Five Franciscans on path to sainthood

Pope Benedict XVI has advanced the sainthood causes of 16 of the faithful - including 5 Franciscans.

The list was released after the Pope met with Cardinal Angelo Amato, head of the Vatican’s office for the causes of saints, December 10.

The New Blesseds include:

Servant of God Marie Clare of the Child Jesus (nee Libania do Carmo Galvao Meixa de Moura Telles e Albuquerque), Portuguese foundress of the Franciscan Hospitaller Sisters of the Immaculate Conception (1843-1899);

Servant of God Antonio (Miguel Faundez Lopez), Spanish professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor (1907-1936), killed during religious persecution in Spain;

Servant of God Bonaventura (ne Baltasar Mariano Munoz Martinez) Spanish cleric of the Order of Friars Minor (1912-1936), killed during religious persecution in Spain;

Servant of God Pedro Sanchez Barba (1895-1936), Spanish priest of the Third Order, killed during religious persecution in Spain;

Servant of God Fulgencio Martinez Garcia (1911-1936), Spanish priest of the Third Order, killed during religious persecution in Spain.

The others whose causes were advanced included a bishop declared a saint: Blessed Guido Maria Conforti, who founded the Pious Society of St. Francis Xavier for Foreign Missions, the Xaverian missionaries.

Declared Blesseds were Servant of God Francesco Paleari, Italian priest of the "Cottolengo" Institute (1863-1939); Servant of God Anna Maria Janer Anglarill, Spanish foundress of the Institute of Sisters of the Holy Family of Urgell (1800-1885); Servant of God Dulce (nee Maria Rita Lopes Pontes), Brazilian religious of the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God (1914-1992); and Servant of God Alois Andritzki, German diocesan priest who died in the concentration camp of Dachau (1914-1943).

The new Venerables are Servant of God Antonio Palladino, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of Dominican Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (1881-1926); Servant of God Bechara (Selim Abou-Mourad), Lebanese religious of the Basilian Salvatorian Order of the Melkites (1853-1930); Servant of God Maria Elisa Andreoli, Italian foundress of the Congregation of Reparatrix Sisters Servants of Mary (1861-1935); and Servant of God Maria Pilar of the Sacred Heart (Maria Pilar Solsona Lamban), Spanish religious of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary, Religious of Pious Schools (1881-1966).

Brothers and Sisters in heaven, please pray for us!

St. Francis on "weeds"

"And they ought to rejoice when they converse with mean and despised persons, with the poor and the weak, with the infirm and lepers, and with those who beg in the streets." - From the Earlier Rule of St. Francis.

Thus "Brother Ass" calls for Franciscans to go among the "weeds" of the world.

Franciscan diapers

Sometimes things converge in mysterious ways.

Yesterday morning, the local daily had an article about a new diaper service that will provide - and clean - cloth diapers. It will be the first such company operating locally in more than a decade.

My three daughters were patrons of the previous company. They outgrew diapers, and though there's likely not any connection, the company went out of business in 1998.

I always considered cloth diapers - even with the cleaning needed - more environmental than the landfill-clogging disposables. But for many families, washing cloth diapers themselves was not a practical option. I am happy to see this new service.

As a Franciscan, I always try to be conscious of the environment. After all, St. Francis is the Patron Saint of the environment.

The environment was one of the issues that occurred to me as I read about this new diaper company.

Last night, I attended my Secular Franciscan meeting. We were discussing several of his writings including the Canticle of Brother Sun - his great song in praise of creation. I noted that I had been listening to a discussion of the Gospel of Mark in which Jesus' commission to the Disciples was "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation."

Preach to all creation - not just men and women. Think of Francis preaching to the birds, or St. Anthony preaching to the fish.

Part of Franciscan spirituality is awareness of, appreciation for, and care for all of creation. That's what environmentalism is.

That means being conscious of how we pollute as a society and individually, and seeking ways to reduce our negative impact on the environment. That means being aware of global warming - not the "straw man" extremist position that's often used to help dismiss the idea, but the actual verifiable changes that are taking place - and looking for ways we can help reduce the speed with which it is happening. That means trying to preserve nature where we can - planting trees, not using poisons on our lawns, driving less, setting aside lands for parks and nature preserves, and more - though keeping in mind human needs as well.

You have to be reasonable about environmentalism - but you have to be conscious of it.

For some families, cloth diapers might be a good way to start.

Using such diapers certainly seems to me to be a more Franciscan way.

Franciscan Saint - St. Roch

It's Sunday, so feast days get superceded.

Too bad. Today is the Feast of St. Roch, a secular Franciscan who helped take care of people with the plague. According to one story, he got the plague himself and went off into the woods to die, but a dog brought him food and kept him alive long enough to recover. He later died in prison.

Many images of him include a dog, and he is the patron saint of dogs.

Maggie might just wag her tail for him, even if we are not celebrating his feast this year.

St. Francis and haiku

Given his love of nature, his simplicity, his poetic nature, and his mysticism, I wonder if St. Francis of Assisi would have appreciated or even written haiku.

Of course, haiku was not developed until long after he was dead. The form would certainly seem to lend itself to Franciscan spirituality. Adele Kenny, a member of the Secular Franciscan Order, wrote this one:

April snow-
the lightness of the Host
in my hand

(published in Frogpond, No. 3, 1998)