St. Francis of Assisi was medieval to his core, yet his problems were not dissimilar to what we face today: ongoing health crises, civil instability, emotional desolation, and deep anguish. But once he stripped himself of all things worldly, Francis understood that no wound was beyond God’s ability to heal.
In a letter Francis wrote to Brother Leo, an early friar, his salutation should be on the lips of everyone who loves those suffering in mind or spirit: “May God smile on you and be merciful to you. May God turn his regard toward you and give you peace.”
—from St. Anthony Messenger‘s “Erasing the Stigma of Mental Illness“
by Christopher Heffron
