Heaven's humble . . . wonderful . . . provision . . . of St. Francis' llittle donkey . . . on this the Holy Feast Day of St. Francis . .

[Jesus_123]

Heaven’s humble . . . wonderful . . . provision . . . *a little donkey . . . *

During the twenty-plus some years I worked as a church secretary . . . one of the larger churches I worked in was in the midwest . . . and in the office of the senior pastor there was a . . . *breathtakingly beautiful *. . . large painting . . . of a vast field of blue flowers . . . through which the . . . ***Blessed Virgin Mary ***. . . carrying Jesus . . . is riding a little donkey . . . and the . . . Blessed St. Joseph . . . is following them in their journey . . .

The European :nun2: nuns . . . *through whom our Lord has so graciously and abundantly blessed my life *. . . who so lovingly and consistently lived their daily :nun1: lives in profound and deeply ** prayerful **observance of the . . . Holy Rule of St. Benedict . . . as their way of life . . . have graced my soul with so many wonderful :nun2: lessons . . . not the least of which . . . dealt with the teaching that the constant . . . **inward formation ** . . . of the surrendered soul of a child of God in Christ Jesus . . . such as that of a consecrated nun . . . :nun1: . . . consists . . . in reality . . . of humbly surrendering one’s life into the service of . . . our Lady and our Lord . . . *****like a *. . . humble . . . obedient . . . little donkey. . . who’s whole and holy purpose in life is to . . . carry . . . our Lady . . . and . . . Jesus . . . our Lord . . . the Blessed Christ . . . **whereever **. . . God takes us in life . . . day by day . . . hour by hour . . . moment by moment . . .

In the records of antiquity . . . it is recorded that just moments before he died the . . . Blessed St. Francis . . . in abject holy humility . . . **apologized **. . . ***to his little donkey . . . for having to carry his frail body to and fro on so many journeys . . . and that his little donkey . . . bowed his head . . . and . . . **wept ****. . . upon receiving the apology . . .
*

. . . all for Jesus​

+
. . . thank You Blessed Jesus our Saviour and LORD+
. . . thank you Holy Mother Mary+
. . . thank you Blessed St. Joseph+
. . . thank you Holy Mother Church+​

 

[Bonnie]

I always thought that St. Francis was apologizing to his body. Don’t think he had a donkey. But being a lover & owner of donkeys, I rather like the story.

I wonder if the names we give our pets marks them in some way. My donkey Bro. Leo is sweet & obedient. Puzzle, on the other hand, can be an ornery, stubborn little thing.