Padre Mickey has a beautiful post on the life of St. Francis. I'm going to give away Padre's ending, because I like it so much:
The life of St. Francis is proof that, if one is to be great, one must be the servant of others. May all of us look to the life of St. Francis and see God in the faces of the least among us.
He's gone all out and given us a poem about Francis, too.
James Kiefer at the Lectionary quotes Dante's Paradiso on Aquinas' words from the poem about Francis:
Let me tell you of a youth whose aristocratic father disowned him because of his love for a beautiful lady. She had been married before, to Christ, and was so faithful a spouse to Him that, while Mary only stood at the foot of the Cross, she leaped up to be with Him on the Cross. These two of whom I speak are Francis and the Lady Poverty. As they walked along together, the sight of their mutual love drew men's hearts after them. Bernard saw them and ran after them, kicking off his shoes to run faster to so great a peace. Giles and Sylvester saw them, kicked off their shoes and ran to join them....
READINGS:
Psalm 148:7-14 or 121
Galatians 6:14-18
Matthew 11:25-30
PRAYER
Most high, omnipotent, good Lord, grant your people grace gladly to renounce the vanities of this world; that, following the way of blessed Francis, we may for love of you delight in your whole creation with perfect joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Image from the Lectionary.
UPDATE: I recommend God's Fool: The Life and Times of Francis of Assisi, by Julien Green for a good biography of Francis of Assisi.
UPDATE 2: From Jane in the comments, "That is a stained glass window from Taizé! I love it. Thank you for posting it." Thanks for the information, Jane.
I loved reading this- thank you Grandmere!
ReplyDeleteToday I attended daily mass at the Cathedral of Barcelona for this feast day.
Peace from Spain - back on Friday.
Hola, Fran. Good to see that you're doing your religious duty while you're having fun.
ReplyDeleteMay God give you a safe trip home.
Grandmére Mimi, you are too kind!
ReplyDeleteOh, Caminante did deliver on the hug, right after she exited the elevator.
Gee, now I'm feeling pressure on my Ignatius of Antioch post in two weeks.
Caminante knew that she'd be headed for trouble, if she did not deliver the hugs.
ReplyDeletePadre, you do plan ahead. That's why your feast day posts are so much better than mine. You'd better get going on Ignatius of Antioch.
That is a stained glass window from Taizé! I love it. Thank you for posting it.
ReplyDeleteJane, I did not know where it was from. Thank you for the information.
ReplyDeleteYou and Micky are the best. I liked his ending too.
ReplyDeleteLindy
Thanks, Linda. Speaking with no false humility, Padre's are better, but he works a lot harder at them.
ReplyDeleteIl Poverello is my favorite saint, embodying all that I wish I could be.
ReplyDeleteMark, he's one of my favorites, too. Many of us would like to be like him, but few, if any, of us will succeed.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think it is important to continue to hold Francis up as an example of a most excellent way to follow Jesus. We must hold on to our ideals, even as we don't always succeed in reaching our goals.