St. Francis is one of the more misunderstood saints in our time. Movies and secularists present him as a squishy environmentalist. He was anything but. He loved animals and nature because they were creations of his God, and glorified him when they lived true to their natures. That’s why he could speak with the wolf of Gubbio, and “convert” him from attacking human beings. He could sing of “Brother Son, Sister Moon, not in some vague pantheistic spirituality, but because all creation has it’s source in the One God. He even sings of “Sister Bodily Death.”
Often missed is St. Francis’ fierce Catholic Faith and devotion to the Eucharist. For example:
“All those who refuse to do penance and receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ are blind, because they cannot see the true light, our Lord Jesus Christ.”
“Let the entire man be seized with fear; let the whole world tremble; let heaven exult when Christ, the Son of the Living God, is on the altar in the hands of the priest. O admirable height and stupendous condescension! O humble sublimity! O sublime humility! that the Lord of the universe, God and the Son of God, so humbles Himself that for our salvation He hides Himself under a morsel of bread.”
“Shall we not by all these things be moved with a sense of duty when the good Lord Himself places Himself in our hands and we handle Him and receive Him daily? Are we unmindful that we must needs fall into His hands? Let us then at once and resolutely correct these faults and others; and wheresoever the most holy Body of our Lord Jesus Christ may be improperly reserved and abandoned, let It be removed thence and let It be put and enclosed in a precious place.”
Many blessings,
Monsignor Royal
Praised be Jesus Christ!
Now and Forever. Amen.
