—from the book Soul Training with the Peace Prayer of Saint Francis
by Albert Haase, OFM
Two practices that facilitate openness and receptivity to hope in ourselves and others are words of encouragement and the prayer of intercession. A supportive email, a kind word, a handwritten note, a bouquet of flowers, a pat on the back, a post on Facebook, all are practical reminders that one is not alone, that one can count on the support of family and friends. Words and actions of friendship, consolation, and encouragement offer an oasis and sense of community to those who isolate themselves as they bear the weight of disheartenment, desperation, and distress. Knowing that one is being prayed for can open a person’s soul to be receptive to hope. More than strong-arming God to get what we want or doing a rain dance long enough to obtain the desired results, the prayer of intercession, like spiritual direction and words of encouragement, is a reminder that the gratuity of grace is never exhausted and never expires. This simple knowledge leaves behind a furrow in the field of the desperate and despairing.
—from the book Soul Training with the Peace Prayer of Saint Francis by Albert Haase, OFM
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May you grow in favor with God and man. Be blessed with health and strength in body soul and spirit. May the light of God that rests in you shine on the people around you. May the love that we freely received from our Savior Jesus, be freely expressed and lived out to those around us.
Happy Father's Day to all from the OSFM! The saint known to the Church as Anthony of Padua was not born in the Italian city of Padua, nor was he originally named Anthony. He was born as Ferdinand in Lisbon, Portugal during 1195, the son of an army officer named Martin and a virtuous woman named Mary. They had Ferdinand educated by a group of priests, and the young man made his own decision to enter religious life at age 15.
Ferdinand initially lived in a monastery of the Augustinian order outside of Lisbon. But he disliked the distraction of constant visits from his friends, and moved to a more remote house of the same order. There, he concentrated on reading the Bible and the Church Fathers, while living a life of asceticism and heartfelt devotion to God. Eight years later, in 1220, Ferdinand learned the news about five Franciscan friars who had recently died for their faith in Morocco. When their bodies were brought to Portugal for veneration, Ferdinand developed a passionate desire to imitate their commitment to the Gospel. When a group of Franciscans visited his monastery, Ferdinand told them he wanted to adopt their poor and humble way of life. Some of the Augustinian monks criticized and mocked Ferdinand's interest in the Franciscans, which had been established only recently, in 1209. But prayer confirmed his desire to follow the example of St. Francis, who was still living at the time. He eventually obtained permission to leave the Augustinians and join a small Franciscan monastery in 1221. At that time he took the name Anthony, after the fourth-century desert monk St. Anthony of Egypt. Anthony wanted to imitate the Franciscan martyrs who had died trying to convert the Muslims of Morocco. He traveled on a ship to Africa for this purpose, but became seriously ill and could not carry out his intention. The ship that was supposed to take him to Spain for treatment was blown off course, and ended up in Italy. Through this series of mishaps, Anthony ended up near Assisi, where St. Francis was holding a major meeting for the members of his order. Despite his poor health, Anthony resolved to stay in Italy in order to be closer to St. Francis himself. He deliberately concealed his deep knowledge of theology and Scripture, and offered to serve in the kitchen among the brothers. At the time, no one realized that the future “Hammer of Heretics” was anything other than a kitchen assistant and obedient Franciscan priest. Around 1224, however, Anthony was forced to deliver an improvised speech before an assembly of Dominicans and Franciscans, none of whom had prepared any remarks. His eloquence stunned the crowd, and St. Francis himself soon learned what kind of man the dishwashing priest really was. In 1224 he gave Anthony permission to teach theology in the Franciscan order – “provided, however, that as the Rule prescribes, the spirit of prayer and devotion may not be extinguished.” Anthony taught theology in several French and Italian cities, while strictly following his Franciscan vows and preaching regularly to the people. Later, he dedicated himself entirely to the work of preaching as a missionary in France, Italy and Spain, teaching an authentic love for God to many people – whether peasants or princes – who had fallen away from Catholic faith and morality. Known for his bold preaching and austere lifestyle, Anthony also had a reputation as a worker of miracles, which often came about in the course of his disputes with heretics. His biographers mention a horse, which refused to eat for three days, and accepted food only after it had placed itself in adoration before the Eucharist that Anthony brought in his hands. Another miracle involved a poisoned meal, which Anthony ate without any harm after making the sign of the Cross over it. And a final often recounted miracle of St. Anthony’s involved a group of fish, who rose out of the sea to hear his preaching when heretical residents of a city refused to listen. After Lent in 1231, Anthony's health was in decline. Following the example of his patron – the earlier St. Anthony, who had lived as a hermit – he retreated to a remote location, taking two companions to help him. When his worsening health forced him to be carried back to the Franciscan monastery in Padua, crowds of people converged on the group in hopes of paying their homage to the holy priest. The commotion surrounding his transport forced his attendants to stop short of their destination. After receiving the last rites, Anthony prayed the Church's seven traditional penitential psalms, sung a hymn to the Virgin Mary, and died on June 13 at the age of 36. St. Anthony's well-established holiness, combined with the many miracles he had worked during his lifetime, moved Pope Gregory IX – who knew the saint personally – to canonize him one year after his death. “St. Anthony, residing now in heaven, is honored on earth by many miracles daily seen at his tomb, of which we are certified by authentic writings,” proclaimed the 13th-century Pope. Get up off your knees.
Come out of your churches, your mosques, your temples. God can hear your prayers for peace, justice and hope in this broken world just fine when you are out creating peace, working for justice and giving hope to this broken world. When are we going to finally realize that humanity is the solution to the inhumanity? When will we finally understand that we are all drops of the same ocean, hurting together, healing together, hoping together? So don’t just pray for hands to heal the hurting, pray with hands that are healing the hurting. Don’t just pray for arms to help the helpless, pray with arms that are helping the helpless. Don’t just pray for feet to respond to need, pray with feet that are responding to need. Don’t just pray for someone to do something, be someone who does something. Don’t just pray for answers, be the answer. Amen. On November 29, we celebrate the many Franciscan saints who followed in the footsteps of St. Francis. It is a special day for all Franciscans to celebrate the feast of ‘All the Saints of the Seraphic Order.’
According to tradition, St. Francis of Assisi prayed the following prayer: "O Lord Jesus Christ, two favors I beg of you before I die. The first is that I may, as far as it is possible, feel in my soul and in my body the suffering in which you, O gentle Jesus, sustained in your bitter passion. And the second favor is that I, as far as it is possible, may receive in my heart that excessive charity by which you, the Son of God, were inflamed, and which actuated you willingly to suffer so much for us sinners." In response to his earnest prayer, the Lord appeared in the form of a seraph, or a six-winged angel (They are usually considered the highest order of angelic beings, immediately above the Cherubim, and their special duty is to love God). Then Jesus bestowed on St. Francis the wounds of his suffering. St. Francis had been marked with the love of Christ, the stigmata. St. Francis died two years later in 1226, leaving the world the Franciscan Order, which became synonymous with the Seraphic Order. To this day, seraph wings and seraphs are symbolic of the Franciscan Order. The final Rule of life for Franciscan friars was also approved on this day in 1223. To commemorate this, and all the saintly examples produced in the Franciscan Order, on this day all the saints of the Seraphic order are remembered at Franciscan churches. Let us remember all of the Franciscans we have met and how they have influenced our lives. Eternal God, our maker and redeemer,
grant us, with all the faithful departed, the sure benefits of your Son's saving passion and glorious resurrection that, in the last day, when you gather up all things in Christ, we may with them enjoy the fullness of your promises; We ask this through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. St. John Capistran (John of Capistrano, (1386-1456,) is a good example of what a strong faith, active involvement in society’s most pressing problems, and skilled communication can achieve. The memory of this Franciscan friar, canonized in 1690, recognized as "Apostle of Europe" (1956) and patron of military chaplains (1984), is celebrated every year on October 23. Yet, some aspects of his multifaceted activity appear less attractive, if not controversial nowadays.
A jurist with an excellent university education in civil and canon law, John joined the Franciscan Order just before he turned 30, late--by the standards of his time--renouncing his promising career as a judge in the city of Perugia (Italy), as also to the prospect of starting a family. In a few years he became one of the most renowned itinerant preachers of the time, working alongside St. Bernardine of Siena in preaching campaigns reaching more and more cities of Italy. Together, they succeeded in what a contemporary humanist described as the "real miracle" of converting the increasingly secularized Renaissance society of their time. Their contemporaries found their words convincing and appealing, and their preaching had numerous positive effects on contemporary society, divided by factionalism and internecine wars. As the most preeminent jurist among the Observant Franciscans, John became immediately involved in the attempts to reform the Order, committing himself to writing new regulations and assuming leading institutional roles within the Order, including the Franciscan Third Order religious women, whose institutional foundations he laid. He became a direct collaborator of the Popes already under Martin V and Eugene IV, taking on the role of itinerant inquisitor, a task he carried out in close connection with his preaching, particularly against Franciscan dissidents, but later also against other heretics and infidels who did not recognize the superiority of the Pope, such as the Hussites of Bohemia, or even Jews and anti-unionist Orthodox. John was a very prolific writer, with an impressive literary output, including treatises, sermons, and a vast correspondence, that included letters to important figures of the time, such as Popes and cardinals, the emperor, kings, and dukes. A man of strong opinions, sometime overzealous, John was also a fierce polemicist, not only against dissidents against the Papal authority (the nature of which at the time was a debated issue), but also against certain humanists, who did not spare him their criticism. Had he ended his earthly life in 1451, John would have come down in history as an undoubtedly important figure in Christianity, but he certainly would not have been canonized as a saint. From that year on, his life took on a heroic turn in the eyes of his contemporaries. A "grand tour" of Central Europe led him through what is now Austria, southern Germany, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, and Croatia, where he died, on October 23, 1456. During those years he succeeded in replicating the successes achieved by Observant preaching in Italy, but also in implanting reformed Franciscans permanently (why his cult is particularly alive in Central Europe). While revered by many as a living saint in the last years of life, he acquired even more lasting fame by his role in the defense of Belgrade in the face of an Ottoman army led by the Sultan himself, in June 1456, an achievement considered by many a miracle and a manifestation of God himself in human history (an imprint left by his "finger," as a biographer later wrote). It seemed incredible to contemporaries that the unstoppable power of the Turks, who three years earlier had conquered Constantinople and were marching to the heart of Central Europe, could be stopped by an army not even half as large in numbers. Yet it happened, and when he received the new, Pope Callistus III decreed that it should become a feast day (it was August 6, which became the Feast of the Transfiguration). How this victory was even possible continues to be debated among historians to this day. While some objective arguments are indisputable (as the shrewd defense organized by the brilliant military strategist John Hunyadi or the plague that was ravaging the Ottoman camp), the role of John Capistran remains unquestionable. John was not a warrior, he never wore armor (as some later representations portray him), nor touched a sword. Facing the Turks, in Belgrade, he held a staff surmounted by the Franciscan Tau, encouraging the defenders of the citadel to resist through his speech and gestures. He was a model and an inspirer. Many of the defenders of Belgrade were volunteers gathered through his preaching and were particularly attached to him personally and to the crusading spirit he was able to instill in them. He was confident in victory and his confidence was contagious for the other defenders, instilling in them the courage to hold out, even in the most difficult moments. The more skeptical might limit his role to the category of psychological factors. Even so, that also remains essential. For some 70 years the Ottoman advance was halted as a result, and John, by choosing to be buried in the nearby convent of Ilok, continued through his incipient cult to foster resistance in the inhabitants of the region. Warrior saints may not be very attractive in our days, but John’s life is still an inspiration for those who defend common ideals, such as freedom or their country. Dr. Iulian M. Damian Senior Lecturer at the Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the Franciscan Institute at St. Bonaventure University (Fall 2022) "All those who love the Lord with their whole heart, with their whole soul and mind, with their whole strength and love their neighbors as themselves, who hate their bodies with their vices and sins, who receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and who produce worthy fruits of penance. O how happy and blessed are these men and women while they do such things and persevere in doing them, because the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon them and make Its home and dwelling place among them, and they are children of the heavenly Father Whose works they do, and they are spouses, brothers, and mothers of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
"Start by doing what is necessary; then do what is possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible." –Francis of Assisi Happy feast day from all of us in the OSFM! Enjoy this day! Celebrate with us the Transitus of St. Francis.
“Be praised, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death, from whose embrace no living person can escape. Woe to those who die in mortal sin! Happy those she finds doing your most holy will. The second death can do no harm to them.” —St. Francis of Assisi, Canticle of the Creatures. |
AuthorFranciscan Musings is the collective blog of the members of the OSFM. Here, our brothers and sisters and friends of the OSFM share their reflections on their Franciscan experiences and their Christian journeys. Archives
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