peace and good: St. Francis of Assisi

"Most high, glorious God, illumine the darkness of my heart..."

St. Francis was much more than a half-bald (as he is typically depicted in backyard bird baths) holy man who wore sackcloth, talked to birds, and tamed wolves. He was born to a wealthy merchant, and grew up living the carefree existence of a wealthy young man. After experiencing a major conversion during a serious illness, he gave up that carefree existence and severed his connections to his family and their wealth. He moved beyond existence, to life - a life lived in radical abandonment to the will of God, in service to the "least of these" - the lepers, the poor - and in bringing the Gospel to every living creature he could find.

Yes, this included birds and other animals, and many such stories about St. Francis were recorded in his lifetime. His respect for all of God's creation led to his being proclaimed patron saint of animals, and ecology, and this image of Francis is the most immortalized in popular culture today. It's a wonderful image, and I love the St. Francis birdbaths just like everyone else does, but I think it's rather unfortunate that so few people know "the rest of the story."

Francis embraced poverty - giving up all wealth, caring for lepers, begging for alms. He embraced the suffering that accompanied his poverty and asceticism - with joy and peace. He struggled, to be sure, but he never let any struggle separate him from God.

He preached the love of Christ through his rule of life - even more than by the words that came from his mouth.
Thinking about words, though: St. Francis was known to greet people with the words "pace e bene" - the Italian translates as "peace and good" - and has become a Franciscan greeting, of sorts. If you've been hanging around here much, you've noticed that I use it in closing my blog posts - I love what those words convey.

So, in that spirit: peace and good, friends. May our prayer echo that of St. Francis - that God will illumine the darkness of our hearts - so we may truly consider the depth of love found in the sacrifice of Christ.