Franciscans and the Disciplines of Lent

We are now in the midst of the sacred season of Lent.

Lent occupies a special place in Franciscan life

Early Franciscans saw themselves as part of the great penitential movement of their times: men and women who were hearing the Gospel afresh and turning their hearts to the coming of God’s Kingdom in a deeper way. Therefore, the liturgical season of Lent, dedicated as it is to a profound conversion of mind and heart, naturally occupied a special place in their lives.

Fasting becomes a prominent discipline

And so, Lenten practices occupy a place in the early Franciscan rules (Friars Minor, Poor Clares, and lay penitents). Prominent here is the discipline of fasting, which at the time entailed the communal solidarity of abstaining from meat, meat fats, and dairy products for the Lenten period.

Francis retires to hermitage during Lent

We know that Francis himself almost always retired for the season of Lent with a few brothers to a hermitage—his favorites were La Verna and Greccio—where he could step apart and reflect on how God was asking him to deepen his commitment in terms of the ever-changing situation of his life. “When blessed Francis stayed constantly in a place to pray . . . he was always anxious to know the will of the Lord, about how he could please him better” (Assisi Compilation, 118).

The hermitage at Greccio where Saint Francis spent Lent

The sanctuary and hermitage at LaVerna where Saint Francis spent Lent with a few brothers

Franciscans face challenge to “go apart” to discern God’s call

Franciscans still continue to practice Lenten disciplines, even though most of us, committed to many activities, do not take on the burden of physical penances or have the time to spend all of Lent in a hermitage. Yet the challenge for us is still there to create sufficient mental space during this sacred season to “go apart” from our numbing daily activities to discern God’s continuing call, to “know the will of the Lord, how we might please him better.”

Isola Maggiore, Lake Trasimeno, Italy, where Francis spent Lent one year, probably in 1211. The castle there is a 19th-century addition on the site of a medieval friary. (Wikimedia Commons)

Francis calls us to do penance

That call of Francis still comes to us: “Do penance, performing worthy fruits of penance: Give and it will be given to you. Forgive and you shall be forgiven. If you do not forgive people their sins, the Lord will not forgive yours. Confess all your sins. Blessed are those who die in penance, for they shall be in the kingdom of heaven . . . Beware of and abstain from every evil and persevere in good till the end” (Earlier Rule, 21).

The challenge is ours.

Saint Francis challenges us to find mental space and “go apart” during Lent, as he did in this grotto at LaVerna.

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Main image: “St Francis in Prayer,” painted by Michele Caravaggio, 1598