In the year 1224, St. Francis withdrew to the Mount of La Verna to mark the \u201csmall Lent\u201d from the feast of the Assumption (August 15) to the feast of St. Michael (September 29).\u00a0 On the night of September 17 (approximately, the sources say \u201ca few days after the feast of the True Cross\u201d September 14)\u00a0 a six-winged Seraph appeared to St. Francis, bearing the crucified Christ, who impressed upon Francis the stigmata:\u00a0 wounds in his hands and side.\u00a0 These were a sign that Francis had fully embraced the cross in imitation of his savior.<\/p>\n
As we conclude our own Lenten season and enter the holy Triduum of Easter, I offer the following\u00a0 prayer to St. Francis of Assisi, given by Pope John Paul II on September 17, 1993, the feast of the Holy Stigmata.<\/p>\n
O Saint Francis, stigmatized on La Verna, In the year 1224, St. Francis withdrew to the Mount of La Verna to mark the \u201csmall Lent\u201d from the feast of the Assumption (August 15) to the feast of St. Michael (September 29).\u00a0 On the night of September 17 (approximately, the sources say \u201ca few days after the feast of the True Cross\u201d September […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2931,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[605,18,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-david-cruz-uribe","category-easter","category-lent"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nthe world longs for you
\nas an icon of Jesus crucified.
\nIt needs your heart, open for God and humanity,
\nyour bare and wounded feet,
\nyour pierced and pleading hands.
\nIt longs for your weak voice,
\nstrong with the power of the Gospel.
\nO Francis, help the men and women of today
\nto acknowledge the evil of sin
\nand to seek cleansing from it in penance.
\nHelp them to free themselves
\nfrom the very structures of sin
\nwhich oppress society today.
\nArouse in the awareness of those who govern
\nthe urgent need for peace between nations and peoples.
\nPour into the young your zest for living;
\nhelp them balk the snares
\nof the many cultures of death.
\nTo those who have been offended
\nby wickedness of every kind,
\ncommunicate your joy, O Francis,
\nin learning to forgive.
\nTo all who are crucified by suffering,
\nby hunger, by war,
\nopen once again
\nthe door of hope.
\nAmen. <\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"