Jesus, in chapter eleven of Matthew, calls His own to meekness and humility of heart as a place of refreshment from all toil, learning from Him.
Regarding the meekness of God, in the writings of the Poor Man of Assisi (Praises of God Most High) we find this wonderful expression:
"You are humility [...] You are beauty. You are meekness' (FF 261).
Francis, Alter Christus, was indeed a meek man and everything that reminded him of the meekness of Jesus he looked upon and revered with great respect and scruple.
Thomas of Celano himself, one of his main biographers, describes Francis thus:
"How beautiful, stupendous and glorious he was in his innocence, in the simplicity of his words [...] Of mild character, of a calm disposition, affable in speech, cautious in admonition" (FF 464).
For his eye ailment, in front of the surgeon who red-hot iron to cauterize the diseased part, Francis thus addressed "friar focu":
"The Father, to comfort the body already shaken by terror, thus speaks to the fire:
"Brother Fire, of enviable beauty among all creatures, the Most High has created you vigorous, beautiful and useful. Be propitious to me in this hour, be gracious! For long have I loved thee in the Lord. I pray to the Great Lord, who created you, to temper your heat now so that I can bear it, if you burn me with gentleness'.
Having finished his prayer, he draws a sign of the cross on the fire and then waits intrepidly. The saint offers himself ready and smiling to the iron.
The friars present, horrified and trembling, departed. Back they were, after the operation, Francis addressed them:
"Pusillanimous and of little courage, why have you fled? Verily I say unto you, I felt neither the ardour of fire nor any pain of the flesh".
And addressing the physician:
"If the flesh is not well cauterized, it will burn again".
To the amazement of the latter who, turning to the brothers, said: "I tell you, brothers, that today I have seen wondrous things" (FF 752).
And Clare, in her Testament, recommends to the sisters, first of all to those who preside over the community, the attitude and style of the Gospel:
"Let her still be so affable and within the reach of all, that the sisters may confidently manifest their needs to her and have recourse to her at every hour with confidence, as they think best, for themselves or for the benefit of the sisters" (FF 2848).
These two Giants of the Gospel were nourished by humility and meekness, finding in them their defence.
«Learn from me, who am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your lives» (Mt 11:29)
Thursday of the 15th wk. in O.T. (Mt 11:28-30)
