St. Francis and Dark Night

[AndyF]

Did St. Francis ever claim to have experienced his own Dark Night of the Soul, or that which we would now define has a genuine Dark Night?

In my readings of St. Francis it would seem to me he experienced a revelation similar to St. Paul’s and never pre-conditioning episodes of despair before he saw his particular light. He did not experience a doubt in direction, but an immediate call and understanding of his mission. I don’t class a doubt in purpose coming later in the mission has a dark night, this would only be a low and discouraging setback in that purpose. He had difficulties in social interaction where he had setbacks in obtaining what he wanted, the persuading of others and such, but this is not a spiritual situation.

Briefly, he started out has a young man who had a military stint, then went home where his wealthy father expected him to learn and carry on the family business. He has his revelation and his experience becomes an upward advancement of spiritual communication, of spiritual certainties, and positive spiritual enlightenments.

So this is why I ask, there doesn’t seem in his history to be a break with no obvious advancement, where perhaps he fell out for a few years where he needed to discern where he was going and felt he needed isolated seclusion. An experience where he craved contact and spiritual instruction and was left desolate.

One conclusion would be that some individuals are chosen to pass this stage and go directly to revelation and on into their mission, and others are destined to the “boot camp” of dark night to condition them. Perhaps this difference has nothing to do with the candidate who has already been chosen and qualifies, but perhaps a temporal cleansing of some sort that has to do with life’s choices to that point.

Thoughts?

Andy

 

[Trishie]

Dear Andy,
I used to have a number of primary source materials including of St Francis’ extant writings, but gave them to a friend who is now a professed Secular Franciscan, but during my study…yes, he too suffered dark night.

If Francis had a dark night, it was over his recognition of his unworthiness for which he often wept, good though he was.
“St Francis, the devoted servant of the crucified Jesus, through constant weeping and penance, had become nearly blind, so that he could scarcely see”. (Ch 3)
ewtn.com/library/mary/flowers1.htm

Francis also suffered greatly over the difficulty of retaining his pure vision of poverty in his followers.

Francis did find persecution and martyrdom of a kind …but among his own brothers. When he returned to Italy, he came back to a brotherhood that had grown to 5000 in ten years. Pressure came from outside to control this great movement, to make them conform to the standards of others. His dream of radical poverty was too harsh, people said. Francis responded, “Lord, didn’t I tell you they wouldn’t trust you?” He finally gave up authority in his order – but he probably wasn’t too upset about it. Now he was just another brother, like he’d always wanted.
Francis’ final years were filled with suffering as well as humiliation. Praying to share in Christ’s passion he had a vision received the stigmata, the marks of the nails and the lance wound that Christ suffered, in his own body.
Years of poverty and wandering had made Francis ill. When he began to go blind, the pope ordered that his eyes be operated on. This meant cauterizing his face with a hot iron. Francis spoke to “Brother Fire”: “Brother Fire, the Most High has made you strong and beautiful and useful. Be courteous to me now in this hour, for I have always loved you, and temper your heat so that I can endure it.” And Francis reported that Brother Fire had been so kind that he felt nothing at all.

stfrancismillpark.org.au/cms3/book/export/html/23

And St Padre Pio can attest to the ongoing trial of the stigmata.
One who suffers on a spiritual, emotional, and physical level cannot but experience dark night, so we may be sure that he did.

 

[Wesley7]

All kinds of claims and stories are attributed to the Saints. Makes it hard to believe

 

[Wesley7]

By the Way, the literature Dark Night of the Soul was written by St. John of the Cross.