Franciscan Tradition and Resources

Contemplation, conversion, minority, and poverty are essential Franciscan values.

The man who longed to be a knight, a man of war, dies a man of peace, at peace with God, with himself, and with all of creation. God had changed his heart, and his changed heart changes the world.

It was in the spring of 1224 that Francis composed the final poem of his life, The Canticle of Brother Sun. This is a spontaneous outpouring of love and praise that reveals ingenuously the pro­found unconscious integration that the love of God had affected in his life:

Though we may not all formally profess to follow Francis of Assisi’s way of life, we can all cultivate Franciscan hearts.

The intersection of the themes of religious life and mercy should be even clearer for those of us who commit to living the Franciscan charism in the modern world, for mercy was a theme close to Francis of Assisi’s heart.