The Feast of St. Francis of Assisi

As we celebrate the great Saint Francis of Assisi, my spiritual Father, I‘d like to share this reflection I wrote for his Feastday (October 4th):

My Sisters and Brothers:

Every year on October 4th, Franciscans and Christians throughout the world celebrate the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi.  Of course, this is a very important Feast for me, for my fellow Franciscan Friars, the many communities of Franciscan Sisters, the Secular Franciscan Order, for all who love St. Francis, and for those who have Franciscan hearts who are near and far!  

But what is it about this saint that is so inspiring? 

As I ask myself this question, my thoughts and memories always and immediately take me to a small and very ancient chapel called San Rufino d’Arce that’s located in the Umbrian Valley just outside of St. Francis’ hometown of Assisi, Italy.  I had the chance to visit that chapel and to celebrate Mass there while on a Franciscan Pilgrimage, and during my first visit to Assisi in the summer of 2006.  For me, the Mass in that chapel was a very powerful and amazingly Spirit-filled experience!  From the grounds surrounding the chapel, these days the site of a Franciscan convent, one can gaze upon the medieval city of Assisi that’s located adjacent to the valley and on the nearby mountainside.  The view is stunningly spectacular!  I can’t fully describe how joyfully overcome I was with spiritual and Franciscan emotion when I visited that place!

San Rufino d’Arce is believed to have been one of many chapels in the valley that long-ago served the locals, but that also gave shelter to a large population of people who suffered with the terrible disease of leprosy.  San Rufino d’Arce and another nearby chapel called Santa Maria Maddalena (also known as San Lazzaro d’Arce) were chapels associated with a very large “leper colony” that existed in the area at the time of St. Francis.  Not long after his conversion to the Gospel way of life, St. Francis and his early followers settled in that area and they devoted themselves to ministry and care of those most unfortunate people. And soon thereafter the saint became known to others as “Il Poverello,” or “the little poor man.”  There are other “more famous” Franciscan sites near San Rufino d’Arce as well, such as the primitive Franciscan settlement (now sanctuary) of Rivo Torto, and the chapel of Santa Maria degli Angeli, known as “the Porziuncula,” or “the Little Portion.”  And because all these places, and what happened at them, were significant in the earliest days and formation of the Franciscan Order, they hold very special significance for all Franciscans.

St. Francis and his spiritual companions believed their response to the Gospel meant they were called to imitate Jesus in every way possible.  This compelled them to be in places like the Umbrian Valley and San Rufino d’Arce as they ministered there and served people with leprosy who were thought of as sinners or who were despised, neglected, or marginalized.  It was commonly believed those afflicted with leprosy had been “punished by God” and their disease an “obvious sign of their sinfulness.”  Those people were completely ostracized, and although they could see the town of Assisi from where they eked out their existences in the valley, they were never permitted to “return home” and to their former ways of lives; they were reduced to utter poverty and thought to be “as good as dead.”  As followers of the example of Jesus in the Gospels, St. Francis and his companions believed they were duty-bound to serve those people who were “most in need.”  I believe this calling was also very deeply grounded in their understanding and response to the great gift of the Eucharist.  At the Last Supper Jesus instituted the Eucharist, that’s to say he gave this Sacrament to his followers.  In the same setting, Jesus also humbled himself as he knelt before the Apostles and he washed their feet, they who no doubt were very unworthy of such a gesture, and he said to them “as I have done, so you must do” (see John 13:15).

To be sure, St. Francis and his companions attended the Mass regularly, and certainly alongside “the poorest of the poor” at San Rufino d’Arce, at Santa Maria Maddalena, and at the Porziuncula. There’s no doubt they passionately praised God as they received Holy Communion, but their fervent response to it, and their sense of obligation to its reality, was in fact to go out from those Eucharistic celebrations and to put their faith into enthusiastic action by “doing what Jesus had done,” and by serving “the least of their sisters and brothers” (often, and literally by “washing their feet”).  This is the reason why my first visit to San Rufino d’Arce and the Mass we celebrated there so incredibly inspired me!

St. Francis: What a perfect model to follow in the Christian life!  That’s why my fellow Franciscans and I celebrate this Feast so joyfully.  My friends, as we celebrate “the little poor man of Assisi,” may we be inspired to follow his example by serving and caring for the “modern day lepers” who may come our way!  Let’s put our Eucharistic faith into action by the way we live our lives out there, beyond the church doors, and in this most complicated world in which we live!  May we too strive to imitate Jesus and serve those who are most in need!   Happy Feast Day!

Praise God!  Friar Timothy