05/05/2023
The Stigmata of St. Francis
+ St. Francis received the Stigmata around the feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross in September of 1224--two years before his death.
+He was praying on Mt. La Verna preparing for the feast of St. Michael the Archangel. Brother Leo was nearby.
+While praying He asked God for two things.
One, to let him experience the suffering Christ endured on the Holy Cross and two, for him to experience the love in which He did it.
+ Shortly thereafter, Francis saw a Seraph with six wings. (Seraphs are angels of the highest order who are closest to God and most passionate in praising Him.) Between the wings was the image of a crucified man. When the vision disappeared, Francis was marked with the wounds of Christ. (St. Francis’s encounter with the Seraph and his passion in praising the Father has caused the Franciscan Order to be called the Seraphic Order and Francis our Seraphic Father.
+ We celebrate the Feast of the Stigmata on September 17th
+ St. Francis is the first person in recorded Christian history to receive the Stigmata.
The Stigmata provides inspiration for our spiritual lives as Franciscans
The marks in our lives:
--What does it mean to be marked?
--What marks us in our lives?
--As Catholics, how are we marked?
--How do the things that mark us, help us to move forward in our spiritual lives?
Now, Gaze at the Cross:
--As we gaze at the wounds of Christ, what comes to mind?
--As we consider what Jesus suffered for us, how do we respond?
--As we contemplate Jesus’s willingness to die for us, what are we willing to do for our brothers and sisters?
--As we imitate Jesus in our lives, how are we willing to use our lives in the service of others?
Prayer to the Five Wounds of the Lord prayed by St. Clare of Assisi
https://www.franciscantradition.org/clare-of-assisi-early-documents/related-documents/franciscan-documents/the-prayer-to-the-five-wounds-of-the-lord/599-ca-ed-1-page-422
Prayer of Pope St. John Paul II (On a visit to Mt. La Verna in 1983)
O St Francis, stigmatized on La Verna, the world longs for you, that icon of the crucified Jesus.
It has need of your heart, open to God and to others;
of your bare, wounded feet, of your pierced hands raised in supplication.
It longs for your voice so frail yet forceful with the power of the Gospel.
Francis, help the people of this age to recognize the evil of sin and to seek purification from it in penance.
Help them to become free from the very structures of sin that oppress today’s society.
Rekindle in the consciousness of those in government an urgent need for peace between nations and peoples.
Instill in young people your freshness of life that is capable of withstanding the snares of the many cultures of death.
To those injured by every type of evil teach, O Francis, the joy of being able to forgive.
To all those crucified by suffering, hunger and war, reopen the doors of hope. Amen.
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