saint francis

I didn't go inside -- the sign said "No food or drink" and there I was with a huge loaf of bread -- but on Vallejo Street just off Columbus stand the National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi.

That's right, the saint in your grandmother's front yard. Well, my grandmother's front yard, anyway.

"Francis anticipated (animal cruelty) laws by over six hundred years. He wasn’t a mere sentimentalist about bunnies and birds and pets—he simply lived from his heart the respect for all creatures—animal and human—that Christ’s Incarnation brought into the world. Through humble divine love, Francis discovered the same compassion that human laws, centuries in the future, would require of us all. And so Francis was a perfect example, in a reverse sort of way, of the fact that “love is the fulfillment of the law.” "

The scope of the website is, not surprisingly, Catholic and reverent in tone, and the photos of the church are beautiful. I will certainly enter next time.

Learn about Saint Francis, see the church!