St. Francis Window, Transfiguration Chapel @ the Parish Church of St. John the Baptist, Epping. Design picture by Piers Northam.
Pope Leo has proclaimed, this week, a year of Jubilee for Saint Francis to commemorate the 800th anniversary of his death.The year will run from now until January 10th, 2027. The Pope encourages the faithful to use this time to follow the example of St. Francis as models of holiness and witnesses of peace.
Here is a poem I wrote in 2023 about St. Francis.
Dearest Francis, You were led from your raucousness and debauchery. As leader of the pack they gathered around you, your followers, attracted by a charisma that lit up their lives. Of course, your pockets held the wealth which made living as free spirits so easy. You took it all for granted. The centre of your life was within you, focusing on that self which has ruined so many.
But another Charisma sought your energy. Different followers waited to be your disciples. Different values, to be ripened by true joy. Perplexed, perhaps that you were losing direction, uncertainty gripped that carefree heart and nothing satisfied.
From the centre of things, you were called to the margins, where your destiny would discover you. Kneeling, questioningly, in the dereliction of Damiano’s chapel, You were led to examine your own crumbling life. In the midst of your despair, Jesus spoke to you,
“Francis, rebuild my Church.”
At first, a physical task, drawing others to your side as only you could, but there was so much more to come. You did not always get it right. None of us do. That is why God comes among us often, casting his grace over us, like rose petals at a wedding.
It is said that, near death, Jesus gifted you with stigmata, scars, wounds of Christ, as marks on your own body. But you had received these on your heart long ago, when you walked as a companion of Jesus. The Way of the Cross gave you Stations of prayer by which you were able to shepherd poor, unloved, uncared for humanity; vulnerable animals; dancing birds, whose capricious flight was a sign of God’s joy. And you did not forget the rich, who more than most need to walk with you, into heaven.
Galette des Rois photographed by Gill Henwood, cooked by her daughter, Kathleen.
This photo of an amazing and mouth-watering cake was sent to me by my friend Gill Henwood. It was made by her daughter Kathleen for the delectation of her two sons.
The cake is known as Galette des Rois, literally the Kings’ Cake.The name derives from the Kings or Wise Men who visited the infant Jesus in Bethlehem, having seen a bright star in the East. These Magi (Wise Men) travelled taking their bearings from the Star. The Gospel account recorded by Matthew in Chapter 2, verses 2 to 12, tells us of their journey, their visit to King Herod and then the arrival at the home of Jesus. Here, they knelt to pay Jesus homage and presented Him with three gifts ~ Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. Each of the gifts had a significance. Gold was given because Jesus is worshipped as a King; Incense to celebrate His Divinity (God) and Myrrh which is used to embalm the dead. It was a foretelling of the Crucifixion when the Son of God died for the well-being of humanity and opened the way for us to turn aside from sin and so live for God and in the depth of God’s love for us.
The feast of the visit of the Wise Men is known as the Epiphany – the showing forth of God’s Glory. There are other Epiphanies during this extended Christmas season to Candlemass (February 2nd). The Epiphany to the Magi is kept on January 6th, which coincides with Christmas Day in the Eastern Orthodox Churches.
Because the Wise Men brought three gifts it is commonly held that there were 3 of them and because they travelled from the East over desert lands, it is believed that they rode on three camels. Later documents increased the number of kings – St John Chrysostom even suggested that there were 12 of them! The Venerable Bede, writing in the 7th Century named them and that has become fairly definitive – Balthazar, Gaspar (Caspar) and Melchior. Many other legends and customs grew up around them. The Galette des Rois is one of them.
In many places on the night before the feast of Epiphany, a special cake would be served with three beans hidden inside, two white beans and one black one. Whoever found the beans would be the King at the Epiphany feast. Dressed in fine robes, they would preside over the feast and before leaving would hand out small gifts, equivalents of gold, frankincense and myrrh. In the royal courts of the Middle Ages, Epiphany Cakes would contain a bean for the king and a pea for the Queen. Whoever found the bean and the pea would be the King and Queen of the feast. A more recent variation is that the figure baked into the cake (especially in France) is a tiny plastic or ceramic statue of Christ. An alternative name for the Cake is therefore Christ cake. Whoever found the statue would be especially blessed throughout the coming year.
There are many recipes available for making the cake, especially in France, from where it takes its name. It is as popular in France as the Christmas Cake or Pudding are in Great Britain. The cake itself can be made with puff pastry, though often it is brioche. It is often filled with frangipane, an almond paste. As you will see on Kathleen’s cake, it is decorated with crowns and small figures of the kings. There are hearts representing God’s love and in the centre, a circle of pastry which tells me about this love of God which is eternal.
Though we are beyond January 6th it is not too late to bake a Galette des Rois. In France it is quite common to eat this cake throughout January.
A Prayer for the Galette des Rois
O God, guiding light of the world, As we share this Galette des Rois, we remember the journey of the Magi, Who followed a star to find Your Son, Jesus,.
Bless this cake, a symbol of our gathering, And bless each person who shares it with us today, May we find the hidden bean, and in that simple joy, Find a reminder of Your grace,.
May we be guided by Your light through the darkness, May we share our blessings and our love, And may the sweetness of this moment bring us closer to You, And to one another.
There is a story about a Vicar who was baptising a baby in a very large font. The baby slipped from his grasp and disappeared under the water. With presence of mind,he thrust his hand into the font and fished around, saying as he did so, “I know he’s in here, somewhere!”
That’s how I sometimes feel about Jesus and the Christmas hype. In the days and weeks before Christmas we get a bit manic and caught up in frantic activity which has very little to do with the real Christmas. Yet, amidst all the trappings of Christmas and all the false trails we are led along by commercialism or fantasy, there is a real message to be discovered. For Christians there is a real Jesus to be found; an Incarnation to celebrate; and a true God to thank for his greatest gift to the human race – the gift of Jesus as a supreme statement of His love for us all. It’s a truth – Jesus is in there, somewhere. We simply have to pause and be still to discover him.
One of the places I discovered him is a little mountain village in Italy called Greccio. Above the village there is a church, built on the site of a very special event which was to have a profound influence on the way we celebrate Christmas and understand its real message.
At Greccio in 1223, St. Francis of Assisi decided that he wanted to celebrate Christmas in a rather special way. Christmas Day was always a day of special joy to him and in his mind and heart he would relive in spirit the Bethlehem event. It was always a great source of wonder to him that God had taken our likeness and become one of us in Jesus.
At that special Christmas in 1223 Francis spoke to one of the gentleman knights of Greccio and said: “I would like to celebrate the next feast of the Redeemer with you. I would like to recall his birth in Bethlehem in order to see all the poverty he endured from his birth to save us sinners.” The knight wondered how he would be able to help St Francis to do this and Francis explained: “I want you to put a manger filled with hay in the cave you own on the mountain and I would like you to bring an ox and an ass exactly as at Bethlehem. On Christmas night, I will come up there and, together, we will pray in the cave.”
The knight did as Francis asked and as Christmas Day approached, a great procession made its way up the mountain track. The Franciscan friars were joined by the villagers, shepherds from the surrounding hills and local farmers. Their torches punctuated the darkness with light and the air was filled with song as the friars sang a special hymn which Francis had composed: “God is our strength. The great and holy Lord sent from the heavens above, his Son born of the Virgin Mary. A chosen Child has been given us and placed in a manger.”
Reaching the cave they were greeted by a crib scene – no longer a distant scene in historic Bethlehem brought to their lives by a biblical text. It was there before them. It was as if, that year, Bethlehem was brought to the top of the mountain of Greccio and they were as much a part of it as those Shepherds long ago. The Eucharist was celebrated on a small altar and Francis explained the Christmas Gospel – and then, he took a small child from amongst those gathered and laid him gently in the hay. There before them a defenceless child symbolized a vulnerable God who chose to become involved in our lives as one of us in order to bring to birth his love in our hearts. As the Eucharist was celebrated so they each came forward to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion and their involvement was complete. Jesus who had come to the world at Bethlehem came into their lives under the form of a piece of bread – vulnerably he placed himself into their hands, as defenceless as he had been in the manger – and it was their hands cupped to receive him which became the crib. Behind all this they discovered the profound truth of Christmas – that love had come to them; they were deeply loved.
The farmers and shepherds and villagers returned home full of joy. It is said that the night was glittering so bright that there was no longer need for their torches to light the way. Each of them was aglow with Christmas light and hope. They had all been touched by God and had been caught up into heaven as they discovered in the simplest yet most profound way possible the truth that in the birth of the Christ-child they had been drawn into the life of the : Great little one whose all-embracing birth Brings earth to heaven, stoops heaven to earth.
Of course, what happened in 1223 in Greccio was just a beginning. As a result of what Francis did cribs are to be found in almost every Christian church, many city, town and village centres and all places where Christ’s birth is celebrated. Children gaze in wonder; adults are reduced to awe; prayers are said and hopes and longings find a focus; sadnesses are poured out and joys are celebrated. The image of the Christ child in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger draws people to contemplate the mystery of God born in our midst in so fragile an environment, so vulnerable a birth. And each one of us who celebrate Christmas is drawn into an involvement with the real Christmas. Like the villagers, farmers and shepherds in central Italy long ago, we have been invited to discover that God really does love us. In our dark and vulnerable world of today we do need to hear and believe that!
This has not been the easiest year for the human race and so many are left feeling unprotected and fragile. We are less secure and less certain; Ours is a much darker world than it was last Christmas. In Bethlehem today, as in many places of the world, there is not the stillness of that much loved Carol, Silent Night. The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, in his Christmas message from Bethlehem, spoke of a silence of those feeling abandoned,living in tension, fear, turmoil. He spoke, too, of the people in Gaza and the West Bank and the pain and difficulties of their lives. Archbishop Stephen urged us all to pray, “as never before for peace in the Holy Land.”
A meaningful peace is formed in hearts of love. It’s needed also in the Ukraine, the Sudan, Syria and so many areas of global conflict where there is struggle between human beings fighting each other in the name of ideologies which bring conflict. Bethlehem has become synonymous of all that is not pure and lovely in humanity and all that is wrong in the human heart. For many, the answer has been to live for themselves but we are all involved with each other. We need to hear that we are loved and valued and of infinite worth. We need to feel secure enough to reach out in love to others. The crib of Christ offers us that security, albeit from the most vulnerable place imaginable – the innocent heart of a babe born in the very margins of society and in the most inauspicious of circumstances. Yet from the crib, Godly love pours out to us drawing from us awe and wonder of a God who is prepared to risk everything and who is prepared to love us despite what we do to him and to each other. In our own need and vulnerability, we should rediscover this.
Here are words of the late Mother Jane SLG, a nun whom I had the privilege of knowing personally and whose wisdom lives on for us. “If we have the courage to admit the reality of our situation, that we can rely only on God, we are open to receive the glory which will shine in every corner of our lives and ourselves, showing up the shadows more starkly, but inflaming us with a delight in God that keeps our perspective right and helps us to accept and transcend our own and other peoples’ shortcomings because the love of God is so much more important.”
The Love of God is so much more important – because of Christmas he is in our lives somewhere. May we discover that He is in our hearts. It will make all the difference.
Daniel Berrigan was an American Jesuit priest, anti-war activist, Christian pacifist, playwright, poet, and author. His protest against the Vietnam War led him to be arrested many times but earned him much support. Destruction of Government documents (draft papers) led to him being placed on the FBI’s most wanted list, and eventual imprisonment. A radical, his heart was absolutely centred on God combined with a deep concern for those who lived impoverished lives. He served the poor, unwanted, unloved. This piece is a poem he wrote about Advent and the hope and truth of the Love of God given to the world in Jesus.
ADVENT CREDO It is not true that creation and the human family are doomed to destruction and loss— This is true: For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life;
It is not true that we must accept inhumanity and discrimination, hunger and poverty, death and destruction— This is true: I have come that they may have life, and that abundantly.
It is not true that violence and hatred should have the last word, and that war and destruction rule forever— This is true: Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, his name shall be called wonderful councillor, mighty God, the Everlasting, the Prince of peace.
It is not true that we are simply victims of the powers of evil who seek to rule the world— This is true: To me is given authority in heaven and on earth, and lo I am with you, even until the end of the world.
It is not true that we have to wait for those who are specially gifted, who are the prophets of the Church before we can be peacemakers— This is true: I will pour out my spirit on all flesh and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions and your old men shall have dreams.
It is not true that our hopes for liberation of humankind, of justice, of human dignity of peace are not meant for this earth and for this history— This is true: The hour comes, and it is now, that the true worshippers shall worship God in spirit and in truth.
So let us find in Advent, hope, even hope against hope. Let us see visions of love and peace and justice.
Let us affirm with humility, with joy, with faith, with courage: Jesus Christ—the life of the world.
(From Testimony: The Word Made Flesh, by Daniel Berrigan, S.J. Orbis Books, 2004)
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