For Saint Francis (d. 1226), his love and devotion for the Holy Eucharist was paramount. The humble deacon admonished the priests of his day: "Let all who administer such holy mysteries," clean your altar linen and polish your chalices!
The Poverello always reserved his harshest words for those who ignored the Eucharistic presence. In a recent biography of Assisi's famous son, the Dominican author says:
"The locus of Francis's 'mysticism,' his belief that he could have direct contact with God, was in the Mass, not in nature or even in service to the poor... For him, the change of the elements from bread and wine to Christ's Body and Blood was like the Incarnation."
It's funny about those who are always tooting their horn of "multi-culturalism” -- their understanding of Saint Francis on his own terms is weaker than a man who claims to know about the Father of our Country because he can parrot back an apocryphal tale or two from Parson Weems!
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