Part 4: Heroes of Faith Help Show Us the Way

*St. Francis of Assisi – Faithful to the “Call” to Rebuild the Church.*

The other day, someone discussing the presidential election in 2024 commented, “Oftentimes political candidates rise or fall because of a ‘moment.’” I agreed that ”moments” matter!

Moments matter not only politically but also spiritually. In my lifetime, I can identify a few “moments” which defined and altered the trajectory of my faith journey.

The focus of today’s post is on two significant spiritual “moments” for Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, later called San Francesco or St. Francis of Assisi.

Young Giovanni experienced dysfunction within his family of origin. Piggy-backed upon that was traumatic stress of wartime. His father, Pietro di Bernardone dei Moriconi, an ambitious, successful merchant, had expectations for Giovanni. When he failed to meet those expectations, the father resorted to cruel control tactics. His French mother, Pica di Bourlemont, was loving, and sometimes, she even courageously went against her husband. During the 1200’s, however, women didn’t have much of a voice.

Eventually and dramatically, in a public setting before family, community, and the local Bishop, Giovanni renounced every morsel of earthly possessions, stripping to only his “birthday suit” as a declaration. History reports the Bishop was moved by the young man’s devotion and removed his priestly robe to cover Francis’ naked body.

“Moments” may cause one to take extreme steps, perhaps relinquishing resources, and relationships. Whether these steps remain permanent or temporary, they seem necessary to move one away to be moved toward a higher calling.

After the dramatic disrobing incident, while praying before the crucifix in the small church of San Damiano, Francesco experienced a “moment” when Jesus spoke to him from the cross, directing him, “Go. Rebuild my house.” The zealous young man took this divine message literally and set about to repair and rebuild the little church at San Damiano.

After that, Francesco and a group of followers moved on to rebuild another small church in disrepair—Portiuncula—near Assisi. During his time at Portiuncula, unbeknown to them, the Order of Franciscans was established.

A small group of monks, living simply and in poverty, grew amazingly in number. As they kept taking the next step of faith, none envisioned what followers of Francesco might look like several centuries later, or that in the 21st century, Franciscan priest would become Pope of the Catholic Church.

While young Francesco interpreted “house” one way, Heaven seemed to have a much broader view of the word, likely being The Church, which Jesus Christ himself established. Throughout the ages, history shows the “church” has, is, and always will need some type of “rebuilding.”

When my husband and I visited Italy in May 2023, we spent a week in the Umbria Region and had the privilege of visiting San Damiano as well as seeing Portiuncula, now housed within the Basilica di Santa Maria degli Angeli. I hope you’ll enjoy these photos and brief explanations.