St. Francis of Assisi: The Patron of the Heart of Youth Apostles (Part I)

Imitation of Christ by Cigoli, 1699

Eucharist, Prayer, and Mary

In every saint there is repeated in some way the wonder of Mt. Tabor, when God, for a brief moment, lifts the veil that conceals his kingdom of supernatural, mysterious glory and holiness from fallen men, when he allows one of the true followers of Christ to blossom among us.  Perhaps in no other of the multitude who stand ‘in white garments before the throne of the Lamb’ is this fact more strikingly borne out than in St. Francis of Assisi.

Dietrich von Hildebrand, 1963/1993, pg. 27

St. Francis of Assisi was born Giovanni Bernardino but called Francisco by his father who had a particular fascination with France.  Son of a wealthy merchant in Turin, Italy in the Middle Ages, Francis was well-liked and known for his revelry and love for life among his friends.  Through a series of transformative events, this man became one of the most-well known saints by living in complete humility.  He is often referred to as the most “Christ-like” saint.  He is known in our Church for having a particularly radical conversion and discipleship to Christ.  Considered to be one of the holiest saints who ever lived, we admire him deeply as Youth Apostles.  

Why was he selected as the patron of our heart?  What is a “heart” for that matter?  Of an individual person?  Of a community?  For now, let us say that the heart is the place of interpersonal affection toward God, neighbor, and self as understood by the Catholic philosophers Dietrich von Hildebrand and Peter Kreeft.   Not coincidentally, Von Hildebrand was a 3rd order Franciscan and wrote an entire book about the inspiration of St. Francis of Assisi (1963/1993), and he also makes mention of him in his book called The Heart: An Analysis of Human and Divine Affectivity: 

“When we read the writings of St. Francis of Assisi or study his life, the role of contrition, of holy joy, of his “being moved” to the deepest stratum of his soul by God’s bounty and by the passion of Christ, of his ardent love of Christ and of his love love of neighbor, his tender love even extended to animals, cannot escape us” (D. Von Hildebrand, 1965, pg. 17).

The heart speaks with a voice that is not reducible to what we “think” or what we “do.”  There is something “felt” but that is not reducible to feelings we share with animals.  It is a response to the infinite value of the person (see Dignitas Infinita, 2024).  Among these kinds of distinctly human affections are gratitude, contrition for and abhorrence of sins, sorrow with Christ in sorrow, and joy with Christ in joy (Von Hildebrand, 1965; Kreeft, 2020, 2024).  If interpersonal affection, which is exemplified by love and charity, is the intentionality of our hearts, then how does St. Francis of Assisi inspire our individual hearts and our communal hearts.  That same question was posed and answered by the community’s second General Director, Fr. Jack Peterson, YA in 2009: 

Why would the founders of Youth Apostles claim St. Francis from among our three patrons as the “heart” of our community? ... He was completely in love with Christ and that love burst forth into the world around him. We cite in our Statutes four particular loves of Francis of Assisi that inform our hearts and lives as Youth Apostles: the Eucharist, prayer, simplicity, and a deep sense of care for others (Peterson, 2009).

From the heart of Francis, Fr. Jack derives four great loves – the Eucharist, prayer, simplicity (“Lady Poverty” and the Saint referred to “her”) and the human person.  Each of these four loves of the heart of a Youth Apostle can be traced back to a basic affection of the heart:

• Affection of gratitude = Eucharist (“Thanksgiving”)

• Affections of compassion (suffering with others) and delight in others = deep sense of care for others

• Affections of wonder and awe (fear of the Lord; worship from the heart) = prayer

• Affections of single-heartedness and poverty of spirit (child-like affection toward God) = simplicity

If we understand how God wants to elevate and divinize our affections, we come to see how Francis’ affections model for us how to deeply “feel” with the Divine Affectivity of the Sacred Heart.

Love of God: Eucharist & Prayer

St. Francis of Assisi is the patron of our heart because of the deepest desires of our heart – love of God and neighbor – and this begins with his central focus on the Eucharist.  Fr. Jack shares the following: 

At a time in the history of the Church when it was not common to attend Mass on a daily basis, St. Francis was committed to the practice whenever possible … Francis was filled with joy when Pope Honorius III granted the Friars Minor permission to have Mass at the hermitages on an altar that they could transport with them from place to place. From that point on, Francis regularly brought one of the friars who was a priest with him on those journeys [since Francis remained a deacon]. The Eucharist was a common discussion topic with the friars. Biographer Johannes Jörgensen states that at the community’s annual Chapter meetings: “Most often and most willingly he spoke on his favorite theme—reverence for the sacrament of the altar...” (Saint Francis of Assisi, p. 152). The first of Francis’ famous Admonitions states: “The first thing that Francis thought of enforcing upon his disciples and of placing deep within their hearts was to have great reverence and great love for the God revealed to the eye of faith in the Holy Eucharist.” [Ibid.] When Francis made the decision to start sending the brothers out on mission trips, he chose for himself to go to France “because there, more than in all other Catholic countries, they have the devotion to our Lord’s Body.” From the start of our [Youth Apostle] community, the Eucharist has been at the center of our spirituality. How fitting that Francis, whose love for the Eucharist was extraordinary, would be considered the ‘heart’ of our community (Peterson, 2009)! 

It could not be stated more clearly that St. Francis inspires and prays for us to be more devoted to the Eucharistic Christ. This is the signature form that our love for God takes. 

From St. Francis’ Letter to the Entire Order:

“Let everyone be struck with fear, let the whole world tremble,
and let the heavens exult when Christ, the Son of the living God, is present on the altar in the hands of a priest! 
O wonderful loftiness and stupendous dignity! 
O sublime humility! 
O humble sublimity! 
The lord of the universe, God and the Son of God, so humbles himself that for our salvation he hides himself under an ordinary piece of bread! 
Brothers, look at the humility of God, and pour out your hearts before him! 
Humble yourselves that you may be exalted by him! 
Hold nothing back of yourselves for yourselves, 
that he who gives himself totally to you may receive you totally!” 
– (#26-29)

Youth Apostles are called to center their lives around the Eucharist and to encourage young people to do the same – to accept the great gift of God coming down to us under such humble and simple appearances.  As one Youth Apostle put it: the question is not “how do I fit Mass into my day?” but rather “how do I arrange my day around the Mass?”

In the same Letter to the Entire Order, he advises his brothers to pray the Divine Office; read Scripture, and to pray from the heart.  The Saint certainly practiced what he preached.  He modeled constant prayer from the time he started following Christ.  Everything became an opportunity for prayer.  His incarnational spirituality allowed for this in which he saw how God speaks to our hearts through beauty in creation and through persons who are objectively beautiful because they are made in the image and likeness of Beauty Himself (see God is Beauty by Wojtyla, 1962).

A related, yet seemingly disjointed element of his spirituality was asceticism - severe penances on his body, including observance of St. Michael’s Lent (Aug. 15 - Sep. 29).  Yet even this came from a heart filled with love for God and abhorrence at his own sins.  For him, it was love that spurred on his penances.  After reflecting on his penances towards the end of his life, he apologized to his body (“Brother Ass”) for being too harsh at times.  Francis knew that the body was good because Jesus became man – hence the apology.  This ties back to his Eucharistic mentality – God became incarnate!  Though not perfect analogies, it is like an author becoming a character in his own story or a toy maker becoming one of his toys.  Francis’ devotion to the Incarnation is known especially in the tradition that he created the first Nativity scene during the Christmas season in order to draw others into the mystery of God being born of the Virgin Mary.

Mary

St. Francis of Assisi had an incredible love for Mary, which deepened his love for Christ. In his words, “… it was she who made the Lord of majesty our brother”, which offers a wonderful mantra for Youth Apostles. With this great love for her, Francis honored Mary as the “Queen of the Friars Minor” under the title of the Virgin Mother of God—paralleling our own devotion to Mary of the Annunciation through the daily recitation of the Angelus.  We learn from Francis on how to rely on her as a powerful intercessor:

According to a pious legend, one day St. Francis of Assisi had a vision in which he saw his friars trying to reach Christ by a ladder that was red and very steep. After climbing a few rungs, they would suddenly fall back. Our Lord then showed St. Francis another ladder, white and much less steep, at whose summit appeared the Blessed Virgin, and He said to Francis: “Advise your sons to go by the ladder of My Mother” (Capuchins.org).

With this great love for her, St. Francis chose the patroness and the “Queen of the Friars Minor” to be our Lady under the title of the Virgin Mother of God. Is this not parallel to our devotion as Youth Apostles to Mary of the Annunciation through our daily recitation of the Angelus? It was specifically at the event of the Annunciation that she became the Virgin Mother of God.  This focus on Mary’s “mothering” is a focus on the Incarnation of God – God becoming man, becoming flesh, and ultimately becoming the flesh that we eat in the guise of bread.  Mary of the Annunciation models our reception of the Eucharist.  As she carried Him in her womb, so we carry Him within ourselves when we eat the Bread of Life and drink the Blood of the New Covenant.  St. Francis continuously points to the physical reality of God’s condescension through the Virgin Mother of God.  Youth Apostles are called to a spirituality of perpetual contemplation of this mystery, but the Saint invites all of us as Christians to contemplate this mystery, as well.

References

Peterson, J. (2009). Director’s Corner.
Capuchins.org
Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (2024). Dignitas Infinita [Declaration on Human Dignity]
Kreeft, P.J. (2020). The Wisdom of the Heart.
Kreeft, P.J. (2024). Why Does Everything Come in Threes?
Wojtyla, K. (1962). God is Beauty.
Von Hildebrand, D. (1963/1993). Image of Christ: Saint Francis of Assisi.
Von Hildebrand, D. (1965/2007). The Heart: An Analysis of Human and Divine Affectivity.