“Above all, the grace and gifts God gives to His beloved is overcoming one’s self.” – St. Francis of Assisi
He was known as God’s Troubadour,
Spiritually illumined by the magnificence of the Almighty.
He saw eternal goodness shining through creation
And observed the natural world with childlike wonder.
He was a flower in the field of virtue,
Attracting followers like bees to nectar.
They were nourished by the sweetness of his soul,
True to the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience,
While ever-receptive to divine revelation.
He was known as The Seraphic Father,
Willing to suffer the agony of the Savior’s Passion,
A humble offering of selfless devotion.
He was overcome by ecstasy:
A six-winged Seraph in luminous motion,
Transfixed upon the Holy Rood,
Descending from the Umbrian skies.
This messenger appeared to the prophets of old,
Carrying a torch of celestial fire
That had been kindled at the Altar on High.
The blaze purified their lips to prophesy
And their tongues to sing praise.
This heavenly vision transformed the holy friar,
Who underwent the transverberation of his heart.
It nearly burst asunder with abundant love.
He was then pierced with arrows of flame,
Shooting into his hands, feet, and side,
An answer to his sacrificial request
And a message of acceptance from above.
As he returned to the confines of this earthly realm,
He found himself lying prostrate in the sign of the cross.
He knew that he had been miraculously gifted,
Receiving the marks for which he had yearned:
He was imprinted with the sacred Stigmata!
He was one with Christ crucified, branded and burned!
Francis, Medieval Man of Timeless Transcendence,
Immortalized for laying down his life worthily,
In the image of his Lord and Master whom he emulated,
Teach us to rely upon the Savior of the World,
And in whom you placed your undying love and dependence!