the mercy of the Redeemer he obtained full victory" (FF 348).

And Francis healed many lepers:

"In the city of Fano, a young man named Bonomo, considered by all the doctors to be a leper and a paralytic, as soon as he was offered very devoutly by his parents to Blessed Francis, was freed from leprosy and paralysis and regained full health" (FF 564).

The care he lavished on lepers, as the Good Samaritan of the Gospel, was transformed, by the gift of the Lord, into power and efficacy in healing diseases of body and spirit.

He had visceral compassion for these souls abandoned to themselves and lived the Gospel of the derelict and marginalised to the letter, loving with extraordinary fondness the Lazarus of his time and beyond.

"Go, do likewise" (Lk 10:37).

Monday, 27th wk. in O.T. (Lk 10,25-37)

The Poor Man of Assisi strove throughout his life to bless and foster the unity of spouses in marriage.

To a noblewoman who was worried about her husband's sourness, which was hindering her in the service of Christ, the Saint, after listening to her, said:

"Go in peace and be assured that you will soon have from your man the consolation you desire" (FF 1193).

So it happened: the man changed his life, and after a long time, on the same day they returned to the Lord.

Francis was so concerned about the sanctity of Christian married life that he founded the (then) Franciscan Third Order alongside the two previous orders - Friars Minor and Poor Ladies of St Damian.

All this so that even though they were in the world they were not of the world, bearing witness to the Gospel.

In fact, in the Vita prima of Celano, we read:

"To all he gave a rule of life, and showed the way of salvation to each according to his condition" (FF 385).

The same simplicity of children with which he loved to receive the Word of God, he transferred it between the lines of life. 

It is worth this episode to help us understand the childlike heart he had received from God: 

"At St. Mary of the Portiuncula they brought the man of God a sheep as a gift, which he accepted with gratitude, because he loved the innocence and simplicity that, by its nature, the sheep shows.

The man of God admonished the sheep to praise God and not to annoy the brothers at all. The sheep, in turn, as if feeling the pity of the man of God, put his teachings into practice with great care.

When she heard the friars singing in the choir, she too would enter the church and, without the need of a teacher, would bend her knees, uttering tender bleats before the altar of the Virgin, Mother of the Lamb, as if eager to greet her" (FF 1148). Becoming a child at heart, Francis welcomed in simplicity the Kingdom that was coming to him, testifying in his concrete life the infancy of the Spirit that informed him.

The littleness of Francis, the frame of his evangelical life, is moving.

"He did not blush to ask small things of those smaller than himself; he, a true minor, who had learnt great things from the supreme Master.

He used to seek with singular zeal the way and manner of serving God more perfectly, as it pleased Him best.

This was his supreme philosophy, this his supreme desire as long as he lived: to ask the wise and the simple, the perfect and the imperfect, the young and the old, what was the way in which he could most virtuously reach the summit of perfection" (Sources 1205 - Major Legend).

Francis loved with a child's heart and so he taught his brothers and the poor Ladies of San Damiano, virtuous sisters on the path of faith, among whom Clare shone for her humility and transparency.

This young woman bore witness to light; she was a morning star in becoming a child in the service of God, in the footsteps of Christ, following the example of the blessed Father Francis, a true lover and imitator of Him.

27th Sunday (B). Mk 10:2-16

The Gospel considered today is a hymn of praise to God the Father by Jesus, in the dimension of the weakness and vulnerability of the little ones.

He had experienced the disappointment of the "great ones", suspicious of his wonders.

Instead of asking the Father for help, as Son he praises him in his dark moments.

Looking at our Poor Man, all this is evident.

Short in stature, humble in spirit and a minor by profession, Francis of Assisi made littleness his existential and spiritual mark - and he taught his brothers the same.

To be humble and minimal in the following of the Lord was the essential trait of the friar - precisely minor - who wanted to live in communion at the Portiuncula.

Addressing the great and wise of this world, the Saint found resistance in making his proposal of poverty and essentiality of life understood.

They often replied to him:

"The poverty you seek, remain for ever with you, and your children, and your descendants after you" (cf. FF 1964).

In the Sources we find again that "Blessed Francis, hearing these words, marvelled in his heart and gave thanks to God, saying:

"Be blessed, O Lord God, who has kept these things hidden from the wise and prudent and revealed them to the little ones!

Yea, O Father, for thus it pleased thee!

O Lord, Father and master of my life, do not abandon me in their gathering, nor let me fall into that shame, but by your grace grant me to find what I seek, for I am your servant and the Son of your handmaid'" (FF 1965).

Furthermore, it must be remembered that "The servant of God, Francis, small in stature, humble of spirit and a minor by profession, while he lived here on earth, chose for himself and his brothers a small portion of the world [...] and they were certainly inspired by God who, in ancient times, called the place Porziuncola, the place that fell to those who did not want to possess anything on this earth [...].

There stood in this place a church dedicated to the Virgin Mother who, by her particular humility, deserved, after her Son, to be Sovereign of all Saints.

It was here that the Order of the Minors began, and their noble edifice rose wide and harmonious, as if resting on a solid foundation.

The Saint loved this place more than any other, and commanded the friars to venerate it with special devotion.

He wanted it always to be kept as a mirror of the Order in humility and highest poverty, reserving its ownership to others and keeping its use for himself and his own only" (FF 604).

So littleness was an eloquent sign of his being a child of God.

Precisely from such a position of hiddenness, in the difficult and obscure periods of his journey of faith, Francis raised to God the Father the praise for what he was doing:

"Most High, Almighty, good Lord,

To Thee be praise, glory and honour, and every blessing [...]

Praised be You, my Lord, with all Your creatures [...]" (FF 263).

Francis composed such a masterpiece in the cruellest and most suffering moment of his life, ill and in darkness.

Yet, he raised to God an authentic hymn of praise.

Like Jesus, who at the moment of loneliness and apparent defeat, of failure, raised his voice to the Father - to bless and praise him.

The blind alley and the darkness became a source of inspiration, and of a deeper relationship with the Lord; combined with that vulnerable littleness, entrusted to the Father for his Kingdom.

Saturday 26th wk. in O.T. (Lk 10:17-24)

Today is the Feast of the one who gave meaning and roots to Franciscanism. The Gospel chosen is that of Jesus turning to the Father to thank Him for revealing the Mysteries of the Kingdom to the little ones. And he, Francis, is the Little One, the meek par excellence.

In the Sources, the littleness of this Giant of the Gospel is summed up thus:

"Another time he confessed to his companions:

"Among other graces, the Most High has bestowed on me this: I would obey the novice who entered the Order today, if he were my guardian, as if he were the first and oldest of the brothers.

Indeed, the subject must not consider in the prelate the man, but He for whose sake he submits to a man".

He also said:

"There would not be a prelate in the whole world, feared by his subjects and brothers as much as the Lord would have me feared by my brothers, should I wish it.

But the Most High has given me this grace: to know how to adapt myself to everyone, as if I were the smallest friar in the Order".

We have seen with our own eyes repeatedly, we who have lived with Francis, the truth of this statement of his.

On several occasions, when certain brothers did not assist him in his needs, or some word was addressed to him that produced agitation, the Saint immediately withdrew to pray.

And when he returned, he did not want to remember the insult, saying: 'That friar neglected me!', or: 'He said this word to me'.

And the closer he came to death, the more concerned he was to live and die in all the perfection of humility and poverty' (FF 1663).

He was humble and meek not only with superiors but also with peers and inferiors, content to be admonished and corrected by them.

One day, crossing a farmer's field on a donkey, because he was weak, the latter pointed out to him that he was in life really what they said about him:

'Look,' said the farmer, 'be as good as everyone says you are, because many people trust you. That is why I exhort you never to behave differently from what is hoped'.

At these words, Francis got down from the donkey and, prostrating himself before the peasant, he kissed his feet several times, humbly thanking him that he had deigned to admonish him [...].

He thought himself vile before God and men' (FF 726).

And in the Salutation to the Virtues, written by him, we read:

"Holy humility/ confounds pride/ and all men that are in the world/ and likewise all things that are in the world" (FF 258).

"I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned and revealed them to the little ones" (Mt 11:25).

S. Francis of Assisi, saint patron of Italy (Mt 11:25-30)

Luke emphasises Jesus' mandate to his own, highlighting how they were to be itinerants of the Gospel.

"Go! Behold, I send you as lambs among wolves. Do not carry a bag, nor a saddlebag, nor sandals, nor greet anyone on the way" (Lk 10:3-4).

After meeting the Lord, Francis considered the proclamation of the Kingdom of God as fundamental.

To all those he met he gave the greeting received by divine revelation: "May the Lord give you Peace!

Based on Jesus' mandate to his disciples, he also sent the brothers to preach the Good News, two by two, recommending to live in strict poverty, as Jesus taught in the Gospel. 

In the Sources we read:

"Francis, having completed the restoration of the church of San Damiano, continued to wear the habit of a hermit, walking with a stick in his hand, shoes on his feet, a leather belt at his hips.

But one day, as he was listening to Mass, he heard the instructions given by Christ when he sent his disciples out to preach: that they were not to carry gold, silver, bread, staff, footwear, or clothing on the road. He understood these instructions better later, having the passage explained to him by the priest.

Then, beaming with joy, he exclaimed:

"That is precisely what I long to accomplish with all my strength!".

And fixing those directives in his memory, he undertook to execute them gladly [...] He put all his enthusiasm into understanding and realising the suggestions of the new grace. Inspired by God, he began to proclaim the perfection of the Gospel, preaching penance to all, with simplicity" (FF 1427).

And he recommended the brothers not to provoke anyone to anger, but to proclaim the Kingdom with meekness:

"The Peace that you announce with your mouth, have it even more abundantly in your hearts.

Do not provoke anyone to anger or scandal, but let all be drawn to peace, goodness and concord by your gentleness [...].

This is our vocation: to heal wounds, bind up brokenness, call the lost back [...]" (FF 1469).

Francis urged his followers to live the Gospel of Christ to the letter as meek lambs among wolves.

Thursday, 26th wk. in O.T. (Lk 10,1-12)

Before the disciples arguing about who was the greatest among them, Jesus educates them by placing a child before their eyes. This is the measure of their greatness.

So: acceptance and littleness are the credentials for the Kingdom.

Small in stature, but truly endowed with that littleness that makes one a child at heart.

Francis was always concerned not to scandalise the little ones that Jesus speaks of in the Gospel.

The authority of the Sources informs us:

"Often thinking of the scandal given to the little ones, he felt an immense sadness, to the point of believing that he would have died of grief, if the divine goodness had not sustained him with its comfort" (FF 1139).

Francis himself described himself as "I, small and simple, inexperienced in speaking, have received the grace of prayer more than that of preaching [...].

In prayer we speak to God, we listen to him, and we remain in the midst of the angels" (FF 1204).

Again: "Nothing else did he possess, the Poor Man of Christ, but two pennies that he could bestow with liberal charity: his body and soul" (FF 1167).

And to his brothers he taught and recommended littleness in every happy or sad affair:

"Scarcity itself was for them abundance and superabundance, while, according to the advice of the Wise One, they took pleasure not in greatness, but in the smallest things" (FF 1075).

Oh what great love he had for the Angels!

The Franciscan Sources tell us that "to the angelic spirits, who burn with a marvellous fire, which inflames the souls of the elect and makes them penetrate into God, he was united by an unbreakable bond of love [...].

For blessed Michael the Archangel, since he has the task of presenting souls to God, he nurtured special devotion and love, dictated by his fervent zeal for the salvation of souls" (FF 1166).

"Beware of despising a single one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven ceaselessly see the face of the Father in heaven" (Mt 18:10)

Holy Guardian Angels, 2 October 2024

Luke presents Jesus proceeding firmly and courageously towards Jerusalem.

For this reason a village of Samaritans did not want to receive him.

The disciples intend to react to the inhospitality shown, but Jesus takes them back, understanding the mission he was fulfilling.

The open window of the Sources tells us interesting things about this.

In his writings, Francis taught his brothers to persevere with patience when they were not accepted, going elsewhere, for love of Christ who suffered the same things.

The Sources - specifically the Regola non bollata (1221) - says:

"And let all the brothers, wherever they are, remember that they have given themselves and abandoned their bodies to our Lord Jesus Christ.

And for his love they must expose themselves to enemies both visible and invisible, for the Lord says:

'He who loses his soul for my sake will save it for eternal life'" (FF 45).

And again in Admonitions:

"Let us look closely, brothers and sisters, at the good shepherd who, in order to save his sheep, endured the passion of the cross.

The Lord's sheep followed him in tribulation and persecution, in ignominy and hunger, in infirmity and temptation and other such things; and they received from the Lord eternal life in return" (FF 155).

On the other hand, Francis, to Brother Leo himself, will teach that when we are not received, remaining in patience, we are in perfect joy:

"And I always stand at the door and say, 'For God's sake receive me for this night.'

And he replies: 'I will not. Go to the place of the Cruciferous and ask there."

"Well, if I have been patient and have not been disturbed, I say to you that here is true joy and here is true virtue and salvation of the soul" ( FF 278).

Jesus, in fact, goes further, where he encounters rejection, rebuking his own who find it hard to accept non-acceptance.

Francis follows it as Providence.

"He hardened his face to depart towards Jerusalem. And he sent angels before his face" (Lk 9:51b-52).

Tuesday 26th wk. in O.T. (Lk 9,51-56)

Before the disciples arguing about who was the greatest among them, Jesus educates them by placing before their eyes a child. This is the measure of their greatness.

So: acceptance and littleness are the credentials for the Kingdom set out in this Gospel passage. Let us look at these themes in the Sources.

Of a refined mind, who described himself as simple and idiotic, Francis understood very well the logic of the Gospel: let the one who wants to be great be the smallest, in the same way as a child, considered in times past to be of no value; minimal.

He endeavoured to make his brothers understand all this, more with deeds than words.

Nevertheless, in his "Letter to the Rulers of the Peoples" he writes:

"To all the podestas and consuls, magistrates and rulers of every part of the world [...] to whom this letter will reach, Brother Francis, your servant in the Lord God, small and contemptible, wishes you all health and peace" (FF 210).

Furthermore, we read in the Sources:

"The servant of God, Francis, small in stature, humble of spirit and a minor by profession, while living here on earth, chose for himself and his brothers a small portion of the world: otherwise, without using anything of this world, he would not have been able to serve Christ.

And they were certainly inspired by God who, in ancient times, called Porziuncola the place that fell to the lot of those who wanted absolutely nothing on this earth.

There stood in this place a church dedicated to the Virgin Mother, who, by her particular humility, deserved, after her Son, to be Sovereign of all Saints.

It was here that the Order of the Minors began, and their noble building rose up spacious and harmonious, as if resting on a solid foundation.

The Saint loved this place more than any other and commanded his friars to venerate it with special devotion.

He wanted it always to be kept as a mirror of the Order in humility and the highest poverty, reserving its ownership to others and keeping its use for himself and his own only" (FF 604).

And to his beloved brothers he repeated:

"We have promised great things, greater things are promised to us; let us observe those and aspire to them.

Pleasure is brief, punishment eternal; suffering small, glory infinite" (FF 778).

"The smallest among you is great [...] he who is not against you is for you" (Lk 9:48b.50b).

Monday of the 26th wk. in O.T. (Lk 9,46-50)