Showing posts with label St. Francis of Assisi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label St. Francis of Assisi. Show all posts
Saturday, 12 February 2022
Thursday, 4 October 2018
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
Friday, 2 December 2016
St. Francis and the First Nativity Scene
St. Francis and the
Christmas Creche
by Fr. William Saunders
What is the origin of the Nativity Scene (creche)?
The story of the origin of the Christmas creche rests with
the very holy man, St. Francis of Assisi.
In the year 1223, St. Francis, a deacon, was visiting the
town of Grecio to celebrate Christmas. Grecio was a small town built on a
mountainside overlooking a beautiful valley. The people had cultivated the
fertile area with vineyards.
St. Francis realized that the chapel of the
Franciscan hermitage would be too small to hold the congregation for Midnight
Mass. So he found a niche in the rock near the town square and set up the
altar. However, this Midnight Mass would be very special, unlike any other
Midnight Mass.
St. Bonaventure (d. 1274) in his Life of St. Francis of
Assisi tells the story the best:
It happened in the third year before his death, that in
order to excite the inhabitants of Grecio to commemorate the nativity of the
Infant Jesus with great devotion, [St. Francis] determined to keep it with all
possible solemnity; and lest he should be accused of lightness or novelty, he
asked and obtained the permission of the sovereign Pontiff.
Then he prepared a
manger, and brought hay, and an ox and an ass to the place appointed. The
brethren were summoned, the people ran together, the forest resounded with
their voices, and that venerable night was made glorious by many and brilliant
lights and sonorous psalms of praise.
The man of God [St. Francis] stood before
the manger, full of devotion and piety, bathed in tears and radiant with joy;
the Holy Gospel was chanted by Francis, the Levite of Christ.
Then he preached to
the people around the nativity of the poor King; and being unable to utter His
name for the tenderness of His love, He called Him the Babe of Bethlehem.
A
certain valiant and veracious soldier, Master John of Grecio, who, for the love
of Christ, had left the warfare of this world, and become a dear friend of this
holy man, affirmed that he beheld an Infant marvellously beautiful, sleeping in
the manger, Whom the blessed Father Francis embraced with both his arms, as if
he would awake Him from sleep.
This vision of the devout soldier is credible,
not only by reason of the sanctity of him that saw it, but by reason of the
miracles which afterwards confirmed its truth. For example of Francis, if it be
considered by the world, is doubtless sufficient to excite all hearts which are
negligent in the faith of Christ; and the hay of that manger, being preserved
by the people, miraculously cured all diseases of cattle, and many other
pestilences; God thus in all things glorifying his servant, and witnessing to
the great efficacy of his holy prayers by manifest prodigies and miracles.
Although the story is long old, the message is clear for us.
Our own Nativity scenes which rest under our Christmas trees are a visible
reminder of that night when our Savior was born.
May we never forget
to see in
our hearts
the little Babe of Bethlehem,
who came to save us
from sin.
We must
never forget that
the wood of the manger
that held Him so securely
would one
day give way to the wood of the cross.
May we too embrace Him with all of our
love
as did St. Francis.
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