To Rebuild God’s House
Original Image: Saint Francis of Assisi, Cigoli Lodovico Cardi, c. 1599; Public Domain; additional collage by Juliette Pierce Kent.
San Damiano Cross
Saint Francis was born in Umbria, in 1182, the son of a wealthy cloth merchant. He grew up enjoying only the finest things. His was a life of freedom and opulence. As a young man, he sought fame and fortune in war.
By degrees, he came to feel the shallowness of the world’s promises, of finding satisfaction and meaning through reputation and material goods alone. He started down a road of detachment and poverty, utter freedom of a different kind.
In 1206, Francis went to pray inside a small dilapidated church in the countryside outside Assisi. It was called San Damiano. As Francis prayed before a crucifix, suddenly the figure of Christ came to life and spoke to him: Francis, repair my house, which is falling into ruins.
It was impossible for Francis to convey this experience to others, but it did not matter to him. He quickly went to work selling some of his father’s good cloth and giving the money to the priest who looked after San Damiano.
However his father did not understand Francis’ mission; he rejected him, and soon Francis was a beggar on the streets, searching for good stones with which to repair the church.
His only goal was to rebuild God’s house: San Damiano first and then other churches in a state of decay. And not just to restore buildings, but the spirit of the Church itself: the message of the Kingdom of God.
He spent his life as an itinerant preacher who loved all of God’s creation, including its smallest members, such as the mice of the fields and the birds of the air.
Eight hundred years later, what began as the rebuilding of a small, tumble-down church in the countryside, by a homeless beggar who walked the dusty roads talking about the Kingdom of God, has grown into the worldwide Franciscan order of monks and nuns.
The life of St. Francis reflects the principle of the mustard seed: from small things, big things grow. (1) Each of us plants seeds during our life. What are their fruits? What do we leave behind?
The fruits of Saint Francis are reverence, devotion, gentleness and great love for God’s whole Kingdom. Francis is the Patron Saint of the environment, and all things ‘big and small.’
References:
(1) Bishop Robert Barron, St. Francis of Asissi, the Pivotal Players Series, Word on Fire Institute.
Images:
Antoniazzo Romano, St. Francis of Assisi, ca. 1480; Met Museum Open Access; Public Domain; additional artwork and collage by Juliette Pierce Kent.
San Damiano Church; original photograph, Wikimedia Commons; Public Domain; additional artwork and collage by Juliette Pierce Kent.
Philip Fruytiers, St. Francis of Assisi, 17th century; Public Domain; additional artwork and collage by Juliette Pierce Kent.
Francis Preaching to Birds; Fresco; c. 1260-1280, Public Domain; additional artwork and collage by Juliette Pierce Kent.
Van Gogh, The Sower, 1888; Google Art Project; Public Domain; additional artwork and collage by Juliette Pierce Kent.