In Honor of the Feast

Today is the Feast of St. Francis. I didn't get to Mass this morning, because I was substitute-teaching at Little Brother's school.

But I told them that I could only do half a day today, because this afternoon, the Secular Franciscans were getting together for a little retreat led by our very own Secular Franciscan Deacon! Together we reflected on being Franciscan, on minority, poverty, commitment and renewal. We closed the retreat with Adoration and Benediction.

So what does it mean to be a Franciscan in today's world? Among other things, it means that we decide to serve rather than to be served; to "rebuild the Church" person by person, and to witness that people are more important than things.

And it means that we seek to surround ourselves with other who are striving for the same goal.

Today I am thankful for my Franciscan family! May this feast, and all days, be blessed.

A Whole New Meaning

One thing I love about our church is the cross. A Franciscan parish from the time it was founded in 1913, our church has a huge San Damiano Cross on the wall behind the altar. It's more than a cross--it's an icon, and every little detail has meaning. Read all about it, then gaze upon a large San Damiano Cross if you can find one. It's a wonderful meditation.

It's such a wonderful road to prayer, in fact, that I hesitate a bit to share this story. But I thought it was funny, so I'm going to tell it anyway.

The altar servers at our parish often wear a little cross over their albs. But the crosses aren't all the same. Some have the words "Altar Server" inscribed on them. Others are San Damiano crosses. On Sunday, Little Brother got himself vested for altar serving, then came out to wait by me in the choir area. After I fixed his collar (an every-Sunday occurrence) I told him that I was glad he was wearing the San Damiano cross because it's my favorite one.

He wanted to know why, and I showed him that it matched the cross on the wall in the church. He'd never noticed it before (possibly because he usually sits with the musicians who don't have a good view of it) and I pointed out some of the figures on the cross.

Then I mentioned the "angels with halos" at the very top. Suddenly he got interested. "Halo people?" he asked. "I thought those were only in video games!"

Long Day Ahead

I've been up since 4:45, so I'm two hours into the day already.  I've finished my Big Travel Mug of coffee (it's half-caff; I'm easing up) and have moved on to my Big Cup of Water.

There's a lot to do today, which is probably why I was up so early.  Later this morning my Secular Franciscan fraternity will meet with our Regional Minister and others from the Regional Council for our Regional Visitation and Paperwork Jamboree.  It's not supposed to be a stressful time, but because it's outside the norm of our regular meetings, it's a stressful time.  And I'm the fraternity minister, so any missing paperwork is on my head.

I'll be getting there early to unlock the meeting room and put the coffee on--and turn the heat on, since Mother Nature has finally gotten the memo that it's February.

I'll also be getting there early because the back of my van is fully loaded with enough groceries to feed a spaghetti dinner to 105 people, which is what I'm doing tonight.  It's the annual Cub Scout Blue & Gold Dinner.  Fortunately, it's in the same building as my meeting this morning, so I can unload the van once and be done with it.  When the meeting is over, I'll put on my apron, change out of my "confident shoes" and put on my sneakers, and start making spaghetti sauce.  A lot of spaghetti sauce.

Yesterday I rolled and baked 225 meatballs.   That's a lot of meatballs.

When the meeting is over and I have closed up the meeting room, I will appreciate the quiet in the building.  I'll be the only one there for a few hours.  While I open cans of crushed tomatoes and stir in the garlic and oregano, I'll have time to decompress.  Never underestimate the value of cooking as an aid to decompression.  (I get to be Martha and Mary all at the same time--yay for multitasking!)  I made sure to load up some good playlists so I'll have music, and since there will be no one else in the building, I can sing as loudly as I want.  Or I can just enjoy the quiet, which will come to a sudden end when the Cub Scouts show up.

There's a long day ahead, but I've got the tools to get through it:  coffee, an entire bag of fun-size Milky Ways, "confident shoes," an apron, a Sharpie, my favorite music, and prayer.  A lot of prayer.

Hail, Holy Queen

In honor of today's celebration of the Queenship of Mary, here's a how-to for my favorite variation of the Rosary:  the Franciscan Crown.

It's got that name because, according to legend, the Blessed Mother asked an aspiring Franciscan friar to weave her a crown of prayers.

The Franciscan Crown is a 7-decade Rosary.  If you don't have a 7-decade set, use your regular Rosary and just backtrack a bit.  Unlike the regular Rosary, you start at the medal and end at the cross.

For each decade, pray 1 Our Father, 10 Hail Marys and 1 Gloria.

Here are the meditations for each decade:

1. The first Joy in the Crown of Mary is the joy of Our Lady at the Annunciation.  "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to Your word."  May I become your humble servant, Lord.
2. The second Joy in the Crown of Mary is the joy of Our Lady at the Visitation.  "Rising up, Mary went into the hill country and saluted her cousin Elizabeth."  Grant us true love of neighbor, Lord.
3. The third Joy in the Crown of Mary is the joy of Our Lady at the Birth of Jesus and the Adoration of the Magi.  "She brought forth her first-born son...and laid him in a manger."  Give us true poverty of spirit, Lord.
4. The fourth Joy in the Crown of Mary is the joy of Our Lady at the Presentation and Purification.  "They carried him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord...as it is written in the law of the Lord."  Help me obey all just laws.
5. The fifth Joy in the Crown of Mary is the joy of Our Lady at the Finding of Jesus in the Temple.  "Not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem seeking him."  May I never lose you through serious sin, Lord.
6. The sixth Joy in the Crown of Mary is the joy of Our Lady at the Resurrection of Jesus.  "The Lord is not here; He is risen."  May we share your glory, Lord.
7. The seventh Joy in the Crown of Mary is the joy of Our Lady at her Assumption into Heaven and her Coronation.  "A woman clothed with the sun; upon her head a crown of twelve stars."  Mary, may we share your crown of eternal life.

After you have prayed the seven decades, pray two more Hail Marys to make a total of 72--honoring the 72 years of Mary's life (according to legend).  Then, for the intentions of the Holy Father, pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary and one Gloria.

Friar Charles has some more details on the Franciscan Crown.  You don't have to be a Franciscan to pray this beautiful devotion.  Join me today, in honor of the Queenship of Mary.

Following Up on the Sultan and the Dilemma

Thank you all so much for your words of advice as I made the decision.  A fellow Franciscan, Lisa of Franciscan Focus, suggested checking into a book called St. Francis and the Conversion of the Muslims.  When I visited the website she recommended, I found a link to an interview with the author.

I printed out this interview and brought it to the meeting.  I decided to head this member off at the pass.  I handed her the printout and told her that I knew she'd be interested in reading this, and if she thought that this book would be beneficial to the fraternity, we'd order a copy for the fraternity library.  The idea of guest speakers was not mentioned.  She was happy to receive the interview and said she'd let me know if she thought we'd be interested in the book.

So there we are!

The Sultan and the Dilemma

As the minister of my local Secular Franciscan fraternity, I don't make decisions in a vacuum, but there are decisions that I have to be the one to make.  When decisions are made, the good of the whole fraternity must be considered--it's like being a parent in that way (except that in my fraternity, I'm actually the "baby" of the family!)

One of our members has brought up again and again that she wants to invite a Muslim to speak to our fraternity as part of our ongoing formation.  She has not really answered the question of what topic she would want a Muslim to speak about.  She has no particular Muslim in mind--she's thinking of cold-calling a local mosque to invite someone.

I know that this member is concerned that all Muslims are being painted with a broad brush as a result of 9/11 and the War on Terror.  I know that she is convinced that, as Franciscans, we are to be peacemakers.  And I know that she is aware that St. Francis himself met with the Sultan during one of the Crusades.

But there are a few things that I don't believe she knows.  When St. Francis met with the Sultan, he fully expected to become a martyr as a result of that meeting.  While he did not consider the Sultan his "enemy," he had no illusions about what would probably happen to him--even though that did not turn out to be the case.  He was not insulting toward the Sultan's faith, but neither did he pull any punches about his own faith and that he hoped to lead the Sultan to the right way to God.   He saw the Sultan as his brother, but he also saw an opportunity to attempt a conversion.

Someone once called me "practical," which at times seems at odds with what it means to be a Franciscan.  St. Francis was, usually, anything but practical.  Yet I worry that this member's proposal would not be for the good of the fraternity.  With no particular speaker or topic in mind, that opens the door to who-knows-what--IF she could even get someone to agree to attend the meeting.  And as no one in the fraternity has any relationships with any Muslims, we do not know if the random person she finds to ask is truly faithful to Muslim spirituality.

And, frankly, this might sound a little insular or provincial or whatever, but I believe that there is plenty for us to learn and discover and by which to be inspired right here within our own Faith.  We don't need to look outside our own yard for more traditions, more rituals, more ways to prayer.  There's plenty right here that we have yet to get to know.

This is going to come up again tomorrow at the meeting--I'd love to hear someone else's thoughts!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Every year that weather permits, our Secular Franciscan Fraternity hosts a "Live Nativity at Greccio" celebration.

Last time we had it, it was in a new place, indoors, without live animals, but we had 117 people to enjoy the Live Nativity. This year, it's going to be even more different.

It will no longer simply be a Live Nativity, but will be incorporated into our parish's "Catholics Come Home" Christmas Carol Festival. That means that it's going to turn into a Battle of the Bands of sorts, with all 3 parish ensembles (Religious Education Kids' Choir, Adult Choir, and Folk Group) all participating.

A few diehard Greccio participants have bowed out this year--the changes are just too much for them. I kind of want to join them, but I'm bound to hang in there with both the Folk Group and the Secular Franciscans. And I do have to say that I'm relieved for us Seculars, because the membership in general is getting up in age and it's hard for many of them do to much to help with the event. I was getting pretty tired of handling most if it myself. This year, my role is much more limited, and those SFOs who are physically able will bring cookies and help hand out (and collect) costumes.

Tonight I have to go over to the church to represent the Folk Group as we do a walk-through of the whole event to figure out how long it will take. I know it's going to be a bittersweet time. I'm going to have to compromise, as if I haven't done enough of that already with this event and this parish merger.

And in the end I'm going to have to hope that this event touches the hearts of those attending and those participating. After all, "that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."

On This Feast

Today we celebrate the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi. And while he's well-known for the "Peace Prayer," my favorite Franciscan prayer is the Prayer Before the Cross:

Most high, all-glorious, good God,
Bring light to the darkness of my heart.
Give me right faith, firm hope, and perfect charity,
With wisdom and insight, O Lord,
That I might always discern
Your holy and true will.

And my favorite Franciscan motto:  While we have time, let us do good.

Blessings to you on this feast of Francis!

Novena to St. Francis of Assisi

Novena to St. Francis of Assisi

Pray once a day for nine days, beginning on 25 September and ending on 3 October, the eve of the Feast of St. Francis.

Glorious Saint Francis, who voluntarily renounced all the comforts and riches of thy home to follow more perfectly the life of poverty and abnegation of Jesus Christ: Obtain for us, we pray, a generous contempt of all things in this world, that we may secure the true and eternal things of heaven.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever, world without end. Amen.

O glorious Saint Francis, who during the whole course of thy life continually wept over the passion of the Redeemer, and labored most zealously for the salvation of souls: Obtain for us, we pray, the grace of weeping continually over those sins by which we have crucified afresh Our Lord Jesus Christ, that we may attain to be of the number of those who shall eternally bless His supreme mercy.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever, world without end. Amen.

O glorious Saint Francis, who, loving above all things suffering and the Cross, merited to bear in thy body the miraculous stigmata, by which thou became a living image of Jesus Christ crucified: Obtain for us, we pray, the grace to bear in our bodies the mortifications of Christ, that we may merit one day to receive the consolations which are infallibly promised to all those who now weep.

"If we be dead with Christ Jesus, we shall live also with Him," says the Apostle; "if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him."

Pray for us, Saint Francis, that we may obtain the graces and favors we ask for in this novena; pray for us, especially, that we may obtain the grace of perseverance; of a holy death and a happy eternity.

Pray an Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Glory Be five times.

Temper, Temper--and Keep it Simple, SFO!

My printer is acting up. It doesn't want to feed the paper I'm trying to put into it. And it's no small irony that my frustration level is rising to the point of using bad language...while I'm trying to print out a Novena to St. Francis of Assisi for my SFO fraternity.

I was trying to put it on some nice, thick, pretty paper, but the printer was having none of it. I'm guessing that Father Francis would be much more pleased that I wound up just using ordinary, run-of-the-mill printer paper. Simplicity will always win out in the end.

Once I took out the thick paper and returned the regular paper to the printer, everything went well.

That should teach me a few things.

(And I'll have that Novena up here for its beginning on the 25th! Won't you join me and my fellow Franciscans in praying a Novena this year?)

Happy Birthday, Franciscans!

Saturday was the 800th birthday of the Franciscan Order!

I'm kind of disappointed, though. I was at a SFO Regional event and we didn't even have cake. What kind of birthday party is that?

The Stigmata of St. Francis

Father Daren at Servant and Steward has a beautiful post on the Stigmata of St. Francis, including a reading from his biographer, Thomas of Celano, and some art depicting the event.

If you're interested in learning more about Francis, read here.

And don't miss a beautiful prayer of St. Anthony!

Earth Day According to One Secular Franciscan

Saint Francis of Assisi has apparently come to be considered the Patron Saint of Earth Day, ecology, and all things "green."

But the green movement does Francis no justice when insistence is placed on "green for green's sake."

The only thing the Francis was interested in for its own sake was God.

Yes, he had a great reverence for Creation--the earth, nature, the sun and moon and all the animals, plants and trees. But his reverence was born from his awe of the power and creativity and genius of God. To Francis, every bit of God's creation reflected God's glory--and that is what made creation something to be revered. Francis saw God's glory, power, creativity and genius in everything and everyone, and strove to act accordingly.

So when we toss statistics around like these (which I did not make up, but which were sent to me in an email from the National Youth Commission of the Secular Franciscan Order):

One soft drink can recycled by each elementary school student in America would save 24.8 million cans! That would be enough aluminum to create 21 Boeing 737 airplanes!

One out of every 3 pounds of the waste that Americans generate is just for packaging, which each year adds up to 77 million tons--enough to fill the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans 37 times!

If every newspaper reader in the USA recycled just one typical Sunday paper, he or she would help create 212 million pounds of cellulose insulation--enough to insulate 118,767 Habitat for Humanity houses! That's nearly twice as many houses as all the Habitat homes built in America so far!

let us remember that while it's great to reduce waste, recycle or reuse what we have, and try to create less garbage, the reason we do this is to treat God's creation with care--to be good stewards of what we have been given.

It's not enough to be "green." We should also be grateful.

Francis of Assisi and the Conversion of the Muslims

Fascinating! This article is an interview with the author of a book on Francis' efforts to convert the Muslims in his time. One review of the book comments:

"If you're tired of portraits of St. Francis as little more than a Birkenstock-clad hippie, a Peace Corps social worker, or an effeminate tofu-eating Green Party activist, read this book," wrote Dr. Philip Blosser on his blog.

That's recommendation enough for me.

Hat tip to Lisa, sfo at Franciscan Focus.

Feast of All Souls of the Seraphic Order

Lisa, sfo reminds us that yesterday was the feast of All Souls of the Seraphic Order. She has posted the Litany to the Saints of the Seraphic Order, that we may pray it on behalf of the souls of our fellow Franciscans.

Let the members (who are) fellow city-dwellers, guests or hosts convene at the funeral of a deceased member, and together recite the Marian prayers instituted by Father Dominic, that is the Rosary, a third part for the heavenly solace of the deceased. Likewise let the priests during the divine service, (and) the laity, if they can, having received the Eucharist, pray piously (and) willingly for the sempiternal peace of (their) departed brother.

Brother Pio reminds us that the Rosary would also be an appropriate prayer in this instance, as St. Francis recommended in the earlier rule of Leo XIII and Nicholas IV.

I'm sure that being a day late in beginning these prayers will not matter...better late than never, especially where prayer is concerned!

Feast of the Stigmata of Saint Francis

The story behind this feast is beautifully told here.

General information about the stigmata can be found here.

And Friar Charles has a beautiful reflection on this feast.

In his Letter to All the Faithful, Francis wrote:

Because he suffered so much for us and gave us such gifts and will continue to bestow them in time to come, let every creature that is in heaven and on earth and in the sea and in the depths of the abyss render praise to God, and glory and honor and blessing, because he is our virtue and our strength: he who alone is good, who alone is Most High, alone almighty, wondrous, glorious; who alone is holy, worthy of praise, blessed forever and ever. Amen.

Humility

Frater has a not-to-be-missed post about Incarnation and Resurrection: We are a Christmas People. He backs up his theory with quotes and prayers from St. Clare of Assisi, whose feast we celebrate today.

And he's right. We are a Christmas people. And that has nothing to do with buying presents.

I think it is a particularly Franciscan way of thinking. Yes, Easter is essential to our faith. You can't get to Easter without going through Good Friday. But you also can't get to Easter without Christmas. Without the Incarnation, there could be no Resurrection. Think about the foreshadowing that Simeon provided to the Blessed Mother at the Presentation of the Lord (Luke 2: 34-35). Sister Jane Kopas, OSF writes:

Thanks to Francis, human emotion and events in the life of Jesus took center stage. It was he who originated the idea of the Christmas crèche in the little town of Greccio. The human Jesus was so real to him that he wished to celebrate his humanity. The reality of the poor Jesus in the birth scene has touched the minds and hearts of his contemporaries and people for centuries since then. The deepest mirroring of the life of Jesus came late in his life....Two years before he died, his identification with the suffering of Jesus manifested itself physically. While he was caught up in prayer in a mountain retreat, he had a vision of a six-winged seraph that penetrated his very being and left him with the stigmata, the five wounds of Christ, in his feet, hands, and side. For the rest of his life he tried to hide these marks so as not to draw attention to himself.

So even in two of Francis' more famous moments--the Greccio, and the Stigmata, he highlights the birth and death of Jesus.

Ultimately it is all about humility. And that's also a particularly Franciscan thing. You don't get much more humble than those early Friars and Sisters who gave up everything, kept nothing, in order to gain the treasure of Heaven. And you don't get any more humble than Jesus, who was born in a stable and slept in a manger--and who grew up to lay down His very life as a sacrifice to His Father for OUR sins. From beginning to end, Jesus modeled the kind of humility that Franciscans strive to imitate.

Humility is countercultural. In our world, it is considered a bad thing to be humble, to put aside one's own wants and even needs for the sake of someone (or Someone) else. Humility just doesn't go along with the "I'm worth it" and "I deserve it" attitude that is encouraged today. Humility is hard. We want what we want, when we want it. But humility requires sacrifice.

Ultimately, the major feasts of our Church all celebrate humility, and the willingness to lay aside one's own wants, needs and desires for the sake of something even greater. Jesus did it. The Blessed Mother did it. All the saints did it. Can we?