October 4th - St. Francis of Assisi
In the summer of 1215 St. Francis with a small group of friars were in
Rome
seeking approbation for his Rule. One night during his stay while Francis
was
praying, he saw Our Lord prepared to unleash most terrible chastisements
upon
the world. His Most Holy Mother was making an effort to placate Him,
asking
His
mercy and forgiveness. For this purpose, she presented two men who would
labor
for the conversion of the world and return a countless number of lost
sheep
to
the fold. Francis recognized himself as one of these apostles. He did not
recognize the other one, however.
The following day, he was in one of the churches of Rome when suddenly an
unknown person came up to him, embraced him, and said: "You are my
companion, we
will work together, sup****ting one another toward the same end, and no one
will
prevail against us." Francis recognized him as the other man in the
vision.
It
was St. Dominic, who had also received a similar vision. When he saw
Francis
in
that church, he immediately went to greet him, inspired by the Holy Ghost.
Sometime after this encounter, Francis and Dominic assisted at a service
at
St.
John the Lateran Basilica where a famous preacher was giving a sermon. It
was
Fr. Angelo who later would die a martyr in Sicily. As he preached, Fr.
Angelo
saw Francis and Dominic in the audience. Moved by a grace, he stopped,
looked at
them, and announced with prophetic words that the two would be strong
columns of
the Church.
At the end of the ceremony, St. Angelo waited for them, embraced them, and
told
them the favors God had reserved for them. The two founders, in turn
enlightened
by a supernatural grace, revealed the principal events of the life of St.
Angelo. As the trio left the church, they came upon a leper begging there.
The
three gave a simultaneous blessing to the poor man, which restored him to
health.
Comments of the late Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira: (died 1995)
This narration is so beautiful that I feel embarrassed to comment on it.
But
since I have the obligation to say some words to you regarding it, I will
do
so.
You see the splendor of the scene. St. Francis and St. Dominic both
received
visions that allowed them to recognize one another. So when St. Dominic
saw
St.
Francis in one of the churches of Rome, he went to him and embraced him.
They
both expressed their enthusiasm for the mission each had received and for
the
fact that they would sup****t one another. This was the embrace of two
souls,
each one with every reason to hold the other in the highest esteem: on one
hand,
because their missions were very similar; on the other hand, because they
were
very different.
According to Catholic criteria, a great similarity leads to friend****p,
but
so
also does a great dissimilarity when it is not the dissimilarity of
opposition,
but rather one that is complementary. One had something that the other was
lacking. Together they constituted a harmonic ensemble. For this reason,
they
admired one another.
Both saints had a profound Marian devotion. St. Francis was a great
palatine
of
the Immaculate Conception centuries before it was defined as dogma. The
Franciscans would spread that truth throughout the world. St. Dominic was
the
great apostle of the Rosary. Through the devotion of the Rosary the
Dominicans
would effect immediate and spectacular conversions. The Dominican is the
Order
of the Rosary par excellence. So, from the Marian perspective, there is a
great
similarity in the Orders.
However, even with this similarity of mission, there are also differences.
The
two Marian devotions represent in the minds of the faithful two different
floods
of light. Still, they are convergent lights, because it is not unusual for
the
person who believes in the Immaculate Conception to pray the Rosary, and
vice-versa.
This balance between similarity and dissimilarity can also be noted in
another
point. The Dominican Order was called to convert persons by speaking to
their
will through their intelligence. It is clear that part of the Dominican
mission
is an intellectual work - the study and teaching of philosophy, theology,
and
apologetics. On the contrary, the dominant note of the Franciscan Order is
to
move the will through a manifestation of zeal. The great conversions of
the
Franciscans came about through the consideration of the Wounds of Our
Lord,
His
Passion, His poverty and spirit of sacrifice. Once again, they are
harmonic
differences that merge in the spirit of the faithful. A Catholic
instructed
in
the arguments of apologetics by the Dominicans should also be touched by
the
fervor of the Franciscans.
That embrace in a church of Rome, therefore, was not just the embrace of
two
saints, but something more. It was the missions of the two Orders that
embraced
in that moment. The two Founders were like the two hands of God uniting
their
efforts to work on this earth, to bring holiness and happiness to men and
glory
to the Catholic Church.
This was further completed by the presence of a third saint. The saint who
preached from the pulpit was so famous that both Francis and Dominic came
to
hear him. In the middle of his sermon, St. Angelo sees what it is not
given
to
human eyes to see: he sees the future of St. Francis and St. Dominic and
how
they would become strong columns of the Church and Catholic Civilization,
which
was threatening to crack and break.
Finally, the three men met and embraced at the end of the office. What did
the
Carmelite preacher St. Angelo bring to that embrace? He brought what was
missing: martyrdom. He brought his acceptance of the holocaust and
immolation of
his very life in honor of Our Lord Jesus Christ and as a witness to the
truth of
the Catholic Faith.
Simplifying the picture, then, we have wisdom, charity and martyrdom that
merge
in that encounter and work a miracle. A leper was at the door of the
church
begging. Leprosy was the worst and most incurable illness of the time. The
three
Saints made a joint blessing over the leper, and the man was cured. This
symbolized a Christendom that was becoming leprous and which, by the
action
of
those saints, was restored to health.
This is how we can understand the first part of the selection. The
Revolution
was installed in Christendom and Our Lord was ready to release His
punishments.
But Our Lady intervened, pointing to the mission of those two men, and she
obtained the postponement of that chastisement, because the action of the
Revolution would be deferred by the action of those two saints.
In the 15th century the Revolution entered again with new force. Why did
this
happen? Did God call another man to halt it? In this case, we would be
facing
the possibility that a new St. Francis was called and did not correspond
to
his
vocation. Or perhaps the man corresponded and became a saint - St. Vincent
Ferrer, for example - but the people did not correspond to his appeal. We
do
not
know. What is certain is that from the 15th century on, the collapse of
Christendom has been continuous.
We can see the preventive counter-revolutionary action of St. Francis of
Assisi.
By means of humility, purity and austerity, he put a brake on the pride
and
sensuality of his times.
We should ask St. Francis, through the grand union he has with Our Lady,
to
obtain for us a great spirit of humility and mortification so that we stop
thinking about ourselves and think only on the Catholic cause, without the
desire to appear, ****ne, or have fun. It should suffice for us only to
know,
love, serve and glorify Our Lady through our whole life. We should also
ask
him
to help us fight with all our forces to destroy the Revolution, which he
helped
to counter-attack in his times.
Saint Quote:
Mary's virginity and giving birth, and even the Lord's death escaped the
notice
of the prince of this world; these three mysteries worthy of proclamation
were
accomplished in God's silence.
--St. Ignatius of Antioch
Bible Quote:
Whether you eat or drink, or do anything else, do all for the glory of God
( I
Cor. 10:31)
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The Golden Arrow
May the most holy, most sacred, most adorable, most mysterious and
unutterable Name of God be always praised, blessed, loved, adored and
glorified in heaven on earth and under the earth, by all the creatures of
God, and by the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ in the most Holy
Sacrament of the altar. - Amen.
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