Stigmata of St. Francis - Sept. 17th

 

Today is the feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi. St. Bonaventure describes what happened to St. Francis. He said, “On the morning of the feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross, as he was praying in a secret and solitary place on the mountain, Francis beheld a seraph with six wings all afire, descending to him from the heights of heaven. As the seraph flew with great swiftness towards the man of God, there appeared amid the wings the form of one crucified, with his hands and feet stretched out and fixed to the cross. Two wings rose above the head, two were stretched forth in flight, and two veiled the whole body.”

“St. Francis understood the vision as a revelation of the Lord and that it was being presented to his eyes by Divine Providence so that the friend of Christ might be transformed into Christ crucified, not through martyrdom of the flesh, but through a spiritual holocaust.” “The vision, disappearing, left behind it a marvelous fire in the heart of Francis, and no less wonderful token impressed on his flesh. For there began immediately to appear in his hands and in his feet something like nails as he had just seen them in the vision of the Crucified. The heads of the nails in the hands and feet were round and black, and the points were somewhat long and bent, as if they had been turned back. On the right side, as if it had been pierced by a lance, was the mark of a red wound, from which blood often flowed and stained his tunic."

We come to know through the biography of St. Bonaventure, that St. Francis was a great lover of the Cross and God rewarded him for his deep love by permitting him to suffer even more for Jesus. St. Francis gives us an example of how we should all have great compassion for Christ Crucified and be willing to suffer for Jesus no matter the cost, so that we may be transformed into an image of Jesus.

Today, let us ask St. Francis of Assisi to intercede for us and ask him to help us embrace our sufferings and crosses that we may even choose to love to suffer for Jesus in response to Our Lord’s great love for us.