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Today is the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, a 13th century deacon who founded the Franciscan order. He is very special to us here in Reitoca, F.M., Honduras, for he is the patron saint of our parish, San Francisco de Asís.
Although he is one of the most popular saints of modern times, one of his qualities is often overlooked because most people don’t know about it. That quality is his conversion via nursing.
The story takes place in the time before Francis had a clear vision of what his ultimate vocation goal would be. One day, as he was traveling on his horse, he saw a leper. Now Francis had a great revulsion toward lepers, but on this occasion, he dismounted from his horse, went up to the leper, and kissed his hand. Francis began nursing lepers from that time on in houses and hospitals when he had free time. He attributed his nursing experience as the beginning and most significant event of his conversion to Christ.
Francis’ experience was not unique, for in the 2,100-year history of Catholic Christianity, we hear many saintly men and women tell the same story: they learned about Christ from books, but they actually found him while nursing the sick.
The photo today is of altar servers in front of the Church of San Francisco de Asís in Reitoca, F.M., Honduras before Mass.
Happy St. Francis’ Day!
