Monthly Spiritual Message, May 2026
PP Capuchin Spiritual Assistant
The formation of Secular Franciscans must not be confined to Franciscan sources alone. It must ultimately be seen as part of Catholic Spirituality as a whole, that is constantly being inspired by the Holy Spirit, whose work of love is to bring us more deeply into a personal relationship with Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the pattern of our life and the “Way” to the Father.[1]
Franciscan spirituality is firmly based on the Way of Love,[2] which finds its source especially in the Gospel of St Johnand his Letters.[3] This Way of Love is a spirituality that was passed down to St Augustine. In the opening paragraphs of his Confessions, St Augustine voices a fundamental human condition, speaking directly to God, he says: “You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” [4] St Augustine taught that we must cooperate with grace [5] If we wish to grow and be transformed in our spiritual life.
From Augustine, we must move to another Doctor of the Church St Bernard of Clairvaux, who gives us four degrees of love. The last degree, Bernard says, is almost impossible until we come to our resurrected glory. Experiences of it in this life are fleeting and a result of God’s special grace.
St Francis of Assisi brings something new to Catholic mysticism. Ultimately, we see this in his complete physical identification with the crucified Christ, as evidenced by the stigmata. Brother Thomas of Celano and certainly St Bonaventure, in his Major Life of St Francis, note that the stigmata were given to St Francis during his vision on Mt Alverna by an Angel of the highest order of Angels in heaven – a Seraphic Angel. This Angelic creature appeared to St Francis in the form of a crucified winged angel on a cross. It is not just that St Francis identified with Christ, but the quality of his love was seraphic. For this reason, St Francis is called Our Seraphic Father. In St Francis, we see the Way of Love transformed to the Seraphic level. We must be careful here; the image is that of the crucified, but the quality of love is seraphic.
St Bonaventure explains this[6] crucified angelic image by saying that when Jesus died on the cross, even the Seraphic Angels were stunned, because this was a secret hidden by God even from them. It was an act of God’s love so incredible in its reality that the Order of Seraphic Angels took this crucified image to themselves as their own. [7] It is this burning seraphic love which sets St Francis in a unique position as an “Alter Christus.” Again, we need to be careful because although we are following the “Way” of St Francis, he leads us into a personal relationship with our incarnated Lord Jesus Christ, the beloved Son of the Father.
For this reason, towards the end of his life, after his Rule of Life had already been approved, St Francis says that the Minister General of the Franciscan Order is the Holy Spirit and if we wish to enter into a spiritual life, a mystical life, we need to be obedient to the Holy Spirit so that we become free to make the journey into God as explained by St Bonaventure. p.p. Capuchin Spiritual
[1] “I am the way and the truth and the life” Gospel of St John 14:6. Jesus is not just a guide, but the pattern and path itself – the unique mediator between humanity and God.
[2] This is why the Secular Franciscan formation is described as “Going from Gospel to life and life to the Gospel.” It is good to remember the comment of St Jerome: “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ!”
[3] It is believed that St John wrote his Gospel first and then later his Letters, which emphasise divine love, light, truth, and the reality of Jesus as the Messiah, whom he experienced personally in a very deep friendship. “Something …which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have watched and touched with our own hands, the Word of life – this is our theme.”
[4] St Agustine of Hippo is known as the “Doctor of Grace.” The theology of grace is extremely important to understand in the spiritual life because Augustine clarifies that grace is the pure gift of God, through which, we are transformed into another Christ for our time and place. The Catechism of the Church put this clearly: The theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity are gifts from God which we must earnestly pray for, because we cannot achieve them by ourselves.
[5] In the Eastern Churches, grace is not separated from the Holy Spirit into sanctifying and actual grace. It is the Holy Spirit.
[6] (Please do not ask me for a reference!)
[7] It is said that the Order of Cheribim were so surprised at the Incarnation of Christ that they took the image of the Christ child as their image. (Again, I have no reference for this, sorry!)
The following picture and its explanation should be understood more as an endnote than a continuation of the above message. It proves that as early as 1320, the connection was made between St Francis and St John.
Madonna with St Francis and St John the Evangelist, c. 1320, Fresco in the Lower Church, San Francesco, Assisi.
This extraordinary Fresco by Pietro Lorenzetti (b. ca. 128, Siena, d. 1348, Siena) makes a powerful connection between St John and St Francis.
Lorenzetti has the Christ Child asking his Holy Mother which one he should bless, St John or St Francis. The Madonna, with her thumb, an interesting gesture, is pointing to St. Francis.
The perspective of the fresco would indicate that the Madonna’s gesture and the intensity of her gaze at the Christ child are discreetly hidden from St John, for whom she has the greatest affection.
St John, holding his Gospel Book in his left hand, is gesturing with his right hand that the blessing come to him. St John is depicted as a young man with his eyes fixed on Jesus.
St Francis reacts to the blessing by touching his left hand, bearing the stigmata, to his chest. It is a gesture of surprise and deep humility.
These images are set against the infinite gold reality of heaven, beyond the earthly realm. The composition of this fresco is one of the earliest examples of the “Santa Conversazione”, a painting that depicts a “Holy Conversation” going on in the scene. It is a very emotional and spiritually charged picture.
Pietro Lorenzetti was crucial in introducing naturalism into Sienese art, bridging the gap between Byzantine tradition and the emerging Renaissance style. Pietro’s work is characterised by dramatic emotional expression, refined detail, and a pioneering use of perspective, often showing the influence of the Florentine painter Giotto, who also worked on the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi. Pietro also had a brother, Ambrogio, who was also a painter. They worked together. It is believed that both died of the Black Death in 1348.[1]
Pietro completed this fresco for the Orsini Family.[2]
[1] The Black Death was a devastating plague pandemic that struck Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East between 1346 and 1353, arriving in England in 1348. Caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, it killed 30% to 60% of Europe’s population (roughly 25–50 million people), causing profound social, economic, and religious upheavals.
[2] Today, the Orsini family, whose origins go back to 998 A.D lays claim to having had 5 Popes and 34 Cardinals in their family history. Domenico Napoleone Orsini (born 1948), Prince Assistant to the Papal Throne, Duke of Gravina, Duke of Amalfi, Duke of Bracciano, and Count of Pitigliano, is recognised as the current head of the historic Italian Orsini family. They remain one of the most powerful families in Italy, although Forbes has not been able to calculate their wealth because today, they are a noble family rather than a contemporary business dynasty.
p.p. Capuchin Spiritual Assistant.
(Latin: pro procurationem, meaning “on behalf of”)
