(Part I)
The Seraphicum College in Rome has been offering a series of monthly retreats for all of the friars of the community. Each retreat has included an evening talk followed by adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Mass for the entire community. Friar Michael LASKY, the General Delegate for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) is leading the retreats for the 2024-2025 academic year. Thus far, retreats were offered on October 29, and November 12, 2024 and February 4, 2025. Two more are scheduled for Ash Wednesday and April 1, 2025.
The first three retreats of the series focused on how Francis of Assisi and sinful humanity withdrew from the poem because of our unworthiness. Creation then moved to fill the space from which we withdrew, to praise God and His goodness. Finally, sinful humanity returned to the poem, filled with the grace of God’s loving mercy. The talks took the form of a three-part series of dialogues or mini dramas between various Franciscan figures. Members of the Seraphicum community played the various parts in a theatre like setting. Each experience led to a practical interaction, which served to help the friars enter more deeply into the beauty of creation.
The first dialogue featured a conversation between St. Francis (Friar Miguel Angel SALCEDO SALCEDO), St. Bonaventure (Friar Michele DE GREGORIO), and Friar Michael LASKY. They discussed how St. Bonaventure used the Canticle of St. Francis as a basis for writing his Mind’s Journey to God.
The second dialogue was between Thomas of Celano (Friar Anthony Romanus DONKOH) and Brother Leo (Friar Héctor Manuel CORBAL CRUZ). They argued their differing perspectives of the Canticle. Thomas believed it to be a hymn of joy, while Leo saw it as a hymn of agony. Lady Jacoba of Settesoli served as a referee in their argument and gave the friars room to reconcile their differences and come to a common understanding that the Canticle was in fact a hymn of joy and agony.
The third dialogue was between Pope Nicholas IV (Friar Florianus Joni SAMAN) and Friar Jacopo Toritti (Friar Wildo José BOGARÍN), who made the apse mosaic inside the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome. They discussed the planning for the mosaic in all its aspects, which included using Franciscan Mariology and the Canticle as a lens for seeing more clearly the mercy of God. Connecting the Portiuncula, the Chapel of Pardon to the mosaic inside St. Mary Major, we discovered a Franciscan vision that brings healing and forgiveness to humanity. Through mercy we rejoin the poem of the Canticle to sing, harmoniously with all of creation, the praises of God Most High and Most Near.
Friar Michael LASKY
