Category Archives: Writings & Articles

This category contains writings by members of our fraternity and articles by others relating to Saints Francis & Clare, the Secular Franciscan Order, other Franciscan orders, and Franciscan spirituality.

There is no “out of love”

28 Friday Aug 2026

Posted by in contemplation, contemplation

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Friends of Silence
Aug 28, 2026

There is no “out of love.” It’s what we are, deeper and richer than all the spiritual promises and far more ordinary and real. We don’t “fall in or out of love” because we are permanently in the flow of love itself. Love is the way we are meant to live; love is the measure of the meaning of life … When we touch life with love, it grows warm and shines down the corridors of the mind with a light that does not fade but grows brighter and more beautiful with the years. 

When love is present nothing is the same. Even the drab gray walls of this prison begin to glow. It’s as if we are transported into a different world, love’s world. Then things are seen through love’s eyes. Then the pain may turn into a poem, and the sorrow may blossom as a ministry. 

Love is what shines from our eyes, beats from our heart, speaks with our voice, and meets itself everywhere. Sooner or later, love will reclaim us all. But to let that happen now, to die into love now, before the body dies … Ah!

~ Charles “Tom” Brown

Padre Pio on loving our loving God

17 Monday Aug 2026

Posted by in Franciscan Saints and Blesseds, Franciscan Spirituality, Mystics, News, Saints

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This letter from Padre Pio found its way into my inbox, which (as is so often the case) came at a time when I needed a reminder of God’s infinite love for us, and our inborn need to love Him. If I read him correctly, Padre Pio says that God love fills us because God Himself dwells within us, and our yearning to love Him is evidence of that His indwelling love.

There’s a good deal to ponder here, but I was particularly drawn to his asking, “How is it possible that a soul that has…dedicated to divine love…may one day depart this world dry, cold, without longing for God? How is it possible, I say, that this soul may leave this world with the mark of eternal damnation: Does it not seem a contraction to you?”*

I wonder how different things would be if we gave up worrying about being ‘worthy’ and just accepted that God’s love has no strings attached. God asks nothing in return for that gift, for true gifts are freely given, and God joys in our being channels of His love into the world.

Pio–Love for God