0
0
Illustration: St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata – by Giotto c. 1295-1300 in Louvre
Pope Francis’ address to the communities of the Friars Minor
of La Verna and of the Tuscan Province
Clementine Hall – Friday, 5 April 2024
Dear brothers, welcome!
I am happy to meet you, in the year in which we commemorate the eighth centenary of the gift of the stigmata, received by St. Francis in Verna on 14 September 1224, two years before his death.
Thank you for bringing here the relic of his blood, which makes a long pilgrimage in various communities to remind us of the importance of conforming ourselves to “poor and crucified Christ”
(Thomas of Celano, Second Life, no. 105).
And it is precisely of this conformation that the Stigmata are one of the most eloquent signs that the Lord has given down through the ages to brothers and sisters of various conditions, states and origins.
To all, in God’s holy people, they remind us of the pain suffered for our love and salvation by Jesus in his flesh; but they are also a sign of the Easter victory. It is indeed through the wounds that the mercy of the Crucified and Risen One flows to us, as if through channels.
Let us pause to reflect on the significance of the Stigmata, first in the life of the Christian and then in the life of the Franciscan.
The stigmata in the life of the Christian.
The disciple of Jesus finds in the stigmatized Saint Francis a mirror of his own identity.
The believer, in fact, does not belong to a group of thought or action, held together by human strength alone, but belongs to a living body, the Body of Christ – that is the Church.
And this belonging is not nominal, but real. It was impressed in the Christian by Baptism, which has marked us with the Pasch of the Lord.
Thus, in the communion of love of the Church, each one of us rediscovers who he or she is: a beloved, blessed, reconciled child, sent to bear witness to the wonders of the grace of being a worker of fraternity.
This is why the Christian is called to address himself in a special way to the ‘stigmatised’ whom he encounters. They bear the scars of suffering and injustice suffered or mistakes made and are ‘marked’ for life.
And in this mission, the Saint of La Verna is a companion on the journey, supporting us and helping us not to be crushed by difficulties, fears and contradictions, our own and those of others.
This is what Francis did every day, from the encounter with the leper onwards, forgetting himself in giving and in service, even to the point, in his last years, of “renouncing” himself – this word is key – of renouncing, in a certain sense, what he had begun, opening himself, with courage and humility, to new ways, obedient to the Lord and to his brothers.
let us emphasize this: Francis’ poverty of spirit – In his poverty of spirit and in his entrusting himself to the Father, he left us all a timeless witness to the Gospel.
If you want to know the suffering Christ well, seek out a Franciscan.
And think if you are witnesses to this…
And so, we come to the second point: the stigmata in the life of the Franciscan.
Your holy founder offers you a powerful call to unity in yourself and in your history. In fact, the Crucifix that appears to him at La Verna, marking his body, is the same one that was imprinted in his heart at the beginning of his “conversion” and that had indicated to him the mission to “repair his house”.
In this point of ‘repairing’, I would like to include the capacity for forgiveness.
You are good confessors. The Franciscans are famous for this. You forgive everything.
You always forgive. God does not tire of forgiving: it is we who tire of asking for forgiveness.
Always forgive. Loose sleeve, yes, but always forgive.In Francis, a man pacified in the sign of the cross, with which he blessed his brothers, the stigmata are the seal of the essential. This calls you too to return to the essential in the various aspects of your life: in formative journeys, in your apostolic activities and in your presence in the midst of the people; to be forgiven bears of forgiveness, healed bearers of healing, joyful and simple in fraternity; with the strength of the love that flows from the side of Christ and that is nourished in your personal encounter with Him, to be renewed every day with a seraphic ardor that burns the heart.
It is good that you start again from here, dear Franciscan brothers, in this jubilee year. Start again from here, especially you, the custodians of La Verna. Feel called to bring to your communities and fraternities, to the Church and to the world, a little of that immense love that drove Jesus to die on the cross for us.
May your intimacy with Him, as it did for Francis, make you ever more humble, more united, more joyful and essential, lovers of the cross and attentive to the poor, witnesses of peace and prophets of hope in this our time that finds it so difficult to recognize the presence of the Lord.
May you increasingly be a sign and witness, with your consecrated life, of the Kingdom of God that lives and grows among men.
There are some anticlerical people who, when a priest comes, touch iron because it brings bad luck.
But they never, never do that when they see a Franciscan habit. It is strange.
A Franciscan is never insulted. I don’t know why. But your habit makes you think of Saint Francis and the graces you have received. Go on like this and it doesn’t matter if you are wearing blue jeans under your habit: there is no problem. But go on.
And it is precisely to ask for this grace of continuous and beneficial conversion, I would like to conclude by invoking your Seraphic Father with this prayer which I entrust to you, asking you also to remember me before the Lord:
Saint Francis,
man wounded by love, Crucified in body and in spirit,
we look to you, decorated with the holy stigmata,
to learn how to love the Lord Jesus,
brothers and sisters with your love, with your passion.
With you it is easier to contemplate and follow
Christ, poor and Crucified.
Give us, Francis,
the freshness of your faith,
the certainty of your hope,
the gentleness of your charity.
Intercede for us,
so that it may be sweet for us to bear the burdens of life,
and in trials we may experience
the tenderness of the Father and the balm of the Spirit.
May our wounds be healed by the Heart of Christ,
to become, like you, witnesses of His mercy,
which continues to heal and renew the life
of those who seek Him with a sincere heart.
O Francis, made to resemble the Crucified One,
let your stigmata be for us and for the world
resplendent signs of life and resurrection,
to show new ways of peace and reconciliation. Amen.
And now I would like to give you the blessing, with the relic of Saint Francis.
