The St. Katharine Drexel Region of the Secular Franciscan Order

April 2023

 Wherever we are, in every place, at every hour, at every time of the day, every day and continually,

let all of us truly and humbly believe, hold in our heart and love, honor, adore, serve,

praise and bless, glorify and exalt, magnify and give thanks

to the Most High and Supreme Eternal God, Trinity and Unity,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

Creator of all, Savior of all who believe and hope in Him, and love Him, Who,

without beginning and end, is unchangeable, invisible, indescribable, ineffable,

incomprehensible, unfathomable, blessed, praiseworthy, glorious, exalted,

sublime, most high, gentle, lovable, delightful,

and totally desirable above all else for ever.

Amen.

 (Prayer of Saint Francis taken from the Earlier Rule, chapter 23)

 My Resurrected Jesus, my Lord and my God,

I join with all creation in celebrating the feast of Your victory over sin and death.

The light of the Resurrection gives meaning to all life.

Death and suffering no longer have the last word.

You have conquered all that darkens our lives and have introduced us to the New Day.

May the joy of the Resurrection fill the hearts of all whom you have redeemed in your Blood.

May Your Holy Spirit, first Gift of the Resurrection, be with us always,

that we may be renewed and filled with Life as we seek to be Heralds of the Great King

proclaiming Your Resurrection and New Life to all the world.

 The Morning Sermon on Saint Francis

Preached at Paris, October 4, 1255

1

Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart. These words from Saint Matthew’s Gospel were spoken by the greatest follower of Christ, Saint Francis, and they are taken from the gospel which is read on his feast day. – Carry the cross patiently, and in the end it will carry you.

2

But whether on the lips of Christ or Saint Francis, they are a short and succinct saying, which in concise and plain terms expresses the sum total of gospel perfection. – Kindness is loving people more than they deserve.

3

The saying is concise, so that nobody can claim ignorance of it because of scarcity of books, and plain, so that nobody may be excused from understanding it through lack of schooling. The saying has two parts: a preliminary statement and a word of instruction. The first is to encourage the hearers, the second to inspire them. –  Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

4

To encourage us he says: Learn from me, and to inspire us he adds: for I am meek and humble of heart. In other words, be meek and humble like me. – To repent is one’s way of looking at life.

5

Learn from me . . . The words Learn from me have two meanings, both of which can give encouragement: Take me as your model of discipleship and embrace my teaching. Both can be applied to Saint Francis, the first on account of the life he led as a result of his conversion, the second because he attained perfection. – To repent is to take God’s point of view instead of my own.

6

The former made him a true disciple, and the latter an excellent teacher. Because of the life he embraced at his conversion, Saint Francis can say: Learn from me, that is, take me as your model of discipleship, for I am a true disciple. – Jesus will be Lord of my life if only I will let Him be.

7

The essence of true discipleship of Jesus Christ, which was singularly realized and shone in Saint Francis, consists first of all in separating oneself from the company of evil people, as Proverbs says: A friend of fools shall become like them. This is the meaning of those words about Christ that privately to his own disciples he explained everything where “privately” signifies well removed from wicked people and away from the crowds. This shows that the disciple of Christ must keep away from evil and divisive company. – The Gospels do not explain Easter. Easter explains the Gospels.

8

Realizing this, Saint Francis, under God’s inspiration, immediately left the company of the young people who had been his comrades in sin, for it was evil company. He also stopped associating with merchants, which was worldly company, and went off alone to a secluded place, knowing that Christ explained everything to his own disciples privately. – To be controlled by human nature results in death. To be controlled by the Spirit results in life and peace.

9

That is what anyone must do who desires to be a perfect disciple of Christ: he must withdraw from evil and worldly company. At the least one must withdraw from evil company, which the call to perfection demands, even if one has no desire to relinquish worldly company. – Lighthouses blow no horns; they only shine.

10

We are told of the Israelites: They mingled with the nations and learned to do as they did. They served their idols which became a snare to them. “The nations” in this text refer to those who lead an ungodly life and “to mingle with them” means to associate with them in such a way as of necessity to copy their evil ways. – It takes years to make an overnight success.

11

The Book of Sirach tells us: Whoever touches pitch will be defiled and whoever associates with a proud man will become like him. Proverbs advises us: Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare; and the Psalmist warns us: With the perverse you will be perverted. – That which you do not let go of you cannot possess; it possesses you.

12

Second, it is essential for true discipleship to free oneself from useless cares in the affairs of life. Anyone who is anxious about useless things cannot give attention to those that are profitable. As Saint Matthew’s Gospel says: the cares of the world and the delight in riches choke the word and it proves unfruitful. Thus it is recorded by Saint Luke: Whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. The Lord says this not because there is sin in having possessions, but because it is sinful to be anxiously concerned about them. – Our job is not to do something for the Church; it is to do something with the Church.

13

In any case, it is impossible, or at least very difficult, to have great possessions without being preoccupied with them. And so the Lord stipulates: Whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. Taking this to heart, Saint Francis on hearing God’s voice at once gave everything away to the extent that he did not even keep back a stitch to cover his nakedness. As in his heart he despised all possessions, so outwardly he gave away everything he had. This is what anyone must do who desires to be a perfect disciple of Christ: he must go, sell everything he has and give to the poor. – Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, faith looks up.

14

If one does not have the will to do that, one must at least keep oneself from the cares, anxieties, and vanities that go with possessions; otherwise, one will be a disciple, not of Christ, but of the devil. It is impossible to serve God and mammon at the same time. As it says in the First Epistle to Timothy: Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into many senseless and hurtful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. Not all learn the teaching of Christ; some learn to catch prey as Ezeckiel has it: She brought up one of her whelps; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch prey; he devoured men. – How else by through a broken heart may the lord Jesus Christ enter in?

15

Third, the true disciple must rid himself of inordinate attachments to his loved ones. As Saint Paul teaches, the sensual or unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, and Saint Luke records: If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. The Lord does not forbid us to love our father and mother, for the Decalogue commands that we honor them; what he does forbid is to be inordinately attached to our parents, because inordinate attachment rejects the teaching of Christ. – The effect of our sharing in the body and blood of Christ is to change us into what we receive.

16

Understanding this, Saint Francis, having broken the ties of natural attachment, he abandoned them completely. Anyone who desires to attain perfect discipleship of Christ must forget his father’s house and hate his own life, that is, his natural affections, in order to imitate Christ who gave his dear soul into the hands of her enemies. But if a man does not wish to hate or sacrifice natural affections for his parents altogether, he must at least sacrifice them in regard to women; otherwise, he will not be able to attain knowledge of the truth. – The goal of religion is not to get us into heaven, but to get heaven into us.

17

As Saint Paul writes to Timothy: For among them are those who make their way into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and swayed by various impulses who will listen to anybody and can never arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Fourth, the true disciple of Christ must purify his heart of all that militates against the practice of virtue. As the Book of Wisdom says: Wisdom will not enter a deceitful soul, nor dwell in a body enslaved to sin and as Isaiah admonishes: Cease to do evil, learn to do good. – World peace begins in each heart.

18

In other words, you will not be able to learn holiness from Christ unless you have resolved to eradicate its opposite, sinfulness, just as knowledge cannot be acquired unless satisfaction with its opposite, ignorance, has been uprooted. Acknowledging this, Saint Francis strove with constant sighs of sorrow to root out vice and sin totally from the field of his heart. Nor did he cease to lament up to the moment when he was found worthy to hear from God: Your sins are forgiven. – We find comfort among those who agree with us, and growth among those who do not.

19

In the same way, anyone who desires to be a perfect disciple of Christ, must every night drench his couch with weeping, just as Saint Francis did. If one cannot follow that advice which leads to perfection, then one must at least cease to do evil if one wishes to become Christ’s disciple. Therefore, anyone who does not resolve to abandon his evil ways cannot learn virtue, as Jeremiah reflects: Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? – The hand will not reach out for what the heart does not long for.

20

Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil. Here the Prophet is addressing those who from long habit have become stubborn in their malice so that it is well nigh impossible to root it out. They cannot learn virtue because they learned evil habits well enough in their youth. Saint Francis, then, can rightly say: Learn from me, that is, take me as your model of discipleship, for I am a true disciple of Christ. – Defeat may serve as well as victory to shake the soul and let the glory out.

21

Likewise he can say to us Learn from me in the second sense, namely, embrace my teaching, because by being a true disciple, he became an authentic teacher. There are four grounds on which he can address these words to us. First of all, he taught what he himself had learned without error because of the truth of God’s revelation. As Scripture tells us: God is true, and every man a liar. Therefore, the teaching which anyone receives from revelation cannot be other than true. – Rather than ask God to help you, ask God how you might help Him.

22

It is from having learned in this way that Saint Paul commends his teaching to the Galatians: For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ. Saint Francis learned his teaching in the same way. Indeed, one may well wonder at his teaching. How was he able to teach others what no human had taught him? Did he come by this knowledge of himself? – Treat people as if they were what they ought to be.

23

Be assured he did not. The evidence of that is found in the account of his life. When he was instructed by another human or had to prepare something himself, he had absolutely nothing to say. In that, however, he is more to be praised and wondered at than imitated. Hence it is not without reason that his sons attend the schools.- In prayer it is better to have a heart without words, than words without a heart.

24

To arrive at knowledge without a human teacher is not for everyone, but the privilege of a few. Though the Lord himself chose to teach Saint Paul and Saint Francis, it is his will that their disciples be taught by human teachers. – When you find yourself on the side of the majority it is time to pause and reflect.

25

Second, he taught what he had learned without guile due to his fervent love, which directs the whole heart to grasp what is being taught. Speaking of wisdom, Solomon glories that he himself learned in this way:  I learned without guile and impart without grudging; I do not hide her wealth. – The only thing necessary for evil to triumph, is for good people to do nothing.

26

That is to say, as ardent love brought me to learn without guile, so it moves me to share without jealousy or grudging envy what I have learned. That is precisely how Saint Francis learned and taught. He so loved what he learned that he accounted wealth as nothing in comparison with that; gold as but little sand and silver as clay; he gave up all the wealth of his house and scorned it as nothing. –  The more we depend on God, the more dependable we find God is.

27

He learned with such diligence that he became the teacher of many disciples whom he taught to think of the Lord with uprightness and seek him with sincerity of heart, because he is found by those who do not put him to the test, and manifests himself to those who do not distrust him. – The best mirror is a friend’s eyes.

28

He manifested himself to Saint Francis who, because he had learned without guile, shared what he had learned without envy. Third, he taught what he had learned without forgetting it, because he put it into practice being no hearer that forgets but a doer that acts, and because of that he was an excellent teacher. – Those who wish to transform the world must begin by transforming themselves.

29

On observing the commandments Saint Matthew records: He who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Sirach praises this method of learning when he says: A man who has much experience knows many things, which he will think on with composure and without blame; and one who has learned many things will speak with understanding, because he did not acquire his knowledge by reflecting in general terms on a limited number of truths, but by individual experience over a wide range of life. – There is no saint without a past and no sinner without a future.

30

That is how Saint Francis learned, but by experiencing sufferings not joys. We can say of him what Saint Paul says of his own Teacher: He learned obedience through what he suffered. At the outset of his conversion Saint Francis experienced derision, beatings, fetters, imprisonment, destitution, nakedness, and adversity. Like Saint Paul he learned to be content in his sufferings: And because the teaching of a true disciple is recognized by his patience, Saint Francis is to be praised and imitated in his teaching and we should learn from him.- An empty meaningless faith may be worse than none.

Holy and Happy New Year 2023!

January 2023

The Tree of the Crucified Life of Jesus 

Book 5, Chapter 3 

[The Virtues of Austerity, Humility, and Obedience] 

 

1

So now, let us return to the perfection of Francis, whose identification with the angel of the sixth seal is borne out not only by external witnesses but by the excellence of his own life. He did indeed come down from where the sun rises, as, ever rising from strength to strength, following the deeds of Christ as he grew in his humanity, he configured his holy way of living to the life of Christ. – As soon as we are in faith and in love, we are in prayer

2

And this reached the high point of his carrying the seal of the living God; he lived to become worthy to have on his body the imprints of the wounds of the Crucified. Now, as to Christ’s life itself, an attentive survey of the gospels will reveal its salient features, its most striking notes: the crucifixion, the profound humility, the extreme poverty, the fervor of charity shown by desiring our salvation in undergoing the torment of the cross, as well as by the sheer graciousness of His stooping to compassionate sinners and the afflicted. – He who does not praise God here on earth shall eternally be dumb.

3

Yet the crowning perfection of Christ’s life lay in His interior cultivation and consummation of divine charity. In one continuous act, on His own behalf and that of all His members, He duly paid the service of worship to the divinity, to which in His own person He was united. There, despite its rather moderate treatment, you have enough about his amazing austerities to weigh in your mind. The fact is that the Blessed Jesus, virginal Son born of virginity, saw fit to transfuse purity into him, since complete cleanness cannot live in tainted flesh without a continuous crucifixion of self. That is why the most pious Jesus, in order to help us come to an austere crucifixion of our corrupt flesh for the preservation of purity, afflicted His own sacred flesh with many a cross as long as He lived. Francis, his true son and imitator, taking this to heart, disciplined himself so rigidly in regard to food, clothing, lodgings, sleep, and other similar bodily demands, that he scarcely took the minimum required to sustain nature. – Begin the day with God and it is probable that you will end the day with Him and in goodness.

4

And although, after prolonged penance, his blameless body needed no chastising for any wrong, he continued to inflict hardships and burdens on it, keeping to harsher ways for the sake of others. So, he called his frail body an “ass,” gave it endless hard work to do, provided it with coarse coverings and a bed of straw, and fed it with small amounts of inferior fare. In order to achieve full purity of heart he completely abstained from all familiarities which might inwardly defile him and give bad example to others. – Pray that no crisis hour may find you unprepared.

5

This meant that he recognized the face of hardly any woman. He further ordered every effort made to avoid, as a plague to purity, intimate dealings with women. It was because he was aware of spending his days in a valley of tears, that he was habitually weeping. All of this meant that he had become so candid in mind, so clean in heart, that he seemed to have attained the state of innocence at that time. For, as we read in his Legend, he had practically all creatures, even the inanimate, at his command; a level of grace, indeed, in which he surpassed natural innocence. There were instances of fire tempering its heat, water changing taste, the night sky shining like day, and a dry rock yielding a delicious spring. Thus did the elements put themselves at the service of the unspoiled Francis. – To the one who waits all things reveal themselves. Patience.

6

In deep humility and in eradicating all mundane glamor, he so perfectly imitated Christ that his wish was to place himself and his Order at the feet of everybody. In order to be the least of all, he did not want to have any of the Church’s authority, except her authority for observing the holy Gospel. – When the Church (we) is different from the world, she (we) invariably attracts it.

7

He certainly wanted to promote the salvation of souls; but only through the virtue of humility, not with pompous power. And though it is very true that he had several Supreme Pontiffs at his beck and call—men who held him in the highest regard, sincerely convinced of his sanctity—even so, he would never ask for or accept any privilege that might diminish his being a humble subject. – Never be diffident and/or apologetic about the Gospel.

8

For he wished to be subject to all, and in this lowly subordination to be sacrificed for all in the charity of Christ. Well did he know humility to be pliant: it is like something soft yielding to something resistant while, in effect, enclosing it inside its own softness; unlike inflexibility confronting inflexibility and bringing to naught both itself and its rival. For this reason Francis, in his holy Testament, forbids all the brothers, prelates, and subjects, to ask for any letter from the Apostolic See either to facilitate the work of preaching or to avoid persecution. – The Christian must have the strength to see the good side of things.

9

The humble Francis used to say that when they meekly asked permission of bishops and priests, they were by their example edifying the very pastors of the Church. Then even if they refused permission, patience and humility will bring them to change their minds; meanwhile they themselves, by bearing the refusal patiently, will keep intact a virtuous and flawless way of acting. – If the Gospel really means “good news” then being a Christian means to be a happy person.

10

But if, on the strength of some privilege, the brothers presumptuously go against prelates’ wishes, they are not behaving humbly and they only tempt prelates of lofty heart to oppose and malign them. This results in a collision involving two tough courses of action, both of which cause scandal. And so, the word of truth is preached ineffectively, since no humility is shown by the one getting up to speak. – Gloomy faces are not made for the happy house of Paradise (St. Philip Neri)

11

If, on the other hand, prelates once or twice or even three times bar the brothers from preaching, and each time they react with humility and patience, then their conduct does the preaching to the people. Their holy example will soften the prelate’s heart, who will not only give them permission but will look for them, so eager will he be to hear the preaching of such saintly brothers. The preaching of one such sermon will have a more uplifting effect than a thousand preached in a mood of contention and diminished humility. – You cannot say anything is a failure until it has been tried. Christianity works. Try it!

12

The truth of this was shown by Francis himself in the incident, mentioned in the Legend, with the bishop of Imola. Oh, how abundantly plain it is that Francis’s approach was the more efficacious one! For there are so many around at the moment who are carried away with the “authority” they have and who brook no opposition; and yet one seldom is aware of any change of heart resulting from all their verbose sermons. – Christianity has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found hard and not tried.

13

To brothers who troubled him over their reluctance to be at this low level of submissiveness to everyone, he replied in deeply plaintive tones: “My brothers, my brothers, what you want of me is to give up overcoming the world. For Christ sent me to overcome the world by being really subject to everyone, so that by love I might draw souls to Him through the example of humility.” – Joy is the serious business of heaven.

14

And he went on: “My brothers, humble yourselves before others, and you will convert them all. Those who persecute you unjustly will turn to Christ, having seen your patience tried, and they will be anxious to kiss your footprints. But if I were to use the salvation of others as a pretext for wanting some prerogative, it would mean my forfeiting the humblest of positions which belongs to the condition I am in. And it is through this I advance in virtue, and the people advance in the mercy that saves them.” – Sour godliness is the devil’s religion.

15

Things like this he told his brothers, as he wanted to rule out for them all affectation of ecclesiastical dignity and maintain them in their lowly existence. For this reason he called them “lesser,” so that they would not presume to become “greater,” and in no way did he wish them to aspire to the rank of prelacy. – Happiness is a wonderful commodity, the more you give, the more you have.

16

He once said to his patron, the lord bishop of Ostia: “If your lordship wants them to be fruitful in the Church, keep them in the state to which they were called and give them no permission whatever to rise to ecclesiastical prelacy.” As to how productive those are who have risen to ecclesiastical state from this and other Orders dedicated to poverty, those that know of it tell how grieved they are at their extravagance. For everybody knows well enough that their ascent to rank spelled their descent from virtue. – Contentment consists not in great wealth, but in few wants.

17

Much of their behavior proves that what they sought in promotion was not so much an improvement of others’ conduct as a life of relaxation for themselves. For, self-denying once, they have turned into gluttons; poor men once, they have become grasping and greedy; thought nothing of once, they have ended up proud and arrogant. They left the world when they joined their Orders, and as soon as they got rank, they returned to it. – No one has the right to consume happiness without producing it.

18

While they grease the palms of the mighty, they give no thought to the poor. They used to be the preachers, zealous for the salvation of souls; now they are among the worst offenders in neglecting souls. With every breath they collect temporalities for themselves and the benefit of their families. From the time they were infants in their Orders, poverty left them with nothing; now they seem bent on compensating themselves for that. Oh, what a true prophet Francis was! – The most evident sign of wisdom is continued cheerfulness.

19

And what misfortunes this promotion business has brought on the Orders! For the intention of those striving seems to focus on this; in those that have some competence this ambition seems to boil up. So, they do the rounds of the curiae and make sure they lodge with dignitaries, on whom they fawn. Far from refusing favors, they procure them by all manner of contrivance, shrewdness, sham, and sophistry. – To get the full value of joy you must have somebody with whom to share it.

20

They have reached the point where the saying is verified in them, “Like people, like priest”; indeed, like cleric, like ambitious and wandering religious. Is it any wonder that those who enter into this have no morally uplifting effect on people, but only cause them distress? All this is to say but little; words fail me to describe the malice of the times we live in. – Those who bring sunshine to the lives others cannot keep it from themselves.

21

In contrast, the humble Francis, in order to keep himself on the lowest possible level and to confound the ambitions of the future, had no desire to be promoted to the priesthood. As he saw it, up to the manifestation of the Church’s sixth status, the guidance of souls was not to be conducted through prelacy, if it were to be beneficial, but rather to be committed to the spirit of poverty. It is then that those who are like new apostles will be described as the pillars of the future status, as Christ expressly promised the angel of Philadelphia, in which there is doubtless a figurative reference to this status. – Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself.

22

Therefore it was said to him, that “he has little power,” that is to say, he has glorious humility. For the status of poverty first had to be tried in humility, so that afterward in a prelacy it might not be judged as a thing of high standing. Because there are many who cloak their pride and, unsupported by privileges, cannot put up with clerical harassment, we can give a twofold reply based on sayings of the blessed Francis. – The sweet mark of a Christian is not faith, or even love, but joy.

23

One is that to men of perfection, which these are supposed to be, nothing should be a source of bother except what would drive them to sin, to which, of course, no one is forced against his will. And if you speak of the many tribulations the clergy often inflict upon them and to which they are unequal, we must respond that such people simply should not embark on the way of perfection and, with their immaturity, wreck a state of perfection. – Joy is the awareness of God’s loving presence within you.

24

Another rejoinder might be that these are the people who from the outset stood up to the clergy, while commandeering revenue—even though in a less obviously greedy way—by means of questing for alms and devotional stipends for Masses. For these reasons the clergy came down even harder on them. But if they had kept their humility and poverty intact, harassment would have been sweetly borne; besides, they couldn’t have had much to suffer, since they wouldn’t have had anything to lose! – Every act formed by charity is a revelation of God.

25

Francis wanted them to flee to another place and do penance, if they were persecuted in one place instead of standing on privileges. He used to teach, according to the Gospel which we have promised to observe, that Jesus himself says: If they persecute you in one town, take refuge in the next. The most sacred Testament of the holy father Francis repeats this. But how will this sound to those who, in the style of magnates build splendid residences, can scarcely be pulled away from where they grew up, even by order of those over them, and cannot tolerate holy brothers of other regions living in the same place? – When we have learned to do the Father’s will, we shall have realized our vocation on earth.

26

Those types have nothing in common with Francis; their portion, it is to be feared, must be in the devil’s hands. But when they gladly hear that Francis and his state is the Church’s reformation and the nourishment of the world, if he wanted others to be subject, how will they reform in pride? What we just said is true; for it is a fact that, apart from the blessed Jesus, his most humble Mother, and the college of the Apostles, never should the world have in it such a profound expression of lowliness as that of this status of poor lesser ones, nor indeed such a gross deformation of it as that of those who fall away. – Our vocation is to live in the Spirit.

27

And because Francis crushed pride underfoot with his humility, he held off the proud demons with authority. Therefore he was showing that his status was blasting away pride from the world—something that will happen to these conceited corrupters of the status, much as they will dislike it. For whoever, like Francis, keeps the humility of Jesus continually before his eyes and is delighted to resemble Him in meekness of heart, will subject himself to everyone and loathe issuing commands and prohibitions. – The vocation of each person merges up to a certain point with his very being.

28

The blessed Francis did commend humble obedience in the strongest terms, and observed it to the extent of always wanting to obey his brother companion. Still, he foresaw that there were sure to be those unprincipled enough to make the road of obedience a difficult one, issuing orders that contravened the poverty of the Rule while imposing absolute obedience on those under them. That is why he put in place a restraining clause to protect subjects, as well as those over them, when he told ministers not to be commanding them anything that is against their souls and our Rule, and subjects to obey in all things which they have promised the Lord to observe and are not against their souls and our Rule. – Not the “job” but our faithfulness to God will ultimately be what leads us to the fullness of life.

29

This form of obedience, which the Rule contains, flows from the heart of him who said of himself, I have come from heaven, not to do my own will, but to do the will of Him who sent me; and to the Pharisees, who were imposing their traditions on the disciples: You have made God’s word ineffective by means of your tradition. For the obedience of Francis cannot contain a greater purity, integrity, or depth, since it obeys in all things and refuses to obey false traditions that destroy the Rule, for to obey them is to apostatize. Because it follows from the fact a prelate derives his authority from the Rule, that to command or obey something contrary to it is to apostatize from the Rule. But do we want to go on further with Francis’s idea of obedience? – The service that counts is the service that costs.

30

He himself, after all, was in everything the least of all the lesser ones. Well might we compare him to the tiniest of infants, Joash, who was rescued from the slaughter of Athalia; or to the smallest of all the seeds, the grain of mustard seed which grew into a great tree; or to the least of all the saints, as Paul calls himself in Ephesians, entrusted though he was with announcing hidden mysteries. “To me, the least of all the saints, is given this grace, to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ: and to enlighten all people, that they may see what is the dispensation of the mystery which has been hidden from eternity in God.” – God forces no one, for love cannot compel. God’s service is a thing of complete freedom. 

31

He might also be compared to Benjamin, the smallest of his brothers, who in many ways was a type of Francis: Benjamin, in his birth, killed his mother; Francis, born in the midst of the fifth age, in the fullness of his birth through his reformed Rule, killed its self-indulgence. Benjamin, in his sojourn, dwelt with his father in the land of Canaan, and his father’s life depended upon his life; Francis fully observed always, by the will of the eternal Father in heaven, a life of fervent Christ-like love, and what pleased the will of the Father was his adornment and repose. – We find freedom when we find God.

 

 

 

November 2022 

 Most High, all-powerful, good Lord, 

Yours are the praises, the glory, and the honor, and all blessing, 

To you alone, Most High, do they belong, 

and no human is worthy to mention Your name. 

Praised be You, my Lord, with all Your creatures, 

especially Sir Brother Sun, …  Sister Moon and the stars, …Brother Wind, … 

Sister Water, … Brother Fire, … our Sister Mother Earth, … 

Praised be You, my Lord, through those who give pardon for Your love, … 

Praised be you, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death, 

from whom no one living can escape. 

Woe to those who die in mortal sin. 

Blessed are those whom death will find in Your most holy will, 

for the second death shall do them no harm. 

Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks and serve Him with great humility. 

Amen. 

(Canticle of the Creatures [abbreviated] by Saint Francis of Assisi)  

November celebrates Life Everlasting of those in God=s Glory and those in God=s Mercy 

 THE SAYINGS 

Sayings of the Companions of Blessed Francis 

An Old Legend (Legenda Vetus) 

 ON THE FUTURE EVIL STATE OF THE BROTHERS, WHICH SAINT FRANCIS PREDICTED 

1  

Saint Francis predicted the following before the Lord of Ostia and many brothers, and often preached this to the people, as the companions who heard it, Brother Bernard, Brother Leo, and Brother Angelo, have testified. His brothers, by the working of evil spirits, would turn aside from the way of holy simplicity and highest poverty. They would receive money, legacies, and bequests. Abandoning poor little solitary places, they would build sumptuous places in towns and cities, which would not demonstrate poverty, but the luxury of the world of lords and princes. – When the Church is different from the world then it will attract it. 

2 

And, with great craftiness and human prudence, they would seek and receive from the Church and the Supreme Pontiffs privileges that would not only mitigate but even destroy the purity of their promised rule and life, revealed to them by Christ. Equipped with these, in their pride they will start quarrels and inflict harm not only on people of the world but also on the clergy and religious. They will dig the pit into which they will finally fall, and sow the seed from which many scandals will be reaped. – Be humble and self-forgetting, but never apologize for the Gospel. 

3 

And Christ will send them one worthy of their worth, not a shepherd but a destroyer, who will mete out retribution to them according to their conniving and striving, and will set in motion a great trial, as they deserve, so that once punished by God’s just judgment they may return, humbled, to the state of their vocation. – Believing and living the Gospel is the beginning of a social revolution. 

4 

Thus they will be completely uprooted from the life-giving and salvific way of living that they promised in the Lord’s presence to observe until the end. The truth of the preachers will be silent in practice or trodden underfoot, and thus the holiness of those professing it will be held in contempt. And those who fervently cling to piety will endure countless persecutions. – Joy is the serious business of heaven. 

5 

At that time, he used to say, there will be such great insults and upheaval of demons and wicked humans against those walking in this way that, abandoning all, they will seek to reach deserted and solitary places and cross over to be among the unbelievers. Scattered, they will take back secular clothing, leading a pilgrim’s wandering life, or hide in the homes of the faithful, amidst innumerable calumnies and insults, and will endure suffering and death. – Sour godliness is the devil’s religion. 

6 

And, he would say, blessed is he who then will be able to find a faithful companion, since those persecuting them, driven by evil spirits, will say that it is a great service to God to wipe out such harmful people from the face of the earth. – Happiness is a wonderful commodity, the more you give, the more you have. 

 

1. THE INTENTION OF SAINT FRANCIS ABOUT THE OBSERVANCE OF THE RULE, WHERE IT SAYS, “WHEREVER THERE ARE BROTHERS WHO KNOW AND REALIZE” 

7 

When the brothers are certain and have learned from experience that in the places where they are staying they cannot observe the Rule according to a pure intention and true uprightness because of the bad habits practiced in the places, inevitably leading, for different reasons, to breaking the Rule, the brothers can and must have recourse to the ministers. As Brother Leo testifies, who was present, along with Brother Domini, when Saint Francis delivered the second Rule to the Lord Pope Honorius for confirmation at Christ’s command, the Supreme Pontiff carefully examined everything contained in the Rule. – Contentment consists not in great wealth, but in few wants. 

8 

He said to Blessed Francis: “Blessed is he who, strengthened by the grace of God, will observe this Rule happily and devotedly, for all the things written in it are holy and Catholic and perfect. However there are problems with these words: “they can and should have recourse to their ministers. Let the ministers, moreover, be bound by obedience to permit them, kindly and generously, their request. If they refuse to do this, the brothers themselves have the permission and obedience to observe it literally, because all, both ministers and subjects, must be subject to the Rule.- The most evident sign of wisdom is cheerfulness.  

9 

These could be the occasion of ruin and create the stain of division and scandal in the religion for brothers not fully grounded in the love of virtue. Therefore I want those words changed in such a way that every occasion of danger and division may be removed from the brothers and the religion.” – The full value of joy requires someone to share it with. 

10  

Blessed Francis answered, “It was not I but Christ who put these words in the Rule. He knows best what is useful and necessary for the salvation of souls and of the brothers, and for the good state and preservation of the religion. All that will happen in the future to the religion and to the Church is clear and present to Him. I must not and cannot change the words of Christ. – Bring sunshine to another and you cannot keep it from yourself. 

11 

It will happen that the ministers and others in authority in the religion will cause many bitter tribulations for those who wish to observe the Rule faithfully and literally. Therefore, since it is the will and obedience of Christ that this Rule and life be understood literally, so it must be your will and obedience that this be done and be written in the Rule.” – The sweet mark of a Christian is not faith or even love, but joy. 

12 

Then the Pope said to him, “I will do this in such a way that, keeping the full sense of the words, I will modify the letter of the Rule in this passage, in such a way that the ministers will understand they are obliged to do what Christ wills and the Rule commands, and the brothers will understand they have the freedom to observe the Rule purely and simply. – Joy is not the absence of pain, but the awareness of God’s loving presence within you. 

13 

This will provide no occasion, to those who frequently look for one, to transgress the Rule under the pretext of observing it.” Therefore the pope changed the words of that clause, as they now stand in the Rule. – A happy family is but an earlier heaven. 

 

III. AN EXAMPLE OF THE WILL OF SAINT FRANCIS MENTIONED ABOVE 

14  

This is proved by the answer he gave at Saint Mary of the Angels to that brother from Germany, a master of theology, who said to Brother Francis with great reverence: “I promised firmly to observe the Gospel and the Rule which Christ has spoken through you, until the end, simply and faithfully, with the help of His grace. But one favor I ask of you. If in my lifetime the brothers fall as far away from the pure observance of the Rule as you predict through the Holy Spirit, I ask by your obedience that I may withdraw from those who do not observe it, alone or with some brothers who wish to observe it purely.” – Every charitable act is a revelation of God. 

15 

Hearing these things, Blessed Francis was overjoyed and, blessing him, said, “Know that what you asked is granted to you, by Christ and by me.” – Learn to do the Father’s Will and you will have fully realized your vocation on earth. 

16 

And he placed his right hand on his head, saying to him: “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedek.” And Blessed Francis added that all the promises made to him by Christ would, in the end, be fulfilled in those who would strive to observe the Rule simply, to the letter, and without glosses and with joy. – Our vocation is to live in the Spirit. 

 

1. HOW SAINT FRANCIS PREDICTED THAT A WIND WOULD OVERTURN THE HOUSE OF HIS FIRST-BORN OFFSPRING BECAUSE OF THE BROTHERS’ LOVE OF LEARNING AND KNOWLEDGE 

 

17 

Saint Francis also predicted a very great trial of his brothers that was to come because of the love of learning, and that a violent wind from the desert would arise, and would strike the four corners and completely tear down the house of his first-born offspring, and destroy all his children and daughters. – The service that counts is the service that costs. 

18 

And, that he might avoid the danger of the ruin of souls, like another Rechab, he sent his own to lead a wandering life: not to build palaces; not to live in the midst of cities; not to plant the vineyards of various studies, nor drink the wine of secular knowledge and worldly philosophy but, enlivened by the warmth of the Holy Spirit, placed as a law for his sons the deeds of the most perfect life of Christ. – True freedom for people is what air is for the birds. 

19 

But those wise ones, mentioned above, put up, as he said, the tents of those great harlots, and brought their sons inside, living luxuriously from the pay of the harlots. And the simplicity they promised will be considered laughable, corruptible, and despised in their eyes. – God forces no one. Love cannot compel. 

20 

They will become bold and presumptuous, and will glory in human praise, and will trust in the name of learning and activity or prudence, and at that time constant conversion of heart will be very bitter and intolerable. – To serve God is a matter of perfect freedom. 

 

1. TO THE SAME POINT, ABOUT AN AMAZING APPARITION OF AN ANGEL 

 

21  

One day, while Blessed Francis was praying in the place of Saint Mary of the Angels, an angel appeared to him in an amazing form and appearance: the head was gold, arms and chest silver, stomach bronze, feet of iron, and clay; the shoulders covered with vile and rough sackcloth, and it showed it was rather ashamed of that sackcloth covering. – We find freedom when we find God. 

22 

He was amazed at seeing this, and the angel said to him: “Why do you gawk and gaze? This form which you see signifies the beginning, development, and end which your religion will have, until the time it goes into labor, the time of the reform of the life of Christ and of the state of the Church. – Life is filled with meaning as soon as Jesus enters into it. 

23 

The golden head is you, with all your companions who are filled with the love of God and carry Christ and His death in your soul and body. – What is important is not what people think of me but what they think of Jesus because of me. 

24 

But those who will come after you, having put aside prayer, will turn to knowledge which inflates eagerness for lectures and a multitude of books under the pretext of their neighbor’s edification and the salvation of souls. – It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend. 

25 

And because they prefer verbs to virtues, and science to sanctity, they will remain cold within and devoid of charity, having changed gold into cold and heavy silver. – Spirituality really means the Holy Spirit is at work. 

26 

They will pant for praises and honors, wishing, not to be better than others, but to appear so. Thus, to great loss, like bad merchants, they will exchange the silver of eloquence and learning for a hypocritical simulation in bronze, producing their works in order to get human praise, and always for a good profit. – A brave person risks his life but not his conscience. 

27 

But their simulation and hypocrisy cannot be concealed for long; and they will lose their worth in the eyes of those who praised them, and when they sense this they will start to become angry and indignant against those they once tried so hard to please, eagerly seeking opportunities to persecute and afflict those who have stopped revering and complimenting them. – One of the worse things in the world is not sin, but the denial of sin by a false conscience. 

28 

In this way ringing bronze will be transformed into hard and harsh iron, and they will be fragile, and impatient like tile. “This cheap, rough and short sackcloth with which I cover my shoulders is the cheapness and austerity of poverty which the brothers promised the Lord they would wear proudly. – Growth begins when we start to accept our own weakness 

29 

But abandoning it, they will cling to every kind of relaxation concerning tunics, books, and other things. And they will rejoice so inanely before people in the name and reputation of poverty, but in deeds and behavior will be ashamed of it, and will persecute it among themselves and in others; therefore I show that I wear this habit with deep shame.” – Mature people are made not out of good times but out of bad ones.  

30 

And this is one of the reasons why it is said pointedly in the Rule that all the brothers should wear cheap clothing, so that the brothers who refuse to do this and prohibit doing this may have no excuse in their consciences. – God is faithful, and if we serve him faithfully, he will provide for our needs. 

 

September 2022 

 

Let us desire nothing else, let us wish for nothing else, 

let nothing else please us and cause us delight, except our Creator and Redeemer and Savior, 

the one true God, Who is fullness of Good, all Good, every Good, the true and Supreme Good, 

Who alone is merciful and gentle, delectable and sweet, Who alone is holy, just and true, holy and right, 

Who alone is kind, innocent, pure, from Whom and through Whom and in Whom is all pardon, all grace, all glory.  

Therefore, let nothing hinder us, nothing separate us or come between us. Let us all, wherever we are 

Glorify and exalt, magnify and give thanks to the Most High and supreme eternal God. 

 

The following excerpts for the days of the month are taken from 

 

The Book of Praises 

 

Chapter VII 

THE THREE ORDERS 

1

Francis’s teaching produced fruit especially in the three Orders that he established. The first is the Order of Lesser Brothers whose purpose is to serve the Lord according to the Gospel in poverty and humility, and to preach penitence. Innumerable signs in the professed testify that this is acceptable to God, Who is capable of recounting with how many miraculous signs in and through them the Lord embellished this state! – Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger.

2

I will come, however, to the visions, to the expressed callings or few revelations that faithful people now drop from memory. Through these the Lord deigned to demonstrate very plainly the perfection of this way of life. Father Brother Haymo, former general minister of holy memory, told of a prelate in England who, while taken up in a vision to the heavenly mansions, saw no Lesser Brothers there among the other religious. – Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks.

3

While he was wondering about this, the most beautiful of ladies, the most blessed Mother of God, came to him and asked what he was turning over in his mind. When the Bishop told her that he was wondering why he saw in that blessedness no Lesser Brothers, whom the Church Militant esteemed so highly, the Blessed Mother responded: “Come with me and I will show you where they are staying.” – The greatest gift you can do for another is to reveal to him/her their own riches.

4

She showed him brothers who were joined to Christ on intimate terms. “See,” she said, “they are under the wings of the Judge. Save your soul with them.” The Bishop, considering the grace of the vision and on the salutary counsel of the Mother of God, entered the Order of Lesser Brothers with the approval of lord Pope Gregory IX. Some religious are said to have been shown under the mantle of the Blessed Virgin. Thus, the Mother of God herself showed brothers to be under the protection of the wings of the Son of God, each like those of the two Cherubim. – The path to light is often through sin.

5

That prelate is believed to have been Ralph whose entry into the Order has been established; he was a Master of Theology and the Bishop of Hereford. Besides him, there were two other Ralphs, both doctors of theology, one of whom entered the Order at Paris in this way. One time while he was studying, he fell asleep at his book. – Be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, and tolerant with the weak and wrong. Sometime in life, you have been all of these.

6

The devil appeared to him and threatened to take away his sight: “I will blind you with dung.” He woke up but fell asleep again, when the devil again appeared to him and repeated the same words. He drove him away by putting his fingers to his eyes. “You will not blind me,” he said, “I will blind you.” – Children have never been good at listening to their elders, but they’ve never failed to imitate them.

7

On the following day, while he was sitting in the professor’s chair, he received from England a thick letter from a bishop offering him revenue. Interpreting the money as the dung with which the devil wanted to blind him, he entered the Order of Lesser Brothers, scorning everything. – We will change the world only when we have changed ourselves.

8

Some time ago, I was traveling with the then celebrated general minister throughout parts of Germany and Flanders. After many years I again had another meal with the brothers, one of whom had been a canon, a very venerable man, and who had been led to enter the Order by means of a remarkable cure and a vision.- When you’re through changing, you’re through.

9

Perhaps I do not remember all the circumstances after what is now a long time, but I have no doubt about the entry and the cure of the person. I relate the probable fact just as I recall it. That canon was also a noble and respected person, who feared God and had a special devotion to the virgin saint, Euphemia. Although he was, at that time, weak and advanced in age, yet he was concerned about the salvation of his soul which was accustomed to being jeopardized by his wealth. – Be still and know that I am God.

10

While wishing to put his hand to more heroic deeds, he desired to be shown the path of salvation, according to the words of the Prophet: Your ways, O Lord, make known to me; teach me your paths. Show me the way in which I should walk, for to you I lift up my soul. – Salvation is something that happens within you.

11

Through that virgin whom he had taken as his advocate, he begged with continual supplication to be directed to a state suitable for his salvation. Finally, the Lord poured into his heart to renounce the world completely in the Order of Saint Francis. – Salvation is the transformation of a life attitude.

12

He was sick, however, and had an ugly tumor on his throat. Because of this, the minister of the brothers delayed receiving him and, as cautiously as he could, he withdrew from his intention. He recommended his state as honorable, wholesome, fruitful, one that was capable of doing good works for many persons. While he recognized the dismissal, and was deeply saddened because of it, he once more gave himself to prayer, and then fell into a light sleep. – If you want God to listen to you when you pray, shouldn’t you listen to God when God speaks to you?

13

Then blessed Euphemia, to whom he was devoted, appeared to him in a vision with a brilliant company of virgins, and urged his entrance into the Order of Lesser Brothers, removed the obstacle to his reception by curing him, and gave him an unequivocal sign that he could easily endure the Order. “Let this be a sign for you,” she said, “that I am curing you of all infirmity.” – We die on the day when we cease to be illumined by the steady radiance of a wonder, the source of which is beyond reason.

14

Soon after the place of the swelling opened and every bit of that tumor was expelled, she closed the place of the tumor by the touch of her hand, and perfectly restored the man to complete health. When he awoke, that lord found himself perfectly cured. – If we are not rising to be angels, depend on it, we are sinking to be devils.

15

And he was received to vows in the Order, and he was transformed there in a most holy way. He is said to have grown in such virtue before the Lord that, impeded neither by age nor by usual weaknesses, he easily endured the hardships of the Order, and could travel longer on foot than he had been accustomed to do on horseback. – Though we as yet are not what we ought to be, we must be thankful that we are not what we used to be.

16

The most illustrious emperor of Constantinople, Jean, was advised by a divine revelation to take the habit of blessed Francis. Some claim that he alone was left without a court was left to his fraternal peers, and that he was destined for the Knight Templars or Hospitallers. – A rose is merely the evidence of the vitality of the root.

17

Since he was a young man, as noble in birth as he was conspicuous in behavior, he attained, with the help of God, the dignity of the kingdom of Jerusalem, and then to that of the Empire. He was renowned for many honors, since his son-in-law was the Roman Emperor. He was a very great defender of the true faith and an adversary of non-believers. – Thank God that your prayers have not all been answered.

18

Towards the end of his life, when he was seriously reflecting on how many gifts God had bestowed on him during his life, the greatest desire was sent to him from heaven, some believe, to know beforehand what kind of death he would have. He remained for some time with this desire and, because of it, persisted in his constant supplication of God. – When we go forth seeking God, we find that God is seeking us.

19

One night while he was sleeping, a dignified man appeared to him dressed in white, carrying in his hands the habit, cord, and sandals of the Lesser Brothers. “John,” the man said, calling the emperor by name, “since you anxiously desire to know the manner of your death, you should know that you will die in this habit and that this is the will of God.” The emperor, awake and terrified at such a future humiliation that, according to the man, was his, aroused with a scream those who by royal custom rested near him. When they came running, however, he would not reveal the reason for his cry. – The process of character goes from thoughts that become words that become actions that become our character.

20

The following night two men similarly dressed in white appeared to him in his sleep, carrying the same habit, cord and sandals and repeating that it was the divine will that he should die in that habit. Just as before, his spirit shuddered and, awake, he shouted but, again, he would not reveal the reason to those running to him from their beds. – Before thinking of changing others, strive to change yourself.

21

The third night three men likewise appeared to him in a vision, dressed in white like the others, carrying the same habit, cord, and sandals, and, as before, repeating that his passing would be in them. They added: “Do not believe that this is an illusion or an empty dream. What we say will truly be fulfilled.” The disturbed emperor ordered that his confessor, Brother Angelo, be called immediately. When he arrived, he found the emperor in bed, weeping. – Conscience is the walkie-talkie by which God speaks to us.

22

He said to him: “I know why you have called me. The same vision which you had was revealed to me.” After a few days a tertian fever gripped the emperor and, with full deliberation, he entered the Order and happily finished his days there according to the vision’s intent. But while he was still living, he was impeded by the gravity of his infirmity and debility from exercising the usual duties of humility in the Order. – Be conscious of human weakness, but be confident that it can be overcome.

23

He is said to have expressed his soul in a memorable passage: “O my most sweet Lord, Jesus Christ, would that I who have lived elegantly in the pomp of the world, clothed in priceless garments, could, as a truly poor and humble man, follow you, who are poor and humble, by seeking alms in this habit with a sack hanging from my neck!” – The most important person to be honest with is yourself.

24

In this a very excellent man left us a very great example, that neither the great nor the ordinary nor much less others would be ashamed of what pertains to poverty and humility. He achieved in this vow what nobles usually win for themselves in this Order, that is, to be more humble, more gentle and more simple. Indeed, the sobriety of gentleness and humility is a distinguishing mark of nobility. – The test of courage comes when we are in the minority.

25

Grace often ennobles the ignoble, and the fault of pride or sloth makes the noble ignoble. What is more worthless than for a noble to become a boor? Not to be shunned are the lowest in birth, to whom it has been given to serve the Lord as a knight; there is nothing greater than to be a knight of Christ. But let me continue what I have begun. – The test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority.

26

Brother William of happy memory, former minister of Aquitaine, related that there was a man, once a master in the city of Chartres, bound by a vow to enter the Order of Lesser Brothers. He missed the time, however, determined by brothers for entering the Order. While he was playing checkers outside in front of the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, he suddenly lost his sight. When he realized this, he overturned the game with his hand so that the bystanders would notice it. Then calling a boy, putting his hand on his shoulder, he entered the church where, prostrate before the altar of the Virgin, he promised the Mother of God with tears and devotion that, should she restore his sight, he would enter the Order of Lesser Brothers without delay. – The greatest treason is to do the right thing for the wrong reason.

27

When he recovered his sight, he came to the brothers and named the day when he would enter the Order. But once again he went back on his word. He was again playing checkers in the same place as before, and again was made blind. He entered the church as before, and, after many tears, he made a promise to the Blessed Virgin that, if he regained his sight, he would no longer put off entering the Order. At last, he recovered his vision, but not as quickly as the first time. Nevertheless, once again he lied by neglecting and delaying his promise of entering the Order. A third time he became blind as before, entered the church as before, and wept very devoutly before the altar of the Mother of God. Once more, after he repeated his promise to enter the Order, he regained his sight, although even more slowly. – The greatest tragedy is not the clamor of bad people, but the appalling silence of good people.

28

Seeing that out of necessity he would have to fulfill his vow that had been proven by so many tests to be pleasing to God and the blessed Virgin, he told the brothers all that had happened to him, and entered the Order according to his promise. After his entrance into the Order, he did not entirely put off the old man, and did not want to follow the common life of the Order. Under the pretext of need, he wanted to wear shoes at all times, to eat in the infirmary, and always to sleep on a mattress. During the winter, he hurried to the kitchen to warm himself after Mass. – If at first you don’t succeed, you are running about average.

29

The brothers tolerated his living as one of the sick for almost two years—not without great dislike, especially since he had been an honorable person in the world. One night Saint Francis appeared to him in a vision and said to him: “My son, carry me a little while.” But the brother refused: “I cannot carry you,” he said. “You are a large and heavy person, while I am weak and feeble.” But since the saint asked to be carried by him just the same, grabbing his shins, he dragged the saint’s head on the ground. Blessed Francis cried out: “You’re hurting me, you’re hurting me! You’re carrying me poorly.” “I can’t carry you any other way,” he replied. The saint complained loudly that he was dragged in this way. – People more frequently require to be reminded than informed.

30

The next morning after Mass, he entered the kitchen as usual, and there told of his dream. A discerning brother listening to this said to him: “It is as you have seen. For you do hurt and carry blessed Francis poorly, that is, his Order which you are dragging through the dirt because of the worldly and degrading life you lead by living excessively and according to the flesh.” When he heard the brother’s interpretation of the dream and knew it was true, he took it to heart. He took off his fur cloak and shoes, and lost interest in the infirmary and the feather bed. Instead, taking up the common life of the Order that he had neglected, he turned into another man, completely spiritual and religious, and later became an outstanding preacher. – God is more anxious to communicate with us than we are to listen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

July 2022 

Wherever we are, in every place, at every hour, at every time of the day, every day and continually, 

let all of us truly and humbly believe, hold in our heart and love, honor, adore, serve, 

praise and bless, glorify and exalt, magnify and give thanks 

to the Most High and Supreme Eternal God, Trinity and Unity, 

Father, Son and Holy Spirit, 

Creator of all, Savior of all who believe and hope in Him, and love Him, Who, 

without beginning and end, is unchangeable, invisible, indescribable, ineffable, 

incomprehensible, unfathomable, blessed, praiseworthy, glorious, exalted, 

sublime, most high, gentle, lovable, delightful, 

and totally desirable above all else forever. 

Amen.

(Prayer of Saint Francis taken from the Earlier Rule, chapter 23)

 

 

Excerpts from: A Book of the Praises of St. Francis (1277-1283) 

 

Chapter II (continued) 

THE FORMATION OF THE FIRST DISCIPLES 

1

When the rich of the world went out of their way to visit them, they received them quickly and kindly, and would invite them to call them back from evil, and prompt them to penance. Wherever they met men on the roads or in the piazzas, the brothers would encourage them to love and to fear their Creator. – Why not let Jesus take over your life?  He can do more with it than you can.

2

They would more willingly accept hospitality among priests than among other seculars. But when they could not obtain lodging, they would inquire who in that place was God-fearing with whom they could be more suitably lodged. And although they were extremely poor, they were always generous in giving to all who asked of them, sharing the alms given to them. They so spurned earthly things that they barely accepted the most basic necessities of life. – Hate is like burning down your house to get rid of a rat.

3

They were content with a single tunic, often patched inside and out, with crude trousers, and with a piece of common rope for a belt. Nothing about it was refined, rather it appeared lowly and rough. Often, when they needed a place to stay at night, they would stay concealed in crypts or bake-ovens. During the day, those who knew how, worked in suitable places with their own hands, and would incite all who were with them to an example of humility and patience. – Without love and compassion for others, our own apparent love for Christ is fiction.

4

The virtue of patience so enveloped them that, they were often mocked and made objects of insult, beaten, stripped naked, and, not defending themselves with anyone’s protection, they endured all these things so humbly, that from their mouths came only the voice of praise and thanksgiving. 29They never or hardly ever stopped praying and praising God. Instead, in ongoing discussion, they recalled what they had done. – It is possible to give without loving, but it is impossible to love without giving.

5

They gave thanks to God for the good done and, with groans and tears, paid for what they neglected or did carelessly. They would have thought themselves abandoned by God if they did not experience in their ordinary prayers that they were constantly visited by the spirit of piety. For when they felt like dozing during prayer, they would hold themselves up with various props, so that furtive sleep would not disturb their prayer. – A person’s judgment is no better than his information.

6

If one of them took some food or drink, as normally happens out of weariness from travel or for some other reason, they punished themselves severely with many days of fasting. They strove to restrain the burning of the flesh by such harsh treatment, that they frequently did not hesitate to strip their bodies naked on ice, or to cover themselves in blood from gashing them with sharp thorns. – If we tap the best in ourselves, we will bring out the best in others.

7

They would inflict so much discomfort on themselves that it seemed they hated themselves. As they practiced peace and gentleness towards all, they avoided all scandal with the greatest zeal. 36They thought humbly about themselves, piously about others, especially about priests.- Death is not a period but a coma in the story of life.

8

When a priest told a brother: “Watch out that you’re not a hypocrite,” the brother thought that he was a hypocrite and said: “It was a priest who said it. A priest can’t lie, can he?” He was grieving, dejected and troubled, until the saint wisely excused the priest’s statement. With a remarkable zeal for silence, these brothers curbed their tongue. They hardly spoke even when necessary, nor did anything harmful or useless come out of their mouths. – One prays best who loves best.

9

All their senses were so subdued that they scarcely allowed themselves to hear or see anything except what the purpose of religion required. In them there was a simple appearance, a modest bearing, and, with their eyes fixed on the ground, their minds were set on heaven. – One is truly poor not when they have nothing but when they do nothing.

10

The saint taught them they must mortify not only the vices of the flesh, but also their exterior senses through which death enters into the soul. When the emperor Otto passed through that area with great pomp to receive the crown of the empire, the most holy father was staying with the others in that small hut next to the parade route. He did not go outside to look, and did not allow anyone else, except for one, that he might continually remind him that this glory would be only short-lived. Apostolic authority resided in him; so he altogether refused to flatter kings and princes. – For those who believe in God no explanation is needed.

11

He also used to engage carefully in a daily examination of the brothers. If he found something inappropriate was done, he did not leave it unpunished and he drove from their hearts any negligence. The brothers strove diligently to fulfill not only what he told them as by brotherly advice or by fatherly command, but also what by some sign they recognized he wanted. – For those who do not believe in God no explanation is possible.

12

To bring them to perfection, he used to say that true obedience is not just about a prelate’s word, but also about recognizing his will, and in doing what a subject perceives, by a sign, a prelate wants. In this way holy simplicity filled them, purity of life so possessed them, that they were totally ignorant of duplicity of heart. – If at first you don’t succeed, you are running about average.

13

For just as there was in them one faith, so there was one spirit, one will, one charity, continual unity of spirit, harmony in living, cultivation of virtues, agreement of minds, and piety in action. – Every survival kit should include a sense of humor.

14

These are the lessons of the devoted father by which he instructed his new sons not so much in words and speech, but in deed and in truth, and in which he renewed the purpose and zeal of an apostolic life. – Discovery consists in seeing what everyone has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.

15

To show what had been approved was approved in heaven, it was revealed in a vision to a holy man in the beginning of the novitiate that the holy Apostles Peter and Paul gave thanks to God each day for the renewal of their lives, and they were praying for the preservation of that religion. When he made this known to blessed Francis, he said: “If the blessed Peter and Paul are daily praying for us, it is only right that we venerate them daily with reverence.” – God’s grace is all we need. God’s power is greatest when we are weak.

16

Therefore, it was decided that in the remembrance of the Apostles that is made in each Hour of the Office of the Blessed Virgin, these two Apostles be mentioned by name, even though previously according to the custom of the Roman Church there was only the general mention of all the Apostles in these prayers. At this time there was added to the orations: Protect, O Lord, and: Hear us, O God the words of your Apostles, Peter and Paul, where previously it read: and of all your Apostles, etc – The more the world is at its worst, the more we need the Church at its best.

 

Chapter III 

THE SELF-EMPTYING OF BLESSED FRANCIS 

 

17

The holy man expressed great joy over the brothers’ progress, while never looking down on the sick or the tempted. – Character cannot be purchased, inherited, rented or imported from afar. It must be homegrown.

18

At one time when a tempted brother asked Francis to pray for him, the holy man said: “Believe me, son, I believe you are even more a servant of God because of this.” “No one,” he said, “should consider himself a servant of God until he has passed through temptations and tribulations. –  People are made by their beliefs.

19

A temptation overcome is like a ring with which the Lord betroths the soul of his servant. Many flatter themselves over their many years of merit and rejoice at never having suffered any temptations. But sheer fright would knock them out before a battle even started. – As we believe, so we are.

20

So they should know that the Lord has kept in mind their weakness of spirit. Hard fights are rarely fought except by those with the greatest strength.” – Salvation: Don’t leave earth without it.

21

Another brother was vexed for a long time by a temptation of the spirit, which is worse and more subtle than the prompting of the flesh. He came to Saint Francis and threw himself at his feet; overflowing with bitter tears, he could say nothing, prevented by deep sobs. The saint, however, realized that he was tormented by wicked spirits. “I command you, demons,” he said, “from this moment stop assailing my brother.” And immediately the brother became free of all temptation. – Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.

22

In this both the saint’s piety for a son and his power over demons appeared. Tempted himself, he learned to suffer with those who were sometimes tempted. – It isn’t a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream.

23

For at times he endured a very great temptation of the flesh and, to put this temptation to flight, he would scourge himself unmercifully. But when this spirit would not depart despite the severe discipline, he would cast himself naked into the snow. It was by this chastisement of his flesh that he expelled the spiritual wound from his breast. – I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like to be taught.

24

At another time a very serious temptation of spirit came upon him, surely to embellish his crown. Because of it he was filled with anguish and sorrow; he afflicted and chastised his body, he prayed and wept bitterly. He was under attack in this way for several years, until one day while praying at Saint Mary of the Portiuncula, he heard in spirit a voice: – The future belongs to those who believe ion the beauty of their dreams.

25

“Francis, if you had faith like a mustard seed, you would tell  he mountain to move from here, and it would move.” The saint replied: “Lord, what is the mountain that I could move?” And again he heard: “The mountain is your temptation.” – The thing to try when all else fails is again.

26

And he said, sobbing: “Lord, be it done to me as you have said!” At once, after the whole temptation was driven away, he was set free. His spirit emptied itself with humility, cherishing everyone, deferring to everyone. – If we do stay in our littleness, we will lose our greatness.

27

He used to revere priests of the Church; would respect the elderly, and honored the noble and the wealthy. He loved the poor intimately, however, and, while preserving peace with people of all rank, he urged his brothers eagerly to this. He used to tell them: “As you announce peace with your mouth, may you keep it in your heart, thus no one will be provoked to anger or scandal, but rather to kindness and gentleness. – Why do we find it easier to break a commandment than a habit?

28

For we have been called to this: to cure the wounded, to bind up the broken, and to recall the erring. Many who seem to us to be members of the devil, will yet be disciples of Christ.” – Help me, Lord, to put all aside, that I may abide with You.

29

To his brothers he would speak compassionately, not as a judge, but as a father to his children and a doctor to the sick, so that the word of the Apostle might be fulfilled in him: Who is weak that I am not weaker? Great was his compassion toward the sick and great his concern for their needs. He conducted himself toward all as he would toward individuals. – God will put His angels in charge of us to protect us wherever we go.  

30

As he scrutinized with dignified honor any revered person coming to the Order and respectfully gave to each his due, he wisely considered in all matters the dignity of rank of each one. – Pray, and then start answering our prayer.

31

He was truly endowed with outstanding discernment and the grace of simplicity, so that with a true dove-like simplicity, he possessed the prudence of a serpent. – You cannot just go on being a good egg. You must either hatch or go bad.