Episode Details

Fr. Peter George Flynn marks the 800th anniversary of St. Francis’s death with a rich account of how the Franciscans came to shape one of the most beloved Lenten devotions. He tells the story of St. Francis crossing enemy lines during the Fifth Crusade to preach to the Sultan of Morocco, whose admiration gave the Franciscans their enduring custody of the Holy Land.

He traces the origins of the Stations of the Cross from Our Lady’s own pilgrimage through Jerusalem, through the great outdoor Calvaries of Italy and Poland, to the tireless work of St. Leonard of Port Maurice, who established 572 stations across Italy and installed them in the Colosseum. The episode closes with the surprising story of Jacopone da Todi, the vain lawyer whose wife’s hidden hair shirt of penance broke his heart and set him on the road to becoming the Franciscan friar who wrote the Stabat Mater.

L'articolo The Franciscan Hour – How Franciscans Shaped the Stations of the Cross – Fr Peter George Flynn proviene da Radio Maria.