St. Francis of Paola

 

Put aside your hatred and animosity. Take pains to refrain from sharp words. If they escape your lips, do not be ashamed to let your lips produce the remedy, since they have caused the wounds. Pardon one another so that later on you will not remember the injury. The recollection of an injury is itself wrong. It adds to our anger, nurtures our sin, and hates what is good. It is a rusty arrow and poison for the soul. It puts all virtue to flight. It is like a worm in the mind: it confuses our speech and tears to shreds our petitions to God. It is foreign to charity: it remains planted in the soul like a nail. It is wickedness that never sleeps, sin that never fails. It is indeed a daily death.

                                                                                                --St. Francis of Paola

Today is the feast day of St. Francis of Paola, a Franciscan hermit of the fifteenth century.  He founded a community of hermit mendicants that eventually became the Minimi (the least ones).  And, in addition to establishing rules for friars and nuns, he created a “third order” for lay people.  Though he was a hermit, he was eventually drawn into a more active life, preaching and ministering to people of all social classes, defending the poor and oppressed, and making peace between kingdoms.  He was renowned for his humility and the austerity of his life, as well as his kindness and charity, which extended even to animals.  There are tales of his performing miracles on behalf of his animal friends, including a fish!  He was a strict vegan, as were all his fellow hermits.  They kept a year-round Lenten fast, abstaining not only from meat but all animal products including milk, eggs, and cheese.  Despite this, and the extreme austerity of his life (or perhaps because of it), he lived to be ninety-one-years-old.