July 4, 2025

Dear Friend,

As the world struggles with war, violence, and aggression, I think about St. Francis of Assisi. In particular when...

The poor man bore the wounds of Christ. In September 1224, while praying on Mount La Verna, Francis received the stigmata, the five wounds of Christ. And though physical pain and sickness could rattle even a saint’s foundation, he found this affliction a blessing because it brought him closer to Jesus. In the Life of St. Francis, Bonaventure wrote: “Francis was overwhelmed and his whole body was flooded with a mixture of joy and sorrow. He rejoiced because of the gracious way Christ looked upon him, but the fact that he was fastened to a cross pierced his soul with a sword of compassionate sorrow.”

While an event like this might seem like a horror story to those of us in this century, Francis saw his affliction as a way to mirror his Savior. In smaller measures, we at Franciscan Media try to reflect the Gospel. It’s that simple—and it’s that challenging.

Will you consider sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, Mary, and the saints through Franciscan Media? To do so, click here to donate.

Christopher Heffron

Editorial Director

Saint of the Day for July 4:

Elizabeth of Portugal

(1271 – July 4, 1336)

Listen to Saint Elizabeth of Portugal’s Story Here

Elizabeth is usually depicted in royal garb with a dove or an olive branch. At her birth in 1271, her father Pedro III, future king of Aragon, was reconciled with his father James, the reigning monarch. This proved to be a portent of things to come. Under the healthful influences surrounding her early years, she quickly learned self-discipline and acquired a taste for spirituality.

Thus fortunately prepared, Elizabeth was able to meet the challenge when at the age of 12, she was given in marriage to Denis, king of Portugal. She was able to establish for herself a pattern of life conducive to growth in God’s love, not merely through her exercises of piety, including daily Mass, but also through her exercise of charity, by which she was able to befriend and help pilgrims, strangers, the sick, the poor—in a word, all those whose need came to her notice. At the same time she remained devoted to her husband, whose infidelity to her was a scandal to the kingdom.

Denis, too, was the object of many of her peace endeavors. Elizabeth long sought peace for him with God, and was finally rewarded when he gave up his life of sin. She repeatedly sought and effected peace between the king and their rebellious son Alfonso, who thought that he was passed over to favor the king’s illegitimate children. She acted as peacemaker in the struggle between Ferdinand, king of Aragon, and his cousin James, who claimed the crown. And finally from Coimbra, where she had retired as a Franciscan tertiary to the monastery of the Poor Clares after the death of her husband, Elizabeth set out and was able to bring about a lasting peace between her son Alfonso, now king of Portugal, and his son-in-law, the king of Castile.

Reflection

The work of promoting peace is anything but a calm and quiet endeavor. It takes a clear mind, a steady spirit and a brave soul to intervene between people whose emotions are so aroused that they are ready to destroy one another. This is all the more true of a woman in the early 14th century. But Elizabeth had a deep and sincere love and sympathy for humankind, an almost total lack of concern for herself, and an abiding confidence in God. These were the tools of her success.