I went to a Franciscan retreat in May this year.
The Franciscan perspective is that God has created all in His love. He didn’t create classes of things or creatures, but that the Lord loves every creature, every plant, everything of this world for its unique self.
You can have two plants of the same species, and let’s say, each plant has the same number of flowers. Yet the Lord loves each particular plant for its unique being.
St Francis’ conversion came about after he was released from prison, living in this pit for about a year and a half. We can wonder if he was personally violated living in it. He finally was ransomed. He was walking down this road after his release, and came across a leper. Prior, he was afraid of lepers and stayed clear of them. When he came upon this leper, he finally saw a reflection of his interior person on equal par with this leper. And at the same time, he witnessed in his entire being just how much the Lord loved this leper, and likewise, the leper who mirrored him interiorly, Francis then realized how deeply he was loved by God, irregardless of his own sins, debauchery, and imprisonment.
His second conversion came when he finally realized how much God totally forgave him for his sins, and in all of this he came to realize how the Lord created all things good. So for then on, he and his friars would go into a town and always greet them, no matter their sins, ‘Good Day, Good People!’
I read his greeting to the birds, how the Lord let them be free, and go about, and how the Lord dressed and fed them, and how they were gifted with song, and so then he asked them for all of these special gifts, to always be thankful to the Lord.
About Hildegard of Bingen, I just went to a talk at my women’s group in December, she recently canonized by Pope Benedict, and she was so extraordinary, thinking about her for awhile and her life.
There are many prayers to St. Joseph. Mary has great power over the demons. She is our greatest advocate at death. She can help a person feel OK so that with Mary, they finally can face God and trust in His mercy for them.
I would try to steer away from anything extraordinary in itself, and just focus on a saint’s teachings that you can relate to that brings you closer to God, and gives you a greater sense of the greatness of God and His great and unique love for you, and to trust in His mercy and be merciful to others.
A priest told me the greatest miracle in his mind was seeing changes in peoples’ attitude, people once mean and selfish and vindictive, to be kind and loving and caring.
