STIGMATIZATION OF SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI
Saint Bonaventure’s account in The Life of Saint Francis (1263)—
“Francis was raised to God in the ardor of his seraphic love, wholly transformed by sweet compassion into Him, who, of His exceeding charity, was pleased to be crucified for us.
“On the morning of the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, as he was praying in a secret and solitary place on the mountain, Saint Francis beheld a seraph with six wings all afire, descending to him from the heights of heaven. As the seraph flew with great swiftness towards the man of God, there appeared amid the wings the form of one crucified, with his hands and feet stretched out and fixed to the cross. Two wings rose above the head, two were stretched forth in flight, and two veiled the whole body.
“Francis wondered greatly at the appearance of so novel and marvelous a vision. But knowing that the weakness of suffering could nowise be reconciled with the immortality of the seraphic spirit, he understood the vision as a revelation of the Lord and that it was being presented to his eyes by Divine Providence so that the friend of Christ might be transformed into Christ crucified, not through martyrdom of the flesh, but through a spiritual holocaust.
“The vision, disappearing, left behind it a marvelous fire in the heart of Saint Francis, and no less wonderful token impressed on his flesh. For there began immediately to appear in his hands and in his feet something like nails as he had just seen them in the vision of the Crucified. The heads of the nails in the hands and feet were round and black, and the points were somewhat long and bent, as if they had been turned back. On the right side, as if it had been pierced by a lance, was the mark of a red wound, from which blood often flowed and stained his tunic.”
https://www.roman-catholic-saints.com/stigmatization-of-saint-francis.html
—“Stigmatization of Saint Francis,” Roman Catholic Saints, from The Franciscan Book of Saints edited by Marion Habig, OFM
Thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God that he deigned to elevate his servant, Saint Francis of Assisi, in so holy and exalted a manner.
Thanksgiving and honor to
Saint Francis for his humility and for the use of his God-given freedom to
follow our Lord Jesus Christ in so profound imitation of our Savior.
Photos are of mosaics in the lower church of San Pio da Pietrelcina Shrine, San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy.
ReplyDeleteGonzalinho
Q. Why is Saint Francis of Assisi called the “Seraphic Father”?
ReplyDeleteA. When Saint Francis received the stigmata—he was the first stigmatist in the history of the Church—he was imprinted with the wounds of Christ while gazing at a vision of the Crucified according to the configuration of a seraph, recalling the prophetic call of Isaiah. Cf.:
In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, with the train of his garment filling the temple. Seraphim were stationed above; each of them had six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they hovered. One cried out to the other:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts! All the earth is filled with his glory!”
At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shook and the house was filled with smoke. Then I said, “Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember which he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with it. “See,” he said, “now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.”
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” “Here I am,” I said; “send me!” (Isaiah 1:1-8)
Out of humility, Saint Francis did not seek ordination to the priesthood. On the other hand, his great zeal to preach the Word of God led him to ask Pope Innocent III for ordination to the diaconate.
As the founder of the Franciscans, a group of religious orders and related associations in the Church, he is a spiritual father.
Gonzalinho