Francis Of Assisi Quotes

As St. Francis of Assisi in the thirteenth century said it best, "Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive. ~ Shawn Achor

I am the herald of the Great King. ~ Francis Of Assisi

As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence, we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come. ~ Francis Of Assisi

The vocation of being a 'protector' [ ... ] means protecting all creation, the beauty of the created world, as the Book of Genesis tells us and as Saint Francis of Assisi showed us [ ... ] In the end, everything has been entrusted to our protection, and all of us are responsible for it. Be protectors of God's gifts! ~ Pope Francis

The process of my transformation came to a head with my discovery of St. Francis of Assisi during a pilgrimage I went on with a scout troop from my school. ~ Abbe Pierre

He who works with his hands is a laborer.
He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman.
He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist. ~ Francis Of Assisi

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. ~ Francis Of Assisi

By the anxieties and worries of this life Satan tries to dull man's heart and make a dwelling for himself there. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Don't canonize me too soon. I'm perfectly capable of fathering a child. ~ Francis Of Assisi

St. Seraphim, like Francis of Assisi, talked to animals. One day two nuns saw him deep in conversation with a bear. The bears of the Russian forests are very ferocious, and the two women were terrified. But Seraphim reassured them and showed them that he who is sanctified lives in peace with all creation, just as Adam did before the Fall. ~ Olivier Clement

Dear God, please reveal to us your sublime beauty, that is everywhere, everywhere, everywhere, so that we will never again feel frightened. ~ Francis Of Assisi

All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle. ~ Francis Of Assisi

I don' mean to be at all ... St. Francis of Assisi or something, but anyone can shout obscenities. Why should I become like her? Why not think that sometimes- just sometimes- you can overcome evil with silence? And let people hear their hatefulness in their own ears, without distraction. Maybe goodness is enough to expose evil for what it really is, sometimes. Rather than trying to stop evil with more evil. Not that I'm good. I don't think I'm good. ~ Sylvain Reynard

Our actions are our own; their consequences belong to Heaven. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Preach the gospel wherever you can; when all else fails use words. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Do few things but do them well, simple joys are holy. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Preach the Gospel, if necessary use words ~ Francis Of Assisi

Where there is Love and Wisdom, there is neither Fear nor Ignorance.
Where there is Patience and Humility, there is neither Anger nor Annoyance.
Where there is Poverty and Joy, there is neither Cupidity nor Avarice.
Where there is Peace and Contemplation, there is neither Care nor Restlessness.
Where there is the Fear of God to guard the dwelling, there no enemy can enter.
Where there is Mercy and Prudence, there is neither Excess nor Harshness. ~ Francis Of Assisi

I have been all things unholy. If God can work through me, He can work through anyone. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Make me an instrument of thy peace. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Be praised, My Lord, through Sister Water; she is very useful, and humble, and precious, and pure. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Ethics has not only to do with mankind but with the animal creation as well. This is witnessed in the purpose of St. Francis of Assisi. Thus we shall arrive that ethics is reverence for all life. This is the ethic of love widened universally. It is the ethic of Jesus now recognized as a necessity of thought ... Only a universal ethic which embraces every living creature can put us in touch with the universe and the will which is there manifest ... ~ Albert Schweitzer

The world is a great stage on which God displays his many wonders. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Holy humility confounds pride and all the men of this world and all things that are in the world. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Go out and preach the gospel and if you must, use words. ~ Francis Of Assisi

In his book Shopping Malls and Other Sacred Spaces, Jon Pahl argues that the consumer aspect of American Christianity is a kind of a feel-good cop-out of deeper truths. But for those who have been hurt by the church, who have been told their bodies are unacceptable in the eyes of God, or have witnessed other's pain perpetuated by religion, it is nothing of the sort. It's actually freedom. And it's freedom that has been sought and found by religious outsiders for millennia. The saints we revere like Joan of Arc and St. Francis of Assisi, were difficult nomadic outsiders who created their own religious spaces when none could be found for them. Even the model of Jesus, walking smelly and dirty in the desert with his band of fishermen, all men, was a rogue, cast out by the religious authorities. But these thoughts can be cold comfort when you are the one deemed unacceptable, deemed sinful by the very community that by its very precepts ought to love you. ~ Lyz Lenz

Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that have received
only what you have given. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Where there is darkness, let there be light. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Praised be You, my Lord, with all Your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun, Who is the day through whom You give us light. And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendour; of You, Most High, he bears the likeness. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Preach the Gospel, use words when necessary. ~ Francis Of Assisi

I felt sorry for the inhabitants and went into the forest to admonish the wolf in God's name not to eat any more sheep. I called him, he came - and do you know what his answer was? 'Francis, Francis,' he said, 'do not destroy God's prescribed order. The sheep feeds on grass, the wolf on sheep - that's the way God ordained it. Do not ask why; simply obey God's will and leave me free to enter the sheepfolds whenever I feel the pinch of hunger. I say my prayers just like Your Holiness. I say: "Our Father who reignest in the forests and hast commanded me to eat meat, Thy will be done. Give me this day my daily sheep so that my stomach may be filled, and I shall glorify Thy name. Great art Thou, Lord, who hast created mutton so delicious. And when the day cometh that I shall die, Grant, Lord, that I may be resurrected, and that with me may be resurrected all the sheep I have eaten - so that I may eat them again!"' That, Brother Leo, is what the wolf answered me. ~ Nikos Kazantzakis

God could not have chosen anyone less qualified, or more of a sinner, than myself. And so, for this wonderful work He intends to perform through us, He selected me- for God always chooses the weak and the absurd, and those who count for nothing. ~ Francis Of Assisi

It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching. ~ Francis Of Assisi

It is not fitting, when one is in God's service, to have a gloomy face or a chilling look. ~ Francis Of Assisi

We should seek not so much to pray but to become prayer. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Preach the Gospels everyday & only if you have to ... use words. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Preach always. If necessary, use words. ~ Francis Of Assisi

I believe that You, O Jesus, are in the most holy Sacrament. I love You and desire You. Come into my heart. I embrace You. Oh, never leave me. May the burning and most sweet power of Your love, O Lord Jesus Christ, I beseech You, absorb my mind that I may die through love of Your love, Who were graciously pleased to die through love of my love. ~ Francis Of Assisi

The greatest artists, saints, philosophers, and, until quite recent times, scientists ... have all assumed that the New Testament promise of eternal life is valid ... I'd rather be wrong with Dante and Shakespeare and Milton, with Augustine of Hippo and Francis of Assisi, with Dr. Johnson, Blake, and Dostoevsky than right with Voltaire, Rousseau, the Huxleys, Herbert Spencer, H. G. Wells, and Bernard Shaw. ~ Malcolm Muggeridge

The whole world feels that it knows Francis, not so much because he follows Francis of Assisi but because he is always himself. We have seen him pay his own hotel bill and heard that Francis called Buenos Aires for a pair of ordinary black shoes, like John XXIII, who preferred stout peasant shoes to the traditional papal footwear. ~ Eugene Kennedy

The Lord called me by the way of simplicity and humility, and this way He hath shown me in truth for me and those who will believe and imitate me. And therefore I would that ye name not to me any rule, neither of St. Augustine, nor St. Benedict, nor of Bernard, nor any way or form of living, but that which was mercifully shown and given me by the Lord. ~ Francis Of Assisi

A man has only so much knowledge as he puts to work. ~ Francis Of Assisi

The power of the Bible is most evident in its ability to change lives. It can transform a wealthy Italian playboy into a saint (Saint Francis of Assisi). By its amazing grace, it can transform a debauching, murderous slave trader into a humble abolitionist (John Newton). It can transfigure prostitutes into women of virtue, cowards into rocks of the church, and the proud into the meek. ~ Anonymous

… the countryside and the village are symbols of stability and security, of order. Yet they are also, as I have noted, liminal spaces, at a very narrow remove from the atavistic Wild. Arcadia is not the realm even of Giorgione and of Claude, with its cracked pillars and thunderbolts, its lurking banditti; still less is it Poussin's sun-dappled and regularised realm of order, where, although the lamb may be destined for the altar and the spit, all things proceed with charm and gravity and studied gesture; least of all is it the degenerate and prettified Arcady of Fragonard and Watteau, filled with simpering courtier-Corydons, pallid Olympians, and fat-arsed putti. (It is only family piety that prevents me from taking a poker to an inherited coffee service in gilt porcelain with bastardised, deutero-Fragonard scenes painted on the sides of every damned thing. Cue Wallace Greenslade: '… "Round the Horne", with Marie Antoinette as the dairymaid and Kenneth Williams as the manager of the camp-site….') No: Arcadia is the very margin of the liminal space between the safe tilth and the threatening Wild, in which Pan lurks, shaggy and goatish, and Death proclaims, from ambush, et in Arcadia ego. Arcadia is not the Wide World nor the Riverbank, but the Wild Wood. And in that wood are worse than stoats and weasels, and the true Pan is no Francis of Assisi figure, sheltering infant otters. The Wild that borders and penetrates Arcady is red in tooth and claw. ~ G.M.W. Wemyss

Francis of Assisi tells us we should work to build peace. But there is no true peace without truth! There cannot be true peace if everyone is his own criterion, if everyone can always claim exclusively his own rights, without at the same time caring for the good of others, of everyone, on the basis of the nature that unites every human being on this earth. ~ Pope Francis

One cannot imagine St. Francis of Assisi talking about rights. ~ Simone Weil

Preach the Gospels everyday & only if you have to...use words. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Men lose all the material things they leave behind them in this world, but they carry with them the reward of their charity and the alms they give. For these, they will receive from the Lord the reward and recompense they deserve. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Forgetting himself for a moment, Francis brought his hand out from under his frock in order to bless the multitude. When the people saw his wound they bellowed madly. The women dashed forward with mantles outstretched to catch the drops; the men thrust in their hands and anointed their faces with blood. The villagers' expressions grew savage, and so did their souls. They longed to be able to tear the Saint limb from limb in order for each of them to claim a mouthful of his flesh, for they wanted to make him their own, to have him enter them so that they could become one with a saint - could be sanctified. Blind rage had overpowered them; their eyes were leaden, their lips ringed with froth. ~ Nikos Kazantzakis

The religious geniuses of all ages have been distinguished by this kind of religious feeling, which knows no dogma and no God conceived in man's image; so that there can be no church whose central teachings are based on it. Hence it is precisely among the heretics of every age that we find men who were filled with this highest kind of religious feeling and were in many cases regarded by their contemporaries as atheists, sometimes also as saints. Looked at in this light, men like Democritus, Francis of Assisi, and Spinoza are closely akin to one another. ~ Albert Einstein

Lord, help me to live this day, quietly, easily. To lean upon Thy great strength, trustfully, restfully. To wait for the unfolding of Thy will, patiently, serenely. To meet others, peacefully, joyously. To face tomorrow, confidently, courageously. ~ Francis Of Assisi

The modern mind is hard to please; and it generally calls the way of Godfrey ferocious and the way of Francis fanatical. That is, it calls any moral method unpractical, when it has just called any practical method immoral. ~ G.K. Chesterton

And in any preaching you do, admonish the people concerning repentance, and that nobody can be saved except he who receives the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord. And when It is sacrificed on the altar by the priest or borne anywhere, let all the people on bended knees render praise, glory and honor to the True and Living Lord God. ~ Francis Of Assisi

What we are looking for is what is looking. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Where there is injury let me sow pardon. ~ Francis Of Assisi

The tree of love its roots hath spread Deep in my heart, and rears its head; Rich are its fruits: they joy dispense; Transport the heart, and ravish sense. In love's sweet swoon to thee I cleave, Bless'd source of love. ~ Francis Of Assisi

The greatest security we can have in this world that we are in the grace of God, does not consist in the feelings that we have of love to Him, but rather in an irrevocable abandonment of our whole being into His hands, and in a firm resolution never to consent to any sin great or small. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Ask the beasts and they will teach you the beauty of this earth. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom You light the night, and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Small yet strong in the love of God, like Saint Francis of Assisi, all of us, as Christians, are called to watch over
and protect the fragile world in which we live, and all its peoples. ~ Pope Francis

St. Francis of Assisi taught me that there is a wound in the Creation and that the greatest use we could make of our lives was to ask to be made a healer of it. ~ Alan Paton

Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures, especially through my lord Brother Sun, who brings the day; and you give light through him. And he is beautiful and radiant in all his splendor! Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.

Be praised, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars; in the heavens you have made them, precious and beautiful.

Be praised, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air, and clouds and storms, and all the weather, through which you give your creatures sustenance.

Be praised, My Lord, through Sister Water; she is very useful, and humble, and precious, and pure.

Be praised, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom you brighten the night. He is beautiful and cheerful, and powerful and strong.

Be praised, my Lord, through our sister Mother Earth, who feeds us and rules us, and produces various fruits with colored flowers and herbs.

Be praised, my Lord, through those who forgive for love of you; through those who endure sickness and trial. Happy those who endure in peace, for they will be crowned. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Holy wisdom confounds Satan and all his wickednesses. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Saint Francis of Assisi understood the power of faith put into action to change the human heart, for it was he who said, "Preach the gospel always; when necessary use words." We had not yet spoken a word in their language, but the village elders had already "heard" the gospel. ~ Richard Stearns

You can show your love to others by not wishing that they should be better Christians. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Study always to have Joy, for it befits not the servant of God to show before his brother or another sadness or a troubled face. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Great and glorious God, and Thou Lord Jesus, I pray you shed abroad your light in the darkness of my mind. Be found of me, Lord, so that in all things I may act only in accordance with Thy holy will. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Some people want to know why I wished to be called Francis. For me, Francis of Assisi is the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation. ~ Pope Francis

It pleases me that you teach sacred theology to the brothers, as long as - in the words of the Rule - you 'do not extinguish the Spirit of prayer and devotion' with study of this kind. - Francis of Assisi ~ Mark Galli

A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows. ~ Francis Of Assisi

We should all realize that no matter where or how a man dies, if he is in the state of mortal sin and does not repent, when he could have done so and did not, the Devil tears his soul from his body with such anguish and distress that only a person who has experienced it can appreciate it. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, producing varied fruits with coloured flowers and herbs. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Water is the mirror of nature. ~ Francis Of Assisi

You damned spirits! You can only do what the hand of God allows you to do. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Alms are an inheritance and a justice which is due to the poor and which Jesus has levied upon us. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Man should tremble, the world should vibrate, all heaven should be deeply moved when the Son of God appears on the altar in the hands of the priest. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Spread the Gospel. If necessary, use words. ~ Francis Of Assisi

A man sins who wishes to receive more from his neighbor than he is himself willing to give to the Lord God. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Holy obedience confounds all bodily and fleshly desires and keeps the body mortified to the obedience of the spirit and to the obedience of one's brother and makes a man subject to all the
men of this world and not to men alone, but also to all beasts and wild animals, so that they may do with him whatsoever they will, in so far as it may be granted to them from above by the
Lord. ~ Francis Of Assisi

What does the poor man do at the rich man's door, the sick man in the presence of his physician, the thirsty man at a limpid stream? What they do, I do before the Eucharistic God. I pray. I adore. I love. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Like dear St. Francis of Assisi I am wedded to Poverty: but in my case the marriage is not a success. ~ Oscar Wilde

[Francis of Assisi was one of the] signal figures who are catalysts for rapid change ~ Jon M. Sweeney

This is the story of a man who always made the wrong choice. He could have had either two jobs; he picked the dead end. He could have married either of two women; he picked the nag. He could have invested in either of two businesses; he picked the one that went bankrupt. Finally, he decided to abandon his old life, to change his identity and start again. He goes to the airport and finds he can get on either two flights; he chooses the plane with the engine that explodes over the Atlantic. So, he's in mid-air, in an airplane struggling to stay aloft, surrounded by panicking passengers. He goes down on his knees in prayer and begs, "St Francis, help me!" The Heavens open, and a divine light floods the cabin. An angelic voice asks, "St Francis Xavier or St Francis of Assisi? ~ Dave Allen

Spiritual joy arises from purity of the heart and perseverance in prayer. ~ Francis Of Assisi

It is good to read the testimonies of Scripture; it is good to seek the Lord our God in them. As for me, however, I have already made so much of Scripture my own that I have more than enough to meditate on and turn over in my mind. I need no more . .. I know Christ, the poor crucified One. ~ Francis Of Assisi

In order to mount to heaven, you used the Inferno to give you momentum. "The further down you gain your momentum," you often used to tell me, "the higher you shall be able to reach. The militant Christian's greatest worth is not his virtue, but his struggle to transform into virtue the impudence, dishonor, unfaithfulness, and malice within him. One day Lucifer will be the most glorious archangel standing next to God; not Michael, Gabriel, or Raphael - but Lucifer, after he has finally transubstantiated his terrible darkness into light. ~ Nikos Kazantzakis

Here is one of the best means to acquire humility; fix well in mind this maxim: One is as much as he is in the sight of God, and no more. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Be praised, O my Lord by Brother Wind, By air and cloud and every clime To whom Thou givest sustenance unto their kind. ~ Francis Of Assisi

What could you do to a man who owns nothing? You can't starve a fasting man, you can't steal from someone who has no money, you can't ruin someone who hates prestige. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Above all the grace and the gifts that Christ gives to his beloved is that of overcoming self. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Keep a clear eye toward life's end. Do not forget your purpose and destiny as God's creature. What you are in his sight is what you are and nothing more. Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take nothing that you have received ... but only what you have given; a full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice, and courage. ~ Francis Of Assisi

We should never desire to be over others. Instead, we ought to be servants who are submissive to every human being for God's sake. ~ Francis Of Assisi

What you are looking for is what is looking. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Sanctify yourself and you will sanctify society. ~ Francis Of Assisi

You should never praise anyone until you see how he turns out in the end! ~ Francis Of Assisi

Hold back nothing of yourselves for yourselves so that He who gives Himself totally to you may receive you totally. ~ Francis Of Assisi

Pure, holy simplicity confounds all the wisdom of this world and the wisdom of the flesh. ~ Francis Of Assisi

I pity the village where no one is a saint, but I also pity the village where everyone is a saint! ~ Nikos Kazantzakis