August 2014
(St. Francis of Assisi)
O truly the most Christian of men,
who strove by perfect imitation to be conformed
while living to Christ living, dying to Christ dying,
and dead to Christ dead,
and deserved to be adorned with an expressed likeness!
(Your) most holy soul was released from the flesh
and absorbed into the abyss of divine light …
You were borne aloft straight to heaven …
(you) merited to enter the place of light and peace
where (you) rest with Christ forever.
(Pray for your family on earth
that we may share your life with God one day.)
(Major Legend by St. Bonaventure, chapter 14 – adapted)
Following are excerpts taken from The Romanticism of St. Francis by Father Cuthbert, O.F.M. Cap. ed.1924; Daily reflections are taken from Day by Day with by Pope John Paul II.
The Story of the Friars
1
For three years…Francis had been living a life of strict poverty, working with his hands and begging his bread. He had run the gauntlet of ridicule and now by sheer force of character and his evident sincerity, was winning the respect of his fellow citizens. – As soon as the Christian becomes aware of his supernatural vocation, he welcomes the mystery of God’s coming to his own soul.
2
One day hearing Mass when the words of the Gospel fell upon his ears…He at once cast aside his shoes and went forth barefooted and as he met people on the road, he began to admonish them to love God and save their souls. Thus to the life of poverty was added the apostolate. – The stable of Bethlehem is the primary place of man’s solidarity…chiefly with those for whom “there is no room in the inn”.
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