Letters From Their Eleventh Hour: Albin Müller (1892-1915)

ALBIN MÜLLER 

Student of Theology, Bamberg Lyceum 

Born December 16th, 1892, at Tiefenstockheim, Unterfranken. Died March 28th, 1915, in the military hospital at Tourcoing. 

Comines, January 19th, 1915 

Here with us it pours with rain every day. You can’t possibly imagine how filthy we get, wet to the skin. To-day we had to lie down in such filth that it made me shudder. But then I said to myself: ‘Into it, in the name of God!’ And while the others were cursing I thought of the story of our Holy Father St. Francis, how he said to one of the Brothers: ‘When we get home, soaked with rain and besmirched with mud as we are, and knock at the door of the Convent, and the porter strikes us and calls us thieves and rogues, therein is perfect joy.’* 

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*My Google search of St. Francis and the keywords from that St. Francis story was fruitless. I wish I knew his writings well enough to recall.

Fowl Not Foul

A nice avian theme for Spring...

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St. Francis of Assisi preaching to the birds:

San Francesco e il Lebbroso

This is a continuation-in-part of this earlier post.  The story, entitled "St. Francis and the Leper" is from Chapter XXV of The Little Flowers of St. Francis and dates from the 13th century; the story is one of supreme compassion and humility, traits which the Franciscans strive to keep alive even today. You can read something of its historical importance here.

In this story, St. Francis of Assisi reaches out to a leper; lepers at that time were considered the dregs of humanity.  In St. Francis's view he was no less a human being. Characteristically, after witnessing a miracle by his own hand, St. Francis fled the scene to avoid the vainglory in the original sense of the term.

San Francesco e il Lebbroso

In un ospedale presso a quello dove dimore San Francesco, i frati servono i lebbrosi ed infermi; nel quale è un lebbroso si impaziente e perverso, che ognuno lo crede invasato dal demonio, e nessuno lo può o lo vuole servire.

San Francesco viene a questo lebbroso perverso e lo saluta dicendo: «Iddio ti pace, fratello mio carissimo.»
Risponde il lebbroso rimbrottando:  «E che pace posso io avere da Dio che mi ha fatto tutto marcio?»
E San Francesco dice: «Figliuolo, abbi pazienza,  poichè le infermità dei corpi ci sono date da Dio in questo mondo per salute dell’anima, ed esse sono di grande merito, quando sono portate pazientemente.»
Risponde l'infermo: «E come posso io portare pazientemente la pena continua che mi tormenta il dì e la notte?  E non solamente io sono tormentato dall’infermità mia ma peggio mi fanno i frati che non mi servono come debbono.»

Allora San Francesco, conoscendo per rivelazione che questo lebbroso è posseduto dal maligno spirito, va e prega Iddio devotamente per lui.  Ritorna a lui e dice così: «Figliuolo, io ti volgio servire io, poichè tu non ti contenti degli altri.»
E l'infermo dice: «Mi piace, ma che puoi tu fare più che gli altri?»
Risponde San Francesco: «Ciò che tu vorrai io farò.»
Dice il lebbroso: «Io voglio che tu mi lavi tutto quanto, poichè io puzzo sì fortemente, ch’io medesimo non mi posso patire.»

Allora San Francesco fa subito scaldare l’acqua con molte erbe odorifere, poi spoglia il lebbroso e comincia a lavarlo co le sue mani; e per divino miracolo, dove San Francesco tocca con le sue sante mani, sparisce la lebbra e rimane la carne perfettamente sanata.  E come si comincia a sanare la carne, così comincia a sanare l’anima; onde il lebbroso vedendosi cominciare a guarire, comincia ad avere grande compunzione e pentimento dei suoi peccati e a piangere amarissimamente; così,  mentre il corpo si sana di fuori della lebbra, l’anima si sana dentro del peccato per contrizione e per le lagrime.  Ed essendo compiutamente sanato, il lebbroso si riconosce in colpa e dice piangendo ad alta voce: «Guai a me, ch’io sono degno dell’inferno, per le villanie e ingiurie ch’io ho fatte e dette ai frati, e per l’impazienza e bestemmie ch’io ho avute contro a Dio.» Onde per quindici di persevera in amaro pianto dei suoi peccati, e in chiedere misericordia a Dio. E San Francesco, vedendo così manifesto miracolo, che Iddio ha operato per le sue mani, ringrazia Iddio e parte di là, andando in paesi assai lontani, poichè per umilità vuole fuggire ogni gloria mondana, e in tutte le sue operazioni solo cerca la gloria di Dio e non la propria.

A laude do Cristo benedetto.
Amen

St. Francis And The Leper

At a hospital near where St. Francis dwelled, the friars served the lepers and the sick, among whom is a leper so crazy and so perverse that everyone believes he is possessed by the devil, and no one can or wants to care for him.

St. Francis comes to this leper and greets him saying:  "God give you peace, my dearest brother."
Reproached, the leper answers: "What peace can I have from God who made me so rotten?"

And St. Francis says: "My son, be patient, as the infirmities of the body are given by God in this world for the salvation of the soul; they are of great merit, when taken patiently."

The patient responds: "How can I be patient when continuous pain torments me day and night? And not only my pain, the friars make it worse for me because they do not serve me as friars ought to do."

Then St. Francis, knowing by divine revelation that the leper is possessed by an evil spirit, goes to pray devoutly to God for him. He returns to him and says: "My son, I want to serve you myself, because you are not happy with the others."

And the leper says: "I like that, that but what can you do more than the others do?"

St. Francis answered: "I will do what you wish."

The leper says: "I want you to wash me all over, because I stink so badly that I cannot bear it."

So St. Francis immediately goes to heat water, using many aromatic herbs.  Then he undresses the leper and begins to wash him with his own hands, and by divine miracle, wherever St. Francis touches him with his holy hands, the leprosy disappears and the flesh is perfectly healed. And as the flesh begins to heal, so his soul begins to heal.  And the leper seeing this, begins to have great contrition and repentance for his sins and to weep bitterly, so while his body outwardly cleanses itself of leprosy, inside the soul cleanses itself of sin via contrition and tears. And being fully cured, the leper recognizes his own guilt and says, crying aloud: "Woe unto me, for I am worthy of hell for insults and injuries which I have done and said to the friars, and for the impatience and blasphemies that I've had against God."  For a fortnight he perseveres in bitter tears for his sins, asking mercy of God.

St. Francis, seeing so manifest a miracle that God had worked through his hands, thanks God and departs from there, journeying to far away countries; because of humility he wants to escape all worldly glory, and for all his works seeks only the glory of God and not his own.

Christ be praised. Amen

If You're Going To San Francesco...

St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), founder of the Fransiscan order, is considered the first Italian poet by literary critics, antedating Dante by a generation. Francis of Assisi, along with Catherine of Siena, are patron saints of Italy. St. Francis is also the the patron saint of animals as well as of the environment.

The following selection was written about Francis of Assisi rather than by him. I Fioretti di San Francesco (The Little Flowers of St. Francis) was originally recorded in Latin by friar Ugolino da Montegrigio a few years after the death of St. Francis.  An Italian version first appeared in the second half of the 14th Century. The exact version here is from my trusty reader Beginning Readings in Italian and though highly abridged, the simple beauty of the language still comes through after nearly eight centuries.

I Fioretti di San Francesco was made into a film by Roberto Rossellini.  I haven't seen it yet but have it queued on Netflix. Portions of it are posted on YouTube here. That particular clip contains the Lord's Prayer in Italian which made we want to go find the written version. My first impression of the film is sort of like seeing a black and white movie version of Robin Hood. Sometimes the 13th century is best left to the writers and artists of that time:

Giotto (1266-1336) St Francis Preaching To The Birds

La Predica Agli Ucclelli

Allora San Francesco si leva con grandissimo fervore e dice: «Andiamo, al nome di Dio»: e prende per compagni frate Masseo e frate Agnolo, uomini santi. E andano con fervore di spirito arrivano a un castello che si chiama Carmano e San Francesco comincia a predicare. Predica con tanto fervore che tutti gli uomini e le donne di quell castello per devozione gli vogliono andar dietro e abbandonare il castello. E passando oltre Carmano e Bevagno, alza gli occhi e vede degli alberi, sui quali è quasi infinita moltitudine di uccelli; di che San Francesco si meraviglia e dice ai compagni: «Voi mi aspettate qui nella via e io vado a predicare alle mie sirocchie uccelli. »  E entra nel campo e comincia a predicare agli uccelli che sono in terra; e subito quelli che sono sugli alberi vengono a lui, e tutti insieme stanno ferme, mentre San Francesco finisce di predicare.

La sostanza della predica di San Francesco è questa: «Sirocchie mie uccelli, voi siete molto tenute a Dio vostro creatore poichè vi ha dato libertà di volare e vi ha dato il vestimento duplicato e triplicato; egli ha anche serbato il vostro seme nell’Arca di Noè. Voi non seminate e non mietete, e Dio vi nutre e vi  dà i fiumi e le fonti per vostro bene, e vi dà monti e le valli per vostro rifugio, e gli alberi alti per fare il vostro nido; e poichè voi non sapete filare nè cucire, Dio vi veste, voi e i vostri figlioli. Il vostro Creatore vi ama molto poichè egli vi dà tante benefici, e però guardatevi, sirocchie mie, dal peccato della ingratitudine, ma sempre lodate Dio.» Dicendo San Francesco queste parole, tutti quegli uccelli cominciano ad aprire i becchi, distendere i colli, aprire le ali e riverentemente inchinare i capi fino a terra, e con atti e con canti dimostrare che le parole del padre santo danno loro grandissimo diletto. E San Francesco insieme con loro si rallegra e si diletta, e si meraviglia molto di tanta moltitudine di uccelli e della loro bellissima varietà e della loro attenzione e familiarità. Finita la predica. San Francesco fa loro il segno della Croce a dà loro licenza di partire e allora tutti quegli uccelli si levano in aria con meravigliosi canti; e poi, secondo la Croce che aveva fatta loro San Francesco, si dividono in quattro parti: e l’una parte vola verso l’oriente, e l’altra verso l’occidente, e l’altra verso il mezzogiorno, la quarta verso il steetrione, e ciascuna schiera va cantando meravigliosi canti.
A laude di Cristo. Amen.

The Sermon To The Birds

St. Francis arises with great fervor, saying, "Let us go in the name of God"; and taking with him Brother Masseo and Brother Angelo, both holy men, they go forth guided by the Spirit of God. They come to a village called Carmiano and St. Francis begins to preach. He preaches so fervently that all the men and women of the village want to leave and follow after him out of devotion. Passing a place between Carmiano and Bevagna, St. Francis looks up and sees on the trees an almost infinite variety of birds, and being much surprised he says to his companions: "You wait for me here by the way, while I go and preach to my sisters the birds." And entering the field, he begins to preach to the birds that are on the ground, and suddenly those on the trees also come to him, and all are still until St. Francis finishes preaching. The substance of the sermon of St. Francis is this:

"My sister birds, you owe much to God, and you must always and in everyplace give praise to Him; for He has given you freedom to wing through the sky and He has clothed you two-fold and three-fold and He has preserved your species in Noah's Ark. Though you neither sow nor reap, God feeds you and gives you rivers and fountains for your thirst, and mountains and valleys for shelter, and tall trees for your nests. And although you neither know how to spin or weave, God dresses you and your children, for the Creator loves you greatly and He blesses you abundantly. Therefore, beware my sister birds of the sin of ingratitude, but always seek to praise God."

As St. Francis says these words, all the birds begin to open their beaks, to stretch their necks, open their wings and reverently bow heads to the ground, and act with songs that prove that the words of the Holy Father gives them great pleasure. And St. Francis is pleased with them and is delighted, and amazed at such a multitude of beautiful birds and their variety and their attention and familiarity. After the sermon, St. Francis makes the sign of the cross to give them permission to leave and then all the birds rise into the air with wonderful songs and then, making the sign of the cross that St. Francis had made, the flock divides into four parts: one part flies to the east, the other towards the west, and the other south, the fourth to the north, and each flock singing wonderful songs.

To the praise of Christ. Amen.

Losing Site of the Mission?

One interesting book on my shelf is called The Discovery of San Francisco Bay. The Portolá Expedition of 1769-1770. The book is a translation of the diary of Miguel Costansó, who was a soldier/engineer on that historic expedition. The title of the book refers to the fact that the Portolá expedition is credited with discovering the San Francisco Bay, that great natural harbor which lay hidden for more than two centuries after the first Europeans sailed up the coast of California. Costansó kept a very detailed diary and provides us with a mind's eye glimpse of what southern California looked like before californication. Here's his description of the valley where I live:

Tuesday, 18 July [1769]: The watering-place found by the scouts was little more than two leagues from Santa Sinforosa,[1] a distance that we covered in the afternoon. The country over which we passed was also hilly. The place where we halted was exceedingly beautiful and pleasant, a valley remarkable for its size, adorned with groves of trees and covered with the finest pasture. It must have been nearly a league wide, and different canyons opened into it on the north and northeast. The watering-place consisted of a pool or marsh of considerable extent. We camped on rising ground within the same valley, towards the west.[2] We gave the name San Juan Capistrano to the valley.[3]

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[1] Now called Buena Vista Creek, northeast of Carlsbad. Highway 78 runs parallel to Buena Vista Creek.[2] The San Luis Rey de Francia Mission was built at this site in 1789. The Mission was named after King Louis IX of France , the patron Saint of the third order of Franciscans (aka St. Louis).
[3] Our valley is no longer called San Juan Capistrano; that name now belongs to a mission and town about 35 miles farther north.
The mission used to cover about 6 acres. Little by little, they've sold off the acreage. Over the years, the surroundings have become a mixture of commercial and residential development. But despite the change, the place retains its original mission: they're still Franciscans with an active community parish. Link

[update: more historical stuff on the SLR Mission here.]