Thursday, October 3, 2024

*** This is a rough transcript of today’s show ***

It is the 3rd of October 2024. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis. 

It is one of those shows- when a figure so momentous appears on the calendar, I wonder if 6-8 minutes would ever suffice, but that’s what I worry about- you listen. Listen up today because there are few singular characters that loom as large in the history of the church as St. Francis of Assisi.

Listeners of a certain age might remember the 1972 Franco Zeffirelli film “Brother Sun, Sister Moon” a kind of retelling of the Medieval saint in the style of a Haight-Ashbury hippie. And the more I think about it in retrospect, it is an apt juxtaposition.

Perhaps you know of St. Francis as one of the only saints (that I know of) with a tradition of garden statues. And if you’ve seen a monk or someone in a brown cloak in nature, perhaps amongst animals, you’re seeing a depiction of the man who was born in 1181 in modern-day Italy and died on this day in 1226 at the age of 44.

Perhaps you know of St. Francis as the first to receive the so-called “stigmata,” the physical wounds of Christ transposed onto his own body as a sign of the ultimate “imitation of Christ.

Francis, a known lover of nature, is also said to have introduced the practice of having a live creche at Christmas, animals and all.

And, of course, the Franciscans have a long legacy as one of the distinguished orders of the Catholic Church.

The current pope, St. Francis (despite being a Jesuit, not a Franciscan), took the name of the St. from Assisi as a nod to his care for the poor and the environment.

Francis was sainted within two years of his death on this day in 1226- despite not being ordained and not calling for followers, he would leave a mark as one of the most popular saints in the Christian tradition, and one might suppose one of the most universally beloved Christian figures outside of the church because of his tangible concerns for creation.

HIs story has been told, and likely embellished, and then de-mythologized, then perhaps embellished again- we know that his father was a cloth merchant fond of all things French (hence his nickname for his son, ‘little frenchie’, became Francis- his real name was John).

Francis was coming of age during the mercantile revolution of the 12th century when men like his father, new money, were upending the social order. Francis, prior to his monastic life, fought in a local Italian war between the landowners and merchants. But part of the mercantile revolution that helped his dad become wealthy was the minting of coins and the accumulation of wealth. Couple this with recognized corruption in the church, and this was an era ripe for reform. And, in fact, we see groups like the Cathars and Waldensians as radical reformers put down by force.

For Francis, his call- which he believed came from Christ to restore his church- would be to reform from within the church, not as a radical. He was able to travel to Rome where, by means of coincidence and perhaps miraculous intervention, the young man and his few followers secured an audience with the Pope, who gave his blessing to the new order.

The order would blossom and schism, the issue of wealth and poverty becoming central to the group- some took extreme vows of poverty whereas others believed that holding common property was not against the vow of poverty. A young woman and follower of Francis named Clare (whose parents were on the other side of the town's economic divide) would join Francis, and the so-called “Poor Clares” would be the second order of St. Francis. He would authorize a third order, or “Tertiaries” who would take a vow but remain in their secular vocations.

He would travel to Egypt during the 5th crusade wherein he would meet with Sultan- there are stories as to what happened, but no surviving contemporary sources.

His fame was unwanted, he shunned the opportunity to “grow” an order or stamp the order with his own personality. What we have from the St. today are a handful of letters, will and testament, rules for the order and a few devotional pieces and prayers. His “peace prayer” begins “Lord make me an instrument of your peace, where there is hatred, let me sow love, where there is injury, pardon…” 

There are today Anglican Franciscans and Lutheran Franciscans, and you might remember Rich Mullins wrote “Canticle of the Plains”- a musical about Francis and had a band called “the Kid Brothers of St. Frank.”

St. Francis of Assisi was the unwitting celebrity- the image of the imitation of Christ, and beloved founder of a movement that sought to reform the excesses of the church and remains a symbol of peace worldwide… also a lawn ornament; I’ve never seen Augustine in cast stone in a garden.

His feast day is tomorrow, despite dying on this, the 3rd of October in 1226 (why the disparity? Blame St. Bonaventure, or he died after sundown, so.. technically….)

 

The last word for today is from the daily lectionary and Galatians 3:

23 Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. 24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

  

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 3rd of October 2024, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man in proximity to the Brewers, who could be done by the time this show is out… He is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man switching temporary allegiance to the Padres and any other team that can beat the Dodgers- I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.