Bearing with the Faults of Others (4)

[Rich]

Bearing with the Faults of Others  (4)

If all were perfect, what should we have to suffer from others for
God’s sake? But God has so ordained, that we may learn to bear with
one another’s burdens, for there is no man without fault, no man
without burden, no man sufficient to himself nor wise enough. Hence we
must support one another, console one another, mutually help, counsel,
and advise, for the measure of every man’s virtue is best revealed in
time of adversity--adversity that does not weaken a man but rather
shows what he is.
--Thomas à Kempis, From the Imitation of Christ chapter 16


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April 23rd - Bl. Giles of Assisi
(1190?-1262)

Giles of Assisi was the third man to join St. Francis of Assisi when
he founded the Franciscan Order. Francis held Giles in high esteem,
and because of his purity of heart and single-mindedness he used to
call him “our Knight of the Round Table.”

St. Francis attracted people who resembled himself in simplicity of
faith, and their association with him strengthened their reflection of
his image. Giles, also an Assisian, was probably of peasant origin. He
long admired Francis from afar, but he dared approach him only when he
learned that his own friends Bernard and Peter had also become
disciples of Francisco, adopting his watchword holy poverty.

On April 22, 1208, he ventured to call on the saint at the Portiuncula
outside Assisi. The two had a good talk about the projected religious
order.

While they were in conversation, a beggar woman came up and asked them
for alms. Neither Francis nor Giles had any money to give, so Francis
said to Giles, “Give her your coat.” Giles obeyed at once. Thus he
passed St. Francis’ test for poverty. He was admitted to the new
community on the following day.

In 1209, Francis set out for Rome to ask Pope Innocent III to approve
the Franciscan foundation. Giles was one of his companions on the
journey. Brother Giles was untrained in book learning, but God
rewarded his devotion with great spiritual wisdom. He did not become
noted for his missionary work so much as for his example of
prayerfulness, poverty of spirit and love of silence. His only notable
missionary effort, the trip to Tunis, North Africa, to convert the
Saracens, met with no success. The Tunisian Christians urged him, on
his very arrival, to return at once to Italy. They feared that the
presence of the friar would cause the Moslems to turn against all
local Christians.

Apart from his pilgrimages to Santiago, Spain, and the Holy Land,
Brother Giles spent most of his life at various Franciscan houses in
Italy engaged in contemplation and manual labor. Often in ecstasy, he
won popular acclaim as a saint, and people high and low came to seek
his advice. For example, Pope Gregory IX and St. Bonaventure, who
venerated him, paid him visits in his final residence near Perugia.
His collected spiritual maxims, The Golden Savings, still remain a
spiritual “best seller.”

A firm champion of Franciscan poverty, ever quick to denounce its
nonobservance among his fellow friars, Giles would accept no gifts,
and insisted on always working for his keep. Thus, the Cardinal Bishop
of Tusculum once invited him to dinner. Giles said he would not accept
unless he could earn the meal. He came to Tusculum, but managed to go
first to the Cardinal’s kitchen, which he tidied up thoroughly before
he would sit down at table.

Giles’ reputation spread even to France. One day King St. Louis IX of
France, en route to the Holy Land, dropped in to see him in Umbria.
Louis and Giles embraced each other, knelt for a while to pray, and
then parted. During the whole visit neither had spoken a word. The
monarch respected the friar’s opposition to needless conversation.

Perhaps the most typical story about this fabulous Franciscan was his
encounter with his fellow friar, St. Bonaventure. Giles asked
Bonaventure, whom he respected for his scholarship, whether the
unlearned could ever equal the learned in love for God. Bonaventure
said they certainly could: “A poor, illiterate old woman can love Him
better than a learned doctor of the Church.” Delighted with this
answer, Giles rushed to the garden gate overlooking the city and cried
to all who might hear him, “Listen, all you good old women! You can
love God better than Brother Bonaventure!” Then, typically, Brother
Giles went into an ecstasy that lasted 3 hours.

Giles of Assisi is the only one of St. Francis’ first companions to
have been declared “blessed.” His life certainly exemplifies all that
is best in the Franciscan tradition of joyful self-denial.
–Father Robert


Reflection:
“A single Mass offered for oneself during life
may be worth more than a thousand celebrated
for the same intention after death.”

Bible Quote:
Cease from anger, and leave rage; have no emulation to do evil. 9
(36-9) For evildoers shall be cut off: but they that wait upon the
Lord, they shall inherit the land.  [Psalm 37:8-9]  DRB


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O Lord, Enkindle Our Lamps

O Lord,
grant us that love
which can never die,
which will enkindle our lamps
but not extinguish them,
so that they may shine in us
and bring light to others.
Most dear Saviour,
enkindle our lamps
that they may shine
forever in Your temple.
May we receive
unquenchable light
from You,
so that our darkness
will be illuminated
and the darkness of the world
will be made less.
Amen
--St Columba of Ireland (521-597)