St Francis Of Assisi Quotes

“Preach the Gospel, use words when necessary.”
― St. Francis of assisi

“The rich fop Francis of Assisi was bored all his life―until he fell in love with Christ and gave all his stuff away and became the troubadour of Lady Poverty.”
― Peter Kreeft, Jesus-Shock

“The servants of God who had been a besieged garrison became a marching army; the ways of the world were filled as with thunder with the trampling of their feet and far ahead of that ever swelling host went a man singing; as simply he had sung that morning in the winter woods, where he walked alone.”
― G.K. Chesterton, St. Francis of Assisi

“Preach the Gospel, use words when necessary.”
― St, Francis of Assisi

“Había en Rivotorto dos árboles independientes que habían crecido muy alto: la pobreza y la fraternidad. Pero había una flor que brillaba con colores propios: la alegría.”
― Ignacio Larrañaga, Brother Francis of Assisi

“Es una constante en la historia de las almas: cuando un alma ha tenido una vivencia fortísima, se siente incapaz de trasvasar el contenido a las palabras, y para expresarse, acude instintivamente a las alegorías.”
― Ignacio Larrañaga, Brother Francis of Assisi

“It took me five minutes of awkward silence to come up with an answer, but upon careful consideration, I told her that my perfect job would entail spending the day in a cushiony room, napping with baby animals. Maybe they had been abandoned by their mothers of left by the side of the road; whatever their situation, it would be my job to keep them company and pet them and generally give them a warm motherly vibe. When they wanted to play and roll around on the floor, I would do that with them, and then when they got tired, they could fall asleep in the crook of my arm or snuggled in my blouse. And sometimes I would give them a warm bottle, just like in all the nature specials. But they would definitely have to be baby animals. I wasn't about to get scratched or nipped or anything - I'm no St. Francis.”
― Samantha Bee, I Know I Am, But What Are You?

“When people tell me they don't believe in God, I usually ask, "What God don't you believe in?" They invariably go on to describe a God who is judgmental, vengeful, overbearing, unloving, or whimsical. "Oh, I don't believe in that God, either," I say.”
― Jon M. Sweeney, When Saint Francis Saved the Church

“Where Francis self-consciously modeled his actions after the Jesus he met in the Gospels, many later saints read accounts of earlier saints like Francis in order to chart their paths and make their decisions according to what the blessed are supposed to do.”
― Jon M. Sweeney, When Saint Francis Saved the Church

“One way to express Francis's approach is to say that his life was focused on orthopraxy (right action) over orthodoxy (right belief).... The Gospel was not something to believe as much it was a vocation to a changed life.”
― Jon M. Sweeney, When Saint Francis Saved the Church

“It is also instructive to pause and consider what Francis did not speak about. Nowhere in his writings does he ever mention his mother, for instance. Only directly does he ever speak of his father.... He was— at least at some level— a disrespectful son; he believed that he couldn't ultimately respect his earthly and heavenly fathers, both.”
― Jon M. Sweeney, When Saint Francis Saved the Church

“Francis wanted a new kind of spiritual life that was somewhat unpredictable and without guarantees, putting him in less contact with religion and more contact with the living God.”
― Jon M. Sweeney, When Saint Francis Saved the Church

“He responded to each person he met as if he were already a friend.”
― Jon M. Sweeney

“With the help of the Gospel, which he began to listen to carefully, Francis began to break down the barriers to friendship inherent in his old worldview. Every person, he began to see, was at the most basic root the same.”
― Jon M. Sweeney, When Saint Francis Saved the Church

“Francis's expressions of friendship came from his heart in an uncalculated way. We see Francis befriending without judging, noticing and responding to people's needs, and expressing love simply because that person has been created by a God who says that every created thing is good.”
― Jon M. Sweeney, When Saint Francis Saved the Church

“May the Lord give you peace," was Francis's most common remark to people. What a contrast this was to the apocalyptic fear-mongering of most other wandering spiritual groups in those days, and how different it was even from the doctrinaire preaching of the new Dominican Order.”
― Jon M. Sweeney, When Saint Francis Saved the Church

“In one of the most personal of all the writings of Francis we possess, this one from 1226, Francis writes a note of encouragement to his closest male friend, Leo...

"I am speaking to you, now, as a mother would, because all of the words we passed between us on the road together I am summarizing in this message and bit of advice. If you ever feel the need to for my counsel, I suggest that you turn to this letter.

"My advice is this : In whatever way you feel called to serve the Lord, and to make him happy, to follow his footprint and his poverty, do that, and do that with my blessing and with the blessing of the Lord God.

"If you ever want to come and see me, Leo, for the sake of your soul or for any other reason, come, by all means, come back to me.”
― Jon M. Sweeney, When Saint Francis Saved the Church

“Saint Francis of Assisi was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianity. He was inspired to lead a life of poverty and itinerant preaching. Saint Francis reminds us that “It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.”
― Roger Macdonald Andrew, Forgive: Finding Inner Peace Through Words of Wisdom