From the desk of the pastor for Oct. 5, 2025

The Lord be with you. In his later years St. Francis attempted to bring peace to the Middle East and experienced the stigmata. Although we often focus on what happened around Francis, it was the depths of his heart that were truly important to God.

In 1219 Francis finally got to travel to the Holy Land, something he had desired to do for decades. He traveled with the Fifth Crusade, which was attacking Egypt. St. Francis, like the Crusade’s leaders, understood that the Sultan of Egypt, Al-Kamil, was the key to the Holy Land. Whereas the Crusaders wanted to defeat him in battle, Francis sought his conversion. Francis understood that he probably could not do so and planned on dying a martyr if he could not convince the Sultan to convert.

With the two armies momentarily not fighting, St. Francis and Friar Illuminatus crossed the battle lines. Islamic soldiers seized the two friars and began beating them. To their credit, when Francis asked to be taken to the Sultan, the soldiers stopped and did so. What followed changed history.

Francis impressed Sultan Al-Kamil so much with his courage and sincerity that he allowed the saint to move around his court and preach. When St. Francis turned down the gifts the Sultan offered him a few days later, Al-Kamil granted Francis and his companions permission to visit the sacred sites of the Holy Land and preach. From then on the Franciscans have held what is called the Custody of the Holy Land, tending to the holy sites on behalf of the Church. Accordingly, Western Christians could safely visit the Holy Land and venerate the places where Jesus walked.

Tradition holds that St. Francis brought back an important custom from the Holy Land: the Way of the Cross. Francis wanted those too poor to ever visit Jerusalem to retrace in their imaginations Christ’s suffering and death. The Stations of the Cross remain an important Catholic devotion that helps us to reflect on Christ’s Passion.

On September 17, 1224 St. Francis received the stigmata while seeing a vision of a seraphim on a cross. Both the five wounds of Christ and his eyes physically weakened the man. Spiritually, however, St. Francis deepened his love for Christ in the midst of this suffering. At one point doctors attempted to relieve his eye pain - he was already blind basically - by cauterizing his eyes. Francis said he felt no pain. Knowing that his time was growing short, Francis retired to Porziuncola and lived in a hut. On October 3, 1226, he passed away singing Psalm 141.

In the stigmata God revealed exteriorly the interior configuration of St. Francis. Rare is the saint so closely united to Christ, the Bridegroom. Just as Our Lord loved the Church unto death, St. Francis showed a depth of compassion that revitalized the world. May we all long to love as he did.

In His Sacred Heart,
Fr. John