The spiritual journey of Francis of Assisi begins and finds its roots in the Gospel. It all began in the humble and disused church of San Damiano where he heard a voice coming from the Crucifix. The voice not only moved him to action, that of repairing the church, but it also engraved an indelible mark on his heart. In this first encounter with the Lord, Francis was marked spiritually by God's love, later manifested physically on his body with the stigmata, when his love for God and his creatures had reached its peak. “From that time on, compassion for the Crucified was impressed into his holy soul. And the wounds of the sacred Passion were impressed deep in his heart, though not yet on his flesh”.
As he proceeded, with fervour and fidelity, in the search for God in every creature and everything, he also confirmed how his desire progressed in other ways. This was demonstrated through his virtue, a life of prayer and personal austerity shown through love of poverty, and hard penances. It could also be seen through daily conversion he sought in humility and obedience.
Francis' love for Christ was real, manifested in his actions and not through empty words. “The power of love had made him a brother to other creatures;” His love for God was genuine and boundless. Francis' life was immersed in God's love, even during his conversion journey, and he deepened this love of his as time went on.
It can be said that Francis had allowed himself to be seduced by God's love just as it had happened to the prophet Jeremiah who stated: “You seduced me, Lord, and I was seduced; you were too strong for me, and you prevailed” (Jeremiah 20,7). For Francis, God had not only prevailed in seducing him but had given him a new vision of life and shown him a new path to follow. God had allowed Francis to have a personal encounter with the crucified Christ. an encounter that can be described as “corresponding to the three paths, those of purification, illumination, and mystical union.”
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