Good Evening Friends,
Marcy sent me the following bizarre coincidence ... or is it??
There is also a CNN link for this story with pictures and movies at http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9709/26/italy.quake.11a/index.html
Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 14:46:19 From: Marcy Subject: [Fwd: Saint Francis of Assisi tomb is rocked by Italian earthquake] This just struck me as more than coincidental this week. God bless you. Marcy Path: cronkite.cc.uga.edu!duet.clari.net!soprano.clari.net!clarinews Newsgroups: clari.world.europe.italy,clari.news.religion,clari.news.trouble.disaster, clari.living.top,clari.living.history Subject: Saint Francis of Assisi tomb is rocked by Italian earthquake Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 9:21:21 PDT ASSISI, Italy, Sept 26 (AFP) - An earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale which hit central Italy damaged the church holding the tomb of Saint Francis of Assisi, one of the greatest Christain saints known for his humility and love. While praying on Monta della Verna, Francis had a vision and was afflicted with wounds of the Crucifixion in 1224, the first known and best attested appearance of the Stigmata. Pope Gregory IX cannonized Francis two years after his death on October 3, 1226 which is celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church on October 4. Born Giovanni di Bernardone in 1182, Francis earned his name from his father's frequent travels to France as a wealthy Italian merchant. Francis participated in and was taken prisoner in the wars between Assisi and Perugia when he was 20 and after being released, joined the wars in Apulia until an illness forced him to return home. Shortly thereafter, he converted to Christianity, renouncing the worldly evils that he had once participated in. Leading an ascetic existence, Francis dressed in rags, set out for Rome on a pilgrimage in 1206. He heard his calling during a 1209 mass in which the words of the Gospel (Mat.10.7-10) quoted Jesus as urging the apostles to go forward on their mission and, later followed the order, preaching while still a layman. Pope Innocent III granted permission to his followers to live in the manner he had, thus starting the Franciscan order of friars. The order expanded rapidly as the friars travelled around Italy preaching the Gospel and doing small deeds to meet their needs. Following travels to Dalmatia, France and Spain with the friars, Francis returned to deal with dissent within the order. He stepped down as head of the order in 1221 because he considered it too unwieldly. The famous prayer of Saint Francis, a great lover of nature who even preached to sparrows at Alviano, preaches to sow love where there is hate and misunderstanding.