From the Friars: The Stigmata of Saint Francis

On September 17th Franciscans around the world will celebrate the Feast of the Stigmata of Saint Francis. In this Jubilee year of the 800th anniversary of his death it is well worth recalling this stupendous and mysterious miracle. He is the first saint that we know of to have received the wounds of Jesus in his body.

Saint Francis was praying in solitude on Mount La Verna in September of 1224. He felt inspired to ask the Lord to feel in his own body, as far as he could endure it, the pain that Jesus had felt on the Cross; and also, to experience the love He had in His heart. Then the Lord appeared to him in the form of a Seraph angel, yet hanging on the Cross. As light came forth from the vision the saint was left with wounds in his hands, feet and side. For the last two years of his life he endured their excruciating pain.

It is difficult for those of us who are not in the spiritual hall of fame to understand why anyone would ask for such a thing. Or why would a good and loving God give such a “gift.” First, we should ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten us. But we can also reflect a bit on what we do understand and see if it helps solve the mystery.

St. Francis loved Jesus to a heroic degree. This means that he first received Christ’s love, that is manifest most clearly on the Cross. Then he responded by trying to give it all back. This is a hopeless endeavor in that it is like a penniless beggar trying to repay a billion-dollar loan. But try he did. Lord let me sacrifice my life as you sacrificed yours, for the Father’s Glory, for the salvation of His beloved children. This resounded in the saint’s soul.

Our world is sprinting away from the Cross. Avoiding pain at all costs and seeking our own good first, we lose our ability to love. Chesterton, echoing the Acts of the Apostles, wrote that St. Francis looked at the world upside down. “He plunged after poverty as men have dug madly for gold.”

He saw Love nailed to a tree and begged to join Him there.

Fr. Peter