St. Francis: Bearing the Marks of Christ
By Sister Joan Puls. Edited by Marilyn Gorun.
St. Francis of Assisi very deliberately chose to walk in the footsteps of Christ. From the beginning of his conversion, he had a great devotion and veneration for Christ crucified.
One morning in 1224, two years before his death, Francis was absorbed in prayer on a slope of Mount La Verna when a seraph with six wings appeared to him. When the vision disappeared, the wounds of Jesus were imprinted on Francis’ body. Until his death, Francis tried to conceal the wounds to the best of his ability. However, his brothers knew about them, and reliable witnesses attested to this extraordinary event.
The feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis is celebrated on September 17. Franciscans celebrate this as a recognition that what appeared externally on Francis’body reflected his inner conformity to the
lived example of Jesus. The imprinting of the same wounds that Jesus suffered in his crucifixion was consistent with Francis’ compassion for the suffering Christ, and for the suffering of all creatures, the lepers, the poor, and the sick. We are called to be in solidarity with the suffering body of Christ in our world today: the marginalized, those trafficked and enslaved, the abused, and the “lepers” of our time.
Francis lived and embodied the person of Christ, breaking down barriers, seeing all people, all creatures, as brothers and sisters. He was drenched in his love for the Christ whose features he found in the least and the lowliest. The theologian Hugh of St. Victor wrote, “Such is the power of love that it transforms the lover into the beloved.” How true this was for Francis in his identification with the sufferings of Christ!
We make Christ visible in our world by bearing the marks of Christ in our thoughts, words, and deeds. When we choose to follow in the footsteps of Christ, who knows where that will lead?
Our world today bears a crucified face. Only love can begin the transformation of the sufferings of those among us, our brothers and sisters. Do we have at the core of our lives this desire to feel and to share the suffering love that God has for the world, that Jesus poured out with such generosity, and that visibly marked St. Francis?
Image: On the south wall of St. Joseph Chapel vestibule