Moved By True Liberty Of Spirit

When Francis went for alms, he was moved by true liberty of spirit, not by greed, and so God the Father of the poor had special care for him.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Bonaventure, Major Life
CHAPTER VII : 9

O God, My Flesh Faints For You (Psalm 63)

Once when Brother John was staying in the Place of Mogliano of the Custody of Fermo in the Province of the Marches...when he had proceeded as far as the Preface of the Blessed Virgin, the supernatural illumination and sweet consolation of God's love increased so much within him that when he reached the Qui pridie he could hardly endure such overwhelming sweetness. Finally, when he came to the Consecration itself and began to pronounce the words of the Consecration over the Host, he kept repeating the first of the formula - Hoc est - Hoc est - very often, and he was unable to go any further. And the reason why he could not go on was that e felt and saw the presence of Christ and of a throngof angels and saints, so that he almost fainted because of their grandur which he felt in his soul.

St. Francis of Assisi
Little Flowers of St. Francis - 53

True Joy Of Spirit

St. Francis maintained that the safest remedy against the thousand snares and wiles of the enemy is spiritual joy. For hew would say: "Then the devil rejoices most when he can snatch away spiritual joy from a servant of God. He carries dust so that he can throw it into even the tiniest chinks of conscience and soil the candor of mind and purity of life. But when spiritual joy fills the hearts," he said, "the serpent throws off his deadly poison in vain. The devils cannot harm the servant of Christ when they see he will filled with holy joy."

Saint Francis of Assisi

Celano, Second Life

Chapter LXXXVIII:125

Intoxicated By The Love Of Christ

Intoxicated by love and compassion for Christ, blessed Francis sometimes used to act in ways like these. For the sweetest of spiritual melodies would often well up within him and found expression in French melodies, and the murmurs of God's voice, heard by him alone, would joyfully pour forth in the French tongue.

St. Francis of Assisi

Mirror of Perfection - 93

Holy Humility

At the end of the Chapter, when many friars were sent to a number of Provinces overseas, blessed Francis remained behind with some of the friars. And he said to them, "Dearest Brothers, it is my duty to provide a pattern and example to all the friars. So, as I have sent friars to distant lands to endure toil and abuse, hunger and thirst, and other hardships, it is only right, and holy humility requires, that I should go to some distant Province. When the brethren hear that I am undergoing the same trials as they, they will bear their own hardships all the more patiently."

Saint Francis of Assisi

Mirror of Perfection - 65

Depriving Ourselves Of Necessary Things

Saint Francis deprived himself of necessary things, which the brothers procured for him with great difficulty but most willingly; and after having cajoled us not to be angry, he gave away the great interior and external joy what he had denied his own body. That is why the minister general and his guardian forbade him to give his tunic to any brother without their permission. Some brothers, in fact, sometimes would ask him for it out of devotion, and he would immediately give it to them. It also sometimes happened that when he saw a sick or poorly clad brother, he would cut his habit in half and give him one part and keep the other for himself, for he had and wanted to have only one tunic.

St. Francis of Assisi

Legend of Perugia 53

The Vile Wickedness of Detractors

In Francis' eyes the vice of detraction in particular seemed to be the antithesis of the religious spirit and an enemy of grace. He had a horror of it, like a snake-bite or a deadly pest, and he declared that it was an abomination in God's sight because the detractor feeds on the blood of the souls which he kills with his tongue. Once we heard a friar taking away another's good name, he turned to his vicar saying, "Quick, quick! Look into it carefully. If the friar accused is innocent, make an example of his accuser for all the others by correcting him severely." He sometimes sentenced a friar guilty of hurting another's good name to be deprived of his habit, adding that he should not raise his eyes to God until he had done his best to restore what he had taken. "A detractor," he would say, "is guilty of greater wickedness than a robber, because Christ's law which reaches its perfection in love obliges us to desire the good of our neighbor's soul more than of his body."

Saint Francis of Assisi

Major Life

Saint Bonaventure

CHAPTER VIII : 4

About Brother Bernard's Gift of Contemplation

How much grace God gave to the poor men who followed the Gospel and who voluntarily gave up all things for the love of God was manifested by Brother Bernard of Quintavalle who, after he had taken the habit of St. Francis, was very frequently rapt in God by the contemplation of heavenly things.

Thus one time it happened that while he was attending Mass in  a church and his whole mind was on God, he became so absorbed and rapt in contemplation that during the Elevation of the Body of Christ he was not at all aware of it and did not kneel down when the others knelt, and he did not draw his cowl back as did the others who were there, but he stayed motionless, without blinking his eyes, gazing straight ahead, from morning until noon.

But after none he came back to himself and went through the Place shouting in a voice filled with wonder: "Oh, Brothers! Oh, Brothers! Oh, Brothers! There is no man in all this country, no matter how great and noble he is, who, if he were promised a very beautiful palace full of gold, would not willingly carry a sack full of the most filthy manure in order to obtain that very noble treasure!"

Saint Francis of Assisi

Little Flowers of Saint Francis - 28

We Are Spouces Of Christ

We are spouces when our faithful souls are wed to Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. We are brothers and sisters when we do the will of his Father who is in heaven.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Letter to All the Faithful, Second Version

Pentecost Sunday

"Tongues and prophesy reach beyond the limits of logic and plain speech. Tongues are an ecstatic expression of the wondrous experience of the Holy Spirit. Tongues reach into foreign languages and beyond-like the many stops of an organ, opened up in full power, as the fingers touch one key after another. The sound is overwhelmingly beautiful, so much so that it drowns out and prohibits the accompanying sound of a singer's words. Communication is more by experience; it happens by touching the strings of emotion and the memory fibers in the heart. Such reactions are not subject to logic; they just happen!"


Biblical Meditations
CARROLL STUHLMUELLER, C.P.
Seventh Week of Easter

A Greater Hunger For Contemplation

St. Francis had the custom of spending the whole day alone in his cell, and he did not come among the brothers unless the need for food forced him to come. But he did not come out to eat at fixed times, for a greater hunger for contemplation more often claimed him.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Celano, Second Life
CHAPTER XVI:45

We Are No Longer Of This World

None of the friars assembled at the chapter ever dared to recount any worldly events; they spoke together of the lives of the holy fathers of old, and how they might best live in God's grace.

St. Francis of Assisi
Legend of the Three Companions
CHAPTER XIV:59

God's Words Sanctify Objects

God's words sanctify numerous objects, and it is by the power of the words of Christ that the sacrament of the altar is consecrated.

Writings of St. Francis of Assisi
LETTER TO A GENERAL CHAPTER

Pride Is The Cause Of All Evil

"The saint had a horror of pride, which is the cause of all evil, and of disobedience, which is its worst offspring. On the other hand, he always had a warm welcome for humble repentance."

St. Francis of Assisi
Major Life
by
St. Bonaventure
CHAPTER VI:11

Our First Priority Must Be The Salvation Of Souls

"They then began to long miserably for the fleshpots of Egypt, which they had left behind; and what they had once despised with a generous heart, they now shamefully wanted. They were sad in walking in the way of the commandments of God, and they were arid of heart in following his injunctions...Gaiety filled their countenance; their gait was without modesty; their garments were soft and delicate, carefully cut, and even more carefully sewn...THEY HAD NO CARE FOR SPIRITUAL EXERCISES, NO INTEREST IN THE SALVATION OF SOULS."

St. Francis of Assisi
Sacrum Commercium
CHAPTER IV:47
Lady Poverty Continues to Speak

Abandoned By All

"The truth of their words remained for a long time among many, at least as long as the blood of the poor Crucified One was warm in their memory and the overflowing chalice of his passion filled their hearts unto inebriation. For, if any were at any time tempted to abandon me because I was too difficult for them, remembering the wounds of the Lord by which were revealed the bowels of his mercy, they would punish themselves severely because of this temptation and cling to me all the more forcibly and embrace me with all the more fervor...

"...And now certainly in peace is my bitterness most bitter when all flee from me, all drive me away; I am needed by none, I am abandoned by all."

St. Francis of Assisi
Sacrum Commercium Sancti Francisci cum Domina Paupertate
CHAPTER III:33
Lady Poverty Replies to Francis and His Brothers

What To Carry On Our Journey

When the brothers go through the world, they are to carry nothing for the journey, neither sack, nor scrip, nor bread; neither money, nor staff (Luke 9:3; 10:4-8).

And into whatever house they enter, let them first say, "Peace to this house!" (Luke 10:5).

St. Francis of Assisi
Rule of 1221
Chapter XIV

Insignificant Or Unbalanced

Have no fear of being thought insignificant or unbalanced, but preach repentance with courage and simplicity. Have faith in the Lord, who has overcome the world. His Spirit speaks in you and through you, calling men and women to turn to him and observe his precepts.

St. Francis of Assisi
Legend of the Three Companions - 36

When You Are Considered Low And Simple And Despised

Blessed are you, servant of God, if you do not consider yourself any better when you are honored and extolled by others than when you are considered low and simple and despised; for what you are before God, that is what you are, and no more.

St. Francis of Assisi
Admonition 19

Preach by Example

My office of governing the brothers is spiritual, in that I must overcome and correct vices. If I cannot do this by my preaching and example, then I surely do not want to do it like a taskmaster, beating and flogging the brothers the way a worldly master does.

St. Francis of Assisi
Writings of Leo, Rufino, and Angelo - 23b

On Having The Proper Attitude Toward The Poor

One day St. Francis heard a brother insinuate to a poor little man who was begging an alms,"How do I know you're not really rich and pretending to be in need?"

When Francis, the Father of the Poor, heard this, he was deeply saddened. He severely rebuked the brother who had dared to utter such words and ordered him to stip before the beggar and beg his pardon, kissing his feet.

St. Francis of Assisi
Celano
First Life - 76