Blessed Angela of Foligno, sfo on Poverty

Blessed Angela of Foligno, sfo writes:

He raised us up and redeemed us through his poverty.

The first man fell because of poverty; the second man, the God-man, Jesus Christ, lifted us up through poverty. The inferior poverty is a lack of knowledge; through this lack of knowledge Adam came to his fall and all who fall thereafter do so because of this lack of knowledge. It was therefore necessary that the children of God should be raised up and recover from the fall through an opposite kind of poverty.

We have an example of this poverty in the God-man Jesus Christ. He raised us up and redeemed us through his poverty. It was certainly poverty beyond the power of words to describe when he hid his infinite poverty and majesty. He allowed himself to be blasphemed, despised, upbraided, captured, led away, scourged and crucified. He endured all this as a helpless man. This kind of poverty is exemplar of our life. We must learn from this poverty that is not necessary for us to hide a power we do not have; nay, rather we must clearly set the extent of our lack of power, our weakness.

We have yet another example of this poverty, the example of the glorious Virgin, the most holy Mother of God. She gave us a lesson when in her response to the stupendous mystery she openly declared that she was a member of our distressed race designating herself by a lowly name in saying: I am the servant of the Lord. This was indeed a very lowly name. This kind of poverty is most pleasing to God.

What a perfect example we have from our glorious Father Francis! He had an exceptional insight of this poverty and was so brim full of it that he instituted and showed us a unique way of life. I can look to no other saint who can show more specifically the way to the Book of Life, the example of the life of the God-man Jesus Christ. Neither do I see anyone who so uniquely embodied it in himself. So exceptionally did he reproduce it in himself that he never lost sight of it. It was visible even in his body. Because he steeped himself so fully in it he was filled with the highest wisdom which he imparted and keeps on imparting to the whole world.

Autobiografia e scritti della B. Angela da Foligno, M. Raloci Pulignai (Citta di Castello 1932) numbers 161-162 pgg. 266-268.

Seek God Above All Things

From the writings of Saint Paschal Baylon

Since God desired greatly to give us what is good, therefore, in all your petitions believe firmly that God will grant what you ask for. But do not ask for anything unless God has moved you to ask. He is more disposed to hear your petitions than you are to make them. He is always waiting for you to ask. Therefore, let it be God’s will rather than your own need that urges you to ask since He wishes to grant your request. You should always offer your prayers through the merits of the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. Train your soul by persistent and vigorous acts to seek entirely what God wishes, removing from your will every blessing and advantage that can accrue to you from such a prayer.

Indeed, meditate well on this: Seek God above all things. It is right for you to seek God before and above everything else, because the majesty of God wishes you to receive what you ask for. This will also make you more ready to serve God and will enable you to love Him more perfectly.

Let all your prayers be motivated by this intention and when you pray, do so out of love and because of love, in season and out of season. Detach your heart from things of this world and consider that there is nothing else in this world except you and God alone. Never, not even for a brief moment, turn your heart from God. Let your thinking be simple and lowly; always, without wearying, focus your attention on what is above you, and let the love of God be like oil poured over everything.

To thank God is nothing else than an internal act of the soul whereby the recipient of a heavenly blessing recognizes the infinite God as master of the universe and source of every blessing. He rejoices at God’s infinite glory because of being judged worthy of such a gift. He is consequently more ready to love and serve God the give of all good things.

Whenever you receive some gift from the Lord, offer yourself to Him entirely with joy and gladness. Humble and despise yourself; renounce your own will so that you can devote yourself body and soul to His service. Make frequent, even countless, acts of thanksgiving, rejoicing in God’s power and goodness. He grants you favors and blessing for which you now render Him thanks. Would you make your thanksgiving pleasing to God, then first humble yourself, deny and belittle yourself in His sight.

Acknowledge your need and wretchedness so that you may realize that all you have comes from God’s generosity. Rejoice and exult that you have been enriched with graces and blessings. Place little value on the good or advantage to yourself in order to serve God more faithfully.

Saint Paschal Baylon feast day is May 17.

Saint Catherine of Bologna: On the Seven Spiritual Weapons

Put on the armor of God to withstand the snares of the devil.

Jesus Christ gave up his life that we might live. Therefore, whoever wishes to carry the cross for his sake must take up the proper weapons for the contest, especially those mentioned here. First, diligence; second distrust of self; third, confidence in God; fourth, remembrance of the Passion; fifth, mindfulness of his own death; sixth, remembrance of God’s glory; seventh, the injunctions of Sacred Scripture following the example of Jesus Christ in the desert.

Everyone endowed with goodwill, that is, with love for God, truly wishing to serve God must first of all purify himself through sincere and complete confession of sin with the firm determination never to sin grievously in the future, even to prefer to it a thousand deaths, if this were possible. Whoever is enslaved by mortal sin is not a member of Christ but rather of the devil. He is moreover deprived of the benefits of Holy Mother Church and incapable of doing anything meritorious for eternal life.

The determination to avoid mortal sin then is necessary for serving God faithfully. Bear in mind, however, that if you have been guilty of mortal sin you must never despair of God’s goodness or give up doing good to the best of your ability so that you can be freed from sin. Strengthened by this hope, always do good in whatever station of life you may be. In addition, to this the faithful servant of Christ must be ready to follow the way of the cross, since all who serve God must fight against God’s enemies and you can expect various kinds of wounds from them. Consequently, you must have the best weapons with which to fight the enemy.

Saint Catherine of Bologna: On the Seven Spiritual Weapons

SOLILOQUY

by Bonaventure

Christ on the cross bows his head
Waiting for you
That he may kiss you;
His arms are outstretched.
That he may embrace you,
His hands are open,
That he may enrich you;
His body spread out,
That he may give himself totally;
His feet are nailed.
That he may stay there;
His side is open for you,
That he may let you enter there.

IF YOU LOOK FOR AN INHERITANCE IN THE WORLD

If you look for an inheritance in the world, you will not be a joint heir with Christ.

What are you doing in the world, my brother, you who are greater than the world? Do you fear poverty? Christ calls the poor blessed. Are you deterred by exertion? No athlete wins a crown without sweat. Are you concerned about food? True faith has no fear of hunger. Are you afraid to lay your body emaciated by fasting on the bare ground? The Lord lies there with you. Does an unkempt disheveled head of hair terrify you? Christ is your head. Does the boundless waste of the desert fill you with fear? Then in your mind walk in paradise for as often as you raise your thoughts to heaven you will not be in the desert. O blessed desert, blossoming with the flowers of Christ! O blessed solitude where are quarried the stones out of which the city of the great King in the Apocalypse is built! O blessed desert enjoying intimate association with God! Add to this also the well known words of the Apostle: I consider the sufferings of the present to be as noting compared with the glory to come to be revealed in us.

Why, then, are you a fainthearted Christian? The Son of man had not whereon to lay his head, yet you set great value on large porticos and spacious dwellings. If you look forward to an inheritance in the world you will not be a joint heir with Christ. The desert loves the poorly clad. The body accustomed to tunics does not tolerate the weight of the breastplate. The head swathed in linen refused to wear the helmet. The rough hilt of the sword chafes the hand grown soft in idleness.

We are earth and ashes, anxious at every moment about our salvation, and soon to be returned to dust. Let us, then, forthwith abandon the fleeting world with all speed. If perchance our stomach is in pain on account of our mortification – a thing that rarely happens – and if we are burning with fever, let us look upon our infirmity as the gateway to eternal life.

Proper Offices of Franciscan Saints and blesseds in the Liturgy of the Hours
The so-called Rule for Monks, excerpts from the works of Saint Jerome the Priest (PL 30, 339D-341A)

Blessed Angela of Foligno, SFO - On Prayer

Blessed Angela of Foligno, SFO on Prayer

The purpose of prayer is nothing other than to manifest God and self. And this manifestation of God and self leads to a state of perfect and true humility. For this humility is attained when the soul sees God and self. It is in this profound state of humility, and from it, that divine grace deepens and grows in the soul. The more divine grace deepens humility in the soul, the more divine grace can grow in this depth of humility. The more divine grace grows, the deeper the soul is grounded, and the more it is settled in a state of true humility. Through perseverance in true prayer, divine light and grace increase, and these always make the soul grow deep in humility as it reads, as has been said, the life of Jesus Christ, God and man. I cannot conceive anything greater than the manifestation of God and self. But this discovery, that is, this manifestation of God and self, is the lot only of those legitimate sons of God who have devoted themselves to true prayer.

Those who possess the spirit of true prayer will have the Book of Life, that is, the life of Jesus Christ and man set before them, and everything they could want, they will find there. Thus they will be filled with its blessed teaching, which does not puff anyone up, and will find there every doctrine they and others need. Hence, if you wish to be super enlightened and taught, read this Book of Life. If you do not simply skim through it but rather let it penetrate you while reading it, you will be taught every thing needed for yourself and for others, no matter what your state of life. Also, if you read it carefully and not casually, you will be so inflamed by divine fire that you will accept every tribulation as the greatest consolation.

Blessed Angela of Foligno, SFO

PEACE

The Soul’s Journey into God

by Bonaventure

I call upon the Eternal Father
Through his son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
That through the intercession of the most holy Virgin Mary,
The mother of the same God and Lord Jesus Christ,
And through the intercession of blessed Francis,
Our leader and father,
He may enlighten the eyes of our soul
To guide our feet
In the way of that peace
Which surpasses all understanding.
This is the peace
Proclaimed and given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ
And preached again and again
By our father Francis.
At the beginning and end of every sermon he announced peace;
In every greeting he wished for peace;
In every contemplation he sighed for ecstatic peace-
Like a citizen of that Jerusalem of which
That Man of Peace says,
Who was peaceable with those who hated peace;
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem

THE TREE OF LIFE

by Bonaventure

Believing, hoping and loving
With my whole heart, with my whole mind
And with my whole strength,
May I be carried to you, beloved Jesus,
As to the goal of all things,
Because you alone are sufficient
You alone are good and pleasing
To those who seek you and love your name.
For you , my good Jesus,
Are the redeemer of the lost,
The savior of the redeemed
The hope of exiles,
The strength of laborers,
The sweet solace of anguished spirits,
The crown and dignity of the triumphant,
The unique reward and joy of all citizens of heaven ,
The renowned offspring of the supreme God
And the sublime fruit of the virginal womb,
The abundant fountain of all graces,
Of whose fullness we have all received.

From a Sermon of Saint Bonaventure, bishop

Let us do penance and suffer with Christ

Although the cross especially before Christ’s passion was in itself a horrible thing, it is nevertheless something to be sought after because it is the source of life. All men seek and long for eternal life. There is no one steeped in sin who would not say that he desires and seeks eternal life. Yet these men do not seek it the way they should because they want to have it along with their vices and the defilements of their sins.

Dear Friends, that is not the way to eternal life. The way to eternal life is through Christ, through the cross, through battle and victory over our enemies. Viewed on the surface of things the cross strikes us with terror, but viewed in proper perspective it is desirable. Viewed superficially the cross appears as the tree of death, but to one who views it in depth the mystery of the cross shines forth as the tree of life because of him who hung upon it. Since it is the source of life it gives life by infusing grace. In the epistle to the Romans we read: The wages of sin is death; the gift of God is eternal life. The cross is the tree of life-giving grace which makes us new men in Christ and brings us to repentance.

What kind of wood is it that has the power to bring man from a barren desert to a verdant garden, from death to life? It is the wood of Christ’s cross. Why did the Son of God suffer for men and not for angels? Because man is capable of doing penance, an angel is not. For man it is the wood which bears fruit through the moisture it receives from water, that is, the grace that brings one to do penance.

Therefore, because the cross is a tree of life-giving grace, let us who have died so many times by reason of our sins long for that tree do penance and suffer with Christ. Christ suffered in the flesh; therefore, arm yourselves with the same mentality, says Saint Peter. Unless we do penance how shall we be able to give an answer to Christ on judgment day?

If then you wish to bear spiritual fruit you must die in the flesh. In his Gospel John cites the words of Christ: Unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. But if it dies, it produces much fruit. To share the fruit of the tree of life with Christ who was crucified and died, we must be crucified with him.

Dear friends, whoever wished to find the Lord finds him on the cross. Consequently to forsake the cross is to abandon the Lord as well. He who longs ardently, and desires the cross and the Lord, finds the Lord there, not empty-handed but laden with abundant graces.

(Opera ominia 9 [Quaracchi] 463-470)

From: Proper offices of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds in the Liturgy of the Hours