Jesus heals the sick servant of a centurion. He admires his solid and deep faith.
Many are the miracles that Francis performed in life and in death to support and strengthen the Faith. In the Sources we find numerous passages recalling all this.
In the Major Legend of St. Bonaventure we discover a paragraph in which, among other things, it is written:
"The blessed man, as soon as he was taken up to enjoy the light of the Face of God, began to shine by great and numerous miracles.
That lofty holiness [...] now that he reigned with Christ, was confirmed by almighty God through miracles, fully consolidating the faith" (FF 1251).
Faith that Francis stimulated throughout his life in everyone, young and old.
In fact in his Regola non bollata (1221) we read:
"And all those who wish to serve the Lord [...] the young and the old, the healthy and the sick, all the small and the great and all peoples [...].
We humbly pray and beg that we persevere in true faith and penance, for no one can be saved in any other way" (FF 68).
Francis himself grew in the Faith and was tried in it.
In the Second Life of Celano we find the passage:
"At a certain moment of his life, the Father suffered a most violent temptation of spirit, certainly for the benefit of his crown [...].
For this he was distressed and full of suffering [...] he prayed and wept in the most painful way. This struggle lasted several years.
One day, while he was praying in St Mary of the Portiuncula, he heard a voice in spirit:
"Francis, if you have faith as much as a mustard seed, you will tell the mountain to move and it will move".
"Lord," replied the saint, "which is the mountain, which I would like to move?".
And the voice again: "The mountain is your temptation".
"O Lord," replied the Saint in tears, "let it be done to me as you have said.
Immediately all temptation disappeared and he felt free and completely serene in the depths of his heart" (FF 702).
"I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith!" (Lk 7:9).
Monday of the 24th wk. in O.T. (Lk 7,1-10)