The Example of Prayer and Penitence in the Life of St. Francis

Homily for the Solemnity of St. Francis of Assisi

The year 2023 marks the eight hundredth anniversary of the publication of the later rule of St. Francis of Assisi as well as the eight hundredth anniversary of the first Christmas crèche at Greccio in the Rieti Valley of central Italy. St. Francis spent a significant amount of time in this valley in the year 1223. It was in this valley that St. Francis wrote the later rule at Fonte Columbo, set up the first Christmas crèche at Greccio, established the first fraternity of the Third Order at Poggio Bostone, and miraculously saved a harvest of grapes at La Foresta. From 2023 to 2025, Franciscans around the world will be celebrating these important dates in the life of Our Holy Father St. Francis.

It is well documented in the thirteenth century biographies of the little man of Assisi that he preferred to stay in rural areas and secreted himself in caves and wooded areas where he would spend days in prayer.
We are told that the brother who accompanied him would hear the forest filled with groaning and moaning as the saint poured out all of the grief and distress that he was experiencing throughout his life, grief and distress that was caused because he had difficulty believing that God had forgiven him all the sins of his wasted youth. But, after a time, the groaning and moaning would cease because, after pouring out his heart, Francis would “become a prayer” himself. As he offered his heart to the Father, he experienced the great comfort that had been promised him by the gentle and humble Jesus.

While the church keeps forty days of fasting before the celebration of Easter, St. Francis spent as many as five little Lents throughout the year, although usually not all five in one calendar year. Just as the Church’s Lent prepares for the Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, Francis prepared for various important feast days by fasting and forty-day retreats. The feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the feast of St. Michael, the feast of our Lady of the Angels, and of the days following the feast of the Epiphany were often celebrated in this way by St. Francis. He loved the solitude that he found in prayer and fasting so much that he wondered whether or not he should devote his entire life to solitude. He proposed this to Clare and the brother who would accompany him. They dissuaded him from this idea and impressed upon him the value of his preaching in the piazza and along the paths of the Umbrian Valley. Our Holy Father Pope Francis followes St. Francis’ example of discernment in this particular instance as  he convokes the Synod on Synodality that begins today in Rome. Such patterns of discernment are a real gift that we Franciscans can exemplify for the entire Church.

As we know, Francis’s practice of fasting and prayer was a sign of penitence, his original reason for founding and the original name of what has become known as the three orders of St. Francis. In addition to his time in the Rieti Valley, St. Francis would also spend such time at Laverna, in the Carceri near Assisi, and on an island in the Adriatic off the coast of Venice. A quote from Brother Thomas’ first life tells us volumes about Francis’ prayer. “Indeed, so thoroughly did the humility of the Incarnation and the charity of the Passion occupy his memory that he scarcely wanted to think of anything else.”

We, who have been called to live according to the Gospel and in the footsteps of St. Francis would be well advised to take this example for our own prayer life. We can learn much, just as St. Francis learned from the humility of the Incarnation and the charity of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. As we gather around the table of the Lord this morning to praise Almighty God for the gift that St. Francis was to the world, let us renew our efforts in prayer and in penitence as we journey toward the banquet of heaven.