Contemplation Is A Divine Fire

Several herds of Whitetail Deer live with us on the
Portiuncula Franciscan Hermitage and Retreat Center in
Jerusalem, Ohio

Then Brother Giles said to a certain friar, "Father, I would fain know what is contemplation?" And the friar answered: "Father, truly I know not." Then Brother Giles said: "To me it seems that contemplation is a divine fire, a sweet devotion infused by the Holy Ghost, a rapture and suspension of the mind inebriated by the unspeakable savor of divine sweetness, and a sweet and tranquil enjoyment of the soul which is rapt and suspended in loving admiration of the glories of heaven, and an inward burning consciousness of that celestial and unspeakable glory."

Saint Francis of Assisi
LITTLE FLOWERS OF ST. FRANCIS
Part Four
Chapter XI

(Reposted for my students at Randolph Southern High School)

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