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Interprovincial Novitiate |
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ORDER OF FRIARS MINOR |
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SAN DAMIANO FRIARY |
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LIVING
THE GOSPEL LIFE |
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During that time which history books
call the “Dark Ages,” God sent Francis of Assisi to bring back the light for
the poor, the suffering, the oppressed and the confused. Though
Francis was wealthy, he chose to become poor; though educated, he relished
being a fool for God. With a dramatic flair he electrified Europe by saying
“no” to the power, “no” to the money, “no” to any structures or policies that
hurt his fellow beings. Francis
was driven to do such “strange” things because God had marked him out for a
unique role in the history of salvation. He was to cut away the tangled webs
of the Dark Ages’ social structures, to restore the Gospel of Jesus as the
foundation for faith and belief, and this to rebuild the Church and world. Francis
has a passion for the Gospel, a passion that consumed his entire self and
then spilled over to light fires that would chase away the darkness of the
ages. Those
fires had names. Each was taken from the Gospel. Each lit up at least a small
portion of the darkness. Together, they produced such a burst of light that
parts of the darkness were banished forever. |
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INTRODUCTION |