Remembering St. Francis and His Unusual Path to Holiness

For those unfamiliar with historical monastic traditions, the life of St. Francis of Assisi (1182–1226) offers enduring lessons for any Christian sojourner. His commitment to living out the gospel through simplicity, generosity, and wholehearted surrender to God’s purpose challenges believers of all traditions to examine how their devotion shapes every aspect of their life. In modern times, the life of St. Francis is especially noted during the month of October, as his Feast Day—a day of remembrance on the anniversary of the death of departed champions of the faith—falls on October 4.

Francis initiated one of the most popular and prolific monastic orders of the Middle Ages. To join his Order, whether male or female, required (per Matthew 19:21) that followers renounce worldly possessions, selling them and giving the proceeds to the poor, and then take on a tunic to live off alms and serve the dispossessed. Because of the popularity of this reform movement, he also established an arm of his Order that he called the “Third Order” designed for laypeople who desired to identify with him but were bound by secular commitments. This inclusivity broadened the appeal of “Franciscanism,” allowing individuals to integrate its principles into their unique vocations. These principles can be appropriated by anyone and ought to be viewed not as burdens but as opportunities to consecrate every aspect of life—physical, emotional, and spiritual—toward a higher purpose.

At the heart of Franciscan spirituality lies a paradox: certain renunciations open a pathway that yields God’s invisible power to create something new and holy. In Francis’ day, the renunciations included vows poverty, chastity, and obedience. In parlance of the Franciscan Way (and my new book), it means exploring a contemporary iteration of those vows in a way that does not require that one assume a tunic or receive a tonsure, but fosters an interior disposition that honors these holy sensibilities.

An exploration of vows
For such Christian sojourners, such vows show themselves in an interior mindset that orients the soul away from destructive habits of mind and body, while cultivating a life of higher devotion. The “vow of poverty,” in the Franciscan Way, is not about material deprivation as much as it is about embracing an attitude of “being dead to the things the world claims as its own” (as described by Mother Teresa). Similarly, the “vow of chastity” isn’t so much about renouncing sex (though it may mean that for some), but about consecrating the body as a sacramental instrument through which God exerts his grace and influence. A “vow of obedience” shows itself as an interior mindset of surrender of one’s own impulses or inclinations in the service to higher allegiances according to the purposes of God and the leadings of the Holy Spirit.

Exercising virtues
Franciscan virtues, including (in part) humility, charity, simplicity, and wisdom, in contrast to vows, are cultivated in a different manner in a soul. Whereas the vows impose a constraint from the top down, the virtues arise in an “ascent from the bowels of human reckoning to an inward and upward striving toward holiness.” Humility requires honestly confronting one’s flaws and embracing dependence on God; charity demands wishing good will and grace even (especially) for those who have caused pain or harm; simplicity calls for shedding distractions to focus on what is one’s truest and highest calling; while wisdom, as seen in Francis’s “Canticle of the Creatures,” involves perceiving God’s glory in proportion to our place in his creation.

Thus, the “Franciscan Way” holds out the promise of “a holy reordering of the soul” by embracing interior disciplines that can be hard, but also transformative. Exercising the vows and virtues offers a framework for living in a way that aligns one’s life with divine purpose. For those who feel lost or burdened or simply desirous of a higher and deeper spiritual journey, this path becomes a conduit for grace, offering redemption from personal struggle and path to holy restoration.

Wendy Murray (MATS ’85) is associate director of accreditation and communications and editor in chief of Ex Fonte magazine. Her latest book, Inner Healing the Franciscan Way, came out in September with Paraclete Press.