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 website: skdsfo email: pppgusa@gmail.com
November 2025
The daily Franciscan reminders of our Religious Heritage from our Franciscan Sources continues from the ASSISI COMPILATION #75-#85. The daily quotes are taken from G.K.Chesterton and his witty and provocative sayings – food for thought
Most High, glorious God,
enlighten the darkness of my heart and give me
true faith, certain hope, and perfect charity,
sense and knowledge, Lord, that I may carry out
Your holy and true command. Amen
You are the holy Lord God Who does wonderful things.
You are strong. You are great. You are the most high.
You are the almighty king. You holy Father,
King of heaven and earth.
You are three and one, the Lord God of gods;
You are the good, all good, the highest good,
Lord God living and true.
You are love, charity; You are wisdom, You are humility,
You are patience. You are beauty, You are meekness,
You are security, You are rest,
You are gladness and joy, You are our hope,
75 – HE PREACHES IN THE PIAZZA OF PERUGIA AND FORETELLS A CIVIL WAR
1 – Once blessed Francis was preaching in the piazza at Perugia to a large crowd gathered there. All of a sudden some knights of Perugia began racing their horses around the piazza, jousting with their weapons, and thus disturbing the preaching. Although the men and women, who were intent on listening to the sermon, reprimanded them, they did not stop. Blessed Francis turned to them and, with a fiery spirit, said: “Listen and understand what the Lord is telling you through me, His servant, and don’t say, ‘This one is from Assisi!’”
– To love means loving the unlovable.
2 – Blessed Francis said this because of a long-standing enmity between the people of Assisi and those of Perugia. “The Lord has exalted and elevated you above all your neighbors,” he said. “Because of this, you must acknowledge your Creator all the more, and humble yourselves not only before almighty God but also before your neighbors. But your heart is puffed up by arrogance in your pride and might. You attack your neighbors and kill many of them.
– You’ll never find the solution if you don’t see the problem.
3 – Because of this I tell you, unless you quickly turn to Him and compensate those whom you have injured, the Lord, who leaves nothing unavenged, to your greater punishment and disgrace, will cause you to rise up against each other. You will be torn apart by sedition and civil war, suffering by a far greater calamity than your neighbors could ever inflict on you.” – Jesus promised his disciples three things—that they would be completely fearless, absurdly happy, and in constant trouble.
4 – In his preaching blessed Francis was not silent about people’s vices, through which they publicly offended God and their neighbor. The Lord had given him such grace, that everyone who saw or heard him, small or great, feared and revered him because he had such an abundance of grace from God. As a result, no matter how much he reprimanded them, even to the point of shaming them, they were edified.
– Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.
5 – Indeed, sometimes, for this reason, and so that he would pray to the Lord more intently for them, they would turn to the Lord. A few days later, by divine consent, a scandal broke out between the knights and the people. The people drove the knights out of the city. The knights, supported by the Church, destroyed many of their fields, vineyards and trees, doing as much harm to them as they could. The people likewise destroyed the knights’ fields, vineyards and trees. And thus, that people was afflicted with greater punishment than all of their neighbors whom they had offended. In this way everything that blessed Francis predicted about them was fulfilled to the letter.
– God is like the sun; you cannot look at it, but without it you cannot look at anything else.
76 – HE MEETS A DEVOUT ABBOT, WHO FEELS THE POWER OF HIS PRAYER
6 – When blessed Francis was going through one region, he met an abbot of a monastery who had a great love and veneration for him. Dismounting from his horse, the abbot spoke to him for over an hour about the salvation of his soul. When the time came for them to part, the abbot asked blessed Francis with great devotion to pray to the Lord for his soul. “I will gladly do that,” blessed Francis told him.
– The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.
7 – The abbot had gone a short distance from blessed Francis when blessed Francis said to his companion: “Wait for me a little while, brother, for I want to pray for that abbot, as I promised.” And he prayed for him. It was customary for blessed Francis, whenever anyone out of devotion requested him to pray to the Lord for his soul, to offer a prayer as soon as possible, so that he would not forget afterwards.
– Do not be so open-minded that your brains fall out.
8 – The abbot was still on his way, not very far from blessed Francis, when suddenly the Lord visited him in his heart. A gentle warmth filled his face, and, for a brief moment, he was raised in ecstasy of spirit. When he came to himself, he immediately knew that blessed Francis had prayed for him. He began to praise God and to rejoice both in body and soul. From that time on, he had an even greater devotion to the holy father, considering in him the greatness of his holiness. As long as he lived he held this to be a great miracle, and he often related to the brothers and others what had happened to him.
– The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of Conservatives is to prevent mistakes from being corrected.
77 – HE OVERLOOKS HIS OWN ILLNESSES OUT OF LOVE FOR THE PASSION OF THE LORD
9 – For a long time and even until the day of his death, blessed Francis suffered ailments of the liver, spleen, and stomach. From the time when he was overseas to preach to the Sultan of Babylon and Egypt, he had a very severe eye disease, caused by the hardship and fatigue of travel, as he endured the extreme heat both in coming and going.
– A really great person is the person who makes every person feel great.
10 – Because of the fervent spirit he had from the moment of his conversion to Christ, he refused to be concerned about treatment for any of his ailments despite the request of his brothers and many others, moved by piety and compassion for him. What was bitter to his body he accepted and considered sweet on account of the sweetness and compassion that he drew daily from the humility and footprints of the Son of God. Because of the sufferings and bitter experiences of Christ, which He endured for us, he grieved and afflicted himself daily in body and soul to such a degree that he did not treat his own illnesses.
– A society is in decay, final or transitional, when common sense really becomes uncommon.
78 – HE IS SEEN WALKING AND CRYING OVER THE PASSION OF CHRIST
11 – Once, a few years after his conversion, he was walking alone one day along the road not too far from the church of Saint Mary of the Portiuncula, crying loudly and wailing as he went. As he was walking along, a spiritual man met him, someone we know and from whom we learned about this incident, who had shown him great mercy and consolation, both before he had any brothers and afterwards.
– Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.
12 – Moved by piety toward him, he asked him: “Brother, what’s wrong?” He thought that blessed Francis was suffering some painful illness. But he answered: “I should go through the whole world this way, without any shame, crying and bewailing the Passion of my Lord.” At this, the man began to weep and cry aloud together with him. – It is absurd for the Evolutionist to complain that it is unthinkable for an admittedly unthinkable God to make everything out of nothing and then pretend that it is more thinkable that nothing should turn itself into everything.
79 – HE REPLIES TO A BROTHER WHO ENCOURAGED HIM TO HAVE SCRIPTURE READ TO COMFORT HIM
13 – On another occasion, at the time of his eye disease, he endured such pain that one day a minister said to him: “Brother, why don’t you have one of your companions read to you from the prophets or other passages of Scripture? In that way, your spirit will rejoice in the Lord and receive great consolation.” He knew that he rejoiced greatly in the Lord whenever he heard the divine Scriptures read to him.
– When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.
14 – “Brother,” he answered him, “every day I find so much sweetness and consolation in my memory from meditating on the humility of the footprints of the Son of God that, if I were to live till the end of the world, I’d have no great need to hear or meditate on other passages of Scripture.”
– It is always the secure who are humble.
15 – He often called to mind and afterward spoke to the brothers this verse of David: “My soul refuses to be consoled.” For this reason, as he frequently told the brothers, because he had to be a model and example to all the brothers, he refused to take, not only medicines, but even necessary food in his illnesses. Because he took these things into consideration, he was severe with his body, not only when he appeared healthy, although he was always weak and ill, but also when he was ailing.
– Nothing taken for granted; everything received with gratitude; everything passed on with grace.
80 – HE AVOIDS HYPOCRISY, CONFESSING WHAT HE HAS EATEN DURING AN ILLNESS
16 – One time when he had recovered somewhat from a very serious illness, after some consideration, it seemed to him that he had received some little delicacies during that illness, although he ate only a little, since with his many, diverse, and serious illnesses he was not able to eat.
– There’s a lot of difference between listening and hearing.
17 – One day, although still sick from a quartan fever, he had the people of Assisi called to the piazza for a sermon. When he had finished preaching, he requested that no one leave until he returned.
– A dead thing goes with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.
18 – Together with Brother Peter of Catanio, whom he chose as the first general minister, and with a few other brothers, he entered the church of San Rufino, going into the confessio. He ordered Brother Peter to obey and not contradict whatever he wanted to say and do to himself. And Brother Peter said to him: “Brother, in what concerns you and me, I cannot, and should not want anything else except what pleases you.”
– Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly.
19 – Taking off his tunic, blessed Francis ordered Brother Peter to lead him naked with a rope tied around his neck in front of the people. He ordered another brother to take a bowl full of ashes and, mounting the place from where he had preached, to throw them and sprinkle them on his head. But moved by piety and compassion towards him, the brother did not obey him. Brother Peter got up and, weeping bitterly with the other brothers, led him out as he had been ordered to do.
– Never forget that the devil fell by force of gravity.
20 – In this way he came back in front of the people naked, to the place where he had preached, and said: “You believe me to be a holy man, as do others who, following my example, leave the world and enter the religion and life of the brothers. But I confess to God and to you that during my illness I ate meat and broth flavored with meat.”
– He who has the faith has the fun.
21 – Almost all the people began to weep out of piety and compassion for him, especially since it was wintertime and was very cold and he had not yet recovered from the quartan fever. They struck their breasts, accusing themselves. “This holy man,” they said, “whose life we know, accuses himself with such shame over a just and manifest necessity.
– Science must not impose any philosophy, any more than the telephone must tell us what to say.
22 – Yet because of excessive abstinence and the severity with which he treats his body from the moment of his conversion to Christ, we see him living in flesh that is almost dead. What shall we do, wretches that we are, we who all our life have lived, and wish to live, according to the will and desires of the flesh?”
– The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people.
81 – HE ABHORS HYPOCRISY BOTH IN EATING AND IN CLOTHING
23 – Likewise, at another time, he was staying in a hermitage for the Lent of Saint Martin. Because of his illness, the brothers cooked the food they gave him to eat in lard, because oil was very bad for him in his illnesses. When the forty days had ended and he was preaching to a large crowd of people, gathered not far from that hermitage, in the opening words of his sermon he told them: “You came to me with great devotion and believe me to be a holy man. But I confess to God and to you that during this Lent in that hermitage, I have eaten food flavored with lard.”
– If there were no God, there would be no atheists
24 – Indeed, if the brothers or the friends of the brothers, with whom he would eat, occasionally prepared a special dish for him because of his illnesses or the obvious need of his body, it frequently happened that he would immediately tell this to the brothers or lay people who did not know about it, whether inside the house or outside, saying publicly: “I ate such and such foods.” He did not wish to conceal from people what was known to God.
– The riddles of God are more satisfying than the solutions of man
25 – Moreover, if his soul were ever tempted to vainglory, pride, or any vice, no matter where he was, or in whose presence, whether they be religious or lay, he would immediately and openly confess it to them, without concealing anything. That is why he told his companions one day: “I want to live before God, in hermitages and other places where I stay, just as the people see and know me. If they believe that I am a holy man and I do not lead a life becoming a holy man, I would be a hypocrite.”
– Just going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car.
26 – Thus one time in winter, one of the companions, who was his guardian, acquired a piece of fox fur because of the illness of the spleen and the cold of his stomach. He asked him to permit him to have it sewn under his tunic next to his stomach and spleen, especially because it was then extremely cold. But from the moment he began to serve Christ until the day of his death, in any weather, he did not want to wear or have anything but a single patched tunic.
– Religion is the thing that makes the ordinary man feel extraordinary; it is an equally important truth that religion is the thing that makes the extraordinary man feel ordinary.
27 – Blessed Francis answered him: “If you want me to wear that fur under the tunic, allow me to sew a piece of the fur on the outside of my tunic as an indication to people that I have a piece of fur underneath.” And this is what he had done; and, although it was a necessity on account of his illnesses, he did not wear it long.
– One of the chief uses of religion is that it makes us remember our coming from darkness, the simple fact that we are created.
81 – HE ACCUSES HIMSELF OF VAINGLORY, NOT WISHING TO BE A HYPOCRITE
28 – Another time, he was going through the city of Assisi and many people went with him. A poor old woman asked him for alms for the love of God and he immediately gave her the mantle he had on his back. And, at once, he confessed before everyone that on that account he felt vainglory.
– Neither reason nor faith will ever die; for men would die if deprived of either
29 – We who were with him saw and heard many other examples similar to these but we cannot tell them because it would take too long to write or recount them. Blessed Francis’s highest and principal concern was that he should not be a hypocrite before God.
– The first effect of not believing in God is that you lose your common sense.
30 – Although he needed special food for his body because of his infirmity, nevertheless, he thought that he must always offer good example to the brothers and to others, so that he might take away from them any reason for complaining and bad example. He preferred to endure bodily needs patiently and willingly, and he did endure them until the day of his death, rather than satisfy himself, even though he could have done so according to God and good example.
– Christendom has had a series of revolutions and in each one of them Christianity has died. Christianity has died many times and risen again; for it had a God who knew the way out of the grave.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
THANK YOU, GOD, FOR BEING YOU AND FOR CREATING EACH ONE OF US
Leave a Reply