Here’s a blog archive from St. Francis Day 2011…
God bless melatonin. Seriously.
I had a great day yesterday, but me being in a freakishly good mood often equates to high adrenaline, which often equates to difficulty sleeping. But, rest assured, I popped one of those babies and am in a great mood once again.
Last night I went to the Transitus of St. Francis, a ceremony to commemorate St. Francis’ transition from life on earth to life in Heaven. I look forward to it every year, and have attended one pretty much every year since I was 17.
People often find it surprising that, I, a fairly high-maintenance conservative who has a deep appreciation for all things couture, would have such a devotion to St. Francis, who was devoted to humility and poverty (and whose modern day followers are often painfully liberal). I honestly can’t articulate it. I happened to go to both a Franciscan high school as well as college, and somewhere along the lines, I’ve picked him up as my patron.
I love his biography. I’ll do my best to paraphrase here. Soooo, pretty much, Francis was the son of a wealthy fabric merchant in Assisi, Italy, which is in the (gorgeous) region of Umbria. Scholars have debated over whether or not he was a rebellious teenager, but there is reason to believe that he stumbled off the straight and narrow at some point. So his big conversion happened while he was near a little church that had fallen in to ruin. He heard the voice of the Lord say, “Rebuild my church,” and Francis took that instruction literally, and rebuilt that very church (side note: that little church is still standing in Assisi, Italy, and has been replicated many times. My college has one of the replicas :)). Then happens all kinds of crazy stories including, but not limited to, Francis giving away his very expensive knight-style armor to an actual warrior (since Francis felt unworthy to wear it when this guy was lacking); Francis stripping down to his bare nothings and walking out of the town… You get the idea… He was an extremist. So, then he leaves the city, lives on nothing, and very quickly people start to see the appeal of his lifestyle, join him, and thus begins the Franciscan orders, which live on today.
There are three orders of Franciscans: First, Second and Third. The First order was founded for the actual friars, and are now called the Order of Friars Minor (OFM), and the OFM Capuchins. The OFMs ran my high school. The Second Order was founded for St. Francis’ friend, St. Clare, and are called the Poor Clares. There was a group of these ladies near where I used to teach. I loved attending Mass at their convent. They’re cloistered, which means they seldom leave their home, but they spend several hours a day praying for the world’s intentions. Pretty cool. Finally, the Third Order was originally founded for those who lived a secular life, those who are married, etc. But, religious orders jumped on the bandwagon as well, and today there are, gosh, more third order Franciscan orders than I could ever possibly attempt to list here.. Not that I would be able to anyway. Third Order Franciscan Friars–TORs, which stands for Third Order Regular, ran my college.
I had the opportunity to visit Assisi five years ago, and I am dying to get back. I have never felt more of a sense of peace than when I was there. The terrain is beautiful, and the little hilltop town is quiet and quaint… Plus Umbrian wine is a-mazing… But that’s beside the point.
Happy Feast of St. Francis! May his intercession mean as much to you as it has for me!
