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Posted By Teresa Redder, on July 1st, 2026 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
July 2026
O loving one, bear in mind your poor children for whom, without you,
their one and only consolation, there is little comfort. They still tearfully cry out to you:
O Father, place before Jesus Christ, son of the Most High Father, His sacred stigmata;
and show Him the signs of the cross on your hands, feet, and side,
that He may mercifully bare His own wounds to the Father,
and because of this the Father will ever show us in our anguish His tenderness.
Amen.
(Prayer to St. Francis from the End of the Second Book of the Life of St. Francis
by Bl. Thomas of Celano)
Excerpts from Franciscan Sources – Assisi Compilation #107- #110
Daily quotes from sayings of Pope St. John XXIII
107 – HE CORRECTS IDLE WORDS AMONG THE BROTHERS AT THE PORTIUNCULA
1 – When our most holy father Francis was staying at the church of Saint Mary of the Portiuncula, it was his daily custom after the meal to work at some task with his brothers to avoid the vice of idleness. Thinking of himself and his brothers, lest they lose, because of use less and idle words after prayer, the good they earned with the help of the Lord during the time of prayer, he ordered the brothers to ob serve avoid falling into useless and idle words. – We are not on earth as museum keepers, but to cultivate a flourishing garden of life and to prepare a glorious future.
2 – And he established the following: If any brother, while walking or working at something, utters any useless or idle word, he must say one Our Father with the Praises of God at the beginning and end of this prayer, with this condition: if perhaps he is the first to notice it and accuses himself of what he did, let him say the Our Father for his own soul together with The Praises of God as was said.- I have looked into your eyes with my eyes. I have put my heart near your heart.
3 – But if another brother corrected him first, he is bound to say the Our Father in the way mentioned for the soul of the brother who corrected him. If after being corrected, he offers an excuse, refusing to say the Our Father, he is bound to say two Our Father’s, as above, for the soul of the brother who corrected him, whose testimony, or perhaps that of another brother, will prove that it is true that he said that use less or idle word. He shall say the Praises of God, as mentioned, at the beginning and end of that prayer loud enough and clear enough for the brothers staying there to understand and hear, and while he is saying them, the brothers must be quiet and listen.
– Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams.
4 – If one of them keeps silent about this, he shall be bound to say one Our Father in the same way with the Praises of God for the soul of the brother who spoke. When any brother enters a cell, a house, or any place and finds a brother or brothers there or anywhere, he should always earnestly praise and bless God.
– Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential.
5 – It was the custom of the most Holy Father always to say those Praises, and it was his fervent wish and desire that the other brothers be similarly careful and devout in saying them.
-The family is the first essential cell of human society.
108 – HE SENDS THE BROTHERS ON MISSION FROM THE PORTIUNCULA; HOW HE DECIDES TO GO TO FRANCE; HIS DEVOTION TO THE BODY OF CHRIST; BROTHER SYLVESTER CASTS OUT DEMONS AT AREZZO; CARDINAL HUGOLINO SENDS HIM BACK FROM FLORENCE
6 – At the time of the general chapter celebrated in that same place, in which the brothers were sent for the first time to regions overseas, when the chapter had ended, blessed Francis staying in that same place with a few brothers, said to them: “Dearest brothers, I must be a model and example to all the brothers.
– A peaceful man does more good than a learned one.
7 – If therefore I send my brothers into far distant countries where they will endure toil, shame, hunger, and many other types of need, it seems to me to be just and good that I also go to some far distant region, especially so that the brothers may be able to bear their needs and trials more patiently when they hear that I am also undergoing the same thing.”
– Men are like wine, some turn to vinegar, but the best improve with age.
8 – And he said to them: “Therefore go and ask the Lord that He may allow me to choose that region which will give more praise to the Lord and for the profit and salvation of souls and good example to our religion.” It was the custom of our most holy father to pray to the Lord, and to send his brothers to pray, not only when he was going to a faraway region to preach, but also when he went to nearby regions, so that the Lord might direct his heart to go wherever it seemed best to God. The brothers, therefore, went off to pray and when their prayer was finished they returned to him.
– The feelings of my smallness and my nothingness always kept me in good company.
9 – He said to them: “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, of his glorious Virgin Mother and of all the saints, I choose the region of France, in which there is a Catholic people, especially because of the other Catholics of the holy Church. They show great reverence to the Body of Christ, which pleases me very much. Because of this, I will gladly live among them.”
– See everything, overlook a great deal, correct a little.
10 – Now blessed Francis had such reverence and devotion to the Body of Christ, that he wanted it written in the Rule that the brothers in the regions where they stay should take care and be concerned about this, and should admonish and preach about this to clerics and priests, so that they place the Body of Christ in a good and fitting place; and, if they did not do so, he wanted the brothers to do so. – It is now for the Catholic Church to bend herself to her work with calmness and generosity.
11 – In fact one time he wanted to send some brothers through every region with pyxes and wherever they found the Body of Christ placed illicitly, they were to place It honorably in them. Out of reverence for the most holy Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, he wanted it placed in the Rule that, wherever the brothers find the written words and name of the Lord by which the most holy sacrament is confected, not well kept, or carelessly thrown around in some place, let them gather them up, honoring in the words the Lord Who spoke them.
– Every Christian must be convinced of his fundamental duty of bearing witness to the truth in which he believes.
12 – Many things are made holy by the words of God, and the sacrament of the altar is celebrated in the power of the words of Christ. Although he did not write this in the Rule, particularly because it did not seem good to the brother ministers that the brothers should take this as a command, nevertheless, the holy father wanted to leave the brothers in his Testament and in his other writings his will about these things.
– Christ’s flock is made up of sheep that not only listen to their shepherd, but are also able to recognize his voice.
13 – He also wanted to send other brothers throughout every region with good and beautiful wafer irons for making hosts. When blessed Francis had chosen from those brothers the ones he wished to take with him, he said to them: “Go, in the name of the Lord, two by two along the way, decently, in the greatest silence from dawn until after terce, praying to the Lord in your hearts.
– It is easier for a father to have children than for children to have a real father.
14 – And let no idle or useless words be mentioned among you. Although you are traveling, nevertheless, let your behavior be as decent as if you were staying in a hermitage or a cell because wherever we are or wherever we travel, we have a cell with us. Brother Body is our cell, and the soul is the hermit who remains inside the cell to pray to God and meditate. So if the soul does not remain in quiet and solitude in its cell, a cell made by hands does little good to a religious.”
– The true and solid peace of nations consists not in equality f arms, but in mutual trust alone.
15 – When they arrived at Arezzo, there was a great scandal and war night and day throughout almost the entire city, because of two factions who had hated each other for a long time. Blessed Francis heard all the noise and cries night and day; since he received hospitality in a hospice in a neighborhood outside the city, it seemed to him that the demons were overjoyed by this and were inciting the people to destroy their city with fire and other dangerous means.
– Born poor, but of honored and humble people, I am particularly proud to die poor.
16 – Moved by piety over that city, he said to Brother Sylvester, the priest, a man of God, of great faith and admirable simplicity and purity, whom the holy Father venerated as a saint: “Go in front of the city gate and in a loud voice command all the devils that they all leave this city.” Brother Sylvester got up, went in front of the city gate crying out in a loud voice: “Praised and blessed be the Lord Jesus Christ. On behalf of Almighty God and in virtue of holy obedience of our most holy father Francis, I command all the devils that they all leave this city!” Through the mercy of God and the prayer of blessed Francis, it so happened that, without any preaching, shortly afterwards, they returned to peace and unity.
– Here I am at the end of the road and at the top of the heap.
17 – Since blessed Francis was not able to preach to them at that time, once preached to them later, he said to them in the first words of his sermon: “…You bound and sold yourselves like animals in the market because of your wretched state. You betrayed yourselves into the hands of the demons when you placed yourselves at the will of those who have destroyed and continue to destroy themselves, and want to destroy you and the whole city. But you are wretched and ignorant people and ungrateful for the favor of God who, although unknown to many of you, at one time freed this city through the merits of a most holy brother, Sylvester.”
– I am able to follow my own death step by step. Now I move softly towards the end.
18 – When blessed Francis reached Florence, he found there Lord Hugolino, the bishop of Ostia, who later became pope. He had been sent by Pope Honorius as a legate for the Duchy of Tuscany, and Lombardy, and the Marches of Treviso as far as Venice.
– Authority is mainly a moral power; therefore it must first call upon the conscience.
19 – The Lord Bishop greatly rejoiced at his arrival, but when he heard from blessed Francis that he wanted to go to France, he prohibited him from going, telling him: “Brother, I do not want you to go beyond the mountains, because there are many prelates and others who would willingly block the religion’s interests in the Roman Curia.
– I live by the mercy of Jesus.
20 – The other cardinals and I, who love your religion, can protect and help it more willingly if you stay within the confines of this region.” But blessed Francis said to him: “Lord, it is a great shame to me, if I remain in these regions when I send my brothers to remote and far away regions.” The Lord Bishop, however, said to him as if rebuking him: “Why did you send your brothers so far away to die of hunger and to so many other trials?”
– Do not walk through time without leaving worthy evidence of your passage.
21 – In great fervor of spirit and in the spirit of prophecy, blessed Francis answered him: “Lord, do you think or believe that the Lord sent the brothers only for these regions? But I tell you in truth that the Lord chose and sent the brothers for the benefit and salvation of the souls of all people in the whole world and they should be received not only in the land of believers, but also in that of non-believers.
– I want to throw open the windows of the Church so that we can see out and the people can see in.
22 – As long as they observe what they promised the Lord, the Lord will minister to them in the land of non-believers as well as in the countries of believers.” The Lord Bishop marveled at his words and admitted that he spoke the truth. But the Lord Bishop did not allow him to go to France. Instead blessed Francis sent Brother Pacifico there with other brothers, and he returned to the valley of Spoleto.
– Prayer is the raising of the mind to God. We must always remember this. The actual words matter less.
109 BEFORE A CHAPTER AT THE PORTIUNCULA HE TALKS ABOUT BEING A TRUE LESSER BROTHER WHEN INSULTED
23 – Once when the time for the chapter of the brothers was approaching, to beheld at the church of Saint Mary of the Portiuncula, blessed Francis said to his companion: “It seems to me that I am not a Lesser Brother unless I have the attitude I will tell you.”
– Never hesitate to hold out your hand; never hesitate to accept the outstretched hand of another.
24 – And he said: “The brothers come to me with great devotion and veneration, invite me to the chapter, and, touched by their devotion, I go to the chapter with them. After they assemble, they ask me to proclaim the word of God and preach to them as the Holy Spirit instructs me.
– Before everything else, fidelity to the Church: One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic.
25 – “After the sermon, suppose that they reflect and speak against me: ‘We do not want you to rule over us. You are not eloquent and you are too simple. We are very ashamed to have such a simple and contemptible prelate over us. From now on, do not presume to call yourself our prelate.’ And so, with insults, they throw me out. “It seems to me that I am not a Lesser Brother unless I am just as happy when they insult me and throw me out in shame, refusing that I be their prelate, as when they honor and revere me, if in both cases the benefit to them is equal.
– It often happens that I wake up at night and begin to think about a serious problem and decide I must tell the pope about it. Then I wake up completely and remember that I am the Pope.
26 – If I am happy about their benefit and devotion when they praise and honor me, which can be a danger to the soul, it is even more fitting that I should rejoice and be happy at my benefit and the salvation of my soul when they revile me as they throw me out in shame, which is profit for the soul.
– Christ’s Church is, above all, the spiritual temple where every Christian knows he has his place.
110 – HE IS CONSOLED AT THE PORTIUNCULA BY SISTER CRICKET
27 – One time during summer blessed Francis was at that same place, and he stayed in the last cell next to the hedge of the garden behind the house, where, after his death, Brother Raineri, the gardener, stayed. It happened that one day, as he came down from that little cell, there was a cricket within on the branch of the fig tree next to that cell, and he could touch it. Stretching out his hand, he said:“Sister Cricket, come to me.”
– Every person has the right to life, to bodily integrity.
28 – The cricket immediately climbed onto the fingers of his hand, and with a finger of his other hand, he began to touch it, saying: “Sing, my Sister Cricket.”It obeyed him at once and began to chirp. This consoled blessed Francis greatly and he praised God. He held it in his hand that way for more than an hour. Afterwards he put it back on the branch of the fig tree from which he had taken it.
– If God created shadows it was to better emphasize the light.
29 – And in the same way, for eight days constantly, when he came down from the cell, he found it in the same place. And daily he would take it in his hand, and as soon as he told it to sing, touching it, it sang.
– You and I have one thing in common: money. You have a lot and I have nothing at all. The difference is I don’t care about it.
30 – After eight days, he said to his companions: “Let us give permission to our sister cricket to go where she wants. She has consoled us enough; and the flesh might vainglory from this.” As soon as it had received permission, the cricket went away and never appeared there again.
– Whoever has a heart full of love always has something to give
31 – His companions admired how obedient and tame she was to him. Blessed Francis found so much joy in creatures because of love of the Creator, to console him in his inner and outer self, that the Lord made even those that are wild to people become tame to him.
– I live by the mercy of Jesus.”
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Teresa Redder, on June 11th, 2026 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
June 2026
Heart of Jesus, fountain of every blessing,
I adore You, I love You, and with a lively sorrow for my sins.
I offer You this poor heart of mine.
Make me humble, patient, pure, and wholly obedient to Your will.
Grant, good Jesus, that I may live in You and for You.
Protect me in the midst of danger; comfort me in my afflictions;
give me health of body, assistance in my temporal needs,
Your blessings on all that I do, and the grace of a holy death.
Within Your heart, I place my every care.
In every need let me come to You with humble trust saying,
Heart of Jesus, help me.
Amen.
Daily reading of the Franciscan Sources continues from the Compilation of Assisi #103-#106
Witty quotes for the day taken from words of saints and blesseds
103 – THE NOVICE WHO WANTED TO HAVE A PSALTER; A DESCRIPTION OF HIS HOLY BROTHERS
1 – Likewise, there was once a brother novice who could read the psalter, but not very well. And because he enjoyed reading, he sought permission from the general minister to have a psalter and the minister granted it to him. But he did not wish to have it unless he first had permission from blessed Francis, especially since he had heard that blessed Francis did not want his brothers to be desirous of learning and books, but wanted and preached to the brothers to be eager to have and imitate pure and holy simplicity, holy prayer, and Lady Poverty, on which the holy and first brothers had built.
– Lord if this is how you treat your friends, no wonder you have so few. (St. Teresa of Avila)
2 – And he believed this to be the more secure path for the soul’s well-being. Not that he despised or disdained holy knowledge. On the contrary, he revered with great feeling those who were knowledgeable in religion, and all knowledgeable persons, as he himself says in his Testament: “We must honor all theologians and those who minister the divine words and respect them as those who minister to us spirit and life.”
– From silly devotions and sour-faced saints, good Lord, deliver us. (St. Teresa of Avila)
3 – But, foreseeing the future, he knew through the Holy Spirit and even repeated it many times to the brothers, that many brothers, under the pretext of edifying others, would abandon their vocation, that is, pure and holy simplicity, prayer, and our Lady Poverty.
– Don’t drag your feet on the way to heaven; it’s embarrassing. (St. John Vianney)
4 – And it will happen that, because they will afterwards believe themselves to be more imbued with devotion and enflamed with the love of God because of an understanding of the Scriptures, they will occasionally remain inwardly cold and almost empty. And so, they will be unable to return to their first vocation, especially since they have wasted the time for living according to their calling; and I fear that even what they seem to possess will be taken away from them, because they have lost their vocation.
– Be at peace, and if you can’t, pretend. (St. Francis de Sales)
5 – “There are many,” he used to say, “who, day and night, place all their energy and care in knowledge, losing their holy vocation and devout prayer. And when they have preached to others or to the people, and see or learn that some have been edified or converted to penance, they become puffed up or congratulate themselves for someone else’s gain.
– God has no need of your cleverness, He wants your heart. (St. Therese of Lisieux)
6 – For those whom they think they have edified or converted to penance by their words, the Lord edified and converted by the prayers of holy brothers, although they are ignorant of it. This is the will of God so that they do not take notice of it and become proud.
– Holiness is not for wimps, so stop acting like one. (St. Carlo Acutis)
7 – “These brothers of mine are my knights of the round table, the brothers who hide in deserted and remote places, to devote themselves more diligently to prayer and meditation, weeping over their sins and those of others, whose holiness is known to God, and is sometimes ignored by the brothers and people.
– Patience is the companion of wisdom and the enemy of complaining. (St. Augustine)
8 – And when their souls will be presented to the Lord by the angels, the Lord will then reveal to them the fruit and reward of their labors, that is, the many souls saved by their prayers, saying to them: ‘My sons, behold these souls have been saved by your prayer, and since you were faithful in little things, I will set you over many.’ ”
– Even if you are on the right road, you will get run over if you just sit there. (St. Padre Pio)
9 – Because of this, blessed Francis used to say about this passage: The barren one has given birth to many children and the mother of many languishes: the barren one is the good religious who edifies himself and others by his holy prayers and virtues. He often said these words in a talk in the presence of the brothers, especially during a chapter of the brothers at Saint Mary of the Portiuncula in the presence of the ministers and the other brothers.
– Pray, hope, and don’t worry…especially the last part. (St. Padre Pio)
10 – He therefore instructed the brothers, the ministers as well as preachers, about work, telling them, because of the office of ministry or of their zeal for preaching, that they should not abandon holy and devout prayer, go for alms, and work with hands like the other brothers, for good example and for the benefit of their souls as well as others.
– Cheerfulness strengthens the heart and makes us persevere. (St. Philip Neri)
11 – He said: “The brothers who are subjects will be very edified when their ministers and preachers devote themselves freely to prayer, bow down, and humble themselves.” Therefore that faithful disciple of Christ, while he was in good health, practiced what he taught the brothers.
– Scruples are like mosquitos: swat them. (St. Alphonsus Liguori)
12 – When that brother novice described above was staying in a certain hermitage, blessed Francis one day happened to come there. That brother said to him: “Father, it would be a great consolation for me to have a psalter. But, although the general minister has given me permission to have it, I still want to have it with your knowledge.”
– Heaven is filled with converted sinners, not spiritual know-it-alls. (St. Philip Neri)
13 – Blessed Francis gave him this sort of response: “The Emperor Charles, Roland, and Oliver, and all the paladins and valiant knights who were mighty in battle, pursuing unbelievers with great toil and fatigue even to death, had a glorious and memorable victory for themselves, and, finally, died in battle fighting as holy martyrs for the faith in Christ. And there are many who want to receive honor and praise by only relating what they did.”
– Never try to win by force what can be won by love. (St. Francis de Sales)
14 – And because of this he wrote the meaning of these words in his Admonitions, saying: “The saints have done these deeds, and we want to receive honor and glory by recounting and preaching about them,” as if to say: “Knowledge puffs up, but charity builds.”
– Don’t be afraid to be ridiculous for God. (St. Philip Neri)
104 – THE SAME NOVICE ASKS AGAIN: “A BREVIARY, A BREVIARY!”
15 – Another time, when blessed Francis was sitting near a fire, warming himself, the same one spoke to him again about a psalter. And blessed Francis told him: “After you have a psalter, you will desire and want to have a breviary; after you have a breviary, you will sit in a fancy chair, like a great prelate telling your brother: ‘Bring me the breviary.’“ And speaking in this way with great intensity of spirit, he took some ashes in his hand, put them on his head rubbing them around his head as though he were washing it, saying: “I, a breviary! I, a breviary!”
– Let your face show you belong to heaven. (St. John Bosco)
16 – He spoke this way many times, passing his hand over his head. The brother was stunned and ashamed. Afterwards blessed Francis said to him: “Brother, I was likewise tempted to have books. But, in order to know God’s will about this, I took the book, where the Lord’s Gospels are written, and prayed to the Lord to deign to show it to me at the first opening of the book.
– Better to limp on the right road than run on the wrong one. (St. Augustine)
17 – After my prayer was ended, on the first opening of the holy Gospel this verse of the holy Gospel came to me: To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to the others all things are treated in parables.” And he said: “There are many who willingly climb to the heights of knowledge; that person be blessed who renounces it for the love of God.”
– Some people think they are holy because they are unbearable. (St. Philip Neri)
105 – THE SAME NOVICE ASKS HIM AGAIN ABOUT A PSALTER, AND HE IS UPSET
18 – Many months later, when blessed Francis was at the church of Saint Mary of the Portiuncula, at a cell behind the house on the road, that brother spoke to him again about the psalter. And blessed Francis said: “Go and do as your minister tells you.” When he heard this, that brother began to go back by the same road he had come.
– Don’t be a half-saint; they are twice as annoying. (St. Francis de Sales)
19 – Blessed Francis remained on the road, and began to think over what he said to that brother. Suddenly he yelled after him: “Wait for me, brother, wait!” He went up to him and said: “Come back with me and show me the place where I told you to do with the psalter what your minister tells you.”
– Your face should prove that you believe in heaven; right now it’s not helping. (St. John Bosco)
20 – When they returned to the spot where he had said this, blessed Francis bent over in front of the brother and, kneeling, said to him: “Mea culpa, brother, mea culpa. Whoever wishes to be a Lesser Brother must have nothing but the tunics, a cord, and short trousers the Rule allows him; and for those forced by necessity or illness, shoes.”
– God loves you. Try not to make it so difficult for Him. (St. Augustine)
21 – Whenever brothers came to him to ask advice about such things, he would give them the same answer. For this reason he used to say: “A person is only as learned as his actions show; and a religious is only as good a preacher as his actions show;” as if to say, “A good tree is known only by its fruit.”
– Worry is useless; also unattractive. (St. Padre Pio)
106 – HE REPLIES TO A BROTHER WHO ASKED HIM WHY HE DID NOT CORRECT ABUSES IN THE ORDER; AND THE PORTIUNCULA AS AN EXAMPLE
22 – One day while blessed Francis was staying in that palace, one of his companions there said to him: “Father, excuse me, because what I want to say to you, many have already thought. You know,” he said “how formerly through the grace of God, the whole religion flourished in the purity of perfection, that is, how all the brothers fervently and zealously observed holy poverty in all things, in small and poor dwellings, in small and poor furnishings, in small and poor books, and in poor clothing. And as in these things, as well as in other exterior things, they were of one will, concerned about observing everything that had to do with our profession and calling and good example. In this way they were of one mind in the love of God and neighbor.
– If you are going to be a saint, at least try not to be boring. (St. Philip Neri)
23 – “But now for a little while, this purity and perfection have begun to change into something different, though the brothers make lots of excuses saying that, because of large number, this cannot be observed by the brothers. In fact, many brothers believe that the people are more edified by these ways than by those mentioned, and, it seems to them, more fitting to live and behave according to these ways. Therefore, they consider worthless the way of simplicity and poverty, which were the beginning and foundation of our religion. Thinking this over, we believe that they displease you, but we really wonder why, if they displease you, you tolerate them and do not correct them.”
– Some people carry their crosses like they are auditioning for a tragedy. (St. Philip Neri)
24 – “May the Lord forgive you,” blessed Francis said to him, “for wanting to be against me and opposed to me and involve me in these things that do not pertain to my office.” And he said: “As long as I held office for the brothers, and they remained faithful to their calling and profession, and, although I was ill from the beginning of my conversion to Christ, with a little of my care, I satisfied them by my example and preaching. But afterwards I realized that the Lord multiplied the number of the brothers daily and that through tepidity and lack of spirit they began to turn away from the straight and sure way on which they used to walk and take, as you said, a broad way, without paying attention to their profession and calling and good example, or would not give up the journey that had already begun despite my preaching and my example.
– Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward is to see what you believe. (St. Augustine)
25 – I entrusted the religion to the Lord and to the ministers. When I renounced and gave up among the brothers, I excused myself before the brothers at the general chapter saying that, because of my illness I could not take care of them and care for them. And yet, if the brothers had walked and were still walking according to my will, for their consolation I would not want them to have any other minister except me until the day of my death. As long as a faithful and good subject knows and observes the will of his prelate, then the prelate has to have little concern about him.
– Let us run to Mary, and, as her little children, cast ourselves into Her arms. (St. Francis de Sales)
26 – Rather, I would be so happy at the goodness of the brothers and be so consoled, both on their account and my own, that even if I were lying sick in bed, it would not be considered a burden to me to satisfy them.” He said: “My office, that is, a prelacy over the brothers, is spiritual, because I must overcome vices and correct them. Therefore, if I cannot overcome and correct them by preaching and example, I do not want to become an executioner who beats and scourges, like a power of this world.
– Love God. Serve God. Everything is in that. (St. Clare of Assisi)
27 – I trust in the Lord; invisible enemies, the Lord’s police, who punish in this world and in the next those who transgress the commandments of God, will take revenge on them, having corrected men of this world, and thus they will return to their profession and calling. “Nevertheless, until the day of my death, I will not cease teaching the brothers by example and action to walk by the path which the Lord showed me, and which I showed and explained to them.
– Stop trying to be impressive. Be holy instead. (St. Therese of Lisieux)
28 – Thus, they will have no excuse before the Lord, and I will not be bound to render any further account about them or about myself before the Lord.” Thus he had it written in his Testament that all houses of the brothers should be built of mud and wood, as a sign of holy poverty and humility, and the churches constructed for the brothers must be small. In fact, he wanted reform on this matter, that is, houses constructed of wood and mud, and in every other good example to begin in the place of Saint Mary of the Portiuncula. This was the first place where, after they settled there, the Lord began to multiply the brothers, and it should be an external reminder to the other brothers who are in religion and those who will come to it.
– Humanity always wanting heaven, rarely wanting the work. (St. Catherine of Siena)
29 – This is the reason he wrote in his Testament: “Let the brothers be careful not to receive in any way churches or dwellings or any other things built for them, unless they are according to the poverty we have promised in the Rule, as pilgrims and strangers let them always be guests there.” We who were with him when he wrote the Rule and almost all his other writings bear witness that he had many things written in the Rule and in his other writings, to which certain brothers, especially prelates, were opposed. So it happened that on points where the brothers were opposed to blessed Francis during his life, now, after his death, they would be very useful to the whole religion. Because he greatly feared scandal, he gave in, although unwillingly, to the wishes of the brothers. But he often repeated this saying: “Woe to those brothers who are opposed to what I know to be the will of God for the greatest good of the religion, even if I unwillingly give in to their wishes.”
– It is no use to walk anywhere to preach if our walking is not our preaching. (spirit-St. Francis of Assisi)
30 – He often said to his companions: “Here lies my pain and grief: those things which I received from God by His mercy with great effort of prayer and meditation for the present and future good of the religion, and which are, as He assures me, in accordance with His will, some of the brothers on the authority and support of their knowledge nullify and oppose me saying: ‘These things must be kept and observed; but not those!’ ” But, as was said, because he feared scandal so much that he permitted many things to happen and gave in to their will in many things that were not according to his will.
– The deeds you do may be the only sermons the people you meet today will hear. (spirit-St. Francis of Assisi)
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Teresa Redder, on May 12th, 2026 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
May 2026
Hail, Holy Lady, most Holy Queen, Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Who are the Virgin made Church and the one chosen by the Most Holy Father of Heaven,
Whom He consecrated with His Most Holy Beloved Son and with the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete;
On you descended and in whom there was and is all fullness of grace and every good.
Hail His Palace; Hail His Tabernacle; Hail His Home. Hail His Robe; Hail His Handmaid; Hail His Mother and
Hail all you holy virtues, which by the grace and illumination of the Holy Spirit are poured into the hearts of the faithful, so that from being unbelievers, you make them faithful to God.
(Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi honoring Mary, Virgin-Made-Church)
The Assisi Compilation continues below from #99-#102
Quote for the day from C.S. Lewis
99 – HE AWAITS DEATH AT THE BISHOP’S PALACE IN ASSISI; HIS COMPANIONS SING THE CANTICLE FOR HIM
1 – When blessed Francis lay gravely ill in the palace of the bishop of Assisi, in the days after he returned from Bagnara, the people of Assisi, fearing that the saint would die during the night without them knowing about it, and that the brothers would secretly take his body away and place it in another city, placed a vigilant guard each night around the palace’s walls.
– When the whole world is running towards a cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind.
2 – Blessed Francis, although he was gravely ill, to comfort his soul and ward off discouragement in his severe and serious infirmities, often asked his companions during the day to sing the Praises of the Lord which he had composed a long time before in his illness. He likewise had the Praises sung during the night for the edification of their guards, who kept watch at night outside the palace because of him.
– Life with God is not immunity from difficulties, but peace in difficulties.
3 – When Brother Elias reflected that blessed Francis was so comforting himself and rejoicing in the Lord in such illness, one day he said to him: “Dearest brother, I am greatly consoled and edified by all the joy which you show for yourself and your companions in such affliction and infirmity. Although the people of this city venerate you as a saint in life and in death, nevertheless, because they firmly believe that you are near death due to your serious and incurable sickness, upon hearing praises of this sort being sung, they can think and say to themselves: ‘How can he show such joy when he is so near death?
– Don’t shine so that others can see you. Shine so that through you, others can see HIM.
4 – He should be thinking about death. “Do you remember,” blessed Francis said to him, “when you saw the vision at Foligno and told me that it told you that I would live for only two years? Before you saw that vision, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, who suggests every good in the heart, and places it on the lips of his faithful, I often considered day and night my end.
– Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less
5 – But from the time you saw that vision, each day I have been even more zealous reflecting on the day of my death.” He continued with great intensity of spirit: “Allow me to rejoice in the Lord, Brother, and to sing His praises in my infirmities, because, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, I am so closely united and joined with my Lord, that, through His mercy, I can well rejoice in the Most High Himself.”
– Hardship often prepares an ordinary person for an extraordinary destiny.
100 – A DOCTOR NAMED JOHN TELLS HIM HE WILL DIE SOON: “WELCOME, MY SISTER DEATH!”
6 – Another time during those days, a doctor from the city of Arezzo, named Good John, who was known and familiar to blessed Francis, came to visit him in the bishop’s palace. Blessed Francis asked about his sickness saying: “How does my illness of dropsy seem to you, Brother John?”
– Once people stop believing in God, the problem is not that they will believe in nothing; rather, the problem is that they will believe anything.
7 – For blessed Francis did not want to address anyone called ”Good” by their name, out of reverence for the Lord, who said: No one is good but God alone. Likewise, he did not want to call anyone “father” or “master,” nor write them in letters, out of reverence for the Lord, who said: Call no one on earth your father nor be called masters, etc.
– There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.
8 – The doctor said to him: “Brother, by the grace of the Lord, it will be well with you.” For he did not want to tell him that he would die in a little while.
– There is someone that I love even though I don’t approve of what he does. There is someone I accept though some of his thoughts and actions revolt me. There is someone I forgive though he hurts the people I love the most. That person is……me.
9 – Again blessed Francis said to him: “Tell me the truth. How does it look to you? Do not be afraid, for, by the grace of God, I am not a coward who fears death. With the Lord’s help, by His mercy and grace, I am so united and joined with my Lord that I am equally as happy to die as I am to live.”
– If you never take risks, you’ll never accomplish great things. Everybody dies, but not everyone has lived.
10 – The doctor then told him frankly: “According to our assessment, your illness is incurable and you will die either at the end of September or on the fourth day before the Nones of October.”
– I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else
11 – Blessed Francis, while he was lying on his bed sick, with the greatest devotion and reverence for the Lord stretched out his arms and hands with great joy of mind and body and said to his body and soul: “Welcome, my Sister Death!”
– The greatest evils in the world will not be carried out by men with guns, but by men in suits sitting behind desks.
101 – HE TELLS BROTHER RICCERIO HIS LAST WISHES; THE MEANING OF “LESSER BROTHERS.”
12 – Brother Riccerio of the Marches of Ancona, noble by birth and more noble by holiness, was loved by blessed Francis with great affection. One day he came to visit blessed Francis in that palace. Among other points he discussed with blessed Francis about the state of the religion and observance of the Rule,…
– Some journeys take us far from home. Some adventures lead us to our destiny.
13 – … he asked him: “Tell me, Father, when you first began to have brothers, what was your intention? And what is it today, and what do you believe it will be until the day of your death? Because I want to be sure of your intention and of your first and last wish, so that we, cleric brothers who have many books, may keep them although we will say that they belong to the religion?”
– The fact that our heart yearns for something Earth can’t supply is proof that Heaven must be our home.
14 – Blessed Francis told him: “I tell you, brother, that it has been and is my first and last intention and will, if the brothers would only heed it, that no brother should have anything except a tunic as the Rule allows us, together with a cord and underwear.”
– One of the most cowardly things ordinary people do is to shut their eyes to facts.
15 – Another time, blessed Francis said: “The religion and life of the Lesser Brothers is a little flock, which the Son of God in this very last hour has asked of His heavenly Father, saying: ‘Father, I want you to make and give me a new and humble people in this very last hour, who would be unlike all others who preceded them by their humility and poverty, and be content to have me alone.’
– Every contact you make with everyone you meet will help them or hinder them on their journey to heaven.
16 – And the Father said to His beloved Son: ‘My Son, Your request has been fulfilled.’ ” This is why blessed Francis would say: “Therefore, the Lord has willed that they be called Lesser Brothers, because they are the people whom the Son of God speaks in the Gospel:
– I have often repented of speech but hardly ever of silence.
17 – Do not fear, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom; and again: What you did for one of these, the least of my brothers, you did it for me. For, although the Lord may be understood to be speaking of all the spiritually poor, he was nevertheless predicting the religion of the Lesser Brothers that was to come in His Church.”
– Don’t judge a man by where he is, because you don’t know how far he has come.
18 – Therefore, as it was revealed to blessed Francis that it was to be called the Religion of the Lesser Brothers, he had it so written in the first Rule, when he brought it before the Lord Pope Innocent III, and he approved and granted it, and later announced it to all in the Council.
– If you think of this world as a place intended simply for our happiness, you find it quite intolerable: think of it as a place of training and correction and it’s not so bad.
19 – Likewise, the Lord also revealed to him the greeting that the brothers should use, as he had written in his Testament: “The Lord revealed a greeting to me that we should say ‘May the Lord give you peace.’ ”At the beginning of the religion, when blessed Francis would go with a brother who was one of the first twelve brothers, that brother would greet men and women along the way as well as those in their field, saying:
– There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.
20 – “May the Lord give you peace.” And because people had never before heard such a greeting from any religious, they were greatly amazed. Indeed, some would say almost indignantly: “What does this greeting of yours mean?” As a result that brother began to be quite embarrassed. Then he said to blessed Francis “Let me use another greeting.”
– God allows us to experience the low points of life in order to teach us lessons that we could learn in no other way.
21 – Blessed Francis told him: “Let them talk, for they do not grasp what is of God. But do not be embarrassed, for one day the nobles and princes of this world will show respect to you and the other brothers because of a greeting of this sort.” And blessed Francis said: “Isn’t it great that the Lord wanted to have a little people among all those who preceded them who would be content to have Him alone, the Most High and most glorious?”
– Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.
22 – If any brother wanted to ask why blessed Francis in his own time did not make the brothers observe such a strict poverty as he told Brother Riccerio, and did not order it to be observed, we who were with him would respond to this as we heard from his mouth.
– Those who do not think about their own sins make up for it by thinking incessantly about the sins of others.
23 – Because he told the brothers this and many other things, and also had written down in the Rule what he requested from the Lord with relentless prayer and meditation for the good of the religion, affirming that it was completely the Lord’s will.
Afterwards when he showed them, they seemed harsh and unbearable, for they did not know what was going to happen to the religion after his death.
– To love at all is to be vulnerable.
24 – And because he feared scandal for himself and for the brothers, he did not want to argue with them; but he complied with their wish, although not willingly, and excused himself before the Lord.
– Love is never wasted, for its value does not rest upon reciprocity.
25 – But, that the word of the Lord, which He put in his mouth for the good of the brothers, would not return to Him empty, he wanted to fulfill it in himself, so that he might then obtain a reward from the Lord. And at last he found peace in this and his spirit was comforted.
– God loves us: not because we are lovable but because He is love, not because He needs to receive but He delights to give.
102 – A MINISTER ASKS ABOUT BOOKS; THE MINISTERS REMOVE THE CHAPTER IN THE RULE ABOUT POVERTY
26 – At the time when he returned from overseas, a minister spoke with him about the chapter on poverty. He wanted to know his will and understanding, especially since at the time a chapter had been written in the Rule from prohibitions of the holy Gospel: Take nothing with you on the journey, etc.
– Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different.
27 – And blessed Francis answered: “I want to understand it in this way, that the brothers should have nothing except a tunic with a cord and underwear, as contained in the Rule, and those compelled by necessity, may have shoes.” And the minister said to him: “What shall I do, for I have so many books worth more than fifty pounds?”
– If nothing in this world satisfies me, perhaps it is because I was made for another world.
28 – He said this because he wanted to hold on to them with a clear conscience, most especially because he had a qualm of conscience about keeping so many books when he knew blessed Francis strictly interpreted the chapter on poverty.
“Brother,” blessed Francis said to him, “I cannot and must not go against my own conscience and the perfection of the holy Gospel which we have professed.” Hearing this, the minister became sad. Seeing how disturbed he was, blessed Francis said to him with intensity of spirit, intending this for all the brothers:
– You must make your choice: either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God.
29 – “You, Lesser Brothers, want to be seen as and called observers of the holy Gospel, but in your deeds you want to have money bags.” Although the ministers knew that, according to the Rule of the brothers they were bound to observe the holy Gospel, they nevertheless had that chapter of the Rule where it says “Take nothing for your journey, etc.” removed, believing, despite it, that they were not obliged to observance of the perfection of the holy Gospel.
– If you live for the next world, you get this one in the deal; but if you live only for this world, you lose them both.
30 – Knowing this through the light of the Holy Spirit, blessed Francis said in the presence of some brothers: “The brother ministers think they can deceive God and me.” Then he said:”Indeed, that all the brothers may know that they are bound to observe the perfection of the holy Gospel, I want it written at the beginning and at the end of the Rule that the brothers are bound to observe the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that the brothers may always be without an excuse before God, …
– There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, ‘All right, then, have it your way.’
31 – I want to show with these deeds and always observe, with God’s help, what God has placed in my mouth for the welfare and usefulness of my soul and those of my brothers.” Therefore, he observed the holy Gospel to the letter from the day he began to have brothers until the day of his death.
– God doesn’t want something from us. He simply wants us.
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Teresa Redder, on February 1st, 2026 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
February 2026
Let every creature in heaven, on earth, in the sea and in the depths,
Give praise, glory, honor and blessing to Him Who suffered so much,
Who has given and will give in the future every good, for He is our power and strength,
Who alone is good, Who alone is almighty,
Who alone is omnipotent, wonderful, glorious and Who alone is holy,
worthy of praise and blessing through endless ages.
Amen.
(Prayer of Saint Francis in the Second Version of the Letter to the Faithful)
Daily Franciscan Sources continue from The Assisi Compilation, #89 – #94
Daily Thoughtful Quotes from St. Philip Neri
89 – HE HELPS A POOR WOMAN FROM RIETI SUFFERING FROM AN EYE DISEASE
1 – At that time a poor woman from Machilone came to Rieti with an illness of her eyes. One day when the doctor came to visit blessed Francis, he said to him: “Brother, a woman with eye trouble came to see me. But she is so poor that I have to help her for the love of God and give her expenses.”
– There is nothing the devil fears so much, or so much tries to hinder, as prayer.
2 – When blessed Francis heard this, moved by piety for her, he called one of the companions, who was his guardian, and said to him: “Brother Guardian, we have to give back what belongs to someone else.” “And, what is that, brother?” he said. “That mantle,” he replied, “which we received as a loan from that poor woman with eye trouble. We must give it back to her.” “Do what you think best, brother,” the guardian answered.
– A joyful heart is more easily made perfect than a downcast one.
3 – With joy, blessed Francis called a spiritual man, who was extremely close to him, and said to him: “Take this mantle and a dozen loaves of bread with you, and go to that poor and sick woman whom the doctor, who is taking care of her, will point out to you. Say to her: ‘The poor man to whom you lent this mantle thanks you for the loan of the mantle which you made with him. Take what is yours.’ ”
– To preserve our cheerfulness amid sicknesses and troubles, is a sign of a right and good spirit.
4 – He went then and told her everything as blessed Francis had told him. Thinking he was joking, she replied with fear and embarrassment: “Leave me in peace. I don’t know what you are talking about!”
– The best way to prepare for death is to spend every day of life as though it were the last.
5 – He placed the mantle and the dozen loaves of bread in her hands. When the woman reflected that he had spoken the truth, she accepted everything with trembling and her heart filled with joy. Then, fearful that he would take it back, she secretly got up during the night and joyfully returned to her home.
– First let a little love find entrance into their hearts, and the rest will follow.
6 – Moreover, blessed Francis also told his guardian that every day, for the love of God, he should give her food for as long as she stayed there. We who were with blessed Francis bore witness that, sick or well, he displayed such charity and piety, not only to his brothers, but also toward the poor, whether healthy or sick.
– The greatness of our love of God must be tested by the desire we have of suffering for His love.
7 – Thus, he deprived himself of the necessities of his body that the brothers procured for him with great devotion and solicitude. At first coaxing us not to worry, with great inner and outer joy, he would then offer to others things he had denied his own body, even though they were extremely necessary for him.
– The Lord grants in a moment what we may have been unable to obtain in dozens of years.
8 – And that is why the general minister and his guardian ordered him not to give his tunic to any brother without their permission. Because the brothers, out of the devotion they had for him, would occasionally ask him for his tunic, and he would immediately give it to them. Or he himself, if he saw a sickly or poorly clad brother, would at times cut his habit in half, giving one part to him and keeping the other for himself, for he wanted to have and to wear only one tunic.
– The cross is the gift God gives to his friends.
90 – HE WOULD GIVE AWAY THE TUNIC HE WAS WEARING TO HELP THE POOR
9 – Once when he was traveling through a certain region preaching, two brothers from France happened to meet him. From this they enjoyed great consolation. Finally, out of the great devotion they had toward him, for the love of God they asked for his tunic. As soon as he heard “the love of God,” he immediately took off his tunic, remaining naked for almost an hour.
– Christian joy is a gift of God flowing from a good conscience.
10 – For it was blessed Francis’s custom when someone said to him “for the love of God, give me your tunic or cord,” or anything else that he had, he would immediately give it to them out of reverence for that Lord who is called Love.
– My children, if you desire perseverance, be devout to our Blessed Lady.
11 – He would be greatly displeased, and would reprimand the brothers when he heard them invoking the love of God needlessly. For he would say: “The love of God is so very exalted that it should be mentioned with great reverence rarely and only in dire necessity.” Then one of the brothers took off his tunic and gave it to him.
– At communion we ought to ask for the remedy of the vice to which we feel ourselves most inclined.
12 – Very often he endured great need and hardship when he gave away his tunic or a part of it to someone, because he could not quickly find or have another one made. This was true especially since he always wished to have and to wear a poor tunic made of bits and pieces, and occasionally he wanted it patched on inside and out.
– Obedience is the true holocaust which we sacrifice to God on the altar of our hearts.
13 – Because he rarely, if ever, wanted to have or wear a tunic made from new cloth, but would acquire one worn by a brother for a long time, and sometimes he would even accept one part of his tunic from one brother and the rest from another. But, because of his many illnesses and the cold, he would occasionally patch it on the inside with new cloth.
– He who always acts under obedience may be assured that he will not have to give an account of his actions to God.
14 – He held and observed this kind of poverty in his clothing until the year when he returned to the Lord. For a few days before his death, because he was suffering from dropsy, he was almost completely dehydrated and weakened by many of the other sicknesses he had, the brothers made several tunics for him, so that they could change his tunic night and day as was necessary.
– Cast yourself into the arms of God and be very sure that if he wants anything of you, He will fit you for the work and give you strength.
91 – HE TRIES TO GIVE A PIECE OF HIS TUNIC TO A POOR MAN
15 – Another time a poor man with poor clothing came to a hermitage of the brothers and, for the love of God, asked for some cloth from the brothers. Blessed Francis told a brother to look around the house and, if he found some, to give it to him.
– He who is unable to spend a long time together in prayer, should often lift up his mind to God by short prayers.
16 – And going around the whole house, that brother told him that he did not find any. So that the poor man would not go away empty-handed, blessed Francis went out secretly, so that his guardian would not forbid him. He took a knife, and sitting in a hidden place, he began to cut away a piece of his tunic, which was sewed on the inside of the tunic, wanting to give it to the poor man in secret.
– Believe me, there is no more powerful means to obtain God’s grace than to employ the intercessions of the Holy Virgin.
17 – But immediately, since the guardian sensed what he wanted to do, he went to him and forbade him to give it away, especially since the weather was then very cold, and he was extremely sick and cold.
– We must often remember what Christ said, that not he who begins, but he that perseveres to the end, shall be saved.
18 – Blessed Francis told him: “If you do not want me to give it to him, you must make sure that some piece is given to the poor brother.” And so, at the prompting of blessed Francis, the brothers gave the poor man some cloth from their own clothes.
– There is nothing more dangerous in the spiritual life, than to wish to rule ourselves after our own way of thinking.
19 – When the brothers loaned him a mantle—or when he was traveling through the country preaching and he became sick and could no longer go on foot, he would occasionally ride a donkey, since he did not want to ride on a horse unless compelled by the greatest necessity.
– He who wishes for anything but Christ, does not know what he wishes; he who asks for anything but Christ, does not know what he is asking; he who works, and not for Christ, does not know what he is doing
20 – And such was the case shortly before his death when he became seriously ill. When he was staying in some place, he did not want to accept it unless, in some way, he could give it to a poor person he might meet or who would come to him if his spirit were convinced that the person was in evident need.
– The man who loves God with a true heart, and prizes him above all things, sometimes sheds floods of tears at prayer, and has in abundance of favors and spiritual feelings coming upon him with such vehemence, that he is forced to cry out, “Lord! let me be quiet!
92 – HE ASKS BROTHER GILES TO GIVE HIS MANTLE TO A POOR MAN
21 – At the beginning of the religion, when he was staying at Rivo Torto with only two brothers whom he had at that time, the one who was the third brother, came from the world to receive his life. When he had stayed there for a few days, still wearing his secular clothes, a poor man happened to come to the place asking alms of blessed Francis.
– In sickness we ought to ask God to give us patience, because it often happens, that when a man gets well, he not only does not do the good he proposed to do when he was sick, but he multiplies his sins and his ingratitude.
22 – Blessed Francis said to him who was the third brother: “Give the poor brother your mantle.” Immediately, with great joy, he took it off his back and gave it to him. It then seemed to him that, at that moment, the Lord immediately had infused new grace into his heart because he had given the poor man his mantle with joy.
– They who have been exercised in the service of God for a long time, may in their prayers imagine all sorts of insults offered to them, such as blows, wounds, and the like, and so in order to imitate Christ by their charity, may accustom their hearts beforehand to forgive real injuries when they come.
93 – HE HAS A NEW TESTAMENT AT THE PORTIUNCULA GIVEN TO THE POOR MOTHER OF TWO BROTHERS
23 – Another time while he was staying at Saint Mary of the Portiuncula, a poor old woman who had two sons in religion, came to that place seeking some alms of blessed Francis because that year she did not have enough to live. Blessed Francis said to Brother Peter of Catanio, who was the general minister at the time: “Have we anything to give our mother?”
– During mental prayer, it is well, at times, to imagine that many insults and injuries are being heaped upon us, that misfortunes have befallen us, and then strive to train our heart to bear and forgive these things patiently, in imitation of our Savior. This is the way to acquire a strong spirit.
24 – He used to say that the mother of any brother was his own and that of all the brothers in the religion. Brother Peter told him: “We do not have anything in the house that we can give her, especially since she wants such alms as would provide for her corporal needs.
– We are not saints yet, but we, too, should beware. Uprightness and virtue do have their rewards, in self-respect and in respect from others, and it is easy to find ourselves aiming for the result rather than the cause.
25 – In the church we only have one New Testament for reading the lessons at matins.” At that time, the brothers did not have breviaries and not many psalters. Blessed Francis responded: “Give our mother the New Testament, so she can sell it for her needs. I firmly believe that the Lord and the Blessed Virgin, His Mother, will be pleased more by giving it to her than if you read in it.” And so he gave it to her.
– Let us aim for joy, rather than respectability. Let us make fools of ourselves from time to time, and thus see ourselves, for a moment, as the all-wise God sees us.
26 – For it can be said and written about blessed Francis, what was said and written about Job: Mercy grew up with me and it came out with me from my mother’s womb. For us, who were with him, it would take a long time to write and recount not only what we learned from others about his charity and piety toward the poor, but also what we saw with our own eyes.
– If a man finds it very hard to forgive injuries, let him look at a Crucifix, and think that Christ shed all His Blood for him, and not only forgave His enemies, but even prayed His Heavenly Father to forgive them also. Let him remember that when he says the Pater Noster, every day, instead of asking pardon for his sins, he is calling down vengeance on himself.
94 – A CATTLE DISEASE AT SANT’ELIA IS CURED BY WATER USED TO WASH THE STIGMATA
27 – At the same time when blessed Francis was staying in the hermitage of Saint Francis (!) at Fonte Colombo,a a cattle disease, commonly called basabove, from which none usually escapes, happened to spread among the cattle of Sant’Elia, not too far from the hermitage. So that all the cattle became sick and died. One night it was said that a certain spiritual person of that town had a vision in which he was told: “Go to the hermitage where blessed Francis is staying and get the water with which he washed his hands and feet. Sprinkle it upon all the oxen, and they will immediately recover.”
– It is an old custom of the servants of God to have some little prayer ready and to be frequently darting them up to heaven during the day, lifting their minds to God out of the mire of this world.
28 – That man got up early in the morning, went to the hermitage, and told all of this to the companions of blessed Francis. At meal time they put the water for washing his hands in a jar, and, in the evening, they asked him to allow them to wash his feet, without telling him about the matter. And so, afterwards, they gave the man the water blessed Francis used to wash his hands and feet. The man took it and with it, as if it were holy water, sprinkled the cattle stretched out on the ground almost dead and also all the others. And immediately, through the grace of God and the merits of blessed Francis, all of them were cured. At the time blessed Francis already had scars in his hands, feet, and side.
– Let us think, if we only got to heaven, what a sweet and easy thing it will be there to be always saying with the angels and the saints, Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus.
Posted By Teresa Redder, on January 7th, 2026 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
January 2026
O admirable heights and sublime lowliness! O sublime humility! O humble sublimity!
That the Lord of the universe, God and the Son of God,
so humbles Himself that for our salvation
He hides Himself under the little form of bread!
Look, brothers, at the humility of God and pour out your hearts before Him!
Humble yourselves, as well, that you may be exalted by Him.
Therefore, hold back nothing of yourselves for yourselves
so that He Who gives Himself totally to you may receive you totally.
Daily Franciscan Sources from ASSISI COMPILATION, #85 – #88
Daily thoughtful quotes from everyday “nuts and bolts” life
85 – HE COMPOSES ANOTHER SONG TO CONSOLE CLARE AND HER SISTERS
1 – In those same days and in the same place, blessed Francis, after he composed the Praises of the Lord for his creatures, also composed some holy words with chant for the greater consolation of the Poor Ladies of the Monastery of San Damiano. He did this especially because he knew how much his illness troubled them.
– If the plan doesn’t work change the plan, not the dream.
2 – And since he was unable to console and visit them personally because of that illness, he wanted those words to be proclaimed to them by his companions. In these words, he wanted to reveal his will to them briefly, for then and for always, how they should be of one mind and how they should live in charity toward one another.
– Some days you are the lighthouse, some days you are the ship – both matter.
3 – He wanted to do this because they were converted to Christ by his example and preaching when the brothers were still few.
– Confidence is silent; insecurities are loud, so speak with purpose.
4 – Their conversion and manner of living is the glory and edification not only of the religion of the brothers, whose little plant they are, but also of the entire Church of God.
– Your comfort zone is a lovely place, but nothing grows there.
5 – Therefore, since blessed Francis knew that from the beginning of their conversion they had led, and were still leading, a strict and poor life by free choice and by necessity, his spirit was always moved to piety for them.
– Don’t wait for the stars to align, grab a ladder and rearrange them yourself.
6 – With these words, then, he begged them that, as the Lord had gathered them as one from many different regions in holy charity, holy poverty, and holy obedience, so in these they should live and die. And he begged them particularly to provide for their bodies with discernment from the alms which the Lord would give them, with cheerfulness and thanksgiving.
– If opportunity does not knock, build a door with a welcome mat.
7 – And he especially asked them to remain patient: the healthy, in the labors which they endure for their sick sisters; and the sick in their illnesses and the needs they suffer.
– A setback is just a plot twist in your success story.
86 – HE IS TAKEN TO FONTE COLOMBO TO HAVE HIS EYES CAUTERIZED; THE KINDNESS OF BROTHER FIRE
8 – It happened that, when the season conducive to healing of the eyes arrived, blessed Francis left that place, even though his eye disease was quite serious. He was wearing on his head a large capuche the brothers had made for him, with a piece of wool and linen cloth sewn to the capuche, covering his eyes.
– You cannot control the wind, but you can adjust your sails.
9 – This was because he could not look at the light of day because of the great pain caused by his eye disease. His companions led him on horseback to the hermitage of Fonte Colombo, near Rieti, to consult with a doctor of Rieti who knew how to treat eye diseases.
– Be the kind of person your future self brags about.
10 – When that doctor arrived there, he told blessed Francis that he wanted to cauterize from the jaw to the eyebrow of the weaker eye. Blessed Francis, however, did not wish the treatment to begin until Brother Elias arrived.
– Dream big, but pack snacks for the journey.
11 – He waited for him, and he did not come because, on account of many engagements he had, he could not come. So he was in doubt about beginning the treatment. But, constrained by necessity, and especially out of obedience to the Lord Bishop of Ostia and the general minister, he proposed to obey, although it was difficult for him to have any concern about himself, and that is why he wanted his minister to do this.
– Your vibe attracts your tribe, so radiate wisely.
12 – Afterwards, one night when the pain of his illness prevented him from sleeping, he had pity and compassion on himself. He said to his companions: “My dearest brothers and sons, do not grow weary or burdened because of your care for me in my illness. The Lord, on my behalf, His little servant, will return to you, in this world and the next, all the fruit of the good work that you are unable to do because of your care for me in my illness.
– Mistakes are proofs you are trying, not proof you are failing.
13 – In fact, you will obtain an even greater profit than those who assist the whole religion and life of the brothers. You should even tell me: ‘We’re paying your expenses, but the Lord, on your behalf, will be our debtor.’ ”
– Don’t just chase dreams; train them to run toward you.
14 – The holy father spoke in this way because he wanted to help them and lift them up in their faint-heartedness and weakness. He did this so that they would not be tempted to use this work as an excuse to say: “We can’t pray and we can’t put up with all this work”; and so that they would not become weary and faint-hearted, and thus lose the fruit of their labor.
– A smile is the shortest distance between two strangers.
15 – One day the doctor arrived with the iron instrument used for cauterizing in eye diseases. He had a fire lit to heat the iron, and when the fire was lit, he placed the iron in it.
– The best way to predict the future is to create it with bold strokes.
16 – To comfort his spirit so it would not become afraid, blessed Francis said to the fire: “My Brother Fire, noble and useful among all the creatures the Most High created, be courtly to me in this hour. For a long time I have loved you and I still love you for the love of that Lord who created you. I pray our Creator who made you, to temper your heat now, so that I may bear it.” And as he finished the prayer he made the sign of the cross over the fire.
– Be stubborn about your goals, but flexible about your methods.
17 – We who were with him, overcome by piety and compassion for him, all ran away, and he remained alone with the doctor.
– Your pace doesn’t matter, forward is forward.
18 – When the cauterization was finished, we returned to him. “You, faint-hearted, of little faith,” he said to us, “why did you run away? I tell you the truth: I felt no pain or even heat from the fire. In fact, if it’s not well cooked, cook it some more!”
– Don’t just turn the page; write a better chapter.
19 – The doctor was greatly amazed, and noting that he did not even move, considered it a great miracle. “My brothers,” the doctor said, “I tell you, and I speak from experience: I doubt that a strong man with a healthy body could endure such a severe burn, much less this man, who is weak and sick.”
– Hustle in silence and let your results do the talking.
20 – The burn was a long one, extending from the ear to the eyebrow, because, day and night for years fluid had been accumulating in his eyes. This is the reason, according to the advice of the doctor, for cauterizing all the veins from the ear to the eyebrow, although, according to the advice of other doctors, it would be very harmful. And this proved to be true, since it did not help him at all. Similarly, another doctor pierced both his ears, but to no avail.
– Even the tallest oak was once a little nut who stood its ground.
21 – It is not surprising that fire and other creatures sometimes showed him reverence because, as we who were with him saw, he loved and revered them with a great feeling of charity. He took great delight in them and his spirit was moved to so much piety and compassion toward them that he was disturbed when someone did not treat them decently. He used to speak with them with joy, inside and out, as if they could hear, understand, and speak about God. And for that reason he was often caught up in the contemplation of God.
– Your energy introduces you even before you speak.
22 – Once when he was sitting close to a fire, without being aware of it, his linen pants next to the leg caught fire. He felt the heat of the fire and his companion saw that the fire was burning his pants and ran to put out the flame. Blessed Francis told him: “No, dearest brother, do not hurt Brother Fire.” And he did not permit him to extinguish it. So the brother ran to the brother who was his guardian and brought him to blessed Francis and, against his wishes, he began to put it out.
– Do not fear failure but fear being in the same place next year.
23 – He was moved with such piety and love for it that he did not want to blow out a candle, a lamp, or a fire, as is usually done when necessary. He also forbade a brother to throw away fire or smoldering wood, as is usually done, but wanted him simply to place it on the ground, out of reverence for Him who created it.
– Kindness is free but priceless in value.
87 – HE WILL NOT HELP TO PUT OUT A FIRE AT LA VERNA
24 – Another time, while he was keeping a lent on Mount La Verna, his companion lit a fire at mealtime one day in the cell where he ate. Once the fire was lit, he went to blessed Francis, who was in the cell where he usually prayed and slept, to read him the holy Gospel that was read in the Mass of that day. Whenever blessed Francis was unable to hear Mass, he always wanted to hear the Gospel of the day before he ate.
– You cannot control the waves, but you can learn to surf them.
25 – When blessed Francis came to eat in the cell where the fire was lit, the flames had already reached the roof of the cell and were burning it. His companion tried his best to extinguish it, but could not do it by himself. But Blessed Francis did not want to help him: he took the hide that he used to cover himself at night, and went into the forest.
– Do it with passion, or not at all.
26 – The brothers of the place, although they stayed some distance from the cell, since the cell was far from the place of the brothers, seeing that the cell was burning, came and extinguished it. Afterwards, blessed Francis returned to eat.
– Your dreams do not work unless you do, but naps are still allowed.
27 – After the meal, he said to his companion: “From now on, I don’t want this hide over me since, because of my avarice, I did not want Brother Fire to consume it.”
– Be the reason someone believes in good people.
88 – HIS LOVE FOR ALL CREATURES
28 – When he washed his hands, he chose a place where the water would not be trampled underfoot after the washing. Whenever he had to walk over rocks, he would walk with fear and reverence out of love for Him who is called “The Rock.” Whenever he recited the verse of the psalm, “You have set me high upon the rock,” he would say, out of great reverence and devotion: “You have set me high at the foot of the rock.”
– Small steps every day lead to big changes over time.
29 – He also told the brother who cut the wood for the fire not to cut down the whole tree, but to cut in such a way that one part remained while another was cut. He also ordered the brother in the place where he stayed to do the same. He used to tell the brother who took care of the garden not to cultivate all the ground in the garden for vegetables, but to leave a piece of ground that would produce wild plants that in their season would produce “Brother Flowers.”
– Life is a one-time offer, use it well.
30 – Moreover, he used to tell the brother gardener that he should make a beautiful flower bed in some part of the garden, planting and cultivating every variety of fragrant plants and those producing beautiful flowers. Thus, in their time they would invite all who saw the beautiful flowers to praise God, for every creature announces and proclaims: “God made me for you, o people!”
– Get ready for eternity. You are going to spend a lot of time there.
31 – We who were with him saw him always in such joy, inwardly and outwardly, over all creatures, touching and looking at them, so that it seemed his spirit was no longer on earth but in heaven This is evident and true, because of the many consolations he had and continued to have in God’s creatures. Thus, shortly before his death, he composed the Praises of the Lord by His creatures to move the hearts of his listeners to the praise of God, and that in His creatures the Lord might be praised by everyone.
– If it’s going to be, it’s up to me.
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Teresa Redder, on November 4th, 2025 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
Posted By Teresa Redder, on October 6th, 2025 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
October 2025
Assisi Compilation #72 – #74
72 – HE KNOWS THE THOUGHTS OF A CRITICAL BROTHER
1 – 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.
– Unless there is within us what is above us, we shall soon yield to what is around us.
2 – 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: “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.”
– Preach to the poor with your hands before you preach to them with your lips.
3 – 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.
– The chief exercise of prayer is to speak to God and to hear God speak to you in the depths of your heart.
4 – 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.
– My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.
73 – HE BLESSES A BROTHER AT GRECCIO, KNOWING HIS WISH AT A DISTANCE
5 – A brother, a spiritual man and a friend of God, was living in the lace of the brothers of Rieti. One day he got up and came with great devotion to the hermitage of the brothers of Greccio, where blessed Francis was then staying, out of a desire to see him and receive his blessing.
– Let me be a little kinder and blinder to the faults of those around you.
6 – Blessed Francis had already eaten and had returned to the cell where he prayed and rested. Because it was Lent he did not leave the cell except at mealtime and returned to the cell immediately afterward. The brother did not find him and grew very sad, attributing this to his sins, especially because he had to return that day to his own place.
– Pride has a way of concealing my faults from myself.
7 – The companions of blessed Francis consoled him, and he had not gone more than a stone’s throw away from the place when, by the will of the Lord, blessed Francis came out of his cell and called one of his companions, who was travelling with him as far as Fonte del Lago. He said to him: “Tell that brother to look back toward me.”
– Today’s opportunities erase yesterday’s failures.
8 – And when he turned his face to blessed Francis, he made the sign of the cross and blessed him. That brother, rejoicing both in body and spirit, praised the Lord who fulfilled his desire. His consolation was so much the greater because he saw that it was the will of God that the saint bless him without being asked by him or others.
– How much is there left in you after you have lost everything outside of you? This is the test.
9 – The companions of blessed Francis, and the other brothers of the place, were amazed, considering it a great miracle since no one had told blessed Francis about the arrival of that brother.
– When we learn to see the invisible, the we will learn to do the impossible.
10 – And neither the companions of blessed Francis, nor any other brother would have dared approach him unless he had called them. This was true not only there but everywhere blessed Francis stayed to pray, for he wanted to remain so removed, that no one would go to him without being called.
– O God, help us to be masters of ourselves that we may be servants of others.
74 – HE CORRECTS THE BROTHERS OF GRECCIO FOR AN ELEGANT TABLE-SETTING; THE VISIT OF CARDINAL HUGOLINO TO THE PORTIUNCULA; PRAISE FOR THE PEOPLE OF GRECCIO
11 – One day a minister of the brothers came to blessed Francis who was then staying in that same place, in order to celebrate the feast of Christmas with him.
– Have a heart that never hardens, a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.
12 – It happened that the brothers of that place on Christmas day itself prepared the table elaborately because of that minister, covering it with lovely white tablecloths which they obtained for the occasion, and vessels of glass for drinking. Blessed Francis came down from the cell to eat, and when he saw the table set on a dais and finely prepared, he went secretly and took the hat of a poor man who had arrived there that very day, and the staff he carried in his hand. He called one of his companions in a whisper and went outside the door of the hermitage, unnoticed by the other brothers of the house.
– Treat a child as though he already is the person he’s capable of becoming.
13 – Meanwhile the brothers came to the table, especially because it was sometimes the custom of the holy father that, if he did not arrive immediately at mealtime, and the brothers wanted to eat, he wanted them to go to the table and eat. His companion closed the door, remaining next to it on the inside.
– Trust to the known God the unknown future.
14 – Blessed Francis knocked on the door and he immediately opened it for him. He entered with his hat on his back and with staff in hand, like a pilgrim. When he came to the door of the house where the brothers were eating, he called out to the brothers like a poor man: “For the love of the Lord God, give alms to this poor, sick pilgrim.”
– Prayer is an expression of who we are. We are a living incompleteness that calls for fulfillment.
15 – That minister and the other brothers recognized him at once. The minister told him: “Brother, we are also poor, and because we are so many, we need these alms we are eating. But, for the love of that Lord you invoked, come into the house, and we will give you some of the alms which the Lord has given us.”
– The hardest thing to hide is something that is not there.
16 – When he came in and stood in front of the brothers’ table, the minister gave him the bowl from which he was eating and some bread. Taking it, he sat down on the floor beside the fire, facing the brothers who sat at the elevated table. Sighing he said to the brothers: “When I saw the table finely and elaborately prepared, I considered that this was not a table of poor religious, who go door-to-door each day.
– We cannot do great things, only small things with great love.
17 – For more than other religious, we should follow the example of poverty and humility in all things, because we have been called to this and have professed this before God and people. So, now it seems to me I’m seated like a brother.”
– As the purse is emptied the heart is filled.
18 – The brothers were ashamed at this, considering that blessed Francis was speaking the truth. Some of them began to weep loudly, considering how he was seated on the ground, wishing to correct them in such a holy and simple way. He told the brothers that they have a humble and decent table so as to edify secular people. And if the brothers invite a poor person, he should sit with them, and not have the poor man sit on the ground and have the brothers sit on high.
– Treat people as though they were what they ought to be, and you will help them become what they are capable of being.
19 – When the Lord Pope Gregory was the bishop of Ostia, he came to the place of the brothers at Saint Mary of the Portiuncula, with many knights, monks, and other clerics. He entered the house of the brothers to see their dormitory and, when he saw that the brothers lay on the ground, with nothing underneath except a little straw, no pillows, and some poor coverings, torn and thread bare, he began to weep profusely before them all. “Look where the brothers sleep,” he said.
– Holy persons serve this world by reflecting in it the light of another.
20 – “But we, wretched creatures, enjoy such a surplus. What will become of us?” Both he and the others were greatly edified. He did not see a table there because the brothers ate on the ground. From the very beginning, that place, once it was built, was visited by the brothers of the entire religion more than any other place, for everyone who entered religion was invested there. No matter whether they were few or many, the brothers always used to eat on the ground.
– Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got.
21 – As long as the holy father lived, after his example and will, the brothers who lived there used to sit on the ground to eat. For blessed Francis found the hermitage of the brothers at Greccio to be becoming and poor and the inhabitants, although poor and simple, were more pleasing to him than those of the rest of the region.
– The liar’s punishment is not that he is not believed, but that he cannot believe anyone else.
22 – For this reason, he rested and stayed there, especially because there was a poor cell, very isolated, in which the holy father would stay.
– What not let Jesus take over my life? He can do more with it than I can.
23 – Many of these people, with the grace of God, entered religion because of his example and preaching and that of his brothers. Many women preserved their virginity and, remaining in their own homes, dressed in the clothing of religion.
– Without love and compassion for others, our own apparent love for Christ is fiction.
24 – And although each remained in her own home, each of them lived the common life decently, afflicting her body with fasting and prayer. Thus, it seemed to the people and to the brothers that their manner of living was not among seculars and their relatives, but among holy and religious people who had served the Lord a long time, despite their youthful age and simplicity.
– The thing to try when all else fails is again.
25 – That is why, with joy, blessed Francis often said to the brothers about the men and women of this town: “Even in a large city not as many people have been converted to penance as in Greccio, which is only a small town.”
– The one who does stay in his littleness loses his greatness.
26 – For frequently, when the brothers of that place used to praise the Lord in the evening, as the brothers at that time were accustomed to do in many places, the people of that town, both the great and the small, would come outside. Standing on the road in front of the town, they would respond to the brothers in a loud voice: “Praised be the Lord God!”
– What is it about human nature that makes it easier to break a commandment than a habit?
27 – Even children, who could not yet speak, when they saw the brothers, would praise the Lord as best they could. In those times they endured an awful scourge which they had suffered for many years. Huge wolves would eat people, and every year hailstorms would destroy their fields and vineyards.
– Pray, and then start answering your prayer.
28 – One day when blessed Francis was preaching, he said to them: “To the praise and honor of God, I tell you that, if each one of you turns away from sin, and turns to God with whole heart, firm resolve, and will to persevere, I trust in the Lord Jesus Christ that, in His mercy, He will soon deliver you from the scourge of the wolves and of the hail from which, for so long a time, you have been suffering. He will make you grow and increase in both spiritual and temporal things. I also tell you if you return to your vomit, this scourge and pestilence will return, and more and worse disasters will afflict you.”
– The only person worth envying is the person that doesn’t envy.
29 – Through divine providence and the merits of the holy father, it happened that, from that hour and time, this scourge ceased. Moreover, it was a great miracle when hail came down and destroyed their neighbors’ fields, but did not touch their fields that were next to them.
– No one needs to be loved than the one who doesn’t deserve it.
30 – And for sixteen to twenty years, they began to increase and abound in spiritual and temporal things. Afterwards, however, they began to grow fat and proud, to hate each other, to strike one another with swords even to the point of death, to kill animals secretly, stealing and pillaging at night, and to commit many other evils. When the Lord saw that their works were evil and that they did not observe what was told them by His servant, blessed Francis, His anger flared up and He withdrew the hand of His mercy from them.
– The person with humility never has to be shown his place; he is always in it.
31 – The scourge of wolves and hail returned, as the holy father had said, and many other even worse calamities befell them. The town was entirely burned and, after losing everything they had, they escaped only with their lives. Then the brothers and others who had heard what blessed Francis said, how he predicted prosperity and adversity for them, were amazed at his holiness, seeing all his words fulfilled to the letter.
– It wasn’t the nails that held Jesus on the cross but his love for us.
Peace and Blessings
Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
Posted By Teresa Redder, on September 9th, 2025 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
Posted By Teresa Redder, on August 2nd, 2025 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
August 2025
I behold the Lord.
I see His outstretched hands.
I see the blood from His wounds.
I see the love in the eyes of Jesus.
I see His gracious acceptance of me.
Jesus has come out of the tomb –
He still has the scars, but now they are glorious, with the glory of heaven.
Still looking at the Lord, I reach out and touch Him.
I hold the Lord – and I am held in His love.
Love enfolds.
It is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me.
I am secure in the Lord.
I can look out, now, through the Lord’s eyes.
I can see the world as He created it, in His mercy,
I can see my sisters and brothers with His love,
and I can worship the Father through the eyes of the Son
in the Love of the Holy Spirit.
(Prayers of St Clare of Assisi)
Excerpts from Franciscan Sources taken from ASSISI COMPILATION, #62-#66
62 – HE REJECTS A MAN WHO GAVE AWAY HIS POSSESSIONS TO HIS RELATIVES
1 – Once blessed Francis went preaching throughout the province of the Marches. While he was preaching one day to the people of one village, a man happened to come to him. “Brother,” he said to him, “I want to leave the world and enter your religion.” Blessed Francis told him: “Brother, if you wish to enter the religion of the brothers, you must first distribute all your goods to the poor, according to the counsel of the holy Gospel, and then renounce your will in all things.”
– Endurance is the ability to bear a hard thing and to turn it into glory.
2 – When he heard these things, the man left hurriedly, and, led by the love of the flesh, he distributed all his goods to his relatives. He returned to blessed Francis, and told him: “Brother, I have expropriated myself of all my goods.” Blessed Francis asked him: ”How did you do it?” The man told him: “Brother, I gave all my goods to some of my relatives who needed them.”
– Little love, little trust.
3 – Through the Holy Spirit, blessed Francis immediately knew that the man was of the flesh, and told him: “Go on your way, Brother Fly, because you have distributed your goods to your relatives, and you want to live on alms among the brothers.” Refusing to distribute his goods to other poor people, he immediately went on his way.
– Jesus said, ‘I am the way’.
63 – HE IS FREED FROM A LONG-LASTING TEMPTATION
4 – At that time, while blessed Francis was staying in that same place of Saint Mary, it happened that a very serious temptation of the spirit was inflicted on him for the benefit of his soul. He was tormented inside and out, in body and spirit, so much that he sometimes withdrew from the close company of the brothers, especially since he could not be his usual cheerful self because of that temptation.
– Two men looked out through prison bars. One saw mud, the other saw stars.
5 – He inflicted upon himself not only abstinence from food, but also from talking. He would often go to pray in the woods near the church, so that he could better express his pain and could more abundantly pour out his tears before the Lord, so that the Lord who is able to do all things, would be kind enough to send him a remedy from heaven for this great trial.
– I just want to do God’s will.
6 – He was troubled by this temptation day and night for more than two years. One day while he was praying in the church of Saint Mary, he happened to hear in spirit that saying of the holy Gospel: “If you have faith like a mustard seed, and you tell that mountain to move from its place and move to another place, it will happen.”
– Great and mighty is our Lord, His wisdom cannot be measured.
7 – Saint Francis replied: “What is that mountain?” He was told: “That mountain is your temptation.” “In that case, Lord,” said blessed Francis, “be it done to me as you have said.” Immediately he was freed in such a way that it seemed to him that he never had that temptation.
– God calls where your deep gladness meets the world’s deep hunger.
64 – HE CRITICIZES BROTHER JAMES THE SIMPLE AND AS A PENANCE EATS WITH A LEPER
8 – Once when blessed Francis had returned to Saint Mary of the Portiuncula, he found there Brother James the Simple with a leper covered with sores who had come there that day. The holy father had entrusted this leper to him, and especially all the other lepers who had severe sores. For in those days, the brothers stayed in the leper hospitals. That Brother James was like the doctor for those with severe sores, and he gladly touched, changed, and treated their wounds.
– Repentance is sorrow converted into action toward a new and better life.
9 – As if reproving Brother James, blessed Francis told him: “You should not take our Christian brothers about in this way since it is not right for you or for them.” Blessed Francis used to call lepers“ Christian brothers.”
– A mother’s heart is the child’s schoolroom.
10 – Although he was pleased that Brother James helped and served them, the holy father said this because he did not want him to take those with severe sores outside the hospital. This was especially because Brother James was very simple, and he often went with a leper to the church of Saint Mary, and especially because people usually abhorred lepers who had severe sores.
– Reverence for life leads us into a spiritual relationship with the world.
11 – After he said these things, blessed Francis immediately reproached himself, and he told his fault to Brother Peter of Catanio, who was then general minister, especially because blessed Francis believed that in reproving Brother James he had shamed the leper.
– People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered. Love them anyway.
12 – And because of this he told his fault, to make amends to God and to the leper. Blessed Francis said to Brother Peter: “I tell you to confirm for me the penance I have chosen to do for this and do not oppose me in any way.” Brother Peter told him: “Brother, do as you please.”
– Faith knows the way. Hope points the way. Love is the way.
13 – Brother Peter so venerated and feared blessed Francis and was so obedient to him, that he would not presume to change his obedience, although then, and many other times, it hurt him inside and out. Blessed Francis said: “Let this be my penance: I will eat together with my Christian brother from the same dish.”
– What is upsetting with one who lies is that that person can longer be believed.
14 – While blessed Francis was sitting at the table with the leper and other brothers, a bowl was placed between the two of them. The leper was completely covered with sores and ulcerated, and especially the fingers with which he was eating were deformed and bloody, so that whenever he put them in the bowl, blood dripped into it. Brother Peter and the other brothers saw this, grew very sad, but did not dare say anything out of fear of the holy father. The one who wrote this, saw it and bore witness to it.
– Confession of evil works is the beginning of good works.
65 – THE VISION OF BROTHER PACIFICO IN A CHURCH AT BOVARA
15 – At one time blessed Francis was going through the valley of Spoleto together with Brother Pacifico, from the Marches of Ancona, who in the world had been known as “King of Verses,” a nobleman and courtly master of singers. They stayed in the lepers’ hospital at Trevi.
– The greatest truths are the simplest, and so are the greatest people.
16 – Blessed Francis said to Brother Pacifico: “Let’s go to the church of Saint Peter in Bovara, because I wish to stay there tonight.” That church was not too far from the hospital, and no one was staying there, because at that time the town of Trevi had been destroyed, so that no one lived in the town or the village.
– If you judge people you have no time to love them.
17 – On the way there, blessed Francis said to Brother Pacifico: “Go back to the hospital because I would like to remain here alone tonight. Come back to me at dawn tomorrow.” So blessed Francis remained there by himself. After he said compline and other prayers, he wanted to rest and sleep, but could not do so, and his soul grew afraid and he began to feel diabolical suggestions.
– Every child comes with the message that God is not discouraged with us.
18 – He immediately got up, went outside the house, signed himself, and said: “On behalf of Almighty God, I tell you, demons, do whatever the Lord Jesus Christ has permitted you, to harm my body. I am prepared to endure anything. Therefore, you will be avenging me on my opponent and enemy.”Those suggestions stopped immediately and, when he returned to the place where he had been lying, he rested and slept peacefully.
– Kindness is the music of life.
19 – When morning came Brother Pacifico returned to him. Blessed Francis was standing in prayer in front of the altar inside the choir. Brother Pacifico stood and waited for him outside the choir, in front of the crucifix, praying to the Lord at the same time. As he began to pray, Brother Pacifico was taken up into an ecstasy, whether in the body or out of the body, God knows, and he saw many thrones in heaven, one of them higher than the others, glorious, resplendent adorned with every precious stone.
– Even in the most difficult people there is a child asleep in their hearts waiting to be awakened.
20 – As he admired its beauty, he began to wonder what kind of throne it was and whose it might be. All at once he heard a voice telling him: “This was Lucifer’s throne and blessed Francis will sit on it in his place.”
– When the soul has laid down its faults at the feet of God, it feels as though it had wings.
21 – As he came back to himself, blessed Francis came out to him. He immediately prostrated himself in the form of a cross at the feet of blessed Francis. Because of the vision he saw about him, he considered blessed Francis as if he were already in heaven, and said to him: “Father, forgive me my sins, and ask the Lord to forgive me and have mercy on me.”
– To have an increase of Jesus you must have a decrease in self.
22 – Extending his hand, blessed Francis lifted him up, and he realized that he had seen something in prayer. He appeared almost totally changed and spoke to blessed Francis not as if he were living in the flesh, but as if he were already reigning in heaven. Afterwards, as if on another point, because he was unwilling to speak about the vision to blessed Francis, Brother Pacifico asked him: “What do you think of yourself, brother?”
– You are not responsible for your heritage but you are responsible for your future.
23 – Blessed Francis responded: “It seems to be that I am a greater sinner than anyone in this world.”
– The world is round and the place that seems like the end may be the beginning.
24 – And immediately Brother Pacifico was told this in his heart: “In this you can know that the vision you saw is true. For as Lucifer was cast down from that throne because of his pride, so blessed Francis will merit to be exalted and to sit on it because of his humility.”
– Positive anything is better than negative nothing.
66 – HE HEARS THE MUSIC OF A LUTE IN THE HOUSE OF TEOBALDO SARACENO IN RIETI
25 – Once, when blessed Francis was in Rieti because of the disease of his eyes, he was staying for a few days in a room of Teobaldo Saraceno. One day he said to one of his companions, who while in the world knew how to play a lute: “Brother, the children of this world do not understand divine things. Contrary to the will of God, they use instruments such as lutes, the ten-stringed harps, and other instruments, for the sake of vanity and sin, which in times past were used by holy people to praise God and offer consolation to souls.
– Half the confusion in the world comes from not knowing how little we need.
26 – Therefore, I would like you to obtain secretly from some upright person a lute on which you could play for me a decent song and, with it, we will say the words and praises of the Lord, especially because my body is tormented with disease and pain. So I wish by this means to change that pain of my body to joy and consolation of spirit.”
– God in heaven let me feel my nothingness in order to feel the more powerfully the greatness of your goodness.
27 – For, during his illness, blessed Francis composed some Praises of the Lord which he had his companions recite sometimes for the praise of God, the consolation of his spirit, and also for the edification of his neighbor. “Father,” the brother answered him, “I would be embarrassed to get one, especially because the people of this city know that I played the lute when I was out in the world. I fear they will suspect me of being tempted to play the lute again.”
– What I have will belong to another one day, but what I am will be mine for all eternity.
28 – Blessed Francis told him: “Then, brother, let’s let it go.” The following night, around midnight, blessed Francis was keeping vigil. And behold, around the house where he was staying he heard the sound of a lute playing a melody more beautiful and delightful than he had ever heard in his life. The one playing it would go some distance away so that he could barely be heard, and then returned, but was always playing. And he did this for over an hour.
– Why is it that so many church goers say “Our Father” on Sunday, and go around the rest of the week like orphans?
29 – Blessed Francis, considering that it was the work of God and no to any human being, was overjoyed, and with an exultant heart with deep feeling he praised the Lord who was so kind as to console him with such a great consolation.
– Look for the best in others and you will find the best in yourself.
30 – When he arose in the morning he said to his companion: “My brother, I asked you for something and you did not grant it. But the Lord, who consoles His friends in their sufferings, was kind enough to console me last night.” He then told him everything that had happened.
– The little things? The little moments? They aren’t little!
31 – The brothers were amazed and considered this a great miracle. And they knew that it was truly a work of God for the consolation of blessed Francis, especially since, by a decree of the podestà, no one dared go about the city, either at midnight or even after the third ringing of the bells. And because, as blessed Francis said, it came and went in silence, without a word or a noise from its mouth, for more than an hour to console his spirit.
– Those who would transform the world, must first transform themselves.
Posted By Teresa Redder, on July 6th, 2025 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
July 2025
O loving one, bear in mind your poor children for whom, without You,
their one and only consolation, there is little comfort. They still tearfully cry out to You:
O Father, place before Jesus Christ, Son of the Most High Father, His sacred stigmata;
and show Him the signs of the cross on Your hands, feet, and side,
that He may mercifully bare His own wounds to the Father,
and because of this the Father will ever show us in our anguish His tenderness.
Amen.
(Prayer to St. Francis from the End of the Second Book of the Life of St. Francis by Bl. Thomas of Celano)
Excerpts from Franciscan Sources – Assisi Compilation #58 – #61
58 – HIS WISHES ABOUT HOW THE BROTHERS’ PLACES SHOULD BE BUILT
1 – Once when he was in Siena for treatment of the disease of his eyes, he was staying in a cell, where after his death a chapel was built out of reverence for him. Lord Bonaventure, who had donated to the brothers the land where the brothers’ place had been built, said to him: “What do you think of this place?”
– We discover the treasure of Gospel poverty among the poor.
2 – Blessed Francis answered him: “Do you want me to tell you how the places of the brothers should be built?” “I wish you would, Father,” he answered.
– The beggars and the poor confront us with the Gospel.
3 – And he told him: “When the brothers go to any city where they do not have a place, and they find someone who wants to give them enough land to build a place, have a garden, and whatever is necessary for them, they must first consider how much land is enough for them, always considering the holy poverty we have promised, and the good example we are bound to offer to others.”
– There is no substitute for contact with the “leper”.
4 – The holy father said this because he did not want the brothers for any reason to go beyond the norm of poverty either in houses or churches, in gardens or in other things they used.
– We find freedom in accepting that You are who you are before God and nothing more. The truth will set you free.
5 – And he did not want them to possess the right of ownership to these places, but always to stay in them as pilgrims and strangers.
– There is a sacredness in every person.
6 – For this reason, he did not want the brothers to have to be assigned to places in large groups, because it seemed to him that it was difficult to observe poverty fully.
– What do I cling to and what is God asking me to let go of?
7 – From the beginning of his conversion until the end, at his death, this was his will: that holy poverty be observed to its fullest. Afterwards they should go to the bishop of that city and say to him: “Lord, for the love of the Lord God and the salvation of his soul, such and such a person wants to give us enough land so that we can build a place there.
– Praise the goodness of God in the goodness of His people.
8 – Therefore, we have recourse to you first, because you are the father and lord of the souls of the entire flock entrusted to you, as well as our souls and those of the other brothers who will stay in this place. Therefore, with the blessing of the Lord God and yours, we would like to build there.”
– With living stones, we build the Mystical Body of Christ.
9 – The saint would say this because the good of souls the brothers want to produce among the people was better achieved by peace with prelates and clerics, winning them and the people, rather than by scandalizing prelates and clerics, even though they might win the people.
– Do we dream a future we believe in enough to strive for it a lifetime?
10 – “The Lord,” he used to say, “has called us to help His faith and the prelates and clerics of holy Mother Church. This is why we are always bound to love, honor, and revere them as much as we can. For this reason let them be called Lesser Brothers because, in name as well as example and deed, they should be humbler than all other people of this world.
– The Gospel (Jesus) is the vision of life of the Franciscan.
11 – From the beginning of my conversion, when I separated myself from the world and father in the flesh, the Lord put His word in the mouth of the bishop of Assisi so he could counsel me well in the service of Christ and comfort me.
– Our call to repentance is never ending.
12 – On account of this, as well as many other excellent qualities that I consider in prelates, not only in bishops, but in poor priests as well, I want to love them, revere them and regard them as my lords.
– When you believe you have achieved your spiritual goal, re-evaluate! Eternity determines, not time!
13 – “After receiving the bishop’s blessing, let them go and have a big ditch dug around the land which they received for building the place, and as a sign of holy poverty and humility, let them place a hedge there, instead of a wall.
– The Cross is central in any conversion journey.
14 – Afterwards they may have poor little houses built, of mud and wood, and some little cells where the brothers can sometimes pray and where, for their own greater decency and also to avoid idle words, they can work.
– The life and the whole being of each Christian must be identified around one central axis: fidelity to Jesus Christ.
15 – “They may also have churches made; however, the brothers must not have large churches made, in order to preach to the people there or for any other reason, for it is greater humility and better example when the brothers go to other churches to preach, so that they may observe holy poverty and their humility and decency.”
– We begin to pray, believing it is our own initiative that compels us to do so. Instead , we learn that it is always God’s initiative within us.
16 – “And if prelates and clerics, religious or secular, should sometimes visit their places, their poor house, little cells, and churches in that place will preach to them and edify them.”
– Love and prayer are the only sure spiritual levers with which it is possible to lift up the world. And this applies to all areas of life.
17 – “The brothers often have large buildings made, breaking with our holy poverty, resulting in complaints and bad example to their neighbor. Afterwards, they abandon those places and buildings for the sake of better or healthier places, prompting those who gave alms there, as well as others who see or hear about this to be scandalized and greatly upset.
– In a world thirsting for peace, it is indeed urgent that Christian communities proclaim the gospel unanimously.
18 – It is, therefore, better that the brothers have small and poor places built, observing their profession, and giving their neighbor good example, rather than making things contrary to their profession and offering bad example to others.
– It is indispensable that (Christian communities) witness to divine love, which unites them, and make themselves messengers of joy, hope, and peace.
19 – For, if it should ever happen that the brothers leave their little places and poor buildings for the sake of a more decent place, that would be very bad example and scandal.”
– Whoever calls with faith on the name of Jesus can have the experience similar to the one mentioned by Luke: for power came forth from him and healed all
59 – HE DICTATES HIS FIRST TESTAMENT AT SIENA
20 – During those days and in the same cell where blessed Francis spoke about these things to Lord Bonaventure, one evening he wanted to vomit because of the disease of his stomach. Because of the strain he put on himself in vomiting, he vomited up blood all night until morning. When his companions saw him already almost dying from weakness and the pain of his illness, they said to him with great sorrow and flowing tears:
– Only a higher moral vision can motivate the choice for life.
21 – “Father, what shall we do? Bless us and the rest of your brothers. In addition. leave your brothers some remembrance of your will, so that, if the Lord wants to call you away from this world, your brothers may always keep it in their memory and say: ‘Our father left these words to his sons and brothers at his death.’”
–Provided that we approach the word of God and listen to it as it really is, it brings us into contact with God Himself, God speaking to us.
22 – He then told them: “Call me Brother Benedict of Piratro.” He was a brother priest, discerning and holy, an elder in religion. He sometimes celebrated for blessed Francis in that cell, since, although he was sick, he always wanted, gladly and devoutly, to hear Mass whenever he was able. And when he had come, blessed Francis told him:
– May Mary help us love nothing more than Christ, who reveals to the world the mystery of divine love and true human dignity.
23 – “Write that I bless all my brothers, those who are and who will be in the religion until the end of the world.”
– (The word of God) brings us into contact with Christ, the Word of God, the Truth, who is at the same time both the Way and the Life.
24 – For when the brothers gathered in chapter, it was always blessed Francis’s custom in the brothers’ chapters, when the brothers were called together at the end of the chapter, to bless and absolve all the brothers present and the others who were in the religion. And he would also bless all those who were to come to this religion.
– It is decisive for each one of us to meet Christ personally.
25 – He would bless all the brothers in the religion and those to come, not only in chapters, but also many other times. And blessed Francis told him: “Since I cannot speak much because of weakness and the pain of my illness, I am showing my will to my brothers briefly in these three words: as a sign of remembrance of my blessing and my testament, may they always love each other; may they always love and observe our Lady Holy Poverty; and may they always remain faithful and subject to the prelates and all the clerics of holy Mother Church.”
– (Do) not be afraid of openly and courageously expressing (y)our faith in Christ in (y)our daily lives, especially in works of charity and solidarity with those who are in need.
26 – He used to warn the brothers to fear and beware of bad example. Furthermore, he cursed all those who by their wrong and bad example caused people to blaspheme the religion and life of the brothers and the holy and good brothers, who, because of this, were ashamed and distressed.
– The world should be enriched by … (our) goodness.
60 – HE CARRIES A BROOM TO CLEAN CHURCHES
27 – At one time while blessed Francis was staying at Saint Mary of the Portiuncula, and there sometimes used to go through the villages and churches in the area around the city of Assisi, proclaiming and preaching to the people that they should do penance. And he would carry a broom to sweep the churches.
– The first step of evangelization is to accept the grace of conversion into our own minds and hearts, to let ourselves be reconciled to God’
28 – For blessed Francis was very sad when he entered some church and saw that it was not clean. Therefore, after preaching to the people, at the end of the sermon he would always have all the priests who were present assembled in some remote place so he could not be overheard by secular people.
– We must first experience God=s gracious mercy, the love of Christ which has reconciled us to himself and given us the work of handing on this reconciliation.
29 – He would preach to them about the salvation of souls and, in particular, that they should exercise care and concern in keeping churches clean, as well as altars and everything that pertained to the celebration of the divine mysteries.
– Man’s relationship with God demands times of explicit prayer, in which the relationship becomes an intense dialogue, involving every dimension of the person.
61 – BROTHER JOHN THE SIMPLE JOINS THE BROTHERS; AND HOW HE IMITATES FRANCIS
30 – One day, blessed Francis went to a church in a village of the city of Assisi and began to sweep it. Immediately talk about this spread through that village, especially because those people enjoyed seeing and hearing him. A man named John heard it, a man of amazing simplicity, who was ploughing in a field of his near the church, and he immediately went to him.
– O Lord of life, when the moment of our definitive “passage” comes, grant that we may face it with serenity, without regret for what we shall leave behind.
31 – Finding him sweeping the church, he said to him: “Brother, give me the broom because I want to help you.” Taking the broom from him, he swept the rest. When they sat down, he said to blessed Francis: “Brother, it’s a long time now that I’ve wanted to serve God, especially after I heard talk about you and your brothers, but I did not know how to come to you. Now that it pleased God that I see you, I want to do whatever pleases you.”
– Jesus asks us to follow him and to imitate him along the path of love, a love which gives itself completely to the brethren out of love for God.
Peace and Blessings
Fr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
Regional Spiritual Assistant
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