Living the experience of St. Francis of Assisi in the 21st centuryThe impressive life of Cardinal Van ThuanTierra Santa. Holy place guarded by the Franciscan friars. I saw them when I made my pilgrimage to these places in 2016, a year before the 800th anniversary of the arrival of the Franciscans to the area. They were always with a smile of availability, they attended to everyone with humility and dialogued with each other; it was a pleasure to greet them or ask them something. Years later, in 2020, I visited the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, and then I learned a very good anecdote that explains the enthusiasm with which the Franciscans have assumed the task of this Custody.
History of the basilica
St. Francis died in 1226 (when he was only 44 years old, a pity). Two years later he was proclaimed a saint; by then many people were determined to build a Basilica to house his tomb. How great was the clamor, that the day after the canonization, Pope Gregory IX himself went to the city of the saint to lay the first stone. With the participation of many people and over a century, a huge white sanctuary was built; situated on the western edge of the city's humblest hill, with a peaceful view of the Spoleto valley.
When you enter the upper basilica (there is another lower basilica and, even lower, a crypt) you find yourself in a high, bright and golden space, with a blue and starry ceiling, surrounded by the 28 frescoes of Giotto, the famous Florentine painter, master artist of the "...".Trecento"in which he recounts the "Stories from the life of St. Francis" according to the hagiography written by St. Bonaventure. It is impressive. And when they tell you that it was the first time in history that a pictorial cycle with the entire life of a saint was painted inside a church, you appreciate it even more. On the right wall, you quickly come across an intriguing panel, depicting the anecdote I announced at the beginning: the trial by fire in front of the sultan of Egypt, Al-Kamil al-Malik. And watch out for that fire, it has its history.
The acid test
June 1219. The Crusaders had encamped in North Africa, under the walls of Damietta, to fight against the Sultan of Egypt, Al-Kamil al-Malik, and thus try to regain control of the Holy Land. St. Francis, on fire with the love of God and with the desire to die a martyr's death, traveled to the front to ask for a meeting with the sultan.
As soon as Francis crossed the front line, the Saracens took him prisoner and brought him into the presence of the sultan. Just what the saint wanted, for then he had time to be with him (it is said that he could have spent up to three weeks in his company) and preached to him about the Triune God, about the salvation won for us by Jesus Christ, etc. Apparently, although the sultan was a sociable man (the Muslim historian al-Maqrizi assures us: "Al-Kamil loved men of knowledge very much, he liked their company"). St. Francis, a modest man, especially liked him. How did this meeting develop? St. Bonaventure recounts it at length, so I'd better leave you with him:
"The sultan, observing the admirable fervor and virtue of the man of God, gladly listened to him and insistently invited him to remain with him. But the servant of Christ, inspired from on high, answered him: 'If you resolve to convert to Christ, you and your people, I will gladly remain for his love in your company. But if you hesitate to abandon the law of Mohammed in exchange for the faith of Christ, command a great bonfire to be kindled, and I will enter it along with your priests, so that you may know which of the two faiths is to be held, without doubt, as safer and holier.
The Sultan replied: 'I do not believe that among my priests there is anyone who, in order to defend his faith, is willing to expose himself to the ordeal of fire, nor is he willing to suffer any other torment. He had observed, in fact, that one of his priests, a man of integrity and advanced in age, as soon as he heard of the matter, disappeared from his presence.
Then, the saint made him this proposition: "If in your name and in the name of your people you will promise me that you will convert to the cult of Christ if I come out of the fire unharmed, I will enter the stake alone. If the fire consumes me, be imputed to my sins; but, if the divine power protects me, you will recognize Christ, strength and wisdom of God, true God and Lord, savior of all men.
The sultan replied that he did not dare to accept such an option, because he feared an uprising of the people. Nevertheless, he offered him many valuable gifts, which the man of God rejected as if they were mud" ("Major Legend", 9,8).
Franciscans in the Holy Land
How could St. Francis fear fire, if fire dwelt within him? Chesterton imagined it this way: "in his eyes shone the fire that agitated him day and night". At the end of the meeting, the "poverello" returned to Italy and the sultan remained fighting. But the relationship between Christians and Muslims, in the style of St. Francis, remains.
The Franciscans felt a call from God to guard the Holy Land, some had already launched themselves into this mission in 1217, and the fiery example of their founder in 1219 reaffirmed them in this endeavor. Since St. Francis met with Al-Kamil and they were on such good terms, both the Crusaders and the Muslims who disputed the dominion of the Holy Places had a valuable resource that filled them with respect for the friars: the bold and humble example of St. Francis in the dialogue with the brothers of other religions.
This is what the former Minister General of the Friars Minor said when they celebrated the 800th anniversary of the meeting between St. Francis and the Sultan: "Many contemporaries of St. Francis and the Sultan agreed that the only response to mutual challenge was conflict and clash. The examples of Francis and the Sultan present a different option. It can no longer be insisted that dialogue with Muslims is impossible."
For my part, since I saw this fresco by Giotto and was told the anecdote about the trial by fire, I understood better the smiles, the spirit of service and the very kind and open manners of the Franciscans I met in the Holy Places. The presence of the Franciscans in the Middle East had a brilliant debut with a dialogue, and thanks to that spirit they have been able to remain there for so many centuries, faithful to the orders of the Popes, happy servants of Christ. May God continue to infuse them with peace and goodness.
