Tuesday, October 04, 2011

Saint Francis of Assisi

"Fear God, love God, convert yourself from bad to good."
_ Saint Francis, from Jorgensen, Life of St. Francis



"As He revealed Himself to the holy apostles in true flesh, so He reveals Himself to us now in sacred bread.  And as they saw only His flesh by an insight of their flesh, yet believed that He was God as they contemplated Him with their spiritual eyes, let us, as we see bread and wine with our bodily eyes, see and firmly believe that they are His most holy Body and Blood living and true.
- Saint Francis, admonition I



Most High, all-powerful, good Lord,
Yours are the praises, the glory, and the honor, and
all blessing.
To You alone, Most High, do they belong,
and no human is worthy to mention Your name...
Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks
and serve Him with great humility.

- Saint Francis, The Testament

"The Stigmata of St. Francis" by Giotto


God is Love

"With our whole heart,
our whole soul,
our whole mind,
with our whole strength and fortitude
with our whole understanding
with all our powers
with every effort,
every affection,
every feeling,
every desire and wish
let us all love the Lord God
Who has given and gives to each of us
our whole body, our whole soul, and our whole life...

let us desire nothing else,
let us want nothing else,
let nothing else please us and cause us delight
except our Creator, Redeemer and savior,
the only true God,
Who is the fullness of good,
all good, every good, the true and supreme good,
Who alone is good,
merciful, gentle, delightful, and sweet,
Who alone is holy,
just, true, holy, and upright,
Who alone is kind, innocent, clean,...
Wherever we are,
in every place,
at ever hour,
at every time of the day,
every day and continually,
let all of us truly and humbly believe,
hold in our heart and love,
honor, adore, serve,
praise and bless,
glorify and exalt,
magnify and give thanks
to the Most High and Supreme Eternal God
Trinity and Unity,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Creator of all,
Savior of all
Who believe and hope in Him...

- Saint Francis, The Earlier Rule


"Hail, O Lady!
Holy Queen,
Hail, His Palace!
Hail, His Tabernacle!
Hail, His Dwelling!
Hail, H is Robe!
Hail, His Servant!
Hail, His Mother!
- Saint Francis, Payer to the Blessed Mother



St. Clare and St. Francis by Simone Martin
"I, Brother Francis, wish to follow after the life and poverty of our highest Lord, Jesus Christ, and of his most holy mother, and I will hold out in this to the last."
- St. Francis
St. Francis and St. Louis of Toulouse by Simone Martin


"Someone who is truly poor in spirit hates himself and loves those who strike him on the cheek."
- Saint Francis, Admonition XIV



"I feel that I am the greatest sinner that ever existed." 
- St. Francis

Quotation Source:  To Live as Francis Lived by Foley, Weigel and Normile.

4 comments:

Barb Szyszkiewicz said...

Wow! It's like a Greatest Hits of St. Francis, all right here!

EC Gefroh said...

Well, I have the SFOs to thank for this post ;-)

Carnival said...

This is a fantastic group of prayers and quotes. Thank You!!! Saint Francis has been a great blessing in my life. I am so glad that you have chosen to focus on the often ignored side of Francis: the Christian. I was introduced to him through a picture book where I learned that in deciding to follow God in absolute poverty he disowned his earthly father. At that time, I was completely scandalized. His life continues to challenge me today to be faithful to the Gospel no matter the cost. I just posted on my blog an article from Commonweal on the dark shadows in Francis' life. It is the human Francis that interests me - the mature Christian who yet struggles to discern God's calling in his life. We too are called to be great saints, even if we too struggle with certain sins. God Bless!!! And happy belated Feast Day!!!!

EC Gefroh said...

Thanks so much. Glad you liked the post. He is one of my all-time favorite saints.