Saint Francis of Assisi October 4

Saint Francis 

of Assisi

Memorial October 4

Saint Francis was born at Assisi in 1182.  After a carefree youth, he renounced his paternal wealth and committed himself to God.  He led a life of evangelical poverty and preached the love of God to all.  He established a rule which a number of his companions followed and which gained the approval of the Holy See.  Subsequently, he founded an order of nuns and a society of laypersons who practice penance while living in the world.  He died in 1226 at age 44.

We must be simple, 

humble and pure

From a letter written to all the faithful by Saint Francis of Assisi

It was through His archangel, Gabriel, that the Father above made known to the holy and glorious Virgin Mary that the worthy, holy and glorious Word of the Father would come from heaven and take from her womb the real flesh of our human frailty.  Though He was wealthy beyond reckoning, He still willingly chose to be poor with His Blessed Mother.  And shortly before His passion He celebrated he Passover with His disciples.  Then He prayed to the Father, if it is possible, let this cup be taken from Me.

Nevertheless, He reposed His will in the will of the Father.  The Father willed that His blessed and glorious Son, Whom He gave to us and who was born for us,  should through His own blood offer Himself as a sacrificial victim on the altar of the cross.  This was to be done not for Himself through Whom all things are made, but for our sins.  It was intended to leave us an example of how to follow in His footsteps.  

And He desires all of us to be saved 

through Him, and to receive Him 

with pure heart and chaste body.

O how happy and blessed are those who love the Lord and do as the Lord Himself said in the gospel: You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart and your whole soul, and your neighbor as yourself.  Therefore, let us love God and adore Him with pure heart and mind.  This is His particular desire when He says: True worshipers adore the Father in spirit and in truth.  For all who adore Him must do so in the spirit of truth.  Let us also direct to Him our praises and prayers saying: Our Father, who art in heaven,  since we must always pray and never grow slack.

Furthermore, let us produce worthy fruits of penance.  Let us also love our neighbors as ourselves.  Let us have charity and humility.  Let us give alms because these cleanse our souls from the stains of sin.  

Men lose all the material things they leave behind in this world, but they carry with them the reward of their charity and the alms they give.  For those they will receive from the Lord the reward and recompense they deserve.  

We must not be wise and prudent 

according to the flesh.  

Rather we must be simple, humble and pure.  

We should never desire to be over others.  Instead, we ought to be servants who are submissive to every human being for God’s sake.  The Spirit of the Lord will rest on all who live in this way and persevere in it to the end.  He will permanently dwell in them.  They will be the Father’s children who do his work.  They are the spouses, brothers and mothers of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Taken from Liturgy of the Hours, Ordinary Time Weeks 18-34.  Francis of Assisi Memorial