Saint Francis of Assisi: Not Just a Birdbath

Just about everybody knows Saint Francis. He’s the plaster birdbath guy, right? The saint who hung around with fuzzy pastel animals.

Well, sort of.

“Sanctify yourself and you will sanctify society.” (Saint Francis of Assisi)

I very nearly took “Francis” as my confirmation name. It might have been awkward, though, what with being engaged to Francine at the time!

Reading about the actual man, as opposed to the plaster statue in the garden, solidified my emerging faith at an important time in my pilgrimage to the Church.

Why? Francis had utter trust in God. As he knelt before the crucifix in the ruined church of San Damiano, Francis heard Christ speak: “Francis, go rebuild my church, which is falling down.” He dutifully began hauling the fallen stones into position.

Only later did he realize that Christ meant His Church, not just one church building. His was a mission of spiritual, not just physical, rebuilding.

The son of a rich cloth merchant, Francis embraced a radical apostolic poverty that required utter trust in God. He began to spend his inheritance in rebuilding the local Churches. This provoked an enormous argument with his father in the town square, where Francis gave up his inheritance and stripped naked and handed his clothes over to his father.

He never owned anything but his clothes and prayerbook for the rest of his life. He and his followers preached in the streets and accepted handouts for their food.

Francis charmed the corrupt Church administration of the time into accepting him and his wild ways. He even persuaded Pope Innocent III, more politican than cleric, to grant Francis’ new Order of Friars Minor his endorsement in 1210.

Probably Francis’ most amazing moment was when he preached at the court of Sultan Malek-al-Kamel in 1219, during the middle of the Fifth Crusade. Talk about trust in God!

Needless to say, the Sultan did not convert, but he did eventually allow the Franciscans a rather free hand in the Holy Land. Centuries later, this culminated in the Order administering many of the Christian holy sites. They’re still at that job today.

But these bare facts tell the tale of physical rebuilding, not spiritual rebuilding.

Francis, along with Saint Dominic who founded the other great order of friars, attended the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215, easily the most important of the medieval Ecumenical Councils. They must have made quite an impression, wearing their simple, rough habits amidst all of the pomp and pagentry of the 71 patriarchs and metropolitan bishops, 412 bishops, and 900+ abbots and priors who attended. The Council itself kicked off one of the great reform movements within the Church. Coincidence?

Francis wrote beautiful prayers, and the story of his preaching to the birds is attested to by several witnesses. He thought all creation to be his brethren, for all were created by God.

The Canticle of Brother Sun

Most High, all powerful, good Lord,
Yours are the praises, the glory, the honor,
and all blessing.

To You alone, Most High, do they belong,
and no man is worthy to mention Your name.

Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures,
especially through my lord Brother Sun,
who brings the day; and you give light through him.
And he is beautiful and radiant in all his splendor!
Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.

Praise be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon
and the stars, in heaven you formed them
clear and precious and beautiful.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind,
and through the air, cloudy and serene,
and every kind of weather through which
You give sustenance to Your creatures.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water,
which is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire,
through whom you light the night and he is beautiful
and playful and robust and strong.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Mother Earth,
who sustains us and governs us and who produces
varied fruits with colored flowers and herbs.

Praised be You, my Lord,
through those who give pardon for Your love,
and bear infirmity and tribulation.

Blessed are those who endure in peace
for by You, Most High, they shall be crowned.

Praised be You, my Lord,
through our Sister Bodily Death,
from whom no living man can escape.

Woe to those who die in mortal sin.
Blessed are those whom death will
find in Your most holy will,
for the second death shall do them no harm.

Praise and bless my Lord,
and give Him thanks
and serve Him with great humility.

AMEN.

As a final thought, we’ve talked about stigmata before, but Francis was the first person definitively recorded to have received them.

Two years before Francis, the faithful servant of Christ, gave his soul back to God, he was alone on the top of Mount Alverna. There he had begun a fast of forty days in honor of the archangel Michael ….

As he was drawn aloft through ardent longing for God one morning near the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, and was praying on the mountainside, he saw what appeared as a seraph with six bright wings gleaming like a fire descending from the heights of heaven. As this figure approached in swift flight and came near the man of God it appeared not only winged but also crucified.

The sight of it amazed Francis and his soul experienced joy mingled with pain. He was delighted with the sight of Christ appearing to him so graciously and intimately and yet the awe-inspiring vision of Christ nailed to the cross aroused in his soul a joy of compassionate love.

When the vision vanished after a mysterious and intimate conversation … it left marks on his body like those of the Crucified. …

Because of this new and astounding miracle unheard of in times past, Francis came down from the mountain a new man adorned with the sacred stigmata, bearing in his body the image of the Crucified not made by a craftsman in wood or stone , but fashioned in his members by the hand of the living God.

(From the Legenda Minor of St. Bonaventure)

Christ in His Divine Mercy allowed this saint to share in His divine suffering.

And this is this man whose name the current Pope has taken.

So on today’s feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, let us each pray for the faith of Saint Francis!