Franciscan Saints

statue of St. Padre Pio

My Visit to Padre Pio’s Tomb

My visit to Padre Pio’s tomb deepened my appreciation for his life.

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Saint Clare of Assisi and her sisters

St. Clare: Light of Assisi

When St. Clare died, the Church lost a luminary. But her legacy shines brightly to this day.
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St. Clare of Assisi

St. Clare’s Prayerful Life

The privilege of poverty, as much as I can embrace it, is an outer simplification. Advancing age reveals it to me, but Clare shows me how to maximize its revelations.
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Perfect Joy

With the health crisis and unrest facing our world, finding a reason to be joyful may be hard. But it’s important that we smile—even if it’s through tears.
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Statue of Saint Anthony holding Jesus

Why St. Anthony Holds the Child Jesus

Next to Mary of Nazareth, the saint most often seen in artwork holding the child Jesus in his arms is St. Anthony of Padua.
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Lent with St. Francis: ‘Let Us Begin Again’

Easter is a beginning, not an ending. And this Easter story from Thomas of Celano reminds us that for Francis, the challenge to remain true to the Gospel was one that needed to be renewed again and again.
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Lent with St. Francis: Dead to Sin

As we come now to the celebration of Easter, we recall that one of the hallmarks of Francis’s life was a deep joy in the love of Christ and the glories of creation.
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