St. Francis Of Assisi
Saint Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) was a Roman Catholic friar and the founder of the Order of Friars Minor, more commonly known as the Franciscans.
"To most people ... there is a fascinating inconsistency in the position of Saint Francis. He expressed in loftier and bolder language than any earthly thinker the conception that laughter is as divine as tears. He called his monks the mountebanks of God. He never forgot to take pleasure in a bird as it flashed past him, or a drop of water as it fell from his finger: he was, perhaps, the happiest of the sons of men. Yet this man undoubtedly founded his whole polity on the negation of what we think the most imperious necessities; in his three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, he denied to himself and those he loved most, property, love, and liberty. Why was it that the most large-hearted and poetic spirits in that age found their most congenial atmosphere in these awful renunciations? Why did he who loved where all men were blind, seek to blind himself where all men loved? Why was he a monk and not a troubadour? These questions are far too large to be answered fully here, but in any life of Francis they ought at least to have been asked; we have a suspicion that if they were answered we should suddenly find that much of the enigma of this sullen time of ours was answered also." -G.K. Chesterton
“Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures, especially through my lord Brother Sun, who brings the day; and you give light through him. And he is beautiful and radiant in all his splendor! Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.Be praised, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars; in the heavens you have made them, precious and beautiful.Be praised, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air, and clouds and storms, and all the weather, through which you give your creatures sustenance.Be praised, My Lord, through Sister Water; she is very useful, and humble, and precious, and pure.Be praised, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom you brighten the night. He is beautiful and cheerful, and powerful and strong.Be praised, my Lord, through our sister Mother Earth, who feeds us and rules us, and produces various fruits with colored flowers and herbs.Be praised, my Lord, through those who forgive for love of you; through those who endure sickness and trial. Happy those who endure in peace, for they will be crowned.”
“Don't canonize me too soon. I'm perfectly capable of fathering a child.”
“Preach the Gospels everyday & only if you have to...use words.”
“Every day He humbles Himself just as He did when from from His heavenly throne into the Virgin's womb; every day He comes to us and lets us see Him in lowliness, when He descends from the bosom of the Father into the hands of the priest at the altar.”
“Blessed is the servant who loves his brother as much when he is sick and useless as when he is well and an be of service to him. And blessed is he who loves his brother as well when he is afar off as when he is by his side, and who would say nothing behind his back he might not, in love, say before his face.”
“And St. Francis said: 'My dear son, be patient, because the weaknesses of the body are given to us in this world by God for the salvation of the soul. So they are of great merit when they are borne patiently.”
“And St. Francis added: "My dear and beloved Brother, the treasure of blessed poverty is so very precious and divine that we are not worthy to possess it in our vile bodies. For poverty is that heavenly virtue by which all earthy and transitory things are trodden under foot, and by which every obstacle is removed from the soul so that it may freely enter into union with the eternal Lord God. It is also the virtue which makes the soul, while still here on earth, converse with the angels in Heaven. It is she who accompanied Christ on the Cross, was buried with Christ in the Tomb, and with Christ was raised and ascended into Heaven, for even in this life she gives to souls who love her the ability to fly to Heaven, and she alone guards the armor of true humility and charity.”
“O Divine Master, grant that I may not seek to be consoled, as to console. To be understood, as to understand. To be loved, as to love. For it is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”
“We have been called to heal wounds, to unite what has fallen apart, and to bring home those who have lost their way.”
“What we are looking for is what is looking.”
“For it is in giving that we receive.”
“A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows.”
“Above all the grace and the gifts that Christ gives to his beloved is that of overcoming self.”
“While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart.”
“I have been all things unholy. If God can work through me, He can work through anyone.”
“Tuhan...tolonglah kami, agar berusaha lebih keras untuk memahami daripada dipahami.”
“True progress quietly and persistently moves along without notice.”
“Nor did demons crucify Him; it is you who have crucified Him and crucify Him still, when you delight in your vices and sins. ”
“Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. Where these is hatred, let me sow love.”
“I have sinned against my brother the ass.”
“The deeds you do may be the only sermon some persons will hear today”
“No one is to be called an enemy, all are your benefactors, and no one does you harm. You have no enemy except yourselves.”
“Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”
“All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.”