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Franciscan Spirituality

Parts 37 to 48 of a series of 52

37. Admonition XXVII: Virtue puts vice to flight (6)

Where there is a heart full of mercy and discernment There is neither excess nor hardness of heart. It is interesting that Francis links mercy with discernment. Perhaps he had in mind that mercy only exists when a person does not want to impose a command or duty on another. God is merciful to us because God shows mercy rather than power. A Wisdom writer said of God: You are merciful to all for you can do all things [Wis 11:23]. This has a link to discernment for it means to work out what God is asking of us at any particular time or in any particular situation. A proud and dominant person discerns whatever he or she might want to do and this is the opposite of discernment. So Francis can say a heart full of mercy and discernment is not a hard heart. An example showing how Francis was kind, merciful and discerning is given by Bonaventure. Francis urged the brothers to lead an austere life but not to be severe on themselves or others; he asked them 'to put on a heart of piety and be seasoned with the salt of discernment'. Bonaventure relates that one night a brother was so hungry he could not sleep. Aware of this Francis got up and put food before the brother. But, realizing the brother would be embarrassed to eat on his own, Francis started eating first and gently invited the brother to eat. The brother was overjoyed that by his discernment Francis had come to him. Later Francis said to the other brothers that charity is to be their rule with one another: 'He taught them to follow discernment, the charioteer of the virtues'.

38. Admonition XXVIII: Hiding the good that it not be lost

Francis exhorts us 'to store up in heaven the good things which the Lord shows' to us. We have seen how Francis so hid the wonder of the stigmata on his body that not even his companions knew about these marks on his body. Why would Francis think this is important? We are so accustomed to think of the wonders in the lives of the saints that we can ignore what was simple and ordinary. In the life of Francis, his encounter with the leper started him on the way to becoming an extraordinary saint of God. But everyone during life meets the equivalent of a leper. The thing we dread most in life is the leper in our life. This experience may come in facing sickness, suffering, loss, danger, or some shock. In our own human and weak way we try to meet these experiences as Francis did and try to see in them a meeting with the Lord. We know that the Lord showed much to Francis but clearly Francis did not speak of these things as is clear from this Admonition. We should not allow ourselves to doubt that the same Lord offers us a closeness, acceptance and love similar to that shown to Francis. Francis concludes this Admonition with words that are a comfort to us: 'The Most High himself will reveal His deeds to whomever He wishes. Blessed is the servant who safeguards the secrets of the Lord in his heart'.

39. New vision

When we read that Francis tamed a wild wolf, preached to birds and wrote a Canticle in praise of all God's creatures, we have to ask how did Francis come to this vision of the world? Even before Francis met the leper he found that his appreciation of nature and of the world was changing. The catalyst for this was an illness. Celano records that Francis was worn down by a long illness. During this illness he was at home in Assisi and it was some time before he was well enough to walk but, eventually, with the aid of a walking stick he was able one day to go outside the house. Celano notes that when Francis went outside he began to see the countryside with a greater interest because 'the beauty of the field, the delight of the vineyards and whatever else was beautiful to see could offer him no delight at all'. St Bonaventure, when he made a retreat on La Verna and wrote his treatise, The Journey of the Human Person into God, said that until we are remade from the disorder of sin we are unable to see the full beauty of God's creation. Francis, after his illness, found that he saw creation with new eyes; he no longer saw beauty in the same way as before. This remaking of Francis by grace was developed further when he experienced the Lord in the person of the leper and realized that what he had thought to be ugly and sickening was in fact sweet to his body and soul. Francis would be remade even more on the mountain of La Verna.

40. La Verna and the stigmata

The conversion of Saint Francis began when he met a leper. In that meeting he experienced the presence of the Lord who challenged and inspired him to set out on a journey in which he would try to walk as literally as possible in the footsteps of Christ. Francis followed this calling and towards the end of his life he went to the mountain of La Verna to pray and fast. He had always made time to go to lonely places to pray. While in prayer on the mountain he saw a vision of a Seraph, an angel such as the prophet Isaiah saw in the Temple. A Seraph has six wings and as Francis watched the Seraph open its wings Francis could see that behind the wings was the figure of a man crucified. This was clearly a vision of Christ crucified. Saint Bonaventure relates that Francis understood from the vision that he was 'to be totally transformed into the likeness of Christ crucified'. The most basic duty of a disciple of Christ is to take up the cross and follow Christ to Calvary. For Francis his Calvary was on La Verna where he was marked in his hands, feet and side with the five wounds of Christ. This wonder of the stigmata in Francis is a confirmation that in his life he had indeed followed Christ and lived out the challenge of the Gospel. His love of Christ transformed him even physically into a likeness of Christ. Bonaventure wrote of Francis: 'Now, finally, near the end, you were shown at the same time the sublime similitude of the Seraph and the humble likeness of the Crucified'.

41. The Canticle of the Creatures

Early in his life Francis had been confined to his room by an illness. As he recovered and was able to walk again he found on leaving the house that the valley below Assisi had lost its beauty for him. This was but a first step in the working of grace within Francis so that he might in future see beauty more as God sees it. This remaking of Francis who, the same as everyone else, was damaged by sin was completed when he was marked with the stigmata, marked as being a perfect disciple of Christ. The remade Francis saw the world in a new light. The work that sums up best the new vision, gained by Francis through his sufferings, is his Canticle of the Creatures. The final form of this Canticle was not completed until a short time before the death of Francis but much of it was written earlier. We are told that Francis said while suffering from weakness and sickness: 'I want to write a new Praise of the Lord for his creatures, which we use every day, and without which we cannot live. Through them the human race greatly offends the Creator, and every day we are ungrateful for such great graces, because we do not praise, as we should, our Creator and the Giver of all good'. In the Canticle, Francis praises God for all the creatures and he singles out the sun, moon, stars, wind, water, fire and the earth. But this vision is achieved at a price because Francis adds praise to God for all who bear infirmity and tribulation and who endure these in peace. He also greets his sister bodily death.

42. In praise of brother fire

The extraordinary ability of Francis to praise God in all creatures is dramatically illustrated in his praise of brother fire. Francis suffered from a disease in his eyes so that his eyesight deteriorated badly. Celano says of Francis at this time: 'He could not look at the light of the day because of the great pain caused by the eye disease'. His brothers had put a hood over his head and they sewed a piece of wool and a linen cloth to the hood to cover his eyes. In this condition he was brought to a doctor who treated diseases of the eyes. The medical treatment for this disease was most painful because the treatment consisted of applying a piece of iron heated in a fire to the veins around the eyes. Francis agreed to have the treatment and as he waited he said to the fire: 'My Brother Fire, noble and useful among all the creatures the Most High created, be courtly to me in this hour. I have loved you for a long time and I still love you for the love of that Lord who created you'. Celano reports that as the doctor prepared to apply the heated iron to Francis's eyes all the brothers ran away. This was a most normal reaction and it illustrates to what a degree Francis had been so remade by grace that he could calmly sit before the fire and speak to it as one of God's creatures. He had reached a point of development in his life when he saw as God did; in the act of creating the world and its creatures, God saw that everything is very good.

43. The crib at Greccio

Closely associated with Francis' love for all the creatures of God is the way he prepared to celebrate the feast of Christmas at Greccio. Francis explained to a man named John, his friend, that he wanted to celebrate the Christmas mass in a way that reproduced as literally as possible the crib in Bethlehem. Francis added that he also wanted to see an ox and an ass standing by the crib. The mass was celebrated with many people attending and rejoicing with the saint who preached the homily. We are familiar with building and putting a crib at Christmas in every Church but when Francis did this it was something new. For doing this we owe Francis a debt. The feast of Christmas is a feast we celebrate with ease because, as well as its family aspect with the birth of the child Jesus, the crib makes the feast more homely and easier to understand and enjoy. Francis had his crib built in a cave on the side of the mountain that overlooks Greecio. In itself this was a humble and poor setting for a Christmas Eucharist but it was surely a setting that fitted so well with Francis' meeting with the leper when he experienced the Lord in the poverty of a leper. More than that, Francis who praised God in his Canticle of the Creatures was at ease in a cave with animals. Here he wanted to celebrate the birth of the Lord to whom he had given his life.

44. A salutation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Francis showed that he could think in a new way when he made the crib at Greccio and celebrated Christmas in a way that has captured Christian imagination ever since. He was also original when speaking in praise of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It would be strange if Francis who was marked with the five wounds of Christ did not feel a special reverence for the Lord's Mother. Naturally in the crib at Greccio the Virgin was a centre of attention and devotion. In his Salutation to Mary, Francis coined a new expression when he called her 'the Virgin made Church'. Francis was not attempting to write a new theology. What he meant by the words made Church is clear in the following words of the Salutation when he calls Mary the Lord's Palace, Tabernacle, Dwelling, Robe, Servant and Mother. Mary was the Palace, Tabernacle, Dwelling and Robe of Christ when He lived in her womb and, since Christ is the Head of the Church, Mary was made Church. But as a Servant of Christ she was a member of the Church and the Mother of the Head of the Church. Addressing all the holy virtues present in Mary, Francis prays, asking that all these virtues be 'poured into the hearts of the faithful through the grace and enlightenment of the Holy Spirit'. Francis saw Mary as a model and a person 'in whom there was and is all fullness of grace and every good'.

45. A salutation of the virtues

In the previous reflection it was pointed out how Francis saw all the virtues in Mary and prayed that we be given a share in these virtues. But Francis also wrote a salutation to the virtues themselves. It is informative to note which virtues he selected and how he saw the relation of one to another. He addresses Wisdom as the Queen of the virtues while holy, pure Simplicity is the sister of Wisdom. Francis personifies all the virtues and this was already a long tradition in the Bible especially for Wisdom. In the book of Wisdom we read: I loved her [Wisdom] and sought her from my youth and I desired to take her for my bride [8:2]. Francis then speaks of Lady holy Poverty with her sister, holy Humility. The sister of holy Lady Charity is holy Obedience. Wisdom, simplicity, poverty, humility and obedience are virtues that can easily be recognized in the life of Francis. Francis points out then that to possess any of these virtues one must first die. Francis began to die to his worldly values when he embraced the leper and then, as he says, left the world and its attitudes. The result is that whoever possesses one of these virtues and does not offend the others possesses all. Not only are they possessed but they in turn drive out the opposite vices, for example, holy Wisdom confounds Satan and all his cunning, while holy Poverty confounds the desire for riches, greed, and all the cares of this world. This salutation of the virtues is a hymn to God who protects us in such a wonderful way as the virtues bind us in obedience to the Spirit.

46. A prayer inspired by the Our Father

Francis had an ability to compose prayers and bring together many texts of Scripture from various sources. In this he showed a wonderful knowledge especially of the Psalms. In his Office of the Passion he composed Psalms by joining together verses from many Psalms. In his prayer based on the Our Father he did not join texts of Scripture together but made the prayer into a type of Creed. So the beginning of the prayer reads: 'O Our Father most holy, our Creator, Redeemer, Consoler, and Saviour'. In this prayer Francis prays in a manner that is positive, varied and abounds in petitions to the heavenly Father. For example, when he comes to the second part of the Our Father he says: 'Give us this day in remembrance, understanding, and reverence of that love which our Lord Jesus Christ had for us and of those things that He said and did and suffered for us, our daily Bread, Your own beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ'. He ends this prayer with the words: 'Forgive us our trespasses … as we forgive those who trespass against us, and what we do not completely forgive, make us, Lord, forgive completely that we may truly love our enemies because of You and we may fervently intercede for them before You, returning no one evil for evil and we may strive to help everyone in You'. It is not difficult to see that Francis throughout his life had meditated on the Our Father.

47. Saint Clare

After his conversion Francis began to restore small churches close to Assisi. He did this because when he heard a voice from the crucifix say to him: 'Go, rebuild my church', he understood the words literally. The first church he rebuilt was the Church of San Damiano. This was to become the home of his greatest disciple, Clare of Assisi, who founded the Order of Saint Clare. Clare came to Francis six years after his conversion and after overcoming opposition from her family she was able to start a community of sisters. Celano says of the Church of San Damiano: 'This is the blessed and holy place where the glorious religion and most excellent Order of Poor Ladies and holy virgins had its happy beginning'. Late in his life Francis wrote a Canticle for these sisters. His Canticle was meant to encourage them and, as it was clear that his time with them would be limited, they needed assurance for the future. The advice he gave them is simple and practical but at the same time it has an element of inspiration. They are to live in truth, not to look at the life they have left behind, to use the alms the Lord gives them with discernment, to be at peace as they care for the sick, because from their efforts they 'will be crowned queen in heaven with the Virgin Mary'.

48. A letter to the entire Order

Shortly before his death Francis wrote a letter to all the members of the Order. Half of this rather long letter deals with the presence of our Lord in the Eucharist. It is interesting to see how this letter echoes thoughts expressed by Francis in his Admonitions and in his Testament. It has been pointed out in earlier meditations how Francis, even in the first of his Admonitions, exhorted the brothers to show great reverence for the Lord present in the Eucharist and for priests. A good third of this letter is addressed directly to priests who are members of the Order. He says to priests: 'If the Blessed Virgin is so honoured, as is becoming, because she carried Him in her most holy womb … how holy, just and fitting must he be who touches with his hands, receives in his heart and mouth, and offers to others to be received the One Who is not about to die but Who is to conquer and be glorified, upon Whom the angels longed to gaze'. Associated for Francis with the Eucharist was a reverence for any 'divine written words' wherever they may be found. Francis asks this because 'many things are made holy by the words of God and the sacrament of the altar is celebrated in the power of the words of Christ'. Having asked for reverence to be shown to anything and anyone associated with the Blessed Sacrament, Francis ends by acknowledging his sinfulness and asking pardon of the brothers. He adds the prayer: 'Inwardly cleansed, interiorly enlightened and inflamed by the fire of the Holy Spirit, may we be able to follow in the footprints of Your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ'.

Fr Campion Murray ofm is a conventual Franciscan Friar and a distinguished theologian. He lives and works in the Franciscan community at Campbelltown NSW Australia

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