St. Francis, A Legacy of Love

St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) was a Roman Catholic friar who founded the Order of the Franciscans. On July 16, 1228 he was canonized by Pope Gregory IX. He is known as the patron saint of animals, birds, the environment, and Italy.

Born the son of a prosperous Italian merchant he renounced his material wealth in seeking greater spiritual fullfillment. Feeling a compelling need to help those less fortunate than himself, he nursed the sick and showed great charity toward the poor.

His compassion and concern did not just extend to humanity, however, but to all God's creatures. Seeing the glory of God in all creation, he believed that we had a spiritual connection with all beings and expressed in his teachings a duty to protect and appreciate nature as both the stewards of God's creation and as creatures ourselves. Francis saw even in an insect the sacredness of life.

He viewed himself as part of creation not separated from it. He saw the world of God and nature as being one. He addressed animals as "sisters and brothers," as equals not as subjects to be dominated. Many of the stories which surround his life express his love for animals. His reverence for Nature is recounted in The 'Fioretti" (The "Little Flowers"), a collection of legends and folk-lore in which he refers to the birds as sisters, and instructs the towns people to feed a wolf in the city of Gubbio. Francis also wrote a 'Canticle of the Creatures,' which is an ode to God's living things, "All praise to you, Oh Lord, for all these brother and sister creatures."

Legend has it that on his deathbed, St. Francis thanked his donkey for carrying and assisting him throughout his life, and his donkey wept.

It is now customary for Catholic churches to hold ceremonies honoring animals around his feast day of Oct. 4. The Blessing of the Pets is one such ceremony. Thousands of people bring their pets including hamsters, dogs, cats, birds, and reptiles to be blessed with a prayer inspired by St. Francis. At Franciscan churches, a friar with brown robe and white cord (looking very much like Francis himself) welcomes each animal with a special prayer for his well being. This blessing usually goes like this:

"Blessed are you, Lord God, maker of all living creatures. You called forth fish in the sea, birds in the air and animals on the land. You inspired St. Francis to call all of them his brothers and sisters. We ask you to bless this pet. By the power of your love, enable it to live according to your plan. May we always praise you for all your beauty in creation. Blessed are you, Lord our God, in all your creatures! Amen."

St. Francis inspires us with his message of peace toward all humanity. He was convinced that war and violence were wrong. He called upon us to turn from weapons of violence to acts of love.

However, he also inspires us with a deeper awakening to our spirituality, and that is our responsibility to treat other beings with concern for their well being as they, too, are our brethren and we have a common relationship to our Creator.

I think if he was alive today, he would be appalled at the numbers of people who are still killed in wars and the senseless acts of violence committed against our fellow man. I also think he would be greatly disturbed by the manner in which billions of animals are treated in industries all over the world in our present day, and he would become an active participant in changing attitudes which allow this exploitation to continue.

Most of the food industry today involves the cruel confinement of millions of animals on factory farms in crates so small they can't even turn around. Deprived of fresh air and pasture, they are denied even the slightest freedom to engage in any natural behaviors. The fur industry involves keeping animals in cramped cages, dying by electrocution or slow agonizing deaths in steal jaw traps. Sadly, this industry also sustains the annual slaughter of hundreds of thousands of baby seals in Canada so that these animals pelts can be used by the fashion industry just for vanity's sake.

The deliberate inflcting of pain and death on animals used in spectacles for people's entertainment or profit such as bullfighting and dog fighting still goes on in many places. Canned hunting in which people pay money to shoot "wild" animals (many who are tame) in small enclosed areas at close range is prevalent in many states across our nation.

Could it ever be considered worthy of our humanity to cause terror and suffering to another sentient being in order to satiate a primitive desire to dominate over him? Is this a measure of superiority- to subdue a creature by tormenting him or taking its life? It comes at a terrible price, our humanity.

The use of animals in painful and, often times, needless experiments must also be questioned on ethical grounds in our duty to treat God's creatures with much more consideration.

Even companion animals are yet regarded as disposable items by far too many people with the tragic results of four or five million of them ending up homeless or abandoned and having to be euthanized at shelters. There are many who die because they are abused and neglected. Then there's the commercial exploitation ot thousands of these animals in puppy mills who never have the opportunity to be loved or cared for. In squalid cages they are kept, only to churn out puppies for unscrupulous breeders who profit from their misery. With no intrinsic value placed on their lives, many are shot or killed when they no longer can produce puppies.

It has been almost a millennia since St. Francis graced this planet, and yet have we made much progress in conquering these primitive instincts of aggression or the desire to subdue at the expense of our humanity? I believe that our real strength comes from our spiritual nature in showing compassion, tolerance, and a deeper understanding of our humanity.

We have the capacity to change, but we must realize the importance of the actions that we take today. I believe that ultimately if we are to have a lasting peace in our world that we must include all God's creatures in our vision of mercy and compassion.

"Until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things, man will not himself find peace."

"If man is not to stifle his human feelings, he must practice kindness toward animals, for he who is cruel to animals, becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."

- Albert Schweitzer

Oh Chanticlear,
where do you hide
from those who say;
"You are only wild,
an animal all the while...

Rescue me from the lofty sneer
of those who would regard you with
such disdain-
the ones whose hands are blood-stained,
a look into their own hearts
lies the truth from which they so abstain.

But Chanticlear
your heart is pure
more than those I fear
who have such artifice;
and one must ask if they be sincere
for whom they choose to bestow a tear.

With different shape and form
you have dared to offend;
the pain and suffering
that they would rend
on such a creature
they must villify...
with self-serving need to justify
their superior place
but for virtue,
I'm afraid that they have forsake;
do you not understand their idle claim...
after all they belong to the human race?

Just a fox
they say...
as they set cruel device
for your lovely fur
only for vanity sake
your life they spur.
No they are not your superiors,
nor even your equals,
with your heart so pure.

Oh Chanticlear,
for those who worship Him
can they not see his Hand in you
as he wrought them;
and affliction brought to them
who are blind to what is true...
indeed, my little friend,
the fate of the world may rest with you.

-Marie Lawrence

In a vast landscape
as figures run to escape
annihilation-
their faces blurred
as they run toward each other
in desperation-
cries become one,
and their destiny becomes linked...

in a prism of sunlight
where a thousand fragmented faces,
and muted cries
become indistinct...

in the eyes of a child
as he searches frantically
for a loved one near
stumbling through a path of broken bodies
his cries fall on those who cannot hear...

in a sea of humanity
as it cries for a final plea...
under the last setting sun
on the shores of eternity...

in the rippled waters of an ancient
stream where the cries of men are
mixed with rushing water,
in the silence of a moment...
I see a reflection of you in me.

-Marie Lawrence

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

There's a ladybug queen
who lives in a garden of roses,
of the flowers she takes special care;
a gown of petals and leaves she wears
from lovely roses grown there.

With gesture and espression so serene,
she is composed
of gentle concern for all creation;
she smiles at all the animals
living by a simple creed
to help those who are in need...

With her lovely
song she charms
and protects all from harm.

She plants the seed
as the desire to do a kind deed
to all those who come-
with her healing touch,
hate and fear disappear
without a trace...
in this magical place.

Enveloped in this aura of beauty
as they breathe in this
fragrant air,
those that are in despair
are born anew
in the light
of her care;

Keener are their senses,
with greater clarity is their vision-
they now see with more
accuracy than they ever have before,
as those who once had little regard for other life...
are now transformed.

They leave now,
as they embrace all creatures
great and small,
with a greater sense of humanity
and a kinder disposition toward all.

- Marie Lawrence