Francis and the San Damiano Cross: Meditations on Spiritual Transformation

by Susan Saint Sing

Book Overview

The San Damiano crucifix is a stage where a story is being told. There are different sets and players on the stage and we are the audience viewing it; and it too has an audience upon it that is both viewing the crucifixion and playing a part in it....Francis walked onto that stage a person who had within him the violence of war, unrest and severe doubts. And on this stage he became a person of peace. His prayer before the crucifix is also our prayer,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0867167351
• ISBN13: 9780867167351
• Release Date: August 2006
• Publisher: Franciscan Media
• Length: 120 Pages
• Weight: 0.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Timeless Symbolism

Subtitled "Meditations on Spiritual Transformation," this work is organized around the San Damiano Cross and its effect on St. Francis of Assisi. For those who don't know the story, Francis came upon the cross in a ramshackle church and as he prayed, heard the voice of Christ telling him "Go and repair my house, which as you see is falling into ruin." Each short chapter consists of a description of one of the elements of the San Damiano crucifix, Francis' response, and "our" response. I found all of these thought provoking, but because I was unfamiliar with this cross and its myriad symbols, I felt the need to download an enlarged color picture from the Internet to keep nearby as I read. I did not need graphics, however, to understand the relationships Saint Sing uncovers among the cross, Francis' life, and ours. She says, for example, that we are all called to make repairs, perhaps in our work, our environment, or our relationships with others or with God. And in the story of St. Francis' embracing lepers, she sees our call to work "daily and steadfastly to bring the lepers of our lives to our family table, especially the lepers within our own family already sitting in our midst."