Jan Van Eyck
Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata c. 1438-40Oil on vellum on panel
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Saint Francis of Assisi died at sunset on October 3, 1226 AD. (As the Judeo-Christian day starts at sunset, he is thus remembered on October 4th.) St Francis, who is one of the most revered men of God in Church history, is most remembered for his steadfast yet humble dedication to the Gospel of Christ Jesus. By the grace of God he not only reformed the thirteenth century church, he revitalized it with the Gospel. Within two months from now when the Christmass decorations start going up, look down and consider the nativity scene (live or statuary) and you will see one way that St Francis positively influenced the church. He set up the first nativity scene as a meditation on the blessed birth of our Lord Jesus. Its popularity has spread world wide and his tradition has lasted nearly 800 years. Most often he is pictured with animals and birds gathered around him and even landing on his shoulders. He lived in peaceful harmony with them, as evidenced by his ability to tame a wild wolf that terrorized a village. He proclaimed the love of God to the birds, pointing out that their loving God blessed them with special faculties to fly and they should thus be thankful and sing his praises. He once set free fish in a basket that were bound for market. He was not a total vegetarian though, as he did cook and eat, with thanksgiving, a pheasant that had been killed by a hunter and presented to him as a gift. His evangelical love for the Muslims inspired him to venture to the Middle East in an attempt to present to them the Gospel. When facing martyrdom he was willing to walk into a roaring fire if the Sultan’s religious clerics would kindly accompany him to demonstrate which god is the true God. The Sultan’s clerics begged off and St Francis was allowed to return to Italy. St Francis and his followers were well known for there joyfulness and exclamatory praises of Almighty God our Creator and Redeemer. St Francis is always pictured with wounds resembling the nail marks of Christ’s hands and feet. This is known as the stigmata. One day toward the end of his life, while in prayer he had a vision of an angel and Christ crucified from which he too felt the pains of crucifixion. When coming to himself he had in his hands and feet wounds like unto Christ Jesus. Some three hundred and fifty years later, St Francis was not absent from the minds and lips of the Lutheran Reformers. The official stance of the Lutheran Church is stated in Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article XXVII, paragraph 21, 22.
21] Secondly. Obedience, poverty, and celibacy, provided the latter is not impure, are, as exercises, adiaphora [in which we are not to look for either sin or righteousness]. And for this reason the saints can use these without impiety, just as Bernard, Francis, and other holy men used them. And they used them on account of bodily advantage, that they might have more leisure to teach and to perform other godly offices, and not that the works themselves are, by themselves, works that justify or merit eternal life. Finally, they belong to the class of which Paul says, 1 Tim. 4, 8: Bodily exercise 22] profiteth little. And it is credible that in some places there are also at present good men, engaged in the ministry of the Word, who use these observances without wicked opinions [without hypocrisy and with the understanding that they do not regard their monasticism as holiness]. [1]
The Lutheran Reformers favorably spoke of St Francis in the two other citations in the Book of Concord: Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article IV, paragraph 211; Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article XXIV, paragraph 7. Note well that the Lutheran Reformers spoke well of St Francis in all references to him, his work and his life. Click the link below for a meditation of St Francis of Assisi in the form of a prayer to his dearly beloved heavenly Father.
Blessings+
Father Daniel
Father Daniel
[1]Lutheran Church. Missouri Synod: Concordia Triglotta - English : The Symbolic Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. electronic ed. Milwaukee WI : Northwestern Publishing House, 1997, S. 427
