The Perfect Joy of St. Francis

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I got my book a couple of days ago!! Looking forward to our season ending (I work on the family farm so my career is very seasonal). This is one of the books I’m doing to read during my off season! 🙂
 
rainbow1 said:
Got my book today!!! Can’t wait to start reading!
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It’s a wonderful month to read it too. It’s a very Franciscan month.

August 11, The Great Solemnity of St. Clare - Mother of the Franciscan Order

August 14, Feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe - Patron of Pro Life and the Martyr of the 20th Century

August 25, Feast of St. Louis IX, King of France - Father of the Secular Franciscan Order

St. Max is the patron of my community and the Franciscans of the Immaculate. His life and death are very important to the Church. He proves, beyond a doubt, that there is value to human suffering.

Friar Max followed Christ by walking in the steps of Francis. Was a missionary in Japan, then in India. While in India, he caught TB. He was recalled to Poland for his health. He continued to work to promote devotion to the Immaculate Mother, despite TB. He was arrested for his outspoken condemnation of the Nazis’ treatment of the Jews. Then he was released. He wrote a magazine article against them. This infuriated them and they arrested him and chased donw 800 brothers. One day, when a young father was condemned to be executed, Brother Max stepped forward and said, “I’m a Catholic priest. I have no one waiting for me. Take me.”

They put him in a starvation bunker. After weeks in there, everyone died, except Max. Finally, on August 14, the day before the Assumption of Mary, they killed him by lethal injection. On August 15, the Nazies decided to disperse his ashes so as to make him disappear into the black hole of history.

Several years later, Pope Pius would proclaim the Assumption a dogma of the Catholic Church. St. Francis and his sons had always defended Mary’s Assumption and her Immaculate Conception. It is no surprise that the Lord called him home on the evening of hsi mother’s assumption.

However, the Nazis plan failed. Max had followed his father Francis right to the cross. Today, 70 years later, the children and grandchildren of man whose life he saved, remember. Max’s family remembers. His Franciscan brothers and sisters remember. The Church remembers. I had the privilege of meeting his niece who shared with us her father’s memories about his brother Raymond (St. Max).

You see, St. Francis taught us something that the Nazis did not understand. You can kill the body. You can scatter the ashes. But you cannot kill love.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
rainbow1 said:
That last statement of yours is beautiful, Br.Jay!!!
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Thank you. I have spent all evening in reflection and at times a few tears. I sit in front of a small statue of our Holy Father Francis. I think of the great love that he showed for Jesus and I remember the many men and women who learned to love the Lord by observing him, such as St. Max and others. There is a tenderness to their love that makes me teary. There is also courage, humor and even a stubborn streak.

My love affair with Francis of Assisi began 47 years ago. You’d think I would have gotten it right by now. NOOOOOOOOT. I’m still so short of loving as one should love. The good thing is that love is not a competition. Love is a journey. As long as we stay on the path, God will not cease to lead.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
TrueLight said:
Rainbow and Marie, can’t wait to read what you think!
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I pulled out my copy of this book today. I was going over a few pages near the end. I would like what impression others have of the love and care between Brother Leo and Brother Francis.

I don’t mean to imply that there was anything worldly or less than virtuous, just the opposite. If we look at Leo, we can learn a great deal about the role of saints in our lives. Leo loved the Lord, but he grew to love him more, not because he adulated over Francis. He grew in his love of the Lord, because he was humble enough to acknowledge great holiness when he saw it and he was very intent in observing and learning from such a holy man how to love Christ. The saint did not become an idol to Leo, but a model.

I watch the love that Leo had for Francis and how he cared for him in his last years and I’m impressed. Leo was a scholarly man. He has been a priest and a man of letters. That’s why he writes everything that we have from St. Francis. He was Francis’ scribe. It takes a lot of humility for a priest who is an educated man to become the nurse, secretary, servant and son of a layman who was not even an aristocrat. Francis was rich, but he was not nobility.

What was it that drove Leo?

Leo is one of our greatest resources on St. Francis. He was an eyewitness to much of what was written by Celano and Bonaventure who wrote the first biographies.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
Thank you BroJR for the insight! 🙂 I’ll read it too once I get my own copy.
 
As one goes through the life of St. Francis, it is very important to use both eyes. Keep one eye on what Francis says and does. He reveals a great deal of theology and he shows you how to live the Scripture.

Keep the second eye on his brothers. They are very representative of the Church. There are those who are constantly calling him into question and who struggle with his design. Then there are those who are obedient, faithful and very much in love with their father. It’s no different from us today.

If we follow these two groups of brothers, we can predict where we will end up by watching where they ended up. Those who questioned everything and needed an explanation for everything found themselves always very angry, frustrated and very often guilty of such sins as disobedience, arrogance, spiritual pride and a few were even excommunicated for their disagreement with Francis. Francis was not a light weight. He had no problems in asking the pope to excommunicate anyone who called him into question. A few friars were excommunicated. Francis commanded the obedience of Christ as he practiced it. He never asked the brothers or the laity for something that he did not practice.

The second group of brothers did not always understand. We see them asking themselves questions about the things that Francis taught, did, did not do, or commanded. We observe them asking him for clarification and teaching. Their attitude was very different from the other group. They did not go up to Francis demanding that he explain himself. Their attitude was that of the Apostles. They took the Scripture to heart and just as the Apostles asked the Master to explain and to teach them or show them, these brothers asked for the same with the same humilty. Like the Apostles, they assumed that if something did not make sense to them, it was because it was either a mystery that God would help them understand in his own time or it was simply that they did not have the spiritual insight that their father had. These men went on to become saints, leaders in the Church, some became Doctors and great teachers of the faith, all in all, it is they who preserved the Franciscan tradition that nurtured the Church and has kept the Church alive for so many centuries.

Pope Innocent III had prophetic dreams about these men and the Dominicans, that they would grow into giants and keep the Church from falling. Pope Innocent III believed that Christ’s words, “The Gates of Hell shall not prevail against you,” would be fulfilled through the Dominicans and Franciscans. This was their purpose for coming into existence, to preserve the Church.

But in both orders, we see that those friars who preserved the Church were those who were the humble and obedient ones, those who remained faithful even when they did not understand, not those who examined everything under the microscope.

So, read with two eyes, one on Francis and one on his followers. It’s very interesting how it all comes together and shows us where we’re heading and where we should be standing.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
I received my copy of The Perfect Joy of Saint Francis today in the mail. I was pleasantly surprised to see the used book I purchased was either never read or is actually new.

I plan to start reading it right after I finish Francis of Assisi by Chiara Frugoni. I’m really enjoying Frugoni’s book. It concentrates heavily on the historical context in which St. Francis lived and not so much on the legends about St. Francis.
 
jm0rr0w said:
I received my copy of The Perfect Joy of Saint Francis today in the mail. I was pleasantly surprised to see the used book I purchased was either never read or is actually new.

I plan to start reading it right after I finish Francis of Assisi by Chiara Frugoni. I’m really enjoying Frugoni’s book. It concentrates heavily on the historical context in which St. Francis lived and not so much on the legends about St. Francis.
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Frugoni is an excellent historian. She gives you a very good portrait of the Church and times of Francis of Assisi. After you read her, you can then read something like Zimmerman or Bonaventure and understand the heroic life of virtue lived by St. Francis.

As much as we complain about the Church today, our lives are a walk in the park compared to his times. I would describe it more as tip toeing through the park . . . in his day.

The complexity, the conflicts, the corruption, the degree of indifference in the laity, the lack of education among the clergy, the immorality of the time was stunning to say the least. It’s no wonder that many other movements that began with the best intention ended up in heresy. There was a lot for people to be angry and resentful about. Frugoni does a good job at painting the picture.

Francis responds to it all with great love, respect, obedience and a sense of hope and at times a sense of humor. His journey begins and ends with the conversion of self, not the world. His mission to the world was part of his conversion. He preached to the world to share what he had found, not to denigrade it or point fingers at it. His preaching was pure love and charity, not an attempt to control and force others to adopt his stance and worldview.

He certainly communicated his worldview with strength and authority, but never with condescension. He was a model for Traditionalism. He tried to preserve what was while at the same time, he accepted change and he was comfortable with both the new and the old. He made it work. He is also a model for the extreme liberal, because he embraces change without denying the value of that which has been handed down to him. For example, he introduces two very new concepts to the Church.
  1. A religious community that brings the monastic into the secular world and remains in the secular world. His friars not adverse to dealing with the secular world. Even though Francis had a special love for Benedict and the Benedictine tradition, he lays aside the idea of a life lived outside of the world, but he does not reject it. He embraces a new idea, that a religious can be in the secular world without being contaminated by it. However, he continued to believe that the Benedictine model was good and necessary for some people.
  2. The first secular order in history. He attempts to create a family of men and women who are diocesan priests, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers and even single people. This new family will live the ideals of the religious life without being in a religious community.
I believe that he could make the old and the novel work, because he looked at the Church and the world with great love, not with contempt. He hated sin, but loved the world. When you love as he loved, you can see the good in all things and make it work for souls.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
Just received my copy! a decade ago i read “Life of St Francis of Assisi,” by Saint Bonaventure. Afterwards i felt (still do) bereft of virtue. It is helpful to see the great saint on the path. i read to burn.

peace
 
hazcompat said:
Just received my copy! a decade ago i read “Life of St Francis of Assisi,” by Saint Bonaventure. Afterwards i felt (still do) bereft of virtue. It is helpful to see the great saint on the path. i read to burn.

peace
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Wow! I had never seen that icon of St. Clare. August 11 was the opening of the Jubilee Year. It’s 750 years since her death. Most Franciscans are doing something special during the year.

It’s funny that you say what you said about feeling bereft of virute. I have a statue of St. Flancis. He’s sitting. It’s on the shelf across from my cot. When I sit on my cot, I suddenly notice him sitting there looking at me and I feel guilty. I feel like the kid who stole a cookie. One day I actually turned him to face the wall for a little while.

You read the lives of saints and you ask yourself, “Why does it look so easy and yet I can’t do it.?” The fact is that we’re reading using a rearview mirror. They went through the same struggles as we do today. But we’re reading about the finished produce, while we’re still in progress.

When I remember that, then I don’t feel as badly and I turn St. Francis around again to face toward me. LOL

I’m neurotic. What can I say? 🤷

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
They may have already been mentioned, but another resource that is helping me get a better understanding is the admonitions of St. Francis. They can be found here.

As part of my formation it has been recommended that I focus on one admonition each day, contemplate on it and write my thoughts about it in a journal. Then 28 days later I would have a much better understanding of Franciscan Spirituality. That also sounds like a good idea for a blog where anyone could offer their thoughts on each post/admonition.
 
jm0rr0w said:
They may have already been mentioned, but another resource that is helping me get a better understanding is the admonitions of St. Francis. They can be found here.

As part of my formation it has been recommended that I focus on one admonition each day, contemplate on it and write my thoughts about it in a journal. Then 28 days later I would have a much better understanding of Franciscan Spirituality. That also sounds like a good idea for a blog where anyone could offer their thoughts on each post/admonition.
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Awesome link!

Which formation are you referring to?
 
jm0rr0w said:
They may have already been mentioned, but another resource that is helping me get a better understanding is the admonitions of St. Francis. They can be found here.

As part of my formation it has been recommended that I focus on one admonition each day, contemplate on it and write my thoughts about it in a journal. Then 28 days later I would have a much better understanding of Franciscan Spirituality. That also sounds like a good idea for a blog where anyone could offer their thoughts on each post/admonition.
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That’s an awesome idea. We teach the admonitions to those in formation along with the Rule and the Testament.

How the admonitions came to be written is very interesting. Francis often became angry with the brothers, the laity and definitely with the civic leaders of his time. He had no use for civil governments, because they were always in conflict with the Church. Though he did not say it, I’m sure that he may have become angry with the clergy and leadership of the Church too.

Here is how the admonitions came to be. He would become angry, despondent, or simply sad over a particular lack of virtue in himself or in others. He would take time to be alone and to think about it. He would pray to ask God to help him understand what needed to be done. He always came out of these little retreats, as I call them, with a deeper insight into a particular virtue and he would write it down or dictate it to Brother Leo to write for him, once he lost his sight.

The admonition are not just commentaries that he pulled out of his sleeve. They were not just for the friars. This is a common mistake that people make. They were meant for the world.

What was so convincing about Francis was his ability to hold back from expressing anger, sadness or depair in human beings, even though he felt these things. Instead, he always came back with a tid-bit of advice called an admonition. However, these tid-bits were really what God had said to him about how he should handle whatever it was that was on his heart and mind.

Let’s say that he was upset because the local parish priest did not celebrate the mass as it should or did not run the parish as Francis thought it should be run. He took his frustration with him and retreated to a quiet space. He would not speak about what was bothering him to anyone. Instead, when the Holy Spirit finally gave him an insight into his own struggle he would come out and share that insight.

In this case, would come out and share what the Holy Spirit had revealed to him on how to treat priests, even sinful priests. Instead of choppping the priest’s head off, he would show him special reverence. The Holy Spirit had revealed to him that we must treat even the most sinful priest with great reverence, because only a priest can consecrate and only a priest can forgive our sins. When he met the priest, he actually felt postive feelings toward him. He was not blind to the priest’s faults, but it was not his place to govern the priest. The only priests over whom he had authority were those who had become brothers. The rest were the bishop’s problem, not Francis’ problem. Francis’ problem was to show them the proper reverence.

That’s how all of the admonitions came to be written. They were issues that Francis struggled with in his dealings with others or with himself or issues that the people around his struggled with. In prayer and silence, he would discover what the Holy Spirit had to say about the situation.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
TrueLight said:
Awesome link!

Which formation are you referring to?
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I’m in discernment to the SFO. I’m on the extra long formation track :). I’ve been an inquirer for the past two year. Should my fraternity accept me, I may enter candidacy around December.

I maintain the fraternity website: stigmataofstfrancis.org

Also based on the admonitions blog idea, I went ahead and created one here. I think I’ll put up one admonition each week and try to make time to comment on each.
 
jm0rr0w said:
I’m in discernment to the SFO. I’m on the extra long formation track :). I’ve been an inquirer for the past two year. Should my fraternity accept me, I may enter candidacy around December.

I maintain the fraternity website: stigmataofstfrancis.org

Also based on the admonitions blog idea, I went ahead and created one here. I think I’ll put up one admonition each week and try to make time to comment on each.
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That’s an awesome ministry, JM. By the way, for those who don’t know, SFO and OSF are not the same order. We’re the same family.

SFO is the Secular Franciscan Order founded by St. Francis around the year 1221.

OSF is the Order of St. Francis, which is a group of religious communities that came out of the different Franciscan orders. St. Francis founded three orders. As they grew, small groups broke off and became autonomous in that they had their own government. Each is called an Obedience, meaning that we obey a particular General Minister. All the General Ministers are successors of St. Francis, because each one can trace his line to a previous Franciscan all the way back to Francis of Assisi.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
JReducation said:
That’s an awesome ministry, JM. By the way, for those who don’t know, SFO and OSF are not the same order. We’re the same family.

SFO is the Secular Franciscan Order founded by St. Francis around the year 1221.

OSF is the Order of St. Francis, which is a group of religious communities that came out of the different Franciscan orders. St. Francis founded three orders. As they grew, small groups broke off and became autonomous in that they had their own government. Each is called an Obedience, meaning that we obey a particular General Minister. All the General Ministers are successors of St. Francis, because each one can trace his line to a previous Franciscan all the way back to Francis of Assisi.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
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Hi JR,

Thank you for the information on your order. I would like to know more, is your rule and constitution online to reference? Are you completely autonomous or more like the Third Order Regular? I get confused on how the Franciscan tree branches out.

Thank you,
JM
 
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