"CUM GRANDE HUMILITATE!"

"Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words."

A special "Thank you!"
Goes out to
John Michael Talbot
for giving us permission
to use his song on our
"Come to the Quiet"
You Tube Video
T
T
_______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________

Sunday, May 25, 2008

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

No comments:

Post a Comment