Rune Francisco

Oct 12

(via tinypic)

Oct 11

swissinfovideos: A day in the life of a Franciscan friar

Oct 10

Got Medieval: October Saints Calendar

St Francis of Assisi’s feast rolls in on October 4th. Earth Day ought to be celebrated on the same day, since Francis is the patron saint of animals, particularly cute and symbolic ones, and here lately he’s become the patron saint of the environment in general. But, do the environmentalists listen to me? Noooo. They chose The Feast of St Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, a second rate Scottish saint primarily famous for being used as a character in the earliest D&D books. Cretins.

‘A Living Saint’: Remembering 9/11 and Father Mychal Judge

And yet, it wasn’t until much later that I would learn that Father Mychal Judge, interestingly enough, was gay. Though he remained faithful to his Franciscan vows of poverty and chastity, Father Mychal never looked down on anyone of any lifestyle. He made it a point, in fact, to reach out to the marginalized, to the outcasts in society. While tending to a man dying of AIDS one time, he was asked, ‘Do you think God hates me?’ Father Mychal, for his part, said nothing; instead, he picked the man up, kissed him, and gently rocked him in his arms.

I suppose it is one thing to be told that one is loved, but it is another entirely to be shown. To be held. To be valued. Even in aloneness. Even in deterioration.

Those who knew Father Mychal the best called him a ‘living saint’. Even in the tensest of times, he continued to show the world how sometimes being different could inspire one to look after the oppressed, the hurting, and the misunderstood—how empathy and compassion could triumph over despair and resentment.

The Firemen's Friar

He was the first and most famous victim of the World Trade Center attack, but the death of Father Mychal Judge, the beloved New York Fire Department chaplain, was not as extraordinary as his colorful and iconoclastic life.