Perfect Joy

Not in knowledge or conversions            in healings, exorcisms, or raisings of the dead                      is to be found perfect happiness But despite hostility, assault and attack           to praise God daily therein he said is perfect joy. Image by Yamid arevalo castro from Pixabay

Inspiring Paintings: Leaving and Finding a Father

~ One father curses another blesses ~ While onlookers stare and the bishop turns away ~ And finally What is this all about? ~ Even heaven And earth. ~ In this dramatic painting by Giotto,  Francis has taken off all his clothes and is appealing to God.  His earthly father (on the left), who demanded …

Reflections on The Poverello (9) – The Endurance of The Poverello

One passage in The Little Flowers of St. Francis is about endurance.  Whatever else Francis of Assisi was, he was certainly resilient!  It’s an extended passage but worth reading in full: ONCE … St. Francis called Friar Leo … and spoke…: "O Friar Leo, although the minor friar should give sight to the blind, make …

Reflections on The Poverello (8) – Facing Your Fears

We all react to crises in many different ways.  I have noticed how members of religious orders, perhaps unsurprisingly, have been able to offer very clear positive attitudes during the Pandemic.  Many people in religious orders are used to solitude, silence, contemplation – and I was very struck by one post by a nun about …

Reflections on The Poverello (7): Kindess for a Stranger

The Little Flowers of St. Francis does not portray all of the first Franciscans as saints.  There is realism about human nature which helps to remind us that although Francis of Assisi himself was clearly an extraordinary person, many others were quite normal, recognisable human beings with normal, recognisable human faults! One of the stories …

Reflections on The Poverello (6): Outdoor Spirituality

One of the exciting things about Franciscan spirituality is that it is an outdoors spirituality! “Bernard was in a wood totally lost in divine contemplation and united with God…Saint Francis reached the wood and called Brother Bernard…But Brother Bernard, since he was a man of deep contemplation, and at the moment joined in spirit with …

Reflections on The Poverello (5): Touched by the Life of The Poverello

I am among the many, many who have been touched by the life of the "poverello" - St. Francis of Assisi. Brother Bernard, “that most humble man”, was the very first.  He is “the firstborn and foremost in point of time” of all the “little brothers” who followed Frances, and, like Francis before his spiritual …

Reflections on The Poverello (4): Praying Before a Cross

There is a beautiful painting by Giotto of St. Francis kneeling before a cross.  The church building  is falling to pieces all around him.  Francis kneels, in devotion and in deep contemplation. St. Bonaventure tells the story: “One day when Francis went out to meditate in the fields he was passing by the church of …

Reflections on The Poverello (3) – The Patience of the Poverello

The word "patience" has a different ring about it at the moment. Many of us are waiting, hoping for fear and danger to pass.   There is an amazing passage near the start of The Little Flowers of St. Francis.  At this point in his life Francis had nothing, except an amazing kind of patience, a …