Easter And After

 I don't believe anyone said "Easter" on Sunday. There were however occasional references to chocolate. That's Quakers for you- no time for churchy stuff, plenty of time for sweets.

I just watched a clip from Zefferelli's Brother Sun, Sister Moon. It's the scene  in which St Francis has a audience with the Pope. The papal court is gorgeously arrayed, St Francis and his followers are dirty and dishevelled. The Pope, played by Alec Guinness, says he used to be an enthusiast for the imitation of Christ but church government got in the way. Then he kneels down and kisses Francis's naked foot.

Francis is my favourite saint. We have a statue of him in the garden. I bought it at the tip shop a week or two back.



I got up a little earlier than usual this morning (sick of lying awake coughing) drew the curtains and there was not one but there were two foxes at the bottom of the garden. They watched my window for about a minute, assessing the degree of risk, then took off over the fence.

Had I been St Francis they would have hung around- as the wolf of Gubbio did.....

St Francis And The Wolf

 St Francis and the Wolf of Gubbio by Stefano di Giovanni, better known as Sasetta



It illustrates one of the stories in the Fioretti (Little Flowers) of St Francis.

The town of Gubbio is being terrorised by a man-eating wolf. The citizens appeal to St Francis to do something about it. He approaches the beast's lair  and when it comes out to him makes the sign of the cross. The wolf immediately becomes tractable, Francis shakes it by the paw and makes the following covenant with it- that  if the wolf will stop eating people the towns people will feed it. The placid beast accompanies Francis to the town square where the terms of the agreement are restated. Thereafter the wolf becomes a beloved pet, wandering round the town and in and out of the houses.

Just a pretty story?  In 1872  a grave at the church of San Francesco della Pace which had always been supposed to be that of the wolf was dug up and there- right enough-  lay its bones

The grave, with its ornate gravestone, is still to be seen in the crypt of the church.