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The
Life and Times of Francis of Assisi
Francis
Chooses “Lady Poverty”
Francis
Meets the Sultan
The
First Christmas Crèche
An
Ecologist before His Time
Suggestions
for Reading
Legend
of St Francis :
19. Stigmatization of St Francis
Giotto di Bondone, 1297-1300
Fresco, 270 x 230 cm
Upper Church, San Francesco, Assisi
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In
the Image of Jesus Christ
Early in
August 1224, Francis retired with three companions to mount La
Verna, there to keep a forty days fast in preparation for Michaelmas.
During this retreat, the sufferings of Christ became more than
ever the burden of his meditations; into few souls, perhaps, had
the full meaning of the Passion so deeply entered. It was on or
about the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross (14 September)
while praying on the mountainside, that he beheld the marvellous
vision of the seraph, as a result of which there appeared on his
body the visible marks of the five wounds of the Crucified, which,
says an early writer, had long since been impressed upon his heart.
Brother Leo, who was with St. Francis when he received the stigmata,
has left us in his note to the saint's autograph blessing, preserved
at Assisi, a clear and simple account of the miracle, which for
the rest is better attested than many another historical fact.
The saint's right side is described as bearing on open wound which
looked as if made by a lance, while through his hands and feet
were black nails of flesh, the points of which were bent backward.
After the
reception of the stigmata, Francis suffered increasing pains throughout
his frail body, already broken by continual mortification. For,
condescending as the saint always was to the weaknesses of others,
he was ever so unsparing towards himself that at the last he felt
constrained to ask pardon of "Brother Ass", as he called
his body, for having treated it so harshly.
He died surrounded
by his brothers, at the Portiuncula, Saturday, October 3rd, 1226.
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