Francis is the patron of Catholic Action, as well as of animals, the environment, and his native Italy. We see his legacy in the wonderful chartiable work the Franciscans do all over the world today. In addition to the Prayer of St. Francis (also known as the “Peace Prayer of St....
"Two cities have been formed by two loves: the earthly by the lover of self, even to the contempt of God; the heavenly by the love of God, even to the contempt of self." St. Augustine, DE CIVITATE DEI, Book XIV, Chapter 28
Francis founded the Order of Friars Minor, commonly known as the Franciscans, which embraced humility, love for the poor, and care for creation. He saw all creatures as his brothers and sisters and famously preached to birds and animals, treating them as part of God’s family. Throughout h...
Philip, my glorious Advocate, teach me to look at all I see around me after thy pattern as the creatures of God. Let me never forget that the same God who made me made the whole world, and all men and all animals that are in it. Gain me the grace to love all God’s works for...
The hospital was run by a mixed-gendered order of Augustinian canons and canonesses, believed to be of the Priory of St Mary Overie, and provided shelter and treatment for the poor, sick, and homeless. Following a fire in the early 13th century, the hospital was relocated to a site on...
From late antiquity through theMiddle Ages, Christians usedprayerto contemplate both God’s omnipresence in the world and God in his essence. Thesoul’s ecstasy, or rapture, in contemplation of God was termed a “spiritual marriage” by St.Bernard of Clairvaux, the greatest mystical authority of...
the sick, prisoners, prostitutes, and soldiers; they also were often called upon toundertakethe controversial task of confessor to many of the royal and ruling families ofEurope. The society entered the foreignmissionfield within months of its founding as Ignatius sentSt. Francis Xavier, his most...