LAKE JAMES
NORTH CAROLINA
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LAKE JAMES NORTH CAROLINA
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Saint Francis of Assisi, Friar (1181-1226) It is widely said that Saint Francis is one of the most popular and admired, but least imitated, of all God’s Saints. On a superficial level, he is thought of as being the friend of animals (hence the custom of blessing animals on or near the Saint’s Feast Day of Oct. 4th). The more serious inquirer into who he was and what he did soon finds that Francis was devoted to ministering to the poor at a time of widespread poverty for multitudes. On a pilgrimage to Rome, he was moved with compassion for the beggars in St. Peter’s Square. He exchanged his rich clothes with a beggar, spending the rest of the day begging for alms. The experience of being penniless deeply affected him and set the tone for the rest of his life. Disowned by his wealthy father, Francis gathered a group of like-minded followers for whom he drew up a rule of life and chose the name “little brothers” (fratres minores).
In 1221, a noble lady of Assisi, St. Clare, founded an order of nuns whose chief ministry was to support the friars through prayer. Known popularly as “Poor Clares,” they have followed that special vocation for some 800 years and are still serving in both in the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches. In September, 1224, while on a prayerful retreat, Francis was given the Stigmata (the reproduction of the wounds of Christ’s Passion). He died at the age of 45 and was canonized less than two years later.
[From material gained from a variety of sources – A.T.K.Z.+]
A COLLECT FOR THE FEAST OF SAINT FRANCIS Most high, omnipotent, good Lord, grant your people grace to renounce gladly the vanities of this world; that, following the way of blessed Francis, and aided by his prayers, we may for love of you delight in your whole creation with perfectness of joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. -------------------------------
To learn more about St. Francis from the Catholic
Encyclopedia, click here.
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This page last modified on Friday, April 11, 2008 09:40 PM |
Unlike
monks who lived in monasteries and sought to have the blessings of the Christian
life there radiate to those outside, the followers of Francis were “friars”
(brothers) who lived and ministered among the people, a significant distinction
between monks and friars which continues today both in the Anglican and Roman
Catholic Churches. (The