To All the Faithful: From Writings by Saint Francis of Assisi (vegetarian), Part 1 of 2

On today’s program, in honor of the Feast Day of Saint Francis of Assisi (vegetarian), we are pleased to present His teachings from “The Writings of Saint Francis of Assisi.”

Letter to All the Faithful.

“[…] O how happy and blessed are those who love the Lord, who do as the Lord Himself says in the Gospel: ‘Thou shall love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart and with thy whole soul and love thy neighbor as thyself.’ Let us therefore love God and adore Him with a pure heart and a pure mind because He Himself, seeking that above all, says: ‘The true adorers shall adore the Father in ‘spirit and in truth.’ For all who ‘adore Him, must adore Him in spirit and in truth.’ And let us offer Him praises and prayers day and night, saying: ‘Our Father who is in Heaven,’ for ‘we ought always to pray, and not to lose heart.’ […]

Let us, moreover, ‘bring forth fruits worthy of penance.’ And let us love our neighbors as ourselves, and, if any one does not wish to love them as himself or cannot; let him at least do them not harm, but let him do good to them.

Let those who have, received the power of judging others, exercise judgment with mercy, as they hope to obtain mercy from the Lord. For let judgement without mercy be shown to him that does not mercy. Let us then have charity and humility and let us give alms because they wash souls from the foulness of sins. For men lose all which they leave in this world; they carry with them, however, the reward of charity and alms which they have given, for which they shall receive a recompense and worthy remuneration from the Lord. […]

We ought not to be ‘wise according to the flesh’ and prudent, but we ought rather to be simple, humble, and pure. […] We should never desire to be above others, but ought rather to be servants and subject ‘to every human creature for God’s sake.’ And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon all those who do these things and who shall persevere to the end, and He shall make His abode and dwelling in them, and they shall be children of the Heavenly Father whose works they do, and they are the spouses, brothers and mothers of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are spouses when by the Holy Spirit the faithful soul is united to Jesus Christ. We are His brothers when we do the will of His Father who is in Heaven. We are His mothers when we bear Him in our heart and in our body through pure love and a clean conscience and we bring Him forth by holy work which ought to shine as an example to others.”