The supper at Bethany is one of the most beautiful and moving passages in John's Gospel.

Mary sprinkles Jesus' feet with a pound of highly perfumed spikenard oil, which Jesus accepts as a foreshadowing of his burial. Onlookers are scandalised by the 'waste'.

Francis of Assisi, thinking of the Passion and death of Jesus, mourned the unloved Love in every way; in every place and person.

He recognised him especially in the poor and derelict, in the lepers kept on the margins of society - and among them he poured out the perfume of Charity without which we are only tinkling cymbals.

The Sources help us look for and spot episodes that depict this washing of Jesus' feet and perfuming them in the abandoned and rejected.

"Loving every form of humility, she moved in with the lepers, staying with them and serving them all with great care.

He washed their feet, bandaged sores, removed the rot from sores and cleansed them of purulence.

He would also, driven by admirable devotion, kiss their festering wounds, he who would soon become the Good Samaritan of the Gospel" (FF 1045).

The Minim sprinkled with compassion and love the feet of those wounded by life and anointed them with the oil of consolation.

His thoughtful humility was evidenced by the way he placed himself at everyone's feet.

"One day mounted on a donkey, because weak and infirm he could not go on foot, he crossed the field of a farmer, who was working.

The latter ran up to him and asked him thoughtfully if he was Brother Francis. He humbly replied that he was the one he was looking for:

"See," said the peasant, "that you are as good as everyone says you are, for many have confidence in you. That is why I urge you never to behave differently from what you hope".

Francis, at these words, dismounted from the donkey and, prostrating himself before the farmer, several times kissed his feet humbly thanking him that he had deigned to admonish him" (FF 726).

Standing at the feet of every creature, the Poverello exhaled "the waste" of that charity, the preventer and healer of all evil.

So was Clare, sprinkling the special ointment of Love that aims to heal and resurrect those who lie in human forgetfulness.

The «feet» in the Franciscan path, are a place of encounter, of loving exchange, of nakedness that all awaits from every creature of good will.

The feet of the humble, of the poor, of the sick were for Francis and Clare the crucified feet of the Son of God, nailed to the cross so that we might all walk towards one another.

«Mary then took a pound of genuine spikenard perfume of great value, anointed the feet of Jesus and dried his feet with her hair. Now the House was filled with the fragrance of the perfume» (Jn 12:3)

Holy Monday  (Jn 12:1-11)

Jesus is sold by Judas to the chief priests, abandoned by the disciples, and disowned by Peter.

In this context Christ celebrates Easter.

Previously the Son of God, already suffering the betrayal and abandonment of which many would be guilty, had wept over the City stoning the prophets sent to it.

One night Francis had a dream that almost recalled Jesus' lament over Jerusalem.

Christ had wept over the holy city, which was responsible for killing prophets (and stoning those sent to it) whose price would be a house left deserted.

The Unity betrayed and vilified would have generated squalor and abandonment: «Jerusalem Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often have I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you did not want to [...]» (Mt 23:37).

The saint therefore "saw a little black hen, like a domesticated dove, with feet and feet covered with feathers.

She had a great many chicks, which, no matter how much they circled around her, could not all gather under her wings.

When she awoke, the man of God resumed his thoughts and personally explained the vision.

"The hen," he commented, "is me, small in stature and dark in complexion, and I must unite to the innocence of life a simplicity of a dove: a virtue, which the rarer it is in the world, the more swiftly it rises to heaven.

The chicks are the friars, grown in numbers and grace, whom the strength of Francis is unable to protect from the disturbance of men and the attacks of malignant tongues'" (FF 610).

This is why the Minim placed the Order under the protection of the Church, since for him following Christ meant walking in the footsteps of the Bride of the Lord.

The Poverello had special solicitude for his brothers, striving to keep them in the bond of unity, for which Christ became the sacrificial Lamb, sacrificed for the salvation of all the people.

Indeed, in the Letter to the Faithful, he expresses himself thus:

"The will of his Father was this, that his blessed and glorious Son, whom he gave us and was born for us, should offer himself, through his own blood, as a sacrifice and victim on the altar of the cross, not for himself, since through him all things were created, but in atonement for our sins, leaving us the example so that we might follow in his footsteps" (FF 184).

In love with Christ in everything, even in the infirmities that afflicted him, Francis wished to follow the Lord's poverty and example.

"So vivid was his love for the salvation of souls, and his thirst to win them to God, that, no longer having the strength to walk, he went about the country riding a donkey.

Often the brethren, with gentle insistence, invited him to restore his infirm and too weak body a little, with medical care, but he, who had his spirit continually turned to heaven, declined the invitation each time, since he only wished to be untied from his body to be with Christ" (FF 490).

So he used his "brother donkey", borrowed for the journey to La Verna and his return through Borgo San Sepolcro, united in the meekness they shared.

«Take, eat; this, my body» (Mt 26:26c)

[Palm Sunday. Passion of the Lord]

Today's Johannine passage emphasises the sentence of the priest Caiaphas addressed to the Jews and pronounced concerning the imminent death of Jesus:

"You understand nothing, nor do you consider that it is fitting for you that one man should die for the people and not the whole nation perish!" (Jn 11:49-50).

Thus alluding to Christ's sacrifice as a ransom for many.

An act of love that the Gospel passage links to the motivation that Jesus himself drew from the beautiful climate of fraternity lived in the hearth of Bethany.

Francis always had Unity at heart and consumed himself for it, considering it precisely the motor and stimulus for the salvation of all humanity, the Church and, in his own small way, the communities of his brothers.

He cherished the spirit of synergy and mutual understanding, precisely because of this: the fragrance and momentum of communion had to come out of it.

For this reason he could not stand detraction, the enemy of concord.

In the Sources, Celano emphasises the shrewdness of the brothers in establishing a pact among themselves to avoid anything that might harm the honour of others. He further adds:

"For what is the detractor if not the gall of men, the ferment of wickedness, the dishonour of the world? What is the double-tongued man if not the scandal of the Order, the poison of the religious cloister, the disintegration of unity?

Alas, the earth abounds with poisonous animals and it is impossible for an honest person to escape the bites of the envious!

They promise rewards to delinquents and destroy innocence, and sometimes give the palm to falsehood.

'Behold, when one cannot live on his own honesty, he gains food and clothing by ravaging the honesty of others' (FF 769).

As his offspring grew, Francis pondered, with concern, how the young plant could be preserved and progress tightly bound in the bond of unity.

"He saw, even then, that many, like wolves, raged against the little flock - old men hardened to evil - driven to harm the new.

He also foresaw that difficulties might arise among the children themselves to the detriment of peace and unity, and he was troubled by the thought that, as often happens among the elect, there would be some who are proud in their carnal mentality, ready to quarrel and easy to scandal" (FF 609).

The defenceless Assisian, in the footsteps of Jesus, was concerned to give all of himself for the cause of the unity dear to Christ, in the Order and in the whole Church.

All in the sense of the Cross lived in the most sacred and personal concealment.

Saturday 5th wk. in Lent  (Jn 11:45-56)

In today's Gospel passage Jesus, to the Jews who did not believe in Him and wanted to stone Him, says: "even if you do not believe in me, believe in works, so that you may know and acknowledge that the Father is in me and I in the Father" (Jn 10:38).

Francis, renewed by his encounter with the Lord, had sown a new way of living and understanding the works of God.

He had a multi-dimensional gaze, which grasped the greatness of every event in perspective.

Celano, in the First Life, emphasises:

"Through Francis the ancient miracles were renewed, when in the desert of this world a fruitful vine was planted, which produces, through a new way of life, but faithful to the ancient, fragrant flowers of holy virtue and spreads everywhere the branches of holy religion" (FF 476).

"In order to draw from all things incitement to love God, he exulted in all the works of the Lord's hands and, from that show of joy, he went back to the Cause and Reason that makes all things live.

He contemplated, in beautiful things, the Most Beautiful and, following the footsteps impressed in creatures, he pursued the Beloved everywhere.

Of all things he made himself a ladder to climb and grasp the One who is all desirable.

'With the fervour of an unheard-of devotion, in each of the creatures, as in a stream, he deliberated that fountain-like Goodness, and gently exhorted them, in the manner of David the prophet, to the praise of God, for he perceived as a heavenly concert in the consonance of the various gifts and aptitudes that God had bestowed upon them' (FF 1162).

His pure and simple faith enabled him to go beyond appearances and always glimpse the Goodness of the One who is present in everything.

While always united in his every fibre with Christ, he never ceased to believe in the revelation of His works, embracing them with his tender gaze.

The Sources help us to understand:

"When he beheld the sun, the moon, the stars of the firmament, his soul was flooded with joy.

O simple piety and pious simplicity! Even for worms he felt great affection, for the Scripture said of the Lord:

«I am worm and not man»; therefore he took care to remove them from the street and put them in a safe place, so that they would not be crushed by passers-by.

And what about the other lower creatures, when we know that, during the winter, he even took care to have honey and wine prepared for the bees so that they would not freeze to death?

He magnified with splendid praise the industriousness and fineness of instinct that God had bestowed upon them, it happened that he spent a whole day praising them, those and all other creatures" (FF 458).

Yes, a heart of flesh and not of stone possesses that inward sniff that makes one recognise and believe that the Son of God does the works of the Father and with the Father, always.

Those who close their inwardness exchange the works of God for blasphemy, offending the Holy Spirit.

Francis took care of all this, and tried to pass it on to his own.

Friday, 5th wk. in Lent  (Jn 10:31-42)

Jesus claims divine sonship, claiming to have God for Father, to honour Him and be glorified by Him.

The leaders, on the other hand, who do not know the Father, mistake the Lord for being presumptuous.

Francis believed deeply in the Word of God and from the very beginning of his conversion, he committed himself to live it to the letter: 'sine glossa'.

He carried written on his heart the phrase of Jesus: "If anyone keeps my word, he will not see death forever" (Jn 8:51).

In fact, in the Perugian Legend we read:

"The ministers, knowing that according to the Rule they were obliged to observe the Gospel, had that chapter removed from it where it says: "you shall carry nothing in your walk"; deluding themselves that they were not obliged to observe Gospel perfection.

Francis, knowing this suppression by virtue of the Holy Spirit, said in the presence of some brothers:

"They believe the friars ministers to deceive God and me. Well then, that all the brothers may know and know that they are bound to observe the perfection of the holy Gospel, I want it to be written at the beginning and end of the Rule that the brothers are bound to observe the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And so that they may be inexcusable before God, I want with the Lord's help to always observe and fulfil in my behaviour the ideal that God has revealed to me for the salvation of my soul and the good of the brothers".

And indeed he observed the Gospel to the letter, from the time he began to have brothers until the day he died" (FF 1622).

And again in the Major Legend:

"Seeing that the number of brothers was growing little by little, the servant of Christ wrote for himself and his brothers, in simple words, a formula of life, in which, setting the observance of the holy Gospel as an indispensable foundation, he inserted a few other things, which seemed necessary to live in a uniform manner" (FF 1061).

And in the conclusion of the Letter to the Faithful:

"I, Brother Francis, your littlest servant, beg and entreat you, in the charity that is God, and with the desire to kiss your feet, that these words and the others of our Lord Jesus Christ with humility and love you should accept them and implement and observe them.

And those who cannot read, let them read them often, and learn them by heart, putting them into holy practice to the end, for they are spirit and life" (FF 206).

The Poor Man of Assisi, in love with the Word of God, dwelt in it, teaching his brothers to do likewise, for it was a pledge of eternal life.

And in a writing [which can be placed at the latest at the beginning of 1213] addressed to Clare, Francis expresses himself thus:

"Since, by divine inspiration, you have made yourselves daughters and handmaids of the most high King, the heavenly Father, and have married the Holy Spirit, choosing to live according to the perfection of the holy Gospel, I wish and promise, on my part and that of my brothers, always to have special care and solicitude for you, as for them" (FF 139).

«It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, 'He is our God’ and you do not know him» (Jn 8:54b-55)

Thursday 5th wk. in Lent  (Jn 8,51-59)

In today's Gospel Jesus announces that if we abide in his Word, we will be disciples and know the Truth that will set us free.

Francis, together with his brothers, made this statement his own and committed himself to abide in the Scripture.

He knew that the Son redeemed us to remain free in his commandments.

The Poverello well understood that the summary of them was mutual, fraternal love, to be exercised always, and for which Christ gave his life as a ransom for the multitudes.

This evangelical icon accompanied the Saint throughout his brief existence and governed his every gesture.

The truth of man met with the Truth of Christ who, on the cross, regenerated Francis.

It drew him from his cheerful and fearless life to that of the Beatitudes, structured on the identikit of Jesus.

The Minim understood that in them was hidden the Truth that liberates.

One above all: the poverty of the humble who, disengaged from themselves, relied only on God's mercy.

All this fermented at St Mary of the Angels.

The Sources are a unique collection of early experiences. Nothing can help us more than them to understand the raison d'être of Francis and his fraternity.

Celano says in the Early Life:

"And at last he called all creatures by the name of brother and sister, perceiving their secrets in an admirable way known to no one else, because he had conquered the freedom of glory reserved for the children of God.

And now in heaven he praises you with the angels, O Lord, who on earth preached you worthy of infinite love to all creatures" (FF 461).

In the Perugian Legend:

"Wherever the friars found writings with the words and names of the Lord not decently preserved or lying scattered in improper places, they should gather them up and set them aside, to honour the Lord in the words spoken by Him. For many things are sanctified through the word of God, and by virtue of the words of Christ the sacrament of the altar is brought about" (FF 1635).

Francis had at heart that his brothers be true disciples of the Word. Indeed, in the Major Legend, we read:

"I want my brothers to be disciples of the Gospel and to progress in the knowledge of the truth, so that at the same time they may grow in the purity of simplicity. Thus they will not separate the simplicity of the dove from the prudence of the serpent, which the unsurpassable Master has joined with his blessed word" (FF 1188).

But the Poverello's meekness and faithfulness to the Word of God made disciples even among the birds:

"In the city of Parma, a university student of good character, while engaged in study with some companions, annoyed by the importunate chatter of a swallow, began to say:

"This swallow must be one of those that disturbed the man of God Francis while he was once preaching, and which he silenced". Then, turning to the swallow, he said with faith:

"In the name of the servant of God Francis, I command you to come to me and be silent immediately!".

And the swallow, having heard the name of Francis, like a good disciple of the man of God, instantly fell silent and went to take refuge in the hands of the student.

Astonished, he immediately returned her to freedom: and she no longer heard his twittering" (FF 1208).

Even the swallows, much loved by Francis, in front of the Poor One who had made himself a disciple of the Word, felt the perfume of truth and conformed.

«If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free» (Jn 8:31)

Wednesday, 5th wk. in Lent  (Jn 8:31-42)

John presents the cross as the exaltation of Jesus and thereby emphasises that the crucifixion - in appearance only death and defeat - is in reality the glorious revelation of God's love and the ascension of Jesus to the Father.

In Francis of Assisi, the uplifted [crucified] Christ was a constant object of his meditation and conformation.

The Poverello, over time, was visited by many infirmities and sorrows borne with dignity and joy, keeping his gaze fixed on the Son of God.

The Sources do not fail to remind us:

"Francis was infirm and full of pains on every side. Seeing him like this, one day one of his companions said to him:

"Father, you have always found a refuge in the Scriptures; they have always offered you a remedy for your sorrows. Please, even now let the prophets read to you: perhaps your spirit will exult in the Lord'.

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, my son: I know Christ poor and crucified" (FF 692).

Francis always kept alive in his conscience his encounter with the Crucifix of San Damiano.

Having entered that place to pray, led there by the Spirit, that experience radically marked his existence.

"He entered to pray, prostrated himself in supplication and devotion before the Crucifix and, touched in an extraordinary way by divine Grace, found himself totally changed.

While he is so deeply moved, suddenly - which is unheard of! - the image of Christ Crucified, from the painting* speaks to him, moving his lips.

"Francis," it says to him, calling him by name, "go, repair my house which, as you see, is all in ruins".

Francis is trembling and full of astonishment, and almost loses his senses at these words. But he immediately disposes himself to obey and concentrates everything on this invitation" (FF 593).

It is the Crucified One who then conforms him fully to Himself on the mountain of La Verna, reliving in the Minim's limbs His Passion.

The entire parable of the life of the Poor Man of Assisi is imbued with the Presence of the uplifted Christ.

He thus becomes an icon of reference in the journey of faith to draw every man in search to Jesus.

The mission entrusted to him by the Crucifix of San Damiano stigmatises his life, elevates him and makes him a friend of God, a place of encounter with the Divine.

Embraced by Christ, Francis began by doing what was necessary, then what was possible, and suddenly, surprisingly, he found himself doing the impossible, creating novelties and doing things pleasing to God.

Thus he allowed Love to be revealed in him and through him.

«When you have raised up the Son of Man, then you will recognise that I Am and do nothing of myself, but as the Father has taught me, these things I speak» (Jn 8:28)

*It is a tempera panel in Byzantine style, still visible in the basilica of St Clare in Assisi.

Tuesday 5th wk. in Lent  (Jn 8,21-30)