Chapter eighteen of Luke recounts the parable of the judge and the importunate widow, emphasising the value of personal prayer that is engaging, confident and constant.

Those who know a little about the Poor Man of St. Mary of the Porziuncola know that continuous prayer was like oxygen for his lungs.

Various passages from the Sources describe how much Francis loved it and sought out places where he could give free rein to his big heart.

"He often conversed aloud with his Lord: he gave account to the Judge, he implored the Father, he spoke to his Friend, he joked amiably with his Spouse.

And in reality, in order to offer God all the fibres of his heart in a manifold holocaust, he considered in various ways the One who is supremely One [...]

He directed his whole mind and affection to that one thing he asked of God: he was not so much a man who prayed as he was himself transformed into a living prayer" (FF 682).

Celano informs us in the First Life:

"His safe haven was prayer, not of a few minutes, or empty, or pretentious, but deeply devout, humble and prolonged as much as possible. If he began it in the evening, he could hardly tear himself away from it in the morning. He was always intent on prayer, when he walked and when he sat, when he ate and when he drank. At night he would go alone to abandoned and remote churches to pray; thus, with the grace of the Lord, he managed to triumph over many fears and spiritual anxieties" (FF 445).

Confirming his ardent faith in God, he expresses himself thus in the Leggenda Maggiore:

«I, small and simple, inexperienced in speaking, have received the grace of prayer more than that of preaching.

In prayer, moreover, one either acquires or accumulates graces; in preaching, on the other hand, one distributes the gifts received from heaven [...] In prayer we speak to God, we listen to him, and we remain among the Angels» (FF 1204).

His faith grew day by day, because it was imbued with divine relationship, certain of being heard by grace and not by merit, thus becoming a giant herald and witness of the Word.

«But will God not do justice to his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?» (Lk 18:7)

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, year C  (Lk 18:1-8)

Jesus urges the mission to which the disciples are called: in poverty, as lambs among wolves; preaching the Kingdom of God.

Francis knew how to address a special greeting of Peace to the people he met, by divine revelation.

And, like Jesus, he sent his brothers out two by two to announce the Good News of the Kingdom. 

The Sources specifically state.

"In each of his sermons, before communicating the Word of God to the people, he wished for peace, saying:

«May the Lord give you Peace!».

This Peace he always proclaimed with great devotion to men and women, to all those he met or who came to him.

In this way he obtained, by the grace of the Lord, to induce the enemies of Peace and of their own salvation, to become themselves children of Peace and desirous of eternal salvation" (FF 359).

And again, Francis took on the "mission of the apostles" in its entirety.

In fact, "the pious father gathered all his sons around him and spoke at length with them about the Kingdom of God, about the contempt of the world [...] and revealed his intention to send them to the four parts of the world" (FF 1058)

«Go», said the sweet Father to his children, «proclaim peace to men; preach penance for the remission of sins.

Be patient in tribulations, watchful in prayer, valiant in labours, modest in speech, grave in conduct, and grateful in benefactions.

And in recompense for all this, the eternal kingdom is prepared for you».

He then said to each one in particular:

«Entrust your fate to the Lord, and He will feed you».

He divided them two by two, in the form of a cross, sending them out into the world.

After assigning the other three parts to the other six, he himself went with a companion to a part of the world, knowing that he had been chosen as an example for others and that he had first to do and then to teach" (FF 1059).

And he often «redeemed the lambs that were led to the slaughter, in memory of that most meek Lamb, who was willing to be led to death to redeem sinners» (FF 1145).

«Go! Behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves» (Lk 10:3)

St Luke, the Evangelist  (Lk 10:1-9)

In chapter twelve of Luke's Gospel, Jesus warns against hypocrisy, whose father is the one whom St Teresa of Avila called 'a liar, a hypocrite, a dark one'.

We must fear him, says the Lord, who is capable of casting us into Gehenna.

When Francis of Assisi, by grace, manages to convert and tame the wolf of Gubbio, he then reminds the inhabitants of that place of something crucial:

'The flame of hell, which will last eternally for the damned, is more dangerous than the rage of the wolf, which can only kill the body. How much more should we fear the mouth of hell, when such a multitude is kept in fear and trembling by the mouth of a small animal. Return, therefore, dearest ones, to God and do worthy penance for your sins, and God will deliver you from the wolf in the present and from the fires of hell in the future" (Fioretti. FF 1852).

Likewise, the humble Francis kept all forms of hypocrisy away from his life.

The Sources tell us a significant episode.

"One winter, the Saint had his poor body covered with only one tunic, reinforced with very coarse patches.

The guardian*, who was also his companion, bought a fox skin and brought it to him, saying: Father, you suffer from spleen and stomach problems: I beg your charity in the Lord to allow this skin to be sewn inside your tunic. If you do not want the whole thing, at least accept a part of it to cover your stomach.

Francis replied:

"If you want me to wear this fur under my tunic, let me wear another one of the same size on the outside. Sewn on the outside, it will be a sign of the skin hidden underneath."

The friar listened, but he was not of the same opinion [...] In the end, the guardian gave in and had one piece of fur sewn onto the other, so that Francis would not appear different on the outside than he was on the inside.

What an example of consistency, identical in life and words! The same inside and out, as a subject and as a superior!

You desired no glory, either external or private, because you glorified only the Lord" (FF 714).

* The guardian was brother Angelo da Rieti.

Friday, 28th wk. in Ordinary Time  (Lk 12:1-7)

Jesus' rebuke of the doctors of the Law recalls the persecution and killing reserved for the prophets sent by God.

The palm of martyrdom will speak for them, as will the responsibility of those who built their tombs, recalling that the blood shed will be called to account.

In the Sources we find passages that illustrate how Francis himself expressed himself regarding the persecution of his brethren:

"O brothers all, let us reflect carefully that the Lord says:

«Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you», since our Lord Jesus Christ, whose footsteps we must follow, called his betrayer a friend and offered himself willingly to his crucifiers" (FF 56).

And in the 21st chapter of the Regola non bollata we see that the Poor Man of Assisi also pronounces his "woe" concerning those who do works of darkness.

Indeed, we read:

"Woe to those who do not die in penance, / for they will be sons of the devil/ whose works they do" (FF 55).

It is aligned with the "woe to those who die in mortal sin" of the Canticle of Brother Sun (FF 263), testifying to those who do not enter and do not bring into the Kingdom of Heaven by their diabolical conduct.

Francis "artist and Master of evangelical life" as Celano defines him (1Cel 37) instead - like his friars - preferred to stay where there was suffering.

The Sources still attest:

"They loved patience so much that they preferred to be where there was persecution to be suffered than where, their holiness being known, they could enjoy the favours of the world.

Often insulted, vilified, beaten, stripped, tied up, imprisoned, they endured everything manfully, without seeking any defence; from their lips only a song of praise and thanksgiving came forth" (FF 390).

And Clare echoes him in her Testament:

"Blessed [...] are those to whom it is granted to walk in this way and to persevere in it to the end" (FF 2850).

Due to the fact that the persecutors will be asked to account for the blood of the prophets, the persecuted will not speak: the palm of martyrdom lived will say for them.

«I will send them prophets and apostles, and they will kill and persecute» (Lk 11:49)

Thursday, 28th wk. in O.T.  (Lk 11:47-54)

Enunciating the various woes addressed to the Pharisees and teachers of the Law, Jesus emphasises how they left aside justice and the love of God. 

Francis was particularly sensitive to these human-divine realities. 

Indeed, there are extraordinary passages in the Sources to support this.

In the Regola non bollata (1221) the Poor Man expresses himself thus:

"The spirit of the flesh [...] is much concerned with possessing words, but little with putting them into practice, and seeks not the interior religiosity and holiness of the Spirit, but wants and desires to have a religiosity and holiness that appears outside to men.

It is of these that the Lord says: «Verily I say unto you, they have received their reward».

The Spirit of the Lord, on the other hand, desires the flesh to be mortified [...] and seeks humility and patience and the pure and simple peace of the Spirit; and always desires above all the divine fear and divine Wisdom and divine love of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

This holy love shines out in the daily life of Francis in countless episodes. 

Let us recount what happened at Celle di Cortona.

"Francis was wearing a new cloak, which the friars had procured just for him, when a poor man arrived, mourning the death of his wife and his family left in misery.

"I give you this cloak for the love of God," the Saint told him, "on the condition that you do not sell it to anyone unless they pay you handsomely for it.

The friars immediately ran to take the cloak and prevent it from being given away.

But the poor man, made bold by the Saint's gaze, set about defending it with hands and nails as his own.

In the end, the friars redeemed the cloak and the poor man left with the price he had received" (FF 675).

On the subject of justice Francis expressed himself thus:

"The Saint [...] loved holy simplicity in others, daughter of Grace, true sister of wisdom, mother of justice [...] It is the simplicity that in all divine laws leaves the tortuousness of words, ornaments and tinsel, as well as ostentations and curiosities to those who want to lose themselves, and seek not the bark but the marrow, not the shell but the kernel, not many things but the much, the supreme and stable Good" (FF 775).

And again, on his way to the Spoletana valley, he would discuss with his companions on how to observe the Rule: "on how to progress in all holiness and justice before God, on how to sanctify oneself and be an example to others" (FF 1065).

He was so inflamed by the love of God that his innermost being vibrated like a plectrum:

"To offer, in exchange for alms, the precious patrimony of the love of God - so he affirmed - is noble prodigality [...] since only the inappreciable price of divine love is capable of buying the kingdom of heaven. And much one must love the love of Him who loved us much' (FF 1161).

«But woe to you, Pharisees, because you pay the tithe of mint and rue and every herbage, and neglect the judgment and love of God» (Lk 11:42)

Wednesday, 28th wk. in O.T.  (Lk 11:42-46)

Francis, a disciple of Jesus, kept away from his life the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, the preoccupation with appearances on the outside without caring about the greed rooted in his heart. 

He, who had married Our Lady Poverty, was happy to give to his neighbour and for him all was world.

In this sense the Sources come to our aid, which admirably illustrate what dwelt within the Servant of God.

"Francis, the Poor Man of Christ, while on his way from Rieti to Siena for the cure of his eyes, was crossing the plain near Rocca Campiglia, in the company of a doctor fond of the Order.

And three poor women appeared along the road as the Saint passed by. They were so similar in stature, in age, in appearance, that you would have called them three copies modelled on a single mould.

When Francis was near, they, bowing their heads reverently, addressed this singular greeting to him:

"Welcome, Lady Poverty!"

The Saint was immediately filled with unspeakable joy, for there was no greeting more pleasing to him than the one they had addressed to him.

Thinking at first that the women were really poor, he turned to the doctor who accompanied him:

"Please, for the love of God, let me give something to those poor women.

The man was very quick to take out his bag and, leaping from the saddle, gave each one a few coins. 

They rode on a little further along the road they had taken, when all of a sudden, looking around, the friar and the doctor saw no shadow of women in the whole plain.

Greatly astonished, they added this fact to the wonders of the Lord, for evidently it could not have been women, those who had flown away more swiftly than birds" (FF 680). Further, we read:

"His charity extended with a brother's heart not only to men in need but also to animals [...].

He had, however, a special tenderness for lambs, because in Scripture Jesus Christ is often and rightly compared for his humility to the meek lamb' (FF 455).

Free from formalism, the Poor Man of Christ when he came across lambs that were being led to slaughter would buy them in order to save them.

He gave as alms what he had received in his heart from his God: compassion.

And Jesus' warning was not directed at them:

«Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and tray, but your inside is full of robbery and wickedness» (Lk 11:39).

This admonition concerns rather those who take glory from one another, neglecting that which pleases God: to give in alms what has been given to us.

For he who is pure everything is pure.

Tuesday 28th wk. in O.T.  (Lk 11,37-41)

In today's passage to the crowds thronging in search of signs Jesus replies that only one sign will be given to them: that of the prophet Jonah.

Francis of Assisi was a man of God attentive to signs; but for him the sign of the signs through which God spoke to him was Jesus Crucified and Risen, He who three days and three nights remained in the tomb and rose again to give us true Life.

His profound adherence to the Cross was so evident that even the poor garment he wore was in the shape of a cross.

We read in the Sources:

"This herald of God, worthy to be loved by Christ, imitated by us [...] had from Heaven the mission to call men to weep, to lament [...] and to imprint with the sign of the penitential cross and with a cross-shaped garment, the Tau on the foreheads of those who groan and weep.

But he then confirms in it, with its incontestable truth, the testimony of that seal that made him like the living God, that is, like Christ Crucified.

A seal that was imprinted in his body not by the work of nature or the skill of an artificer, but rather by the marvellous power of the Spirit of the living God". (FF 1022).

That sign which one of his disciples converted by Francis and later became Brother Pacifico "saw with his own bodily eyes: Francis marked in the form of a cross by two swords, placed crosswise, very bright: one stretched from his head to his feet, the other, transversely, from one hand to the other, at the height of his breast.

The Crucifix and the Cross was for him the sign of Jonah who turned his life upside down at San Damiano:

"the image of Christ Crucified from the painting spoke to him, moving his lips" (FF 593).

"From that moment, the Compassion of the Crucified One became fixed in his holy soul and, as can be piously believed, the venerable Stigmata of the Passion, though not yet in the flesh, became deeply impressed in his heart" (FF 594).

«This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, and no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah» (Lk 11:29)

Monday, 28th wk. in O.T.  (Lk 11,29-32)

Luke recounts the healing of ten lepers and the gratitude of one of them for his restored health, recognising God in the Lord Jesus.

St Francis 'the Minor' poured out on everyone the gratitude he received from Christ. 

A man of indomitable faith, he embraced those marginalised, going beyond all judgement and stereotypical thinking.

In the Sources, the episode that makes him the guardian of the marginalised is one of extraordinary beauty and special humanity.

We read: "One day, while riding his horse across the plain that stretches out at the foot of Assisi, he came across a leper. 

That unexpected encounter filled him with horror. 

But, thinking and reflecting that if he wanted to become a knight of Christ, he had to first overcome himself, he dismounted and ran to embrace the leper, and while the latter stretched out his hand as if to receive alms, he gave him money and kissed him.

He immediately remounted his horse, but no matter how he looked around, and even though the countryside stretched out freely all around him, he could no longer see the leper anywhere.

Therefore, filled with wonder and joy, he began to sing devoutly the praises of the Lord" (Sources 1034).

From then on, he was imbued with the spirit of poverty, an intimate feeling of humility and profound piety. 

Whereas before he abhorred not only the company of lepers, but even seeing them from afar, now, because of Christ crucified who, according to the words of the prophet, took on the despicable appearance of a leper, he served them with humility and kindness [...]

He often visited the homes of lepers; he gave them alms generously and, with great compassion and affection, kissed their hands and faces" (Sources 1036).

In the Unconfirmed Rule, an eminent guide for his friars, we read:

"And they should be happy when they live among people of little importance and despised, among the poor and weak, among the sick and lepers, and among beggars along the road [...]" (Sources 30).

Since authentic courage knows no time limits, in Celano's First Life, we read the following in relation to his last period of life:

"Therefore, he ardently desired to return to the humble origins of his evangelical life journey and, rejoicing in a new experience of the immensity of love, he planned to bring his exhausted body back to the primitive obedience of the spirit [...] 

He said: «Let us begin, brethren, to serve the Lord God, for so far we have made little or no profit!».

[...] He wanted to return to the service of lepers and be reviled, as he had been in the past" (Sources 500).

Francis, being the great soul that he was, understood that in every leper there was the supreme presence of Christ.

«Getting up, go; your Faith has saved you»  (Lk 17:19)

Sunday 28th in O.T. year C  (Lk 17:11-19)

In these few verses of today's Gospel is contained the true blessedness, enunciated by Jesus, of those who know how to listen and embody the Word of God in the folds of daily life.

Francis, who considered himself simple and idiotic, passionately loved the Word of God.

In fact, when he came across its letters on the ground, he would pick them up for due consideration.

The Sources attest to this, in the first letter [written by him] to the Keepers:

"Even the writings containing the names and words of the Lord, wherever they are found in inconvenient places, let them be collected and placed in a worthy place" (FF 242).

Clare herself, a little plant of the Seraphic Father, recalls in her Testament how much Francis loved and lived the Word, giving it as an example:

"The Son of God became our way; and this by word and example our blessed Father Francis, true lover and imitator of Him, showed and taught us" (FF 2824).

And to those who asked him if he was pleased that educated people should enter the Order, he replied:

"I have pleasure in it; provided, however, that following the example of Christ, of whom we read not so much that he studied as that he prayed, they do not neglect to dedicate themselves to prayer, and provided they study not so much to know how they should speak, as to put into practice the things they have learned, and, only when they have put them into practice, propose them to others.

I want my brothers to be disciples of the Gospel and to progress in the knowledge of the truth, so that at the same time they may grow in the purity of simplicity" (FF 1188).

"And the principal reason why he revered the ministers of the Word of God was this: that they revive the offspring of their dead brother, that is, they revive Christ, who was crucified for sinners, when they convert them, being their guide with pious solicitude and solicitous piety.

He affirmed that this office of piety is more pleasing than any sacrifice to the Father of mercies, especially if it is fulfilled with zeal dictated by perfect charity, so that one labours in it more by example than by word, more by the tears of prayer than by the loquacity of speeches" (FF 1135).

"For he had never been a deaf hearer of the Gospel, but, entrusting to a commendable memory all that he heard, he sought with all diligence to follow it to the letter" (FF 357).

«Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and [keep] it» (v.28)

Saturday of the 27th wk. in O.T.  (Lk 11,27-28)