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Salutation to the Blessed Virgin Mary
Hail, holy Lady, most holy Queen,
hail, holy Mother of God, Mary,
You
who are the Virgin made
Church
and chosen by the most holy Heavenly Father,
Who consecrated You together with His most holy beloved Son and
the Holy Spirit, the Comforter;
You, who hosted and still host all the fullness of Grace and
every good.
Hail, His palace, hail, His tabernacle, hail, His home.
Hail, His robe, hail, His handmaid, hail, His Mother.
And hail, you all holy virtues, which, by the Grace and
inspiration of the Holy Spirit are poured into the hearts of the
faithful, so that unfaithful no more, they may be turned into
faithful of God.
(St.Francis of Assisi
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Go, my dearest ones, two by two...
Therefore, any friar, who wants to go among the Saracens
and other unfaithful, may go there with the permission of
his minister and servant.
The minister, then, should give them his permission and
should not hamper them once he has noticed they are fit for
being sent out; in fact, he will have to report to the Lord
(see Lk 16,2), should he have acted with no discretion in
connection with these and other matters.
All friars going among the unfaithful can spiritually behave
in two ways, once they are among them. One way is that they
restrain from any quarrels or disputes, but submit
themselves to any human creature for the sake of God (see 1P
2,13) and profess to be Christian.
The second way is that they proclaim the Word of God, when
they feel it will please the Lord, so that those hearing it
may believe in God Almighty, the Father and the Son and the
Holy Spirit, the Creator of all things, and in the Son, the
Redeemer and Savior, and be baptized and become Christian,
because, "if one is not born anew through water and the Holy
Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (Jn 3,5).
(St. Francis,
Rnb nr. 16) |
