Catholic Radio Dramas

We Must be Simple and Humble

From a letter written to all the faithful by Saint Francis of Assisi (1181-1226)

We must be simple, humble and pure

Narrated by Frank Dugan, Huntington Beach, California

It was through his archangel, Saint Gabriel, that the Father above made known to the holy and glorious Virgin Mary that the worthy, holy and glorious Word of the Father would come from heaven and take from her womb the real flesh of our human frailty. Though he was wealthy beyond reckoning, he still willingly chose to be poor with his blessed mother. And shortly before his passion he celebrated the Passover with his disciples. Then he prayed to his Father saying: Father, if it be possible, let this cup be taken from me.

Nevertheless, he reposed his will in the will of his Father. The Father willed that his blessed and glorious son, whom he gave to us and who was born for us, should through his own blood offer himself as a sacrificial victim on the cross. This was to be done not for himself through whom all things were made, but for our sins. It was intended to leave us an example of how to follow in his footsteps. And he desires all of us to be saved through him, and to receive him with pure heart and chaste body.

O how happy and blessed are those who love the Lord and do as the Lord himself said in the gospel: You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart and your whole soul, and your neighbor as yourself. Therefore, let us love God and adore him with pure heart and mind. This is his particular desire when he says: True worshipers adore the Father in spirit and truth. For all who adore him must do so in the spirit of truth. Let us also direct to him our praises and prayers saying: Our Father, who art in heaven, since we must always pray and never grow slack.

Furthermore, let us produce worthy fruits of penance. Let us also love our neighbors as ourselves. Let us have charity and humility. Let us give alms because these cleanse our souls from the stains of sin. Men lose all the material things they leave behind them in this world, but they carry with them the reward of their charity and the alms they give. For these they will receive from the Lord the reward and recompense they deserve. We must not be wise and prudent according to the flesh. Rather we must be simple, humble and pure. We should never desire to be over others. Instead, we ought to be servants who are submissive to every human being for God’s sake. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on all who live in this way and persevere in it to the end. He will permanently dwell in them. They will be the Father’s children who do his work. They are the spouses, brothers and mothers of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Source: The Liturgy of the Hours – Office of Readings

Saint Francis (1181-1226) was born the son of Peter Bernadone, a wealthy silk merchant inAssisi, Italy in 1181. After a carefree youth, he renounced his paternal wealth and committed himself to God. Francis spent his youth in extravagant living and pleasure-seeking. At 21, he served in the military and was taken prisoner in 1202. On his release he resumed his carefree ways, was seriously ill for a time, and returned to the wars in 1205.

He experiences a vision of Christ at Spoleto, followed by another on his return to Assisi, encounters which caused him to change his whole lifestyle. He went on pilgrimage to Rome in 1206 after which he adopted a life of poverty and care of the sick and the poor. He was angrily denounced by his father and disinherited in one of the most dramatic scenes in religious history. After repairing several churches in Assisi, he retired to a little chapel, the Portuncula, and devoted himself completely to a life of poverty and preaching. He attracted numerous disciples and founded the Franciscan Order in 1206 and received formal approval of the rule he had drawn up from Pope Innocent III, who also granted Francis the famous Portuncula indulgence. Two years later he was joined by Saint Clare.

Obsessed with the desire to preach to the Moslems, he set out for Syria in 1212 but was shipwrecked on the way. A second attempt failed in 1213-4 when he fell ill in Spain while on his way to Morocco. This forced his return to Italy.

In 1219 Francis sent his first missionaries to Tunis and Morocco, while he himself went to Morocco to evangelize the Mohammedans in Palestine and Egypt with twelve friars. though he met with Sultan Malek al-Kamil at Damietta, Egypt, which was being besieged by Crusaders, his mission was a failure. Francis delighted in every form of God’s creation. At Christmas of 1223 Francis built a nativity crèche at Greccia, establishing the custom observed throughout the Christian world to this day.

In 1224, while praying in his cell on Mount Alverna, Francis received the stigmata, the wounds of the crucified Christ, culminating a series of mystical and supernatural encounters he experiences throughout his lifetime. Francis died at the age of 45 on October 3 at Assisi in 1226 and was canonized in 1228. Though never ordained, Francis’ impact on religious life since his times has been enormous. Few saints have affected so many people throughout the ages at Francis, who while born to wealth, devoted his life to poverty and concern for the poor and the sick.