Tag Archives: Francis

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened…

Posted on by
Reply

The Franciscan Order arose in the 13th century around the person of Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known to us as Saint Francis of Assisi.  The Franciscan Order was established by the verbal command of Pope Innocent the mission statement given was to follow Christ and preach penance – and the second part was a surprise to Francis. What started as an informal fraternity of Francis and three followers before his death some 20 years later grew to some 3,000 friars. The first wave of friars were formed by simply watching the example of Francis. By Francis’s death most friars had not ever met Francis – they knew stories, but had no personal experience of him. In such a milieu, it is not surprising that differences would arise “about what Francis intended” for this fraternity of religious men. Continue reading →

Francis and the Leper

Posted on by
1

There are many stories that people remember about Francis of Assisi; in my experience, most of them are from a book, the Fioretti, The Little Flowers, a collection of stories about Francis. It is the name given to the classic collection of popular legends about the life of St. Francis of Assisi and his early companions. The earliest extant copy is from 1390, some 164 years after the death of Francis. Scholars agree that it was probably written earlier, but in any case not within 120 years of Francis’ death. It is a collection of hearsay, colorful anecdotes, stories of miracles and pious examples from the life of Francis. Are the accounts in the Fioretti history? Are the pious fables? Are they just hagiography? Continue reading →

The Stigmata of St. Francis

Posted on by
Reply

St. Francis receives the Stigmata (fresco attr...Authorized by Pope Paul V, September 17th is the Feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi, a feast day celebrated within the Franciscan communities.

Stigmata, from the Greek word, generically points to a “brand” or a “mark.” It is the common word to describing branding of cattle. In the Christian context it refers to the bodily marks resembling the wounds of the crucified Christ. St. Francis was the first person, historically recorded, who bore the marks of the crucified Christ in his hands, his feet, and in his side. Continue reading →

Francis: the First Missions

Posted on by
Reply

Francis-missionsAn earlier article had discussed the problems with the rapid growth of members within in the fledgling community friars.  The period from 1213 to 1216 is the most obscure period in Francis’ life and also one of the periods of explosive growth in the movement as the brotherhood spread well beyond Assisi.  How many friars joined the fraternity in those years?  It is impossible to say, but we do know this: in 1217 the annual meeting (called a “chapter”) made the decision to send out missions across the Alps into northern Europe, the Baltic states, and to the Crusader States in the eastern Mediterranean.  Within Italy, six provinces were established; outside of Italy, five provinces were established: Spain, northern and southern France, Germany, and Syria. Continue reading →

Francis and the Church

Posted on by
Reply

Francis finished his military adventures and time as a prisoner of war in early 1205. It was during the latter part of 1205 into 1206 that Francis chose to “leave the world.”  In subsequent years , Francis’ model of following Christ began to attract other men to join him in the emerging way of life – even as the “way of life” was being discovered by Francis himself. Francis modeled the life, prayed with the brothers, exhorted them from time to time, and slowly the life began to take shape.

francis-innocentThe basic shape of the movement was not all that unique in Francis’ day. There were many other penitential and mendicant movements in the beginning of the 13th century in western Europe. – some scholars tallying 130 others. Interestingly, only one of them exists today: the Franciscan.  Why? Most scholars hold that it was because of Francis’ insistence on being “Catholic” and formally part of the Catholic Church.  There are several theories as to the reason for that insistence.  Like most things it is a complex reason, but likely primary among the reasons is Francis’ love of the Eucharist. But whatever the reasons, it is no surprise that in 1209 Francis and some of his brothers journeyed to Rome to seek an audience in a consistory with Pope Innocent III in order to receive formal recognition of his proposed way of life. Continue reading →

Francis and the Eucharist

Posted on by
3

In our previous installment, speaking of Francis’ unique view of nature, we ended with the idea that Francis “held that the whole world is a sacrament, a sacred thing, a gift; and the sacramental character of the world reminds us of the central sacrament, the Incarnation, continued among us in the seven sacraments of the Church, especially in the Eucharist.” But did Francis have any thoughts specifically on the Eucharist itself?

I would wager that most people would guess that in Francis’ own writings he spoke at length about poverty, his love of nature and animals, and other topics for which Francis is so well known in the modern world. Yet, in his own writings, there is perhaps no other topic that he addresses more than the Eucharist.  In his Eucharistic writings, Francis expresses a deep view of the continuing Incarnation of Christ in the world, and in that vision is an entire way of life. These writings represent part of the movement of Francis’ mystical life from prayer and devotion in solitude before the cross, to a pattern of communal prayer and devotion in the Mass as well as a devotion to the Eucharist apart from Mass. Continue reading →

Growing Pains

Posted on by
Reply

By the spring of 1213, four years after the founding of the “order,” Francis’ reputation had risen to the attention of the Italian aristocracy – not just in Assisi but throughout central Italy.  The order was beginning to attract men from the higher social classes. Sons of merchants like Francis, sons of the landed wealthy, sons of ruling households, men with established careers in law, music and the arts, and also ordained priests. They joined the already formed group of men from middle and lower backgrounds in muddling through what it meant to follow Christ in the manner of Francis. G.K. Chesterton’s later definition of the Catholic Church – “here comes everybody” – was being lived out in Francis’ day. Continue reading →

The Stigmata of St. Francis

Posted on by
Reply

St. Francis receives the Stigmata (fresco attr...Authorized by Pope Paul V, September 17th is the Feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi, a feast day celebrated within the Franciscan communities.

Stigmata, from the Greek word, generically points to a “brand” or a “mark.” It is the common word to describing branding of cattle. In the Christian context it refers to the bodily marks resembling the wounds of the crucified Christ. St. Francis was the first person, historically recorded, who bore the marks of the crucified Christ in his hands, his feet, and in his side. Continue reading →

The Stigmata of St. Francis

Posted on by
Reply

St. Francis receives the Stigmata (fresco attr...

Authorized by Pope Paul V, September 17th is the Feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi, a feast day celebrated within the Franciscan communities.

Stigmata, from the Greek word, generically points to a “brand” or a “mark.” It is the common word to describing branding of cattle. In the Christian context it refers to the bodily marks resembling the wounds of the crucified Christ. St. Francis was the first person, historically recorded, who bore the marks of the crucified Christ in his hands, his feet, and in his side. Continue reading →

Seven Things Paul VI Did Before Pope Francis Made it Cool

Posted on by
Reply

Original Post at USSCBlog by Don Clemmer

Pope-Paul-VI Pope-FrancisOnly a pope who has railed against clericalism to the extent that Pope Francis has could get away with canonizing two popes at once and then beatifying a third within six months. But that’s exactly what will happen October 19, when Pope Francis moves another one of his predecessors, Paul VI (1963-1978), one step closer to official sainthood.

There’s been ample consideration of how Pope Francis completes a triumvirate with his two immediate predecessors, and it’s easy to compare Francis to the jovial, Council-calling, tradition-shirking John XXIII. But in numerous other ways, there’s a direct line of influence from Pope Paul to his latest successor, who was ordained a priest during Paul’s pontificate and largely formed by it:

“A poor Church for the poor.” In his first audience as pope, Francis explained his choice of name as inspired by Francis of Assisi — the man of poverty, the man of peace, the friend of creation. He has gone on to condemn on numerous occasions a “throwaway culture” linking everything from poverty to genocide to a willingness to cast people aside as disposable. Pope Paul’s 1967 encyclical Populorum Progressio greatly laid the foundation for this thinking, as did his 1972 World Day of Peace message, “If you want peace, work for justice.” Continue reading →