Saints Francis Clare venerating the Eucharist
Saint Francis and Saint Clare venerating the Eucharist. 18th-century oil on canvas in the Church of Saint Mary Francis (Church of Saint Francis) in Évora, Portugal.
Francis of Assisi had a profound love for Jesus in the Eucharist so intense that he could hardly contain it. He used to say “Let the whole world tremble, and let the heavens exult, when Christ, the Son of the living God, is present on the altar in the hands of a priest;” and “O wonderful loftiness and stupendous dignity! O sublime humility! O humble sublimity! The Lord of the universe, God and the Son of God, so humbles Himself that for our salvation He hides Himself under an ordinary piece of bread!”
Francis became so immersed when adoring Christ in the Eucharist that one day a rather worldly friend asked him, “Father, what do you do during those long hours before the Blessed Sacrament?” Francis replied, “My son, in return, I ask you what does the poor man do at the rich man’s door, the sick man in the presence of his physician, the thirsty man at a limpid stream? What they do, I do before the eucharistic God. I pray. I adore. I love.”
St. Clare of Assisi, who at the age of 18 followed St. Francis’ path of poverty and founded the Poor Clares, likewise had a deep devotion to Christ in the Eucharist. Bedridden from serious illness for much of the last 27 years of her religious life (she died at age 59), St. Clare had the Blessed Sacrament reserved in a silver pyx, or vessel, just steps from her monastery cell. In one of her writings, she urged, “gaze upon Him, consider Him, contemplate Him, as you desire to imitate Him.”
This image is a public domain image, which means either that copyright has expired in the image or the copyright holder has waived their copyright. Franciscan Gallery charges for the access to high resolution copy of the image. Manually restoration was necessary in order to improve quality, without covering the original image.
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