In my life up to that point, I had not really internalized what appeared so obvious to St. Francis. When we gaze at the night sky and marvel at the self-evident hand of an amazing God, we are more than spectators. As we work in the name of Jesus, His co-eternal Son, to bring peace and justice and human dignity to this temporal world, we take our place in the great dance.
When I think about these events, I remember the amazing natural wonder of the eclipse and seeing the sun’s corona, but each one of these events was a time of human togetherness and shared experience. ... I think St. Francis would approve the idea of praising the glory of God’s creation with family, friends, and anyone else in the vicinity!
The first time I was introduced to the “Canticle of the Creatures,” I was easily captivated by its seemingly all-encompassing spirit of joy and praise of our good God. Without knowing Francis’ story well nor the context of this canticle’s writing, I imagined him frolicking through a vast field of flowers on a bright summer’s day, without a care in the world. Yes, a moment when the true blessings of the Lord can be so obvious, even to the most tepid of believers. What was this setting of inspiration? What treasure could so captivate St. Francis?
The Centenary Task Force invites you to join them this Earth Day for a meditative reflection of The Canticle of the Creatures by St. Francis of Assisi.
As we celebrate the 800 th anniversary of Francis’ inspired writing of the Canticle of the Creatures, we want to involve YOU. We invite you to submit your own photos that illustrate the Canticle.
Francis’ stigmata were the culmination of many sufferings with Christ over his lifetime. Many of those sufferings came from life with his brothers, as indeed it does for all of us. It is important for us to recognize that the problems we face today in living in fraternity are very similar to the problems that Francis and his brothers faced. Human nature has not changed!
On Friday, January 5, 2024, at the Tuscan Sanctuary of La Verna, the Franciscan Family officially opened the VIII Centenary of the Stigmata of St. Francis, with an event entitled “From the wounds to new life.” Eight centuries ago this year, up on the same mountain, on September 17, 1224, he received the stigmata; that is, the wounds of Christ were revealed on his hands, feet, and side.
On Friday, January 5, 2024, at the Sanctuary of La Verna, the Franciscan Family officially opened the VIII Centenary of the Stigmata of St. Francis, with an event entitled “From the wounds to new life.” Eight centuries ago this year, up on the same mountain, on September 17, 1224, he received the stigmata; that is, the wounds of Christ were revealed on his hands, feet, and side. However, St. Francis’ interiorization of the cross took place much earlier. It happened around 1205-06, at the beginning of his conversion.
(This article originally appeared in the TAU-USA Spring 2024 Digital Issue #111)
by Patrick Martin, OFS National Centenary Task Force
According to the American Museum of Natural History, two thousand years ago our planet’s population was about 170 million souls (a far cry from today’s population of about 8 billion). […]
As we begin 2024, we are reminded of two special calls for deepening our relationship with Our Dear Lord and our suffering sisters and brothers. The Franciscan Family is commemorating the “the Gift of the Stigmata” and the whole Catholic Church begins the final year of preparation for the Eucharistic Jubilee. ... In celebrating the Centenary of the Gift of the Stigmata as a Franciscan Family, we are invited to restore the dimension of prayerful and contemplative silence in our daily lives, the silence that places us before the essential, that lets us recognize our desire for the infinite that resides in our hearts, that allows us to listen to ourselves, to others and to God. ...