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Well this young, very red tree did get my attention; I could not help but to be impressed by beautiful colors of reds and deep orange.
We just celebrated the Transitus of Francis. More mature and "wiser" neighbors thought Francis was an
"up-start" as well. When Francis turned over his life to follow the Poor and Humble Christ he transformed into something beautiful - and many people where attracted to him. Over 800 years later Franciscans still find meaning in that young man from Assisi with a huge imagination trying to get a jump start on living the Gospel.
Fr. Andrew Nowak, OFM Cap
St. Francis, as we all know, was born in Assisi, Italy, on October 4, 1181.
He founded the Franciscan Order together with Saint Clare, and together they established the poor Clares. However, it was Francis who organized the
Third Order of Franciscans (the SFO), for lay men and women.
As a young man in the town of Assisi, Francis loved parties and good times. He had no desire to study or learn his father¹s business. However, after two illnesses, he knew he must serve God and so his prayers and sacrifices helped him to grow strong. He fasted and prayed in order to humble himself
and bore his suffering for love of God. He urged people to stop sinning and to
go back to God. It was then that men began to realize how close to God Francis was and it was then they became his disciples. This is how the great Franciscan Order of Priests and Brothers began. The brothers helped the poor and the sick, and preached everywhere.
Francis had the power of working miracles, and even had animals obey him. Asa reward of great love, Jesus gave him His own wounds in his hands and feet but our humble Francis tried to hide them. When he was sick for a very long time, he knew he could only live for a few weeks. He welcomed Sister Death and asked to be laid down on the ground and be covered with an old habit. He urged his Brothers to love God through a life of poverty and to obey the Holy Gospel.
He then said: I have done my part may Christ teach you to do yours.
Francis died on October 3, 1226, on a Sunday in Ordinary time.
In closing:
Let us petition God through the intercession of our Father Francis, to help us form a new levento bring souls back to God just as our Father Francis did in
his time. May we walk in his footsteps, and as Secular Franciscans of Sacred Heart, may we be bound to God always.
Amen! Alleluia!
Erma
He founded the Franciscan Order together with Saint Clare, and together they established the poor Clares. However, it was Francis who organized the
Third Order of Franciscans (the SFO), for lay men and women.
As a young man in the town of Assisi, Francis loved parties and good times. He had no desire to study or learn his father¹s business. However, after two illnesses, he knew he must serve God and so his prayers and sacrifices helped him to grow strong. He fasted and prayed in order to humble himself
and bore his suffering for love of God. He urged people to stop sinning and to
go back to God. It was then that men began to realize how close to God Francis was and it was then they became his disciples. This is how the great Franciscan Order of Priests and Brothers began. The brothers helped the poor and the sick, and preached everywhere.
Francis had the power of working miracles, and even had animals obey him. Asa reward of great love, Jesus gave him His own wounds in his hands and feet but our humble Francis tried to hide them. When he was sick for a very long time, he knew he could only live for a few weeks. He welcomed Sister Death and asked to be laid down on the ground and be covered with an old habit. He urged his Brothers to love God through a life of poverty and to obey the Holy Gospel.
He then said: I have done my part may Christ teach you to do yours.
Francis died on October 3, 1226, on a Sunday in Ordinary time.
In closing:
Let us petition God through the intercession of our Father Francis, to help us form a new levento bring souls back to God just as our Father Francis did in
his time. May we walk in his footsteps, and as Secular Franciscans of Sacred Heart, may we be bound to God always.
Amen! Alleluia!
Erma
“To live the life and poverty of Our Most High Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy Mother, and to persevere in this to the end.” St. Francis began that devotion to the Immaculate Virgin and it began to grow with new vigor in the Church. He sung Her praises in his Salutation to the Blessed Virgin Mary: “Hail O Lady, Holy Queen, Holy Mother of God, Virgin made church...” He adorned Her incomparable union with the Most Holy Trinity in his antiphon for the Office of the Passion: “Holy Virgin Mary, among women there is no one like You born into the world. You are the Daughter and the Handmaid of the Most High King and Father of Heaven, You are the Mother of Our Most Holy Lord Jesus Christ, Your are the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, .” Not only did St. Francis sing Her praises and invoke Her Maternal intercession every day, but he went so far as to confess his sins and failings to Her, so as to obtain more assuredly the forgiveness and pardon of Her Divine Son.
The Portiuncula is an ancient church dedicated to Mary under the title Our Lady of the Angels and is located in Assisi, Italy. It was a spot very dear to the heart of Saint Francis. Here he began and grew in his religious life; here he founded the Franciscan Order; here he manifested his love and great devotion to the Mother of God. When Francis knew he was dying, he requested to be brought to the Portiuncula to end his earthly life.
May we find inspiration this month for our own growth and development in the Gospel way of life that Saint Francis embraced and lived so completely.
Salutation Of The Blessed Virgin
( by Saint Francis of Assisi )
( by Saint Francis of Assisi )
Hail Holy Lady most holy Queen, Mary Mother of God. Chosen by the Father in heaven consecrated by Him. With His most beloved Son and Holy Spirit comforter, On you descended and still remains fullness of grace And every good.
Hail His palace and His robe,
Mary Mother of God.
Hail His handmaid lowly and pure,
Loving servant of the Lord.
Hail holy virtues given by God
to all the faithful in the world,
So that no longer we faithless be,
And may become the
servants of the Lord. - AMEN
The Franciscan Crown and the Rosary
Over the centuries, many approved devotions have developed from these circlets of beads.
The Rosary as we know it today evolved from the custom of monks who, not having learned to read, and therefore having been unable to recite the one hundred and fifty psalms of the Daily Office, recited, in place of the Office, one hundred and fifty Our Fathers each day. In time, many Christian faithful began to recite one hundred and fifty Hail Marys each day as an expression of Marian devotion. By the beginning of the 15th century it was common to recite the Hail Marys in decades (groups of ten) punctuated with fifteen Our Fathers; and by the end of the 15th century an additional custom developed: meditating on the central Gospel “Mysteries” of the life of Christ and Mary while praying the Hail Marys.
The Franciscan historian Luke Wadding (1588-1657) dates the origin of the Franciscan Crown to the year 1422. He tells the story of a young novice in the Franciscan Order who, previously accustomed to express his devotion to the Blessed Virgin by adorning her statue with a wreath of fresh flowers, was prevented from continuing this practice in the novitiate. In distress, he considered leaving the Order. But the Blessed Virgin appeared to him and instructed him to recite a rosary of seven decades in honour of her seven joys; thus, he might weave a “crown” more pleasing to her than flowers on her statue.
From that time the practice of reciting the “crown of the seven joys“ became general in the order. Thus it became known as the Franciscan Crown—or the Seraphic Rosary. Read more...
