Contents
Before his death, the saint acquired the stigmata – the wounds received by the Savior on the cross – once again proving his closeness to Christ. It would seem, what can this feat of self-denial teach our contemporaries who have lost their faith? It turns out, a lot. Together with faith, many today have lost the joy of being, and how can one not remember the holy poor man who addressed the great luminary “My brother the sun”, and to his own tortured body – “My brother donkey”.
A young man from a wealthy family dresses in rags and goes to praise the Lord in medieval Italy. The young man’s name is Francesco, and he comes from Assisi. Nothing in his life foreshadows such a turn: a cheerful and ardent young man did not shy away from luxury, but Christ said: “Reject yourself … and follow Me.” Francesco Francis did just that, and until his death he remained faithful to the ideal of voluntary poverty, while retaining his former cheerfulness and ardor.
At the time of Francis’ sermon (early XNUMXth century), Europeans were in a state of religious unrest. Trust in the church was falling, heresies were flourishing, the end of the world was expected from day to day. The Savior was often depicted with outstretched hands – he offered holy gifts to one, and doomed the other to eternal torment. But Francis saw Christ in a completely different way – pouring endless love on the world. And the only answer to that could be spiritual joy. He called his neighbors to her, and not only people, but also animals went to his neighbors. The saint preached to the swallow sisters and flower brothers, set free the caught fish and hares entangled in snares.
Before his death, the saint acquired the stigmata – the wounds received by the Savior on the cross – once again proving his closeness to Christ. It would seem, what can this feat of self-denial teach our contemporaries who have lost their faith? It turns out, a lot. Together with faith, many today have lost the joy of being, and how can one not remember the holy poor man who addressed the great luminary “My brother the sun”, and to his own tortured body – “My brother donkey”.
His dates
- 1181 or 1182: Francis was born to an Assisi merchant, Pietro Bernardone.
- 1205-1206: in the church a young man hears a mysterious voice: “Francis, can’t you see that my house is falling down? Go fix it for Me,” and begins to restore the small village church with his own hands. He returns all his property to his father and goes to help the lepers.
- 1208: Francis has his first followers and students.
- 1209 or 1210: approval of the charter of the order of the Friars Minor by Pope Innocent III.
- 1219: goes with his comrades to Egypt, where he tries to convert the Sultan to Christianity.
- 1220: Francis resigns as head of the order.
- 1224: spends a 40-day fast on Mount Verne, where on September 14 he receives the stigmata.
- 1225: Francis begins to go blind, but this does not prevent him from composing the Hymn to the Sun.
- October 3, 1226: Francis dies and is buried the next day in the church of St. George.
- 1228: Pope Gregory IX proclaims Francis a saint.
Five Keys to Understanding.
free poverty
Francis was not a singer of poverty for the sake of poverty. For him, it is a precondition for freedom. This is how the saint understood the call of Christ to give up all his earthly possessions and follow him: people, burdened with cares about what they own, are rarely able to know the pure joy of being. The world that you look at without greed (“I want it all to be mine”) becomes more beautiful. Therefore, the monastic order created by Francis adhered to the principles of holy poverty: its charter forbade monks to own any property, and prescribed livelihoods to be obtained by collecting alms.
spiritual joy
The state of spiritual joy is not at all the carelessness of an idealist who turns a blind eye to the tragic aspects of reality. Francis was fully aware that life is imperfect and fraught with incalculable suffering. He so keenly experienced the torments of the crucified Christ that wounds, stigmata, opened on his arms and legs. But he knew that the pains of the cross were replaced by the joy of the resurrection: it is she who permeates the world with her infinite light. Francis saw light where others see darkness – he called death “sister”.
holy juggler
The behavior of Francis and his comrades, of course, was contrary to the norms of sanity. But their outlandish actions showed that in addition to everyday reality, there is another – higher, which they serve in such an unusual way. One juggler, wanting to express devotion to the Virgin, began to somersault and stand on her head in front of her, which earned her special favor, as the Franciscan legend tells. Orthodox in a similar way revere the holy fools, whose actions do not fit into the framework of the usual.
kinship with nature
Francis’ closeness to nature was not akin to the feeling of a savage who feels himself an integral part of it. On the contrary, nature for him is endowed with a personal beginning, he distinguishes in it the dream of reason. Francis does not dissolve in nature, but raises it to his level. That is why animals, birds and even plants are brothers and sisters for him.
The power of love
Francis’ undivided love for the world is a sign of strength, not weakness. He is against the affirmation of faith with fire and sword, but the spiritual sword is always at hand. Having gone to the Saracens to preach the word of God, he is armed only with this weapon. But it is enough to win – according to legend, the sultan, whom the saint tried to convert to Christianity, was so fascinated by the sincerity of his faith that he was baptized before his death. When, at the end of his life, Francis fell ill and began to go blind, this did not plunge him into despair. Plunging into darkness, he composed a hymn glorifying the source of light – the sun.
About it
- Saint Francis of Assisi. Works. Franciscan Publishing, 1995.
- Flowers of Saint Francis of Assisi. Eksmo, 2000.
- Anthology of Medieval Thought. Volume 2. RKhGI, 2002.