October 4 has always had meaning for me. One becuase today is Nana's birthday. She would have been 107 today. Wow! I miss her smile and her laugh. This day also has meaning for me becuase this was the day in 2005 I was laid off from my first real job. I was very sad on that day, but looking back on it I know it has meant so much for my spiritual growth. That morning was also the first time I had ever had spiritual direction. My relationship with God and others in Christ have grown so much since then. I believe I have Saint Francis to thank.
"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace."
Francis Bernadone, or Saint Francis of Assisi as we now know him, was born in 1181 to rich cloth merchants and he received a good education. He became part of his dad's business and became a solder and was captured during a conflict between Assisi and Perugia and spent over a year as a prisoner of war. It was during this time that he had a conversion experience and received a message from Christ calling him to leave his worldly life. He read the Gospels as the rule of his life and Jesus has his example.
He began to preach peace and begged for his sustenance, and his family disapproved and his father disinherited him, but Francis formally renounced his wealth and inheritance. He visited hospitals, served the sick, and preached in the streets. He had followers by the year 1209 and with papal blessing he founded the Franciscans based on Jesus' words of "Leave all and follow me." In 1212 Clare of Assist became his spiritual student and which led her to her founding the Poor Clares. He composed songs and hymns to God and nature. He cared for lepers, cleaned churches, and lived with animals. While in meditation in September 1224 he received the stigmata which bled for the last two years of his life. He died on October 4, 1226 and was canonized only two years later by Pope Gregory IX.
PRAYER on the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi:
O God, Who, through the merits of blessed Francis, magnifies Your church, enriching it anew with spiritual offspring: make us, like him, to disdain the goods of earth, nor at any time to lack the comforting gifts of heaven.
On of my mom's favorite songs is Make Me a Channel of Your Peace. (click here for YouTube video sung by Angelina filmed in Assisi)
St. Francis is t
he patron saint of many things, but he is probably most recognized as the patron saint of animals. I have been blessed with many family pets, Cuddles, Mistletoe and Mocha and now I have my own pet, Louie. He can be a brat and maybe I should pray to St. Francis for Louie to be better!"Jesus is happy to come with us, as truth is happy to be spoken, as life to be lived, as light to be lit, as love is to be loved, as joy to be given, as peace to be spread."
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