Complied by
Anthony Williams
Secular Franciscan Order
Holy Spirit Fraternity
Christchurch, New Zealand

In August 1224, Francis took with him a small party of his most intimate friends - Leo, Angelo, Masseo, Riffino, and a few others to La Verna. When they reached the top of mount La Verna they built themselves a few little huts out of the branches of trees. At first Francis lived with the friars, but as he became more and more absorbed in God he found it best to move a little further away. One side of the mountain is composed of jagged rocks, some of which stand up like pinnacles; and it was upon one of these that Francis decided to make his retreat. Some logs were, therefore, dragged to the place and a rough bridge made so that access to the rock might be given, and here Francis built himself a tiny cell and retired to spend the 'Lent of Saint Michael' in solitude. Each night Leo was to bring a little bread and water to the bridge and cry '0 Lord, open thou our lips'. If Francis replied 'Come' he was to go forward; but if there was no reply he was to return in silence to the place whence he had come. No other person was to approach the bridge on any account.

One night, early in September, when Leo came to the bridge and sang out his versicle there was no response; but instead of going back as he had been instructed, he feared for Francis' safety and went forward as far as the little cell. Finding it empty he crept into the wood which surrounded it, and there, in the moonlight, he saw the saint in ecstasy. Then, as Leo crouched down in awe and wonder, what he described as a flaming torch descended from heaven and rested for a while on the head of Saint Francis before it returned to the sky. When all was over, Leo turned to creep back, but Frands heard him and admonished him for having been disobedient and having crossed the bridge.

The incident had certainly frightened Leo very much. Like Peter and James and John he had seen his master in a strange light, and he knew that things were happening between Francis anct God which no man would fully understand. He returned in fear and trembling to his companions, and the little party waited anxiously, knowing that strange events were taking place on their mountain top.

They had not very long to wait, for, on Holy Cross Day, 14 September, the vigil reached its climax. Very early on that morning, when it was still dark, Francis was praying under the stars. He said:

0 my Lord, Jesus Christ, two graces do 1 pray thee to grant me before 1 die: the first, that while 1 live 1 may feel in my body and in my soul, so far as is possible, that sorrow, sweet Lord, that thou didst suffer in the hour of thy most bitter passion, the second, that 1 may feel in my heart, so far as may be possible, that exceeding love wherewith, 0 Son of God, thou wast enkindled to endure willingly for us sinners agony so great.

Then, when his prayer was ended, there appeared to him a vision of the Crucified in a light so brilliant and dazzling that people in the neighbouring villages thought that the sun had risen and started on their day's work. This glow lasted for over an hour while Francis remained in an ecstasy of joy and wonder. When at last the fight waned and the vision faded, Francis discovered, in his hands and his feet and his side, wounds like those of the crucified Christ whom he loved so dearly and whose passion he had longed to share.

Source.
A History of the Franciscan Order
Author: John Moorman
First Published: 1968

Louis was crowned King of France at the age of 12.  Until he reached majority, his mother, Blanche, held the reigns of government.  Among his teachers were several Franciscans. He learned about Francis and joined the Secular Franciscan Order.

Several years after assuming power, he was seriously ill.  He promised that if he recovered, he would lead a crusade to the Holy Land and seek to regain the holy places from the Saracens.  Upon recovery, he carried out his vow.  He took the fortress of Damietta from the Saracens but was captured later in the war (1248).

After several months of captivity, he was offered his release if he would deny Christ and his faith.  Threatened with death he said: “Very well, you may kill my body, but you will never kill my soul.”  The  Saracens respected his courage and released him without condition.  He went to the Holy Land and returned to France in 1254.

Louis promoted the welfare of his people.  He was an  exemplary father ( 11 children)  and friend.  He would not tolerate cursing and foul conversation.  Justice was a hallmark of his reign.  He cared little for the trappings of royalty.  Bonaventure and Thomas Aquinas were welcome guests at his table.  He was a faithful Secular Franciscan.

Serious complaints about the treatment of Christians in the Holy Land, moved him to undertake another crusade.  On the way, he caught the plague while visiting sick soldiers and died.  He was canonised in 1297 by Pope Boniface VIII.  (From “Catch Me A Rainbow Too”  – Lester Bach ofm cap)
 
We celebrate St Louis’ feast day on 25 August.

Elizabeth, daughter of king  Andrew II of Hungary, married Louis, Landgrave of Thuringia and Hesse in Germany.  He supported her in her concern for the poor.  With his approval, she built a large hospital in Eisenach.  During her early years of marriage, she joined the SFO.  Louis, her husband, died while on one of the Crusades.

The relatives, fearful that she would squander the royal riches on the poor, drove her out of the castle with her four children.  She was a widow and penniless with four small children.  She saw this trial as an opportunity to experience the rejection the Holy Family had endured.  She worked at spinning flax for a livelihood.  Some of her income was always given to the poor.

She was reinstated as queen and Frederick II asked her hand in marriage.  But she refused.  Her experience of the poverty of Christ gave her a love for poverty and  solitude. 

Her children were well cared for and received a fine education.  As they grew she withdrew and led a quiet religious life, nursing the sick.  She told her sick spiritual director he would be cured, but that her final hours were approaching.

Elizabeth died on November 19, 1231, at the age of 24.  Pope Leo XIII placed all   charitable organisations of women under her patronage.  In 1931, Pope Pius XI wrote these words about Elizabeth: 

“ ……when she had attained that age at which she was free to dispose of her wealth, the people witnessed how she served the sick and nursed the lepers with her own hand in the hospital she founded; how she sought out the orphans and widows, and how like an angel of solace she came down from the heights of her grand castle into the villages of the neighbourhood to assuage the suffering of the poor and sorrowing.” .
 (From “Catch Me A Rainbow Too” – Lester Bach, ofm cap)

We celebrate St Elizabeth’s feast day on 17 November.

Two weeks before Christmas in 1223, Francis was staying in the little hillside hermitage near the town of Greccio, south of Assisi.  According to his contemporary, Brother Thomas of Celano, Francis called a friend of his, named Giovanni, to help him in preparing a special celebration of the forthcoming feast.  He asked that animals and hay be brought to a cave at the hermitage, so that a scene could be prepared to show the people of the town and his own brothers the physical conditions of the birth of Jesus.
 
He wanted people to be able to experience what it was like for the Son of God to be born in a stable, surrounded by the ox and ass, straw and cold.  Francis' brothers and the   people of the town of Greccio gathered in the cave on  Christmas Eve, lighting up the night with torches, singing hymns, with a priest celebrating Mass on an altar arranged over the manger.  Francis himself, 'dressed as a Levite', sang the Gospel 'in a beautiful voice', and preached, full of emotion. Thomas tells us that it seemed as if the infant Jesus, long forgotten in the hearts of the people, came to life that night.  And all of creation, the trees and stones of the surrounding  mountainside, echoed the praises sung by the people.

This simple kind of nativity scene was destined to be spread by Franciscans throughout the world as they moved out from Assisi in the following centuries.  It is by now a familiar feature of Christmas celebrations throughout the world.  Though it has suffered its share of commercialisation, and its significance has sometimes become purely sentimental, at its origins the nativity scene was a striking affirmation of God's entry into the mundane, everyday life of poor people, the world of creatures, the world of straw and rocks. (From the Irish Franciscans web site)

The hermitage of Greccio stands some 2 kilometres away from the village of    Greccio, which is a medieval castle, built above the Rieti valley. This valley was very dear to Francis, who often passed from these surroundings on his way from Rome to Assisi. In fact we find 4 Franciscan sanctuaries in the Rieti valley, namely Greccio, Fontecolombo, Poggio Bustone and Santa Maria della Foresta.

The hermitage of Greccio is intimately linked with the celebration of Christmas which Francis organised here in 1223. Thomas of Celano (1 Cel 84-87) gives us a clear description of what took place.

The most important section of the sanctuary is the chapel of the crib, which was built in the present form in 1228. A rock under the altar indicates the place where Francis arranged the manger of the crib. The cave wall is surrounded by a fresco from the school of Giotto. It shows Francis wearing the dalmatic of a deacon and taking into his arms the infant Jesus. Another interesting section of the  sanctuary is the primitive  Franciscan friary, with the dormitory, the refectory and the cell of St. Francis.

Another section is made up of the friary dating from the times of St. Bonaventure. A modern church built in 1959 can take larger groups for prayer and community celebrations.

(By Fr Noel Muscat OFM)

By Margaret Sykes SFO (Margaret is from Tasmania, Australia)

Resources
The Second Vatican Council called all religious orders to rediscover and protect the charisms of their founders. The Franciscan Orders continue to respond to that call.

Currently their efforts have produced these three volumes published in 1999, the collected and freshly translated Early Documents.  The first Omnibus of Sources was printed in 1973. In many ways it challenged readers to rethink the Franciscan heritage. It found a place of honor in many libraries and fueled the fires of renewal. Over the next few years these fires were kept burning with the discovery of more manuscripts and the publication of a number of important critical essays.

It was necessary to up-date the Omnibus in the light of this contemporary scholarship. These resulting three volumes are entitled: The Saint,  The Founder and The Prophet.

I quote from the General Introduction: ...'(this is) an endeavour of men and women enamored of the Gospel Spirituality of Francis of Assisi, a Spirit still very much alive.'

I am also indebted to Steven Smythe who has given me leave to quote from the text of his thoroughly researched history of Saint Francis and of the first decades of the Order of Lesser Brothers, presented to the Newman Society in 1996.

At the beginning of the thirteenth century, when God called Francis of Assisi to rebuild His Church, Europe was Catholic. The Church, however, was under threat and crumbling from without by various heretical movements which were gathering momentum and from within by lack of leadership. Many of the Clergy were ill-educated and lax in observance through being snared by sin

In a very real way Francis was used by God to turn this situation around.

How did he rebuild the Church?

*Firstly he responded humbly to the calls of Our Lord Jesus Christ - with prayer and action.

*By his actions he demonstrated his belief in a United Church founded on Peter, Francis consulted, and was obedient to, the  hierarchy; wholeheartedly supporting the Pope's call for reform.

*By mouth and by letter he ecstatically worshiped and praised the Three Persons of the Trinity,   -  and upheld the doctrines of the Church.

*He called for reverence for the Word of God and the Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament. His followers were commanded to respect all Clergy.

*Francis acknowledged the exalted place of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her role in the salvation of all souls.

*He revered the Saints and, in the prayers that he composed, sought their aid,

*Francis preached the Gospel with simplicity and without fear, anywhere and everywhere. His longing for Martyrdom, the sign of the perfect love of God drove him to preach fearlessly even in foreign lands where his life was on the line.

*Like a magnet he drew an army of men who were soon, like Francis, filled with the Holy Spirit and enamored of Lady Poverty and her freedom of life. Humble men, filled with compassion and service towards anyone with spiritual or material need.

*Francis provided hermitages where small groups of brothers could retreat and "refuel".

*He called for belief in and * He inspired and lead Saint Clare and her Poor Ladies, confirming them in their richly contemplative enclosed  life.

* Francis established his Third Order, made up of clerics and laity, the Men and Women of Penance who live his charism in their families, their workplace and in the world. Their refusal to bear arms broke the Feudal system.

By all these Means Francis rebuilt the Church. At this time, the beginning of the twenty-first century, I urge you all to an appraisal of this Holy Man Francis. Can anyone deny our need of repair?

Francis Bernadone of the little Italian town of Assisi lived from 11801226. Francis, the worldly son of a wealthy merchant, was the courteous, fun-loving and extravagantly generous leader of the banqueting, singing and carousing youth of his class. Francis was also the son of Pica, a pious woman of faith, exiled from her family and homeland and without her husband for months on end when his business took him far away. Pica was a mother who, it seems, understood this son and was his ally and helper, always there. She was there when God put his hand on Francis and formed him through illness, community disgrace, darkness of soul and his father's sometimes brutal very public opposition and final rejection.

However, during this time of his suffering, Our Lord gave Francis a vision of the future. In a dream he saw a large and splendid palace hung with military arms emblazoned with the insignia of Christ's Cross, and heard a voice from on high telling him that all this was for himself and his Knights.

In response, Francis set off to join a generous neighbouring count in hopes of obtaining the glory of Knighthood.

Again, in the night, the Lord's voice spoke, asking "Why are you abandoning the Lord for a servant, and the rich God for a poor mortal?" Francis replied: "Lord, what do you want me to do?" "Go back to your own land because the vision which you have seen prefigures a spiritual outcome which will be accomplished in you, not by a human but by a divine plan."

Obediently, and full of joy, he hastily returned home and awaited the Lord's will.

The Legend of the Three Companions tells us of the next mystical experience. One evening, after a banquet that he had given, lagging behind his friends as they sang along the street, Francis was visited by the Spirit of The Lord who filled his heart with so much tenderness he was unable to speak or move.

His friends looked back and saw him changed into another man. They asked him "What were you thinking about that you didn't follow us? Were you thinking about taking a wife?" Inspired, he answered: ..."you are right! I was thinking about taking a wife more noble, more wealthier - and - more beautiful than you have ever seen."

They laughed at him. In fact, the bride was the true religion that he later embraced, a bride more noble, richer and more beautiful because of her poverty. Often now, almost daily, he withdrew secretly to pray. He was inclined to do so by that same tenderness he had tasted earlier, which now visited him ever more frequently, driving him to prayer.

From now on Francis avoided his boisterous companions and was intent on seeing the poor, listening to them, and giving them aims.

He made a pilgrimage to Rome, to St. Peter's tomb, and mingled with the beggars on the steps of the Church. Returning to Assisi he began to pray that the Lord would direct his Way. Francis sought counsel alone from God and, periodically, from the Bishop of Assisi.

Then there was the episode of the leper. Francis usually shuddered at lepers, but meeting one on the road one day, he dismounted, gave him aims and exchanged a kiss of peace. In his own words from his Testament, written when he was dying:

The Lord gave me, Brother Francis, thus to begin doing penance in this way: for when I was in sin, it seemed too bitter for me to see lepers. And the Lord Himself led me among them and I showed Mercy to them. And When I left them, what had seemed bitter to me was turned into sweetness of soul and body. And afterwards I delayed a little and left the world."

Whilst he was "delaying a little Francis was enduring great suffering and mental anxiety, burning inwardly with a divine fire, repenting of his past sins but not yet fully confident of refraining from future ones. He was also consumed with a desire to know God's will in his life.

The Three Companions tell us that this prayer was on his lips as he entered the Church of San Damiano and knelt to pray:

Most High, glorious God, enlighten the darkness of my heart

and give me true faith,

certain hope, and perfect charity, sense and knowledge,

Lord, that I may carry out Your holy and true command.

The Prayer before the Crucifix (1205/06)

He began to pray intensely before the image of the Crucified which spoke to him in a tender and kind voice: "Francis, don't you see that my house is being destroyed? Go then, and rebuild it for me" Stunned and trembling he said: I will do so gladly, Lord." For he understood that it was that Church, which was near collapse because of its age.

He was filled with such joy and became so radiant with light over that message, that he knew in his soul that it was truly Christ Crucified who spoke to him... From that hour, therefore, his heart was wounded and it melted when remembering the Lord's passion. While he lived, he always carried the wounds of the Lord Jesus in His heart. This was brilliantly shown afterwards in the renewal of these wounds that were miraculously impressed on and most dearly revealed in his body, (The Stigmata).

Gradually, during which time he begged for his food and for stones, and rebuilt three ruined Churches, God revealed the meaning of "rebuild my house." Firstly, in Francis' own words, "God gave me brothers", A wealthy merchant, a priest and a peasant. Together, after hearing mass on Saint Matthew's Day, Francis requested of the priest an explanation of the Gospel.

The words that he heard spoke to his heart: "Go and preach: 'The Kingdom of God is at hand'. Take neither gold nor silver nor copper on your belts, no traveling bag, no change of shirt, no walking staff."

This was it, this was what they were to do - became wandering apostles, in imitation of Our Lord's twelve. Thomas of Celano tells us: ...'the holy man Francis, immediately exulted in the Spirit of God. "This is what I want," he said, "this is what I seek, this is what I desire with all my heart."

The Holy Father, overflowing with joy, hastened to implement the words of salvation, and did not delay before her devoutly began to put into effect what he had heard. He then began to preach penance to all with a fervent spirit and joyful attitude. He inspired his listeners with words that were simple and a heart that was heroic. His word was like a blazing fire reaching the deepest parts of all with wonder.

... In all his preaching, before he presented the word of God to the assembly he prayed for peace, saying: "May the Lord give you peace." He always proclaimed this to Men and Women... Accordingly, many who hated peace along with salvation, with the Lord's help, wholeheartedly embraced peace. They became themselves children of peace, now rivals for eternal salvation.

... Saint Francis did not put his trust in his own efforts, but with holy prayer coming before any decision, he chose not to live for himself alone but for the one who died for all. For he knew that he was sent for this: to win for God souls which the devil was trying to snatch away.' (end quote.) 

And the "companions” - in a few years their numbers grew from three to thousands.
When they, (The Lesser Brothers he called his group,) numbered twelve, Francis took them to Rome, that the Pope might give them approval. The Pope gave them permission to preach exhortatory sermons and officially tonsured them, to show the world that they were under Church jurisdiction. Thomas of Celano continues:
'Francis, Christ's bravest soldier went around the cities and villages proclaiming the Kingdom of God and preaching peace, and penance for the remission of sins, not in the persuasive words of human wisdom but in the learning and power of the Spirit.
He acted confidently in all matters because of the apostolic authority granted him. He did not use fawning or seductive flattery. He did not smooth over, but cut out the faults of others. He did not encourage but struck at the life of sin with a sharp blow, because he first convinced himself by action and then convinced others by words. Not fearing anyone's rebuke, he spoke the truth boldly so that even well-educated men, distinguished by fame and  dignity, were amazed at his words and were shaken by a healthy fear in his presence.
At that time, through the presence of Francis and through his reputation it surely seemed a new light had been sent from Heaven to Earth, driving away all the darkness that had so nearly covered the whole region that hardly anyone knew where to turn. Deep forgetfulness of God and lazy neglect of his commandments overwhelmed   almost everyone, so that they could barely be roused from old deep-seated evils. He gleamed like a shining star in the darkness of night and, like the morning, spread over the darkness. Thus, in a short time, the appearance of the entire region was changed.' (end of quote.)
Francis’ preaching not only brought reconciliation and more "Lesser Brothers", it also brought Saint Clare into his religious    family. Clare, and the women and girls who joined her, also adored the poor and Crucified Christ. The Poor Ladies with their Trinitarian-like love for God and for each other, and with their enclosed lives of contemplative prayer and manual work, became the hidden "power-house" of the great renewal.
Thomas of Celano also describes the beginnings of the Third Order, the Men and Women of Penance. The word penance meant a  turning away from a "worldly" life to a life centered on God. I quote:

Many people,
well-born and lowly,
cleric and lay,
driven by divine inspiration,
began to come to Saint Francis,
for they desired to serve
under his constant training and leadership.
All of these
the holy one of God,
like a fertile stream of heavenly grace,
watered with showers of gifts
and he adorned the field of their hearts
with the flowers of perfection.
He is without question an
outstanding craftsman,
for through his spreading
message,
the Church of Christ is being renewed in both sexes
according to his form, rule and teaching, 
and there is victory for the triple army of those being saved.
Furthermore,
to all he gave a norm of life
and to those of every rank
he sincerely pointed out the way of salvation.

We are now called the Secular Franciscan Order with a revised Rule sanctioned by Pope Paul VI in 1978. On that occasion the Holy Father said. "We are happy that the "Franciscan Charism" is still a force for the good of the Church and the human Community, despite the infiltration of doctrines and    tendencies that alienate people from God and from the supernatural.” As well as the Rules that his followers live by, Francis composed prayers, praises and psalms with an antiphon, for use as an adjunct to the Divine Office. The antiphon was addressed to the Virgin Mary whom (I quote) "Francis embraced with an indescribable love and declared her the advocate and protectress of his family."

Holy Virgin Mary,
among the women born
into the world,
there is no one like you.
Daughter and servant
of the most high and supreme King
and of the Father in heaven,
Mother of our most holy Lord Jesus Christ,
Spouse of the Holy Spirit,
pray for us
with Saint Michael the Archangel, 
all the powers of heaven
and all the saints,
at the side of your most holy beloved Son,
our Lord and Teacher.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.
Amen.

The editors of The Saint point out that this antiphon is used at the beginning and end of each hour. These images of Mary are brought to mind fourteen times throughout the day, a practice which is bound to influence one's   theology of the Mother of God. Many praises of God and prayers are found in the Rules and in the letters of exhortation and admonition that Francis wrote to Clergy, to Custodians, to the Brothers, and Sisters of Penance and to the Entire Order. He was greatly concerned about the lack of   reverence for, and neglect of, the Blessed Sacrament and the Written Word of God. With ecstatic phrases he writes urging that these attitudes be rectified, and that the Churches be kept clean. He exalts the Real Presence:

Let everyone be struck with fear,
let the whole world tremble,
and let the heavens exult
when Christ, the Son of
the living God,
is present on the altar in the hands of a priest!
O wonderful loftiness and
stupendous dignity!
O sublime humilityl
O humble sublimity!
The font of the universe,
God and the Son of God,
so humbles Himself
that for our salvation
He hides Himself
under an ordinary piece of bread!
Brothers, look at the
humility of God,
and pour out your hearts before Him!
Humble yourselves
that you may be exalted by Him!
Hold back nothing of yourselves for yourselves,
that He Who gives Himself totally to you
may receive you totally!

Francis' most famous hymn is The Canticle of the Creatures. It was written towards the end of his life while suffering intensely from his infirmities; the last two verses composed on his death bed.
He had announced one day: "I wish to compose a new hymn about the Lord's creatures, of which we make daily use,  without which we cannot live, and with which the human race greatly offends its Creator.”
The Analysis of this hymn, revealing a side of Francis' vision of God, creation, and the human soul is a subject in itself. Suffice to say here that Francis, the promoter of Christ's Gospel of Peace, and Universal Kinship, Francis the Patron Saint of Ecology is once again the man to gleam like a shining star in the darkness of our night. I shall close with quotes from, and some precis of, Steven Smythe's closing pages which describe European 13th Century society and the effect of Francis and his Friars Minor. From its inception in 1210 the Order of Friars Minor enjoyed the patronage of the Pope - their Rule (taken with them on their travels) was approved by the Pope, giving them status. The order was something totally new. It was the first active order in the Church. The friars went out to the people. In the existing orders the people went to the friars where they lived within their enclosures, A Benedictine chronicler in England in 1220 reported the Franciscan Friars as "running about everywhere”.
The Franciscans’ monastery boundary was the limit of whatever place they found themselves in! The Order had complete doctrinal orthodoxy with obedience to the hierarchy and respect for all who held the keys. (The keys that open the gates of Paradise by absolving sin and consecrating the  Sacrament.)
Totally loyal, the Franciscan Friars were never-the-less a reforming agent of the Church from the beginning. That is not to say that their reception was everywhere marked by goodwill, let alone enthusiasm!
Steve described the thrust of this Franciscan life and its effect on the urban society. A society in upheaval with the disruptions caused by the rise of a wealthy merchant class which ignored the teachings of the Church and challenged the power of the   aristocracy. One result was an increase in intercity warfare.
In all this the peasants were the losers, many of them flocking to the cities. The more that wealth, and the privileges and power that it bought, became the object of men’s desire, the more the poor and outcasts were despised. In towns there was much destitution and suffering. The Church was quite unprepared to cope or to act. I quote Steve's text: 'The destitution-by-choice of Francis and his friars showed the poor how their destitution could be accepted with joy and made serviceable for salvation.
The friars preached and lived their belief that suffering was part of man's redemption and that there was beauty in suffering as there was in all creation. They  instanced the beauty of Christ on the Cross.
Francis' and his friars' incomprehensible happiness, their giving significance and    importance to poverty, their way of communicating a shared brotherhood by  possessing nothing, touched deep emotional springs in the 13th Century urban society.

Francis' preaching... seemed to be the second proclamation in human history of Christ's Gospel, allowing men and women to be reconciled to God, to each other, to nature and to themselves, allowing them a fresh start. (Thank you Steven Smythe!)

On his deathbed Francis composed the last verse of his Cantide of the Creatures:

Praised be you, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death,
from whom no one living 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.

He had the brothers sing it to him. He blessed them all and said

"I have done what is mine to do, may Christ teach you what is yours."