Franciscan Quote of the Day

Above all the grace and the gifts that Christ gives to his beloved is that of overcoming self.

~St. Francis of Assisi

It pleases me that you should read sacred theology to the brothers so long as on account of this study they do not extinguish the spirit of holy prayer as is ordained in the Rule.

~St. Francis of Assisi, via AlmostCatholic

And so we must all keep close watch over ourselves or we will be lost and turn our minds and hearts from God, because we think there is something worth having or doing, or that we will gain some advantage.

~St. Francis of Assisi, Rule of 1221

While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart.

~St. Francis of Assisi

No one is to be called an enemy, all are your benefactors, and no one does you harm. You have no enemy except yourselves.

~St. Francis of Assisi

Wherever they may be, let all my brothers remember that they have given themselves and abandoned their bodies to the Lord Jesus Christ. For love of him they must make themselves vulnerable to their enemies, both visible and invisible, because the Lord says: Those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it in eternal life.

~St. Francis of Assisi, The Earlier Rule

I have been all things unholy. If God can work through me, He can work through anyone.

~~St. Francis of Assisi

St. Francis cried out and said: “My Lord Jesus Christ, I thank You for the great love and charity which You are showing me, because it is a sign of great love when the Lord punishes His servant well for all his faults in this world, so that he may not be punished for them in the next world. And I am prepared to endure with joy every pain and every adversity which You, my God, wish to send me for my sins.”

~Little Flowers of St. Francis, “Part II: The Considerations of the Holy Stigmata” (thanks to Portiuncula: the Little Portion)

We lose everything which we leave behind in this world; we can bring with us only the right to a reward for our charity and the alms we have given.

~St. Francis of Assisi, Rule of 1221

Grant me the treasure of sublime poverty: permit the distinctive sign of our order to be that it does not possess anything of its own beneath the sun, for the glory of your name, and that it have no other patrimony than begging.

~St. Francis of Assisi

I counsel, admonish and beg my brothers that, when they travel about the world, they should not be quarrelsome, dispute with words, or criticize others, but rather should be gentle, peaceful and unassuming, courteous and humble, speaking respectfully to all as is fitting.

~St. Francis of Assisi, 1209 Rule (found on the blog Almost Catholic)

Pure holy simplicity confounds all the wisdom of this world and the wisdom of the flesh.

~St. Francis of Assisi, Salutation of the Virtues

Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance. Where there is patience and humility, there is neither anger nor vexation. Where there is poverty and joy, there is neither greed nor avarice. Where there is peace and meditation, there is neither anxiety nor doubt.

~St. Francis of Assisi, Admonition 27

If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.

~St. Francis of Assisi

Preach the Gospel at all times and, when necessary, use words.

~St. Francis of Assisi