Have You Ever Heard A Tree Grow?

 

Bronze statue of St. Francis of Assisi in La Verna, Italy

Have you ever heard a tree grow? Have you ever heard grass grow? I haven't. Have you ever stretched out across the ground at midnight and stared up at the moon and the stars? We do this every clear night at the Portiuncula. Tell me, what sound do the stars make as they move across the sky? NONE! Complete silence! No wonder our seraphic father, Saint Francis, loved nature so completely. This is how nature taught him to pray: in S-I-L-E-N-C-E!

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