In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Saint Francis of Assisi wanted to convert the Muslims and headed for Syria at the end of 1212.
But contrary winds carried the ship to the shores of Dalmatia.
From there they returned to Italy.
The following year, 1213, he set out for Morocco with his brother Bernard,
passing through
Santiago de Compostela in Spain, but he became seriously ill and had to return to Italy.
On June 24th, 1219 Saint Francis of Assisi, with the brother Peter Cattani and three more
brothers, set out for Egypt to preach to the infidel Muslims.
They embarked in Ancona and made their first stop in Cyprus.
In mid-July they reached Acre and a few days later Damietta in Egypt, besieged by the Crusaders
for a year.
But the Christian army was disunited and many soldiers led a libertine life.
The final assault was going to be on August 29th.
When Saint Francis of Assisi heard about the final assault that was going to happen on
August 29th, he hurt deep down.
And he said to the one who accompanied him “If the assault takes place on that day,
the Lord has given me to understand that it will not be resolved successfully for the
Christians.
But if I discover this, they will take me for a fool.
And, if I keep quiet, my conscience will reproach me.
Tell me, what do you think?"
The companion answered: “Father, do not care about being judged by men, because it's
not precisely now that you're going to start being considered foolish.
Unload your conscience and fear, rather, God than men.
Then the saint runs and confronts the Christians with healthy advice, dissuading them from
battle, announcing defeat.
The Christians make a mockery of the truth, they hardened their hearts and did not want
to take the warning into consideration.
They go into combat and begin.
They Struggle.
Many of our people are cornered by the enemy.
During the combat, the saint, with his soul in suspense, makes his companion get up to observe,
and since neither the first time nor the second time has he seen anything,
he orders him to observe a third time.
And he sees there that the entire Christian army is on the run,
reporting dishonor instead
of triumph of the battle.
And such was the disaster of our army,
that they were greatly reduced, since between the
dead and captives they lost 6,000.
Therefore, the saint was consumed by the compassion he felt for them, and not least by their repentance
for what they had done.
And he cried, above all, for the Spaniards, seeing that their courage had destroyed them.
After the Christian defeat, Saint Francis of Assisi, accompanied by his brother, set
out towards the sultan and suddenly two little sheep met him,
at whose sight, very joyful,
the saint said to his companion
“Trust, brother, in the Lord,
because the gospel saying
is fulfilled in us
And advancing a little further, they met the Saracen guards, who rushed upon them like
wolves upon sheep,
and treated the captured servants of God with cruelty and contempt,
hurling insults at them, afflicting them with whips, and binding them with chains.
Finally, after being ill-treated and tormented in a thousand ways, and arranged by divine
Providence, they were brought to the presence of the sultan, as the man of God desired.
Then the chief asked them who had sent them, what was their objective, with what credentials
did they come and how did they get there.
And the servant of Christ Saint Francis of Assisi boldly replied
that he had been sent
not by any man, but by the Most High God Himself,
to show him and his people the way of salvation
and announce to them the Gospel of truth.
The Sultan himself wanted to embarrass Saint Francis and had a beautiful carpet spread
out before him, almost completely covered with crosses
and said to those present, "Call
that one who seems to be a good Christian
if when he comes to me he steps on the crosses on the carpet,
we will tell him that he has insulted his Lord.
If he, on the other hand, refuses to step on the carpet, I'll ask him why he refuses
to come to me."
Saint Francis of Assisi entered without hesitation, and walked across the carpet until he reached
the sultan.
The Sultan made Saint Francis observe that he was stepping on the crosses
to which Saint Francis replied
You must know that with our Lord two thieves were also crucified,
we recognize as the true cross that of Our Lord Jesus Christ
and we adore and embrace it with all devotion.
The cross of the Lord has been left to us
and the crosses of thieves have been left
to you.
That is why I have had no problem stepping on the signs of thieves.
The holy cross does not belong to you.
The Sultan made a friendship with Saint Francis of Assisi and invited him to stay with him.
Saint Francis replied: If you and your people resolve to convert to Christ
I will gladly
remain for His love in your company.
And he proposed the test of fire to which his priests would submit.
The sultan replied
"I do not believe that among my priests there is one who, in order
to defend his faith, wants to expose himself to the test of fire, nor that he is willing
to suffer any other torment."
The sultan had indeed observed that one of his priests
a man of integrity and advanced
in age, as soon as he heard of the matter
disappeared from his presence.
Then, the saint made him this proposition
“If in your name and that of your people
you want to promise me that you will convert to Christ if I come out of the fire unharmed,
I will enter the stake alone.
If the fire consumes me, blame my sins but if the divine power protects me
you will recognize Christ, strength and wisdom of God, true God and Lord, Savior of all men."
The sultan replied that he did not dare to accept such an option, because he feared an
uprising of the people.
However, he offered him many valuable gifts
which the man of God not eager for earthly
treasures, but for the salvation of souls
rejected as if they were mud.
Seeing in this holy man such a perfect despiser of the goods of the earth
the sultan greatly
admired him and was attracted to him with greater devotion and affection.
And although he did not want or perhaps did not dare to convert to the Christian faith
he devoutly begged the servant of Christ to deign to accept those gifts
and distribute
them for his salvation among poor Christians or churches.
But
Saint Francis of Assisi who shunned every weight of money and realizing, moreover, that
the sultan was not founded on true piety
absolutely refused to indulge his wish.
Seeing that nothing progressed in the conversion of those people and feeling disappointed in
the realization of his goal of martyrdom
warned by inspiration from on high he returned
to the Christian countries.
Other brothers went to Morocco.
The first five brothers who went there to preach were martyred.
Their martyrdom was on January 16th, 1220.
A year later
in 1221 more brothers left again for Morocco with the blessing of Saint
Francis of Assisi and in Ceuta they shed their blood for love of Christ.
Saint Francis was everyone's friend
he sought peace among all and loved nature, taking care
of animals and plants as a true environmentalist of our times.
On one occasion Saint Francis of Assisi met on the road a man who was going to the market,
carrying two lambs tied and hanging on his shoulder to sell them.
When Saint Francis heard them bleat, he was moved, and approaching, he caressed them like
a mother showing her feelings of compassion for her crying son.
And Saint Francis asked that man
Why do you make my brothers suffer by leading them tied
and hung like this?
Because I take them to the market he replied to sell them because I'm short of money.
To this the saint said What will happen after to them?
Well he replied the buyers will kill them and eat them.
God forbid, the saint reacted.
Do not do such a thing take this mantle that I carry in exchange for the lambs.
Immediately the man gave him the lambs and very happily he received the mantle, since
it was worth much more.
The saint had received it that same day, from the hands of one of his friends, to protect
himself from the cold.
Once with the lambs, he began to think what he would do with them and, advised by the
brother who accompanied him
he decided to give them to the same man to take care of them
with the order that he never sell them or cause them any harm, but that he conserve,
feed and herd them with all care.
While he was dwelling for a time in the hermitage of Greccio in Italy
the inhabitants of that
place were tormented by many ills.
On the one hand, packs of rapacious wolves wreaked great havoc not only among the animals
but among men themselves
on the other annually hail storms devastated the fields and vineyards.
Then
the preacher of the holy Gospel preached to them in the following terms
"To the honor and praise of Almighty God, I assure you that all these calamities will disappear
and that the Lord returned to you will multiply your temporal goods if you give belief to my words
you recognize your unfortunate situation and after a sincere confession of your sins
you bear worthy fruits of penance.
The inhabitants of Greccio by following the warnings of the saint, did penance for their
sins, and from that day the plagues ceased
the dangers disappeared and neither the wolves
nor the hail caused them any harm.
In the province of Rieti a plague had spread that was so devastating
that it was mercilessly
destroying all sheep and cattle
to the point that no remedy could be found.
But a God-fearing man was warned by a night vision to hasten to the hermitage of the brothers
where Saint Francis was then dwelling.
And to take the water in which the servant of God had washed his hands and feet
and spray all the animals with it.
Rising early in the morning
he went to that place and secretly obtaining the water through
the companions of the saint
he sprinkled it on the sick sheep and oxen.
As soon as the water
even in a small quantity came to touch the sick and prostrated animals on the ground
they immediately got up regaining their former vigor and as if they had suffered
no harm ran to graze in the fields.
Thus
it turned out that by the admirable power of that water that had touched the sacred
wounds the plague ceased completely and the deadly pestilence fled from the herds.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.