January 8 - Blessed Angela of Foligno

Angela of Foligno (1248-1309) is a great role model for those of us who want escape materialism and find God by simplifying our lives.  She was a wealthy and comfortable wife and mother who lived “wildly, adulterously, and sacrilegiously,” according to a contemporary account.  (In the parlance of her time, that could mean anything from "sleeping around" to "thinking about men every once in a while.")  Then, when she was about forty years old, she committed a serious sin she was too embarrassed to confess.  So she didn’t, and she continued to receive the Eucharist, which was considered an act of sacrilege.  Her conscience nagged at her until she prayed to St. Francis of Assisi, who appeared to her in a dream and promised to help her by finding her a good Franciscan confessor and spiritual director.  She found her confessor, made her confession, and this became a turning point in her walk with God.

 

Angela gave up everything she owned.  She joined the third order Franciscans, which means she continued to live at home instead of in a convent, which left her better able to visit and care for the sick.  She also became one of those mystics who seem to have visions at the drop of a hat.  Her confessor recorded her visions, which are fantastic reading on the love of Christ and on prayer.  Here is an excerpt:

 

No one can be saved without divine light.  Divine light causes us to begin and to make progress, and it leads us to the summit of perfection.  Therefore if you want to begin and to receive this divine light, pray.  If you have begun to make progress, pray.  And if you have reached the summit of perfection, and want to be super-illumined so as to remain in that state, pray.

 

If you want faith, pray.  If you want hope, pray.  If you want love, pray.  If you want poverty, pray.  If you want obedience, pray.  If you want chastity, pray.  If you want humility, pray.  If you want meekness, pray.  If you want fortitude, pray.  If you want any virtue, pray. 

 

And pray in this fashion:  always reading the Book of Life, that is, the life of the God-man Jesus Christ, whose life consisted of poverty, pain, contempt, and true obedience.

 

It’s a simple message, but one I need to be constantly reminded of.  Seek God in prayer, often.  Seek his righteousness in prayer, often.  And reflect on the life of Jesus in the gospels, often.  That’s about as good a formula as I’ve ever encountered for a healthy devotional life.