Friday, October 4, 2013

St. Francis of Assisi.


St. Francis was a small and lithe Italian who lived during the middle ages (1181-1226).  He was a courteous man, often praised for his impeccable manners, but he was also spontaneous and full of energy.  In having nothing, St. Francis was the freest man who ever lived. In Chesterton's book on Thomas Aquinas he describes St. Francis:

"St. Francis was a lean and lively little man; thin as a thread and vibrant as a bowstring; and in his motions like an arrow from the bow.  All his life was a series of plunges and scampers; darting after the beggar, dashing naked into the woods, tossing himself into the strange ship, hurling himself into the Sultan's tent and offering to hurl himself into the fire.  In appearance he must have been like a thin brown skeleton autumn leaf dancing eternally before the wind; but in truth it was he that was the wind."

If St. Francis resembles Christ, then Christ resembles St. Francis.

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