While it isn't a feast day on the Roman calendar, September 17 is kept as the Feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi by the members of the Franciscan family. According to St. Bonaventure's Major Legend, St. Francis found himself in prayer on top of Mt. LaVerna a few days after the Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross. While he was praying, he had a vision of a six-winged seraph which carried with it the image of man who was crucified on a cross. When the vision disappeared, marks that looked like nails appeared on Francis' hands and feet. There was also a wound in his side as if he had been pierced with a lance.
When he consulted with the brothers about whether he should hide these wounds, Brother Illuminato replied that Francis needed to recognize that the wounds that he bore were not for him alone. It was his contention that God had blessed him with these marks in order to lead others to Christ, to impress upon people the love that is made evident by Christ's dying on the cross. Francis agreed to let the wounds show, but he refused to tell anyone what the Seraph had said to him in the vision.
Other biographers tell us that Francis was asking God to allow him to feel some sign that he had indeed been forgiven for the sins of his youth. Though his conversion from his sinful lifestyle had been complete and radical, he had not been convinced that God had truly forgiven him. He prayed that he would be able to feel some of the pain that Jesus endured for our sins as a sign that God had accepted his contrition and his penance.
All of us, no matter what our walk of life, have some of the same doubts. Does God really forgive and forget? Is it possible to let go of the past and walk without the burden of sin into our future? Does God's mercy cover all our sins? On Sunday, our Holy Father answered many of these questions in his Sunday audience before praying the Angelus. Like the father who welcomed his son home, like the shepherd who searches out a lost sheep, like the woman who finds the lost coin, God rejoices when we confess our sins with sorrow. God's mercy can never be exhausted.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator