Franciscan Spirituality

Franciscan Spirituality - The joy of the cross For St Francis, accepting the Cross was the way to be united with Christ's suffering and love.  In St Francis’s mind, suffering with the Lord, is a cause for joy, not sorrow, because with the Lord’s Cross, there is always the Lord’s Resurrection. St Francis saw suffering and adversity, such as illness or mistreatment, as opportunities to practice perfect joy, mirroring the hardships of Christ. 

St Francis perceives the "joy of the cross” as a mean for teaching us  that true happiness and spiritual perfection are found in self-sacrificial love and union with God through Christ, rather than in worldly comfort or pleasure. 

The retreat will explore the following themes:

• The Meaning of Perfect Joy in the Cross

• The cross as the Path to Happiness

• Following St Francis – adopting a Franciscan lifestyle- his heroic single-mindedness amidst physical and spiritual suffering