Reflection by: Kinnon
The Sanctuary of La Verna – Day 8 – LA VERNA
#sequelachristi2025
Today we visited the Franciscan Sanctuary of La Verna, which began in 1213 when Count Orlando Captain donated the mountain site to St Francis for a hermitage. It subsequently was the place where St Francis received the Stigmata (Christ’s wounds) in 1224.
We met Sister Angela, who first took us down to some of the caves that St Francis and his friars prayed in. She explained to us that the friars would always pray in pairs: one would oversee the day-to-day requirements of getting food, entertaining visitors, running the administrative tasks of the hermitage, while the other could focus fully on prayer and connecting with God. It was a heartening reminder that holiness grows in pairs and of our need to support those around us in community.
Next, we entered a small chapel dedicated to our Lady. There, part of the altar, was the very stone that Jesus sat on as he appeared to St Francis during his distress. St Francis was feeling immense stress and worry about how his new order was doing, and in response Jesus appeared to him on that rock. Jesus reminded him that the order was his creation, and that he would take care of its future. Similarly in our own lives, we are his creation and he has a plan for us, no matter how lost we think we may be.
It was around that time that St Francis also received the Stigmata, in which the spot he received has been turned into a chapel. As he was praying in a cave, a seraphim appeared to him in a vision and gave him the Stigmata. Sister Angela shared with us that St Francis was praying for the grace to firstly share in the immense pain and suffering of Christ’s passion, and secondly to experience the immense love that Christ carried in himself for humanity. God granted this wish, and allowed St Francis to imitate Christ in the highest way possible. For St Francis, it was also an affirmation of his life’s work, to free him of his self-doubts and tell him that he was indeed doing God’s work.
Talking about experiencing Christ’s love, Sister Angela then told us the story of Perfect Joy. In a conversation between St Francis and Leo, St Francis said that the perfect joy wouldn’t be through his fame, the world’s political leaders following catholic values, or evangelisation. Instead, this was the perfect joy—if he travelled tens of kilometers in the cold winter to another sanctuary, knocked and asked to be let in, was left rejected in the snow by his own order and life’s work—if he could receive all that with the same love and patience that Christ had for humanity, that would be the Perfect Joy. Through this story it invited me to reflect and realize that in our own lives, God isn’t expecting us to create new orders or initiate sweeping radical change in our lives. Instead, what he wants us to do is to approach every day, hour, minute, and moment, with Christ’s love. In our everyday lives, that is our mission as Christians.
In our free time I explored the beautiful hillsides of La Verna. I tried to see nature through St Francis’s eyes, and I found myself noticing the details of God in all of creation. The forest extended an open hand of invitation as I began to appreciate the autumn colours, the beauty of the rocks, and the birds that flitted care freely through the branches. As I reached the top of the hill and found a clearing, I watched the sun set into chrome colours. Throughout my entire time in nature St Francis’s old prayer came up continuously: “Who are you, my Lord, and who am I?” I was moved by the beauty of creation as I sat there appreciating nature in its pure form while I was constantly reminded of God’s grand design.
