Saint Francis Model of Holiness

I was reading a beautiful narrative about Saint Francis of Assisi.  When he received the gift of the stigmata he composed the following prayer:

“Thou art holy, Lord God, Who alone workest wonders.  Thou art strong. Thou are great.  Thou art most high.  Thou art the Almighty King, holy Father, King of heaven and earth.  Thou art the Lord God Triune and One.  Thou art good, all good, highest good, Lord God living and true.  Thou art charity, love.  Thou art wisdom.  Thou art humility. Thou art patience.  Thou art security.  Thou art quietude.  Thou art gladness.  Thou art justice and temperance.  Thou art riches to sufficiency.  Thou art beauty.  Thou art meekness.  Thou art protector.  Thou art guardian and defender.  Thou art strength. Thou art refreshment.  Thou art hope.  Thou art faith. Thou art sweetness.  Thou art our eternal life, great admirable Lord, God Almighty, merciful Savior.”

One would think that such a beautiful prayer was inspired by moments of utter beauty and perfection, but one would be wrong.  Before Saint Francis received the gift of the stigmata he had been suffering terribly both physically and mentally.  A life of poverty, self-denial and service had left him in bad physical shape.  He was also struggling with thoughts of failure and division within his established order of friars. Challenged by evil spirits he found himself in an exhausted spiritual state too.  Close to the end of his earthly life, facing difficult challenges he still clung to God with complete resolve.  He still went out and sought the Lord with utter humility and trust.

I want that gift.  I want to seek and praise God even when it hurts, when things are bleak and when my emotions betray everything that I believe.  Yet, I am still so far away from sainthood so far that I need these examples of holy lives to encourage me to tell me that it’s possible to be “content whether hungry or well fed” because God is.  I love Saint Francis and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that God appointed him to be my introduction into the saints.  You see, Saint Francis and I have so many things in common.  We are both enamored by creation and love good prose.  Recently, I also discovered that he wrote “The Canticle of the Sun,” after being annoyed by a rat infestation.  He decided to change his annoyance into praise.  How nice it is to be in the company of a cheerful person who understands that even in challenges God is with us.  This morning I needed good encouragement and during my break I sought God in the company of Saint Francis, learning about how even in his greatest suffering he rejoiced in God makes me want the same.  Hopefully by hanging with him and other saints more often some holiness will rub off on me (smile).