Green Saint. Francis

 

October 4th is near, and the feast day of St. Francis is an especially perfect time to do his novena.  My very first pilgrimage was in 1995 to Italy "Following the Footsteps of St. Francis into Assisi".  My friends Bruce and Ruth Davis were leading a silent pilgrimage into Assisi.  This event opened my heart and changed my life in such a profound way.  It opened a window into my soul that set me on a transformative path for many more pilgrimages. 

St. Francis was the champion of the poor.  His simple message of humbleness and love for all of God's Creatures has given him the title of one of the world's most beloved saints. 

St. Francis lineage began with his father, Pietro do Bernardone, a wealthy silk merchant.  His mother, Pica de Bourlemont, was of nobility from the South of France in Provence.  Lady Bourelmont's family roots came from the troubadour traditions and Cathar religion.  Francesco “Frenchman”, which his father called him, was his father's sarcastic way of addressing his son.  "He takes after his mother”, his father would roar.  His mother's tradition was laced with the songs of the troubadour and the hymns of the Cathar. 

St. Francis believed and saw Nature as a mirror of God.  On 1982, Earth Day, Pope John Paul II announced St. Francis as the Saint of the Environment.  The world needs the examples of St. Francis’s teaching more today than at any time in history.  Pope John wrote the following in his words; 

“St. Francis had a genuine and deep respect for the integrity of creation.  God's creatures loved him.  Saint Francis invited all of creation – animals, plants, natural forces, even Brother Sun and Sister Moon – to give honor and praise to the Lord.  The poor man of Assisi gives us striking witness that when we are at peace with God we are better able to devote ourselves to the building that peace with all creation which is inseparable from peace among all peoples”.

Francis’s devotions go beyond the Catholic Church, for there are also orders of Franciscan communities in European Protestantism, the Order of Lutheran Franciscan, the Evangelical Sisters of Mary, an Interfaith Franciscan order, and an Anglican Community of St. Clare in Seattle, Washington.  Francis's miracles and legends are recorded in a book called “Fioretti”,  the Little Flowers. 

There is an episcopal church in Willits, California that is called St. Francis of the Redwoods. Behind the church where the homeless seat on pieces of cardboard in front of a mural to St. Francis of the Redwoods. I created this chaplet and prayer to St. Francis of the Redwoods to ask for the protection of the Redwoods and all of our Green Forest. 

 

St. Francis of the Redwoods

St. Francis of the Deep Green Forest Lover of Nature, Love of the sky, Lover of the flowers and the birds that fly high.

Oh Gentle Francis you spoke to the animals and sang to the birds, and when you prayed everything in Nature heard.

You stood barefoot in a field of flowers, heard the voice of God and surrendered to the Spiritual Power.

Open our eyes and open our souls to Nature's Wisdom that needs to be told.

Francis of the Redwood and Francis of the Green your simple example in this world needs to be seen.

Humanity slumbers and our precious forest we have plundered.

Give us your Blessings and open our eyes to the purity within that will makes us all wise.

Oh Francis of the Redwoods Oh Francis of the Green hear my prayer for us to become Spiritual Beings. Amen

On your fingers or chaplet  1 Our Father and 10 Hail Marys dedicated to preserve our forest.