One of the most venerated religious figures in history and considered the patron saint of animals and the natural environment, a pope confirmed Francis as “Patron Saint of Ecology.” He believed nature itself is “the mirror of God” and he’s closely connected to the lineage of Lao Tzu, the early Taoists, Thoreau, Emerson, and Native Americans. He traveled widely, worked hard to end the Crusades, dedicated himself and his followers to poverty and helping the poor, exposed the materialism of the church leaders of his time, and by many accounts successfully changed history.
Lineages
Christian Roman / Italian Taoist
Canticle of the Sun
“All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.”
Chapters:
67. Three Treasures
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“Be praised my Lord through Sister Water; she is very useful, and humble, and precious, and pure.”
from Canticle of the Sun
Chapters:
78. Water
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“If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.”
Chapters:
27. No Trace
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“No one is to be called an enemy, all are your benefactors, and no one does you harm. You have no enemy except yourselves.”
Chapters:
69. No Enemy
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“Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received – only what you have given.”
Chapters:
77. Stringing a Bow
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“The deeds you do may be the only sermon some people will ever hear.”
Chapters:
70. Inscrutable
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“We should seek not so much to pray but to become prayer.”
Chapters:
32. Uncontrived Awareness
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“What you're looking for is where you're looking from.”
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“Be praised my Lord, for sister moon and the stars, in the sky you have made them brilliant and precious and beautiful.”
from Canticle of the Sun
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“Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”
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“Francis was one of the first, the first consummate flower to rise out of the discord-tilled winder of the Middle Ages. His hear was simple, happy, and chaste; his eyes, like those of children and great poets, always saw the world for the first time... After so many centuries, Francis was the first to see the world with virgin eyes.”
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“Just as Israel has been rendered archaic by the institution of the church, so the Church is rendered archaic by individual experience... the Holy spirit who speaks directly to the individual... the first representative of this was Saint Francis of Assisi”
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“At least I've never tried, consciously or otherwise, to turn Jesus into St. Francis of Assisi to make him more 'lovable'—which is exactly what 98% of the Christian world has always insisted on doing.”
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