On one occasion, Francis and marcio brothers went to a neighboring city to preach. After a day, they were all very hungry, so they begged for food along the street respectively. Marcio got some bread and food soon, because he was tall and well-behaved, but little Francis got. When they went back to the forest in front of the city together and laid down their food on the rocks by the stream, Francis thanked his heavenly father loudly and happily, but his companion marcio said gloomily, "Master, I don't understand why you said that we have all the rewards from heaven? We have no dining room, no meals, no bowls, no seats and no servants to serve us. We really have nothing. Francis replied, "This is the greatest wealth. Nothing is made by hand. Look! This beautiful forest, lovely stone table and clear flowing spring water are all gifts from heaven, and we really don't deserve them. Therefore, we should pray to our heavenly father to make us love holy poverty more. Francis Francis, who is dissolved in nature, has anecdotes. Apart from preaching, working, begging and caring for the poor and sick, Francis and his companions spent the rest of their time in the wilderness, meditating, praying and getting close to the creator. He often lives alone, fasting for weeks, even up to 40 days and nights. During this period, he must experience the close relationship between man and creature, man and creator from the surrounding natural environment. Francis's hometown valley is green and beautiful, coupled with his keen mind and love of writing poems, which makes him have a harmonious relationship with nature. His love for natural creatures far exceeds his romantic feelings. We can get a glimpse of his poems and some anecdotes, especially his poem Ode to the Sun, which has been sung for hundreds of years, which highlights his transparent heart of containing and caring for all things. He not only loves creatures, but also sees the eternal life running through them and realizes the interdependence between himself (man) and them.
He called the sun, wind and fire brothers and regarded the moon, stars, water and the earth as sisters. His respect for the sun and the earth seems to be higher than anything else. He called Mr. Sun Brother and his sister Earth Mother (in the environmental protection movement of the past 30 years, what people generally called Mother Nature or the earth probably came from this; It's just that environmentalists don't pay much attention to the respect or attention to the sun. We ordinary people don't all "look at death", let alone admit that we are related to death. But in Ode to the Sun, Francis also regards death as a sister and a blessing to eternal life.
In every living thing, in every natural pulse, Francis saw the image and blessing of the creator. He doesn't have the concepts of "recycling", "waste reduction" and "ecological conservation" of modern environmental protection movement, but he is completely dissolved in life, inanimate, death and eternity. He once told a group of birds, "The Creator gave you feathers to make clothes, wings to fly, everything you need, to make you nobler than others, and to make the fresh air your home. You don't plant or collect, but he supports you. Praise him with songs. The birds really listened quietly and sang according to his instructions.
He also tamed the evil wolf for the farmers on the way of preaching, and reached a peace agreement with the farmers with the wolf. Since then, the wolf has stopped hurting people and animals, and the villagers have raised it. Francis once released rabbits caught by hunters, and later rabbits became his good friends, but he never had the idea of keeping "pets". "Poverty" means not owning one thing, but embracing everything. He still brought the hare back to nature. He also picked up a passing bug and put it on the other side of the road to prevent passers-by from accidentally stepping on it and hurting its life. Francis did this not for atonement, for the afterlife, or for merit. He saw eternal value in all creation (living and inanimate). There is no ego, no practice and species discrimination, and there is no "is it useful?" How much is it worth? According to the judgment of economics, Francis has dissolved himself into everything in a state of "poverty" and nothing.
We will discuss his relationship with nature and his theological explanation of "poverty" in another article. Why you? It seems that we are back to the question at the beginning of the article. There are more and more people following Francis, but because of his poor health and because these newcomers are distributed in many countries in western Europe, many people don't say that they haven't seen him, and even more and more monks are skeptical about Francis's "poverty" belief and think that this will not work. When he and a group of companions went to the Muslim world in North Africa to preach, another group of monks began to establish "colleges", began to teach theology and began to have their own "houses"; When Francis returned from North Africa, he was furious and expelled these monks. However, the problem has not been solved. Because of the intervention of many popes and bishops, they don't think "absolute poverty" is feasible. Therefore, Francis's early rule based on biblical discourse was modified, and he was no longer the administrative director of the order, but only the spiritual leader.
On the contrary, after the death of Francis, the new leader regarded the monks who stuck to "poverty" as "heretics" and "rebels" and persecuted them greatly. Fortunately, Francis's early companions and followers are still trying to maintain the normal state of "poverty", especially Leo, Bernard, Giles, Angelo and other brothers, as well as Sister St. Claire and her poor Claire, who still maintain Francis's original beliefs and continue. In another chapter, we will discuss the deeds of these brothers and the influence of the holy Koran nuns on the Franciscans.
In addition to a large number of followers joining the ranks of "young monks", there are also women who give up secular life and become nuns. The holy Koran was the first one, and then there was the "poor Claire" nun. In addition to monks and nuns, there is a third kind of ordinary women. They still live a social life, but they also follow Francis's lessons. They don't take property, status and reputation as their life goals. They are willing to work, serve the community, take care of the poor and sick, and live a poor and natural life.
"Why you?" Marcio asked Francis, and he replied in his usual calm and cheerful tone, "Do you know why? ..... Because the creator in this world, I can't find a more useless, unworthy and guilty person to carry out his will. He chose me to humiliate those noble, rich, powerful, beautiful and intelligent people. Therefore, let people know that all goodness and glory do not come from people, but from the creator of all things. Francis was born in 1 182 and died in 1226 at the age of 44. He was born in a wealthy cloth dealer's family, but he lived in come to a bad end, lying on the stone floor of the originally restored Bo Timula Church. When he was young, he lived a romantic and flashy life, full of yearning for chivalry and liked to recite poems; At the age of 26, I realized the true meaning of "poverty". From then on, I put aside everything outside, cared about the poor and sick, preached the gospel of peace to all walks of life, and lived a free life dissolved in all things in nature. When the "sisters of death" approached, he said, "Welcome! Because through you, I can enter eternity. "When he died, his mouth was humming a poem.
Lord! Let me be your peace-making tool;
Where there is hatred, spread friendship;
Please forgive me for offending;
Promote unity where there are differences;
Where there are doubts, inspire confidence;
Where there are mistakes, preach the truth;
Where there is disappointment, it evokes hope;
Spread happiness in sad places;
Where there is darkness, light radiates;
Holy teacher!
May I not ask for comfort from others, but only comfort from others;
Not asking for forgiveness, just asking for forgiveness;
Don't ask for the love of others, just ask for the love of others;
Because in giving, we get something;
When we forgive, we are forgiven;
When we die, we are born in eternity.