St. Katherine Drexel Regional Fraternity
Regional Spiritual Assistant
St. Francis of Assisi Friary
1901 Prior Road
Wilmington, Delaware 19809
tel: (302) 798-1454 fax: (302) 798-3360 email: skdsfo email: pppgusa@gmail.com
September 2025
I bend my knee to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
so that, through the prayers and merits of the
holy and glorious Virgin Mary, His Mother,
and of our most blessed father Francis and of all the saints,
the Lord Himself, Who has given a good beginning,
may give increase and may also give final perseverance.
Amen.
(The Testament of St. Clare of Assisi)
Daily excerpts from Assisi Compilation #67 – # 71 – Daily quote from various sources
67 – HIS VISITORS TRAMPLE A PRIEST’S VINEYARD IN RIETI AND IT IS MIRACULOUSLY RESTORED
1 – Because of the disease of his eyes, blessed Francis at that time was staying in the church of San Fabiano near the same city, where there was a poor secular priest. At that time the Lord Pope Honorius and other cardinals were in the same city. Many of the cardinals and other great clerics, because of the reverence and devotion they had for the holy father, used to visit him almost every day.
– There’s a hole in every human heart that only God can fill.
2 – That church had a small vineyard next to the house where blessed Francis was staying. There was one door to the house through which nearly all those who visited him passed into the vineyard, especially because the grapes were ripe at that time, and the place was pleasant for resting.
– Fight all error, but do it with good humor, patience, kindness and love.
3 – And it came about that for that reason almost the entire vineyard was ruined. For some picked the grapes and ate them there, while others picked them and carried them off, and still others trampled them underfoot. The priest began to be offended and upset. “I lost my vintage for this year!” he said. “Even though it’s small, I got enough wine from it to take care of my needs!”
– Harshness will damage your own soul and spoil the best cause.
4 – When blessed Francis heard of this, he had him called and said to him: “Do not be disturbed or offended any longer. We can’t do anything about it. But trust in the Lord, because for me, His little servant, He can restore your loss. But, tell me, how many measures of wine did you get when your vineyard was at its best?” – We are like God when we forgive.
5 – “Thirteen measures, father,” the priest responded. “Don’t be sad over this anymore,” blessed Francis told him, “and don’t say anything offensive to anyone because of it, or argue with anyone about it. Trust the Lord and my words, and if you get less than twenty measures of wine, I will make it up to you.”
– It is never the wrong time to do the right thing.
6 – The priest calmed down and kept quiet. And it happened by divine dispensation that he obtained twenty measures and no less, just as blessed Francis had told him.
– How wonderful it would be if we spent as much energy living our religion as we do arguing about it.
7 – Those who heard about it, as well as the priest himself, were amazed. They considered it a great miracle due to the merits of blessed Francis, especially because not only was it devastated, but even if it had been full of grapes and no one had taken any, it still seemed impossible to the priest and the others to get twenty measures of wine from it.
– No gift is ours till we have thanked the giver.
8 – We who were with him bear witness that whenever he used to say: “This is the way it is . . . or this is the way it will be …”, it always happened as he said. We have seen many of these fulfilled not only while he was alive but also after his death.
– People may doubt what you say but they will believe what you do.
68 – AT FONTECOLOMBO THE DOCTOR HAS DINNER WITH THE BROTHERS AND THE LORD PROVIDES THE FOOD
9 – At that same time, blessed Francis stayed in the hermitage of the brothers at Fonte Colombo near Rieti because of the disease of his eyes. One day the eye doctor of that city a visited him and stayed with him for some hours, as he often used to do.
– Carry the cross patiently, and in the end it will carry you.
10 – When he was ready to leave, blessed Francis said to one of his companions: “Go and give the doctor a good meal.” “Father,” his companion answered, “we’re ashamed to say that, because we’re so poor now we’d be ashamed to invite him and give him anything to eat.”
– Kindness is loving people more than they deserve.
11 – Blessed Francis told his companions: “O you of little faith! Don’t make me tell you again!” The doctor said to blessed Francis and his companions: “Brother, it is because the brothers are so poor that I am happy to eat with them.”
– Life can be understood backward, but it must be understood forward.
12 – The doctor was very rich and, although blessed Francis and his companions had often invited him, he had refused to eat there. The brothers went and set the table. With embarrassment, they placed the little bread and wine they had as well as the few greens they had prepared for themselves.
– Lighthouses blow no horns; they only shine.
13 – When they had sat down at the table and eaten a bit, there was a knock on the door of the hermitage. One of the brothers rose, went and opened the door. And there was a woman with a large basket filled with beautiful bread, fish, crab cakes, honey, and freshly-picked grapes, which had been sent to brother Francis by a lady of a town about seven miles away from the hermitage.
– In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart.
14 – After they saw this and considered the holiness of blessed Francis, the brothers and the doctor were greatly amazed. “My brothers,” the doctor told them, “neither you nor we sufficiently recognize the holiness of this saint.”
– There I no saint without a past and no sinner without a future.
69 – HE TELLS A LADY OF LIMISIANO THAT HER HUSBAND WILL BE CONVERTED
15 – One time blessed Francis was going to “Le Celle” of Cortona and was following the road that passes at the foot of a fortified town called Limisiano, near the place of the brothers at Pregio. A noble woman of the town happened to come with great haste to speak to blessed Francis.
– The best use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it.
16 – When one of his companions saw this woman, extremely tired, hurrying after them, he ran to tell blessed Francis. “Father, for the love of God, let us wait for the lady who is following us, since she is quite exhausted from her desire to speak with us.” Blessed Francis, as a man full of charity and piety, waited for her. When he saw her exhausted and coming to him with great fervor and devotion, he said to her: “What is it, please, my lady?”
– To give witness of your faith is like perfume. If it’s really good, you won’t have to advertise it.
17 – The lady answered: “Father, please, bless me.” Blessed Francis asked her: “Are you bound to a man or single?”
“Father,” she said, “for a long time the Lord has given me the will to serve him. I had and still have a strong desire to have my soul. But I have a husband so cruel that he is an antagonist to me and to himself in the service of Christ. Because of this, my soul is tormented to death with great sorrow and anguish.”
– Everything that happens in this world happens at the time God chooses.
18 – Blessed Francis was moved by piety for her, considering the burning spirit she had, and especially because she was a young girl and was delicate according to the flesh. He blessed her and said to her, “Go, and you will find your husband at home. Tell him for me that for the love of the Lord who endured the passion of the cross to save us, I beg both you and him to save your souls in your own home.”
– Jesus impacted the lives of his followers more powerfully after his death than before it.
19 – When she returned and entered the house, she found her husband at home, just as blessed Francis had told her. Her husband said to her: “Where are you coming from?” “I’m coming from seeing blessed Francis who blessed me,” she answered, “and his words have consoled and gladdened my soul in the Lord. Moreover, he told me to tell you on his behalf and to beg you that we should both save our souls in our own home.”
– People don’t really pay much attention to what we say about our religion, because they’d rather see what we do about it.
20 – After she said this, the grace of God immediately came down on him, through the merits of blessed Francis. Suddenly changed anew by the Lord, he answered her with great kindness and meekness: “My lady, from now on, as it will please you, let us serve Christ and save our souls, as blessed Francis said.”
– Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God’s gift of himself.
21 – His wife told him: “My lord, it seems to me that it would be good for us to live in chastity, because it is very pleasing to the Lord and is a virtue with great reward.”
– A leader is someone who knows, goes, and shows the way.
22 – “Lady,” her husband answered, “what pleases you, pleases me. For in this, as in other good deeds, I want to unite my will to yours.” And from then on, for many years, they lived in chastity, giving many alms to the brothers and to other poor people.
– True spiritual vision is the ability to seed the invisible.
23 – Not only seculars, but also religious marveled at their holiness, especially since this man, who once was very worldly, so quickly became spiritual.
– Criticism is like dynamite. It has its place, but it should be handled only by experts.
24 – Persevering till the end in all these things and other deeds, both of them died within a few days of each other. Because of the fragrance of their good life, there was great mourning over these two who had given all the time of their lives to praising and blessing the Lord who had given them graces, sincerity, and harmony during life in His service. Even in death they were not separated, because one died right after the other. Their memory, like that of the saints, is recalled to this day by those who knew them.
– If you cannot find happiness along the way, don’t assume you will find it at the end of the road.
70 – HE REFUSES ENTRANCE TO THE ORDER TO A YOUNG NOBLEMAN FROM LUCCA
25 – At a time when no one was received into the life of the brothers without the permission of blessed Francis, the son of a nobleman of this world from Lucca, together with others who wished to enter the religion, came to see blessed Francis. At the time he was sick and was staying at the palace of the bishop of Assisi. When the brothers presented them to blessed Francis, the son of the nobleman bowed before blessed Francis and began to cry aloud, begging to be received.
– Who has health has hope; who has hope has everything.
26 – Looking at him, Blessed Francis said: “O wretched and fleshly man! Why are you lying to the Holy Spirit and to me? You are crying in the flesh and not in the spirit!” After he said these things, his relatives suddenly arrived outside the palace on horseback, wanting to seize him and take him back home.
– They stand best who kneel most.
27 – When he heard the clatter of horses, he looked out a window of the palace, and saw his relatives. He immediately got up, and went outside to them. He returned to the world with them, just as blessed Francis had known through the Holy Spirit. The brothers, and others who were there, marveled, magnified, and praised God in his saint.
– Who loses wealth loses much, but who loses the spirit loses everything.
71 – HE WANTS TO EAT SOME FISH AND IT IS PROVIDED IN A WONDERFUL WAY
28 – Once when he was very sick and staying in the same palace, the brothers begged and encouraged him to eat. But he answered them: “My brothers, I don’t have the wish to eat; but if I had a bit of that fish called squalo, perhaps I would eat some.”
– When we do what we can, God will do what we can’t.
29 – Once he said this, someone came carrying a basket in which there were three large and well-prepared squali and crabcakes. The holy father gladly ate these. These were sent to him by Brother Gerardo, the minister at Rieti. As they considered his holiness, the brothers were amazed and praised the Lord who had provided for his servant, especially because it was winter and such things were not available in that area.
– Those who stand for nothing fall for everything.
72 – HE KNOWS THE THOUGHTS OF A CRITICAL BROTHER
30 – Once blessed Francis was travelling with a spiritual brother from Assisi who came from a great and powerful family. Because he was weak and ill, blessed Francis rode on a donkey. Feeling tired from walking, that brother began to think to himself: “His parents were never at the same level as mine, and here he is riding, while I’m worn out, walking behind him, prodding the beast.” While he was thinking this, blessed Francis got off the donkey and said to him: “No, brother, it’s not right or proper for me to ride while you go on foot, for in the world you were nobler and more influential than I.” The brother, stunned and ashamed, fell down at his feet and, in tears, confessed his thought and then said his penance. He was greatly amazed at his holiness, for he immediately knew his thought. In fact, when the brothers petitioned the Lord Pope Gregory and the cardinals in Assisi to canonize blessed Francis, he testified to this before the Lord Pope and the cardinals.
– Blessed is the influence of one true, loving human soul on another.
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, OFM Cap
Regional Spiritual Assistant
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