Feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis

Gal 6, 14-18; Lc 9, 23-26
Fr. José Rodríguez Carballo, ofm – General Minister

Sanctuary of La Verna

 Few days ago we have celebrated the Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross. Now, in all the Franciscan family,particularly in this holy mountain of La Verna, sanctified by the presence by the Lord in the seraphic image and in Francis, the Stigmatized of La Verna, we celebrate the mystery of the Cross marked visibly in the flesh of the Poverello,offering his own body as the Aspostle said: After this, let no one trouble me; I carry branded on my body the marks of Jesus (Gal 6,17). Paul was carrying in his body the scars of the tribulations suffered by Christ (v. 2Cor 6,4-5; 11,23ff), Francis carries in his hands, feet and his side the stigma of the Passion of Christ.

 All the biographies of the Saint tell us how the wonder of Stigmata happened. In proximity of the Feast of the Exultation of the Cross, the seraphic Father went up to this mountain , two years before his death, to start the lent that he usually practice in honor of the Arch Angel Michael. Wishing ardently the will of God, to make himself more like Crhist, opened the book of the Gospel three times in the name of the Holy Trinity and, encountering always the story of the Passion of the Lord Jesus, praying insistently to feel in his flesh the pain of the Crucified. Then, he had a vision that caused in him great joy and deep pain at the same time. The Lord, under the image of the crucified seraphim, made known to him that he will be transformed in the image of Crucified Christ. After the vision, the marks of the sign of the Passion of the Lord appeared in the flesh of this friend of Christ: the signs of the nails in his hands and his feet, the wound in his side. (cf. LegM XIII, 1ff).

In this liturgy , the memory of the Stigmata of St. Farancis we attempt to take some important aspects of this important wonderful event, starting from the story offered by St. Bonaventure. The Seraphic Doctor started the story of the impression of of the Stigmata with this word:

Francis … having learned how to divide his time with great wisdom: part of it was dedicated for a tiresome apostolic work for his neighbor, other part was dedicated to tranquility in contemplative ecstasis. And furhter said: therefore , after being busy , according to the demmands of time and place, seeking for the salvation of other, he was leaving the noise of the crowd and seeks to be alone. (LegM XIII, 1).

 Francis teaches us that it is not possible to be for others if everything is not for the Lord, and it is not possible to be all for the Lord if one does not constantly finds time be with himself. The Poverello shows us the necessity to have in our existence a “plan of ecological life”. We can say today that in the work in favour of others, one should be accompannied by “vacare Deo”, as it is said in the old times, dedicating a time for God and a time for oneself. Francis, a true “mendicant in all sense”, permanent seeker of man and who unceasinlgy seek for God and his will, as St Bonaventure noted. This is why, in fact, he loves solitude.

 Man is certainly a “social being”, created “to relate”, but the experience shows us that those who know how live alone also knows how to live fully in relationship with others. Only those who do not fear to go down in his own interior knows how to confront the encounter with anger, with God and with others . On the other hand, the inability to interiorize, to dwell in his own interior, also becomes inability to create and live in solid, profound and lasting relationship with God and others. It´s true that not all solitude is positive. There are some forms of escape from others that is pathologic, like isolation and fear of anger. But within the pathologies and exessive activism, solitude is equilibrium and harmony, strength and stability. Those who assume solitude, as Fracis did, have the courage to meet oneself face to face, to recognize and accept ones responsibility to become his true self. On the other part, if one, like Francis, aims to seek the will of God (cf. LegM XIII, 1), should not seek refuge in the “group”, in the anonimity of the multitude, neither it can be derived from enclosing of oneself. Perhaps solitude is one of the great signs of love: towards ourself, towards God, and towards others.

 The solitude is a space for the unification of heart ,the communion with God and with others. When solitude takes us to the encounter of ourself , then it becomes a purification of the realtionship because in the continous meeting with the people it falls into the danger to become insignificant; for us christians, it is even a communion with the Lord. Commenting from John. 5.13, where it says that: “The man had no idea who it was, since Jesus had disappeared, as the place was crowded”, St. Agustine wrote: it is difficult to see Christ in the middle of the crowd; solitude is necessary for us. In fact, in solitude, if the soul is attentive, God allows Himself to be seen. The crowd is noisy; to see God it is necessary for you to be silent. Besides, the solitude is the crucible of love, the great human and spiritual achievements cannot bypass solitude. Truly, Christian, like Jesus, should fill the solitude with prayer, with spiritual struggle, with the discernment of the will of God with the seeking of His face. In all this Francis presents himself to us a true teacher, being a true disciple.

 In fact the Christ, in whom we say we believe and we say we love, we find Him in constant search in the solitary places to pray, to live in intimacy with “Abba” and to discern His will. Him who at the cross has lived the full intimacy with God, knowing the abandonment to God, reminds the Christian that the solitude is a mystery of the communion. It teaches, on the other hand, that the maximum solitude lived at the cross is a mystery of love, the greatest manifestation of the love of God for us : he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.(Jn.3:16); the highest expression of the love of Jesus for us: giving himself up for us as an offering and a sweet-smelling sacrifice to God. (Ef 5,2).

“If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me” (Lc 9:23), we have heard today in the Gospel. We find in this word a compendium of the christian life, the mirror of the Word, to which the disiple must conform his own face(v. Jm.1,22-25). As Crhistians, our life must carry the face of Jesus, the Son crucified for love. They will look to the «one whom they have pierced» (Jn 19,37), the cross was converted to a zeal of belongingness to God in Jesus (vv. Ap 7,2ff; Ez 9,4). To take the cross everyday is be in charge of our own sin, to die daily for Christ, living for him, until we can be able say: “and yet I am alive; yet it is no longer I, but Christ living in me.” To take the cross means to feel crucified with Christ, to unite oneself to the Passion of the Lord Jesus, to feel that we belong to Him and we no longer belong to ourselves. Pope Benedict XVI: to carry out fully the work of salvation, the Redeemer continues to associate himself to all the men and women disposed to take the cross and follow Him. Like Christ, so too for the Christians, to carry the cross is not optional, but a mission to embrace love. In our present world, where the force that divide and destroy seems to dominate, Christ doesn´t cease to propose to all his clear invitation: whoever wishes to be my disciple should deny his egoism and carry with him the cross. Let us invoke the intercession of the Stigmatized of La Verna, so that the Lord himself will grant us to go with the decision to follow after Him, to conform ourselves to the Passion of Christ so that we can share his resurrection.