The Secret of St. Francis

Q U I C K S C A N

"God's overflowing goodness" is the key
How Francis responded to God's amazing goodness
What Francis Saw Behind the Veil of Creation

Many, many years ago—in the late 1950's—when I was a Franciscan seminarian at Duns Scotus College, our (now defunct) Franciscan house of philosophy near Detroit, Michigan, we had a visitor from Germany speak to us. He was an elderly white-haired friar, whose name I no longer remember, but whose message flames on warmly in my heart like a Thanksgiving Day fireplace. That message is the springboard for my musing today. And it ties in closely with the Thanksgiving holiday we in the United States are about to celebrate (November 27).

In his talk the gracious friar, in a German accent, was trying to pinpoint the real secret behind the spirit of St. Francis. In his opinion, the secret was the "overflowing goodness of God." All I remember is that the speaker kept repeating this phrase. He emphasized that St. Francis' admiration for this quality of God best explains the saint's charism and that of his followers. Ever since receiving that insight some 45 years ago, my intuition has kept telling me that, yes, the "overflowing goodness of God," as far as I am concerned, is the secret of St. Francis. I have had opportunities to test the intuition against my own experiences of Franciscanism—as well as of real, live Franciscan friars—in many countries around the globe, and this intuition, received from a white-haired friar from Germany, continues to ring true.

"God's overflowing goodness" is the key

Now I am a white-haired friar myself, enthused about this message and trying my best to share a bit of it with you. For me, St. Francis' keen sense of the "overflowing goodness of God" is the wellspring of this saint's spirituality and the clue to almost everything about him: his spirit of joy even in poverty, his great respect for nature and the whole created world, his love for the poor, his generosity, his optimism, his poetry and readiness to sing God's praises, his affectionate style of prayer, his burning love of the crucified Jesus—and what we might call today his exuberant "attitude of gratitude." In view of our big national (U.S.) Thanksgiving holiday, coming up in two days, let me say that St. Francis' exemplary spirit of thanksgiving also flows from the saint's understanding of God's amazing goodness. May that insight enhance our own response of gratitude toward the bountiful blessings God has bestowed upon all of our lives.

In an earlier Friar Jack E-spiriation, I have referred to the following, very formative, experience Francis had while deep in solitary prayer during his early years of conversion: Francis, in a vision, saw Christ on the Cross looking at him with such an outpouring of love that—as St. Bonaventure described it in his biography of St. Francis—Francis' "soul melted." From that day on, the cross became for Francis the most dramatic expression of "God's overflowing goodness."

How Francis responded to God's amazing goodness

Some of the above ideas, including St. Francis' special vision, have already been examined in my book Lights: Revelations of God's Goodness (St. Anthony Messenger Press). The final part of this musing is taken directly from Lights:

[After having the special vision of Christ on the cross], Francis would often fall into tears as if that experience of God's incredible love and goodness were forever branded on his soul. The God Francis experienced was the God who chose to be poor—who poured out everything out of love for humankind and held back absolutely nothing. This caused the little saint to go about weeping and proclaiming that "Love is not loved"—that God is madly in love with human beings and we don't respond. This lavish, unconditional love is the major revelation that Francis saw shining forth from the Word made flesh and indeed throughout all of creation.

Francis' infatuation with God's goodness is reflected time and again in his exuberant prayers. In one prayer, he suddenly starts repeating, if not babbling, the word good, as if intoxicated by it. He prays:

All powerful, all holy, most high and supreme God, sovereign good, all good, every good, you who alone are good, it is to you we must give all praise, all glory, all thanks, all honor, all blessing; to you we must refer all good always. Amen. ("The Praises Before the Office")

The atheist looks behind the face of reality and sees a black void. The agnostic looks and sees a big question mark. Most of us who consider ourselves believers in God try to see something good and hopeful behind the mask of reality, but our vision is often dimmed by doubt. Francis of Assisi looks behind the mask and sees amazing grace—the overflowing goodness of God. That is why this poet-saint goes about creation filled with joy, like a minstrel singing God's praises.

I've tried to capture Francis' faith-vision in the following lines:

What Francis Saw Behind the Veil of Creation

When Francis looked behind the veil of blue sky
and glowing sun, he saw God's unconditional love.
If Francis, in his mind's eye, were to scratch
through the surface of an apple, a rose
or a butterfly's wing,
he would fall to his knees and cry out:
"Holy, holy, holy,"
for he would see there the blinding beauty
of God's overflowing goodness.
Above all, when Francis gazed behind the figure
of his crucified God, behind the blood and thorns,
he would only weep and weep and weep!
For there he saw the roaring furnace of God's love.

Send your feedback to friarjack@franciscanmedia.org.

A Message From Friar Jack

Welcome! I hope you'll enjoy all of the news about what's happening at AmericanCatholic.org, as well as my "musings." By the way, I am a real Franciscan friar. You can find out more about me here.

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