Saint Francis, as the liturgy beautifully proclaims on his feast day—October 4—was a man fully Catholic, whose heart embraced the divine presence in every moment and fragment of his life. He encountered Christ Himself in the lepers—those disfigured faces cast aside by society—and in the profound silence of prayer before the Crucifix of San Damiano, where that silence transformed into a word of love.
Moved deeply by the Holy Spirit, Francis poured all the strength and desires of his heart into following Christ and living His Gospel. For him, the Gospel became the guiding star of his life, a constant light shaping every personal and communal decision. It was this same Gospel that he proclaimed tirelessly to all, becoming a wandering preacher and a sower of peace in places where hatred, rivalry, and war had taken root.
Francis’s spiritual journey was anchored in an unshakable faith in the providential and loving presence of God the Father. This is the God who, having given us His only and beloved Son, Jesus Christ, for our salvation, never fails to provide what our hearts truly need.
For Francis, the essence of life was to follow Christ—poor and crucified—in fraternity and evangelical simplicity. Prayer, a profound and living relationship with the Lord, was the beating heart of this journey. It was marked by moments of emotional fervor and sweet contemplation, embracing both the depths of his soul and the bonds of community.
Francis prayed with deep devotion, following the rhythms and guidance of the Roman Church. He lived the Church’s liturgy as though it were the very breath of his soul, convinced that his connection to Christ could only be found through the Church—a Church made up of real, imperfect people, even when some fell short of their sacred roles.
From Christ, Francis learned the enlightened humility of finding his worth not in the fleeting opinions of others or in worldly success, but in the steadfast and faithful love of God the Father. This love, which unites us to His Son through the sacraments and through faith, clothes us with God’s own dignity and holiness.
From the very beginning, Francis’s spirituality radiated joyful praise of God and authentic fraternity—true treasures of a heart that had placed its wealth in the Kingdom of Heaven, where no thief or moth can enter. Over time, especially during the trials and conflicts within his growing fraternity, this joy deepened into what he called “perfect joy”: a patient compassion for the faults and weaknesses of others, a peace that endured even in the face of rejection, misunderstanding, or abandonment.
The mature fruit of this journey of grace blossomed into boundless mercy for sinners and adversaries, and an unparalleled faith in living his life as a total surrender to God. This supreme act of love found its ultimate expression in Sister Death, the blessed threshold to his final and eternal encounter with the Father.
