Impressive moment

St Francis repeatedly withdrew to solitary places to immerse himself in contemplation of the Gospel in silence.

800 years ago, in 1224, St Francis experienced a crisis. He was no longer responsible for the community he had founded. Enormous health problems had been troubling him since his journey to the Orient. He was no longer able to maintain his typical travelling preacher lifestyle.
So from mid-August to the end of September, he wanted to fast for forty days on La Verna in order to reorient himself, to listen to the will of God and to recognise the next step.

On the occasion of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, he immersed himself in contemplating the Passion of Jesus. On 17 September, he had a powerful vision. His biographer Thomas of Celano describes it as follows:

‘Then he saw in the face of God a man hovering above him, resembling a seraphim, who had six wings and was pinned to the cross with his hands outstretched and his feet together. Two wings rose above his head, two were stretched out for flight and finally two covered his entire body. When the blessed servant of the Most High saw this, he was filled with the greatest amazement, but could not explain what this vision meant. Great delight pervaded him, and still deeper joy seized him at the kind and gracious gaze with which he saw himself looked upon by the Seraph, whose beauty was indescribable; but his hanging on the cross and the bitterness of his suffering filled him with horror. And so he rose up, sad and joyful at the same time, as it were, and bliss and sorrow alternated within him.’

It must have been particularly impressive and must have stayed with him for a long time. Francis lived for two more years. It was a time of suffering for him. The vision of La Verna may have helped him to get through it. At the very least, it strengthened him so much that he found the strength once again to preach the Gospel to the people while riding on a donkey.

On his deathbed, it was revealed that Francis bore the stigmata of Christ on his body. Later biographers combined the two events: the vision on La Verna and the stigmatisation. At the very least, it is an interpretation of how formative, in the truest sense of the word, the experience on La Verna was for Francis.

This is depicted in our chapel. The little angel at Francis' side, dressed like him and praying, is fascinating. There is something comforting about his presence.
For us too.

Sr. Katharina Horn