Saint Francis – Having reached its spiritual peak, Francis’s life no longer had any reason to continue on Earth and gave in to the fatigue of the body; exhausted by the great fire, he extinguishes himself singing the harmonies of creation.
When it was time to leave, Saint Francis asked his companions to sing for him, thus he said goodbye to this world.
With the three basic vows of his rule, Francis of Assis wanted to shatter the corresponding fundamental instincts of man, opposing them with three opposing impulses with virtues. To the 1st instinct, that of possessing, he opposed the vow of poverty; to the second instinct, that of sex, he opposed the vow of chastity; to the 3rd instinct, that of dominating egocentrism, he opposed the rule of obedience.
I spoke about Francis with a soul trembling with veneration and love, as if looking at a giant who is at the forefront of the path of life, who moves on the dizzying heights of perfection that we would like to reach, but in the face of which the poor human forces fall, prostrate .
This spirit of veneration, also Friar Leão (lion), the little lamb of God, had for Saint Francis.
Francis was able to hear in all things, forces and creatures, the voice of God present.
Because St. Francis identified himself with the Creator and with all creatures.
There are those who believe that the sanctity of St. Francis consisted of sleeping on the floor and dressing in sackcloth, and there are those who believe that it is possible to achieve sanctity by imitating him in this. But his sanctity consisted, not in these last consequences, but in its first cause, that is, in the spiritual fire that burned in that great soul and that cannot be reached with formalistic imitations.
To feel the word of Christ, Francis had to become like Him in pain and in love.
It seems strange to see how a St. FRANCIS can exert a fascination over the normal type, who is far from thinking that such a saint can ever be truly imitated by him.
We are far from being able to imitate Saint Francis, but we can follow in his footsteps even if it is at our evolutionary level, very far from his.
St. Francis is brain, St. Francis is heart. It is depth of concept, it is intensity of passion.
- St. Francis not only conquers peoples, but much more, biological laws.
- St. Francis is not, in fact, the exclusive son of his century, but of all times.
- St. Francis does not die because his ideal is an integral part of human life.
- St. Francis will not be the outdated historical phenomenon, but a being that lives with us.
- St. Francis taught us how to free ourselves from so many needs that enslave us.
- St. FRANCIS, like Christ, wants to help humanity in order to raise it to redemption.
- St. Francis, the great lord of spiritual resources, was a master of reconstruction.
