Pace e bene
When one meets a Franciscan, consecrated or secular, his greeting is: "Peace and Good." Some consider it a late greeting; others think it starts from San Francisco itself.
One of the first biographies of San Francisco tells us that both Francisco and his colleagues based their pedagogy of pacification on true peace with oneself and with fraternity, with the group, transmitting serenity and contagious joy. Francisco said: "The peace you proclaim with your mouth, you must have it overflowing in your hearts, so that by your peace and meekness you invite everyone to peace and kindness."
Francis himself, in his Testament, remembers some values that the Lord, giver of all good, has given him, and one of them is that meeting people he gave them this greeting: "The Lord give you peace." So not only on the road or through the streets of the city, but in each sermon, before communicating the word of God and inviting conversion, he wanted peace to those present saying: "The Lord give you peace."
Peace, the fruit of justice, opens the way to goodness, the fruitful rain of God that is good, all good. In a world of violence and discord such as the medieval, but which also extend into our contemporary world, I am pleased to remember that Francisco uses music, poetry and the experience of God, which is joy, our joy and our wealth to satiety, and invites some of his brothers to gather the mayor and the bishop of Assisi, who were enmity, and sing the "Song of the Creatures", to which he adds a new stanza:
"Praise you, my Lord, for those who forgive for your love
And they endure sickness and tribulation.
Blessed are those who suffer in peace,
Well, for you, Most High, you will be crowned. "
The "Peace and Good" greeting is an invitation to open the heart to peace, inner strength and the principle of renewal and moral and social good. That is why Francisco asked his brothers that he did not want them to be sad and angry, but rather, joyful in the Lord, cheerful and duly pleasant.
Image: "Peace and good" oversized handpainted tile, on the entrance of a house of Assisi.
One of the first biographies of San Francisco tells us that both Francisco and his colleagues based their pedagogy of pacification on true peace with oneself and with fraternity, with the group, transmitting serenity and contagious joy. Francisco said: "The peace you proclaim with your mouth, you must have it overflowing in your hearts, so that by your peace and meekness you invite everyone to peace and kindness."
Francis himself, in his Testament, remembers some values that the Lord, giver of all good, has given him, and one of them is that meeting people he gave them this greeting: "The Lord give you peace." So not only on the road or through the streets of the city, but in each sermon, before communicating the word of God and inviting conversion, he wanted peace to those present saying: "The Lord give you peace."
Peace, the fruit of justice, opens the way to goodness, the fruitful rain of God that is good, all good. In a world of violence and discord such as the medieval, but which also extend into our contemporary world, I am pleased to remember that Francisco uses music, poetry and the experience of God, which is joy, our joy and our wealth to satiety, and invites some of his brothers to gather the mayor and the bishop of Assisi, who were enmity, and sing the "Song of the Creatures", to which he adds a new stanza:
"Praise you, my Lord, for those who forgive for your love
And they endure sickness and tribulation.
Blessed are those who suffer in peace,
Well, for you, Most High, you will be crowned. "
The "Peace and Good" greeting is an invitation to open the heart to peace, inner strength and the principle of renewal and moral and social good. That is why Francisco asked his brothers that he did not want them to be sad and angry, but rather, joyful in the Lord, cheerful and duly pleasant.
Image: "Peace and good" oversized handpainted tile, on the entrance of a house of Assisi.
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