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Icons by Br. Robert Lentz, ofm.
Influenced by his Russian Orthodox background and a period of study with a master iconographer, Lentz's unique style blends classical Eastern iconography with contemporary elements and "witnesses."
Dimensions: 10.75" x 8.5"
St. Francis, Father of the Poor
Once when St. Clare and her nuns kept insisting that Francis come and preach to them in person, he surprised them with a symbolic action that encouraged them to look beyond his person to the goodness of God. He asked for a bowl of ashes which he scattered in a circle on the ground. He sat down in the circle and scattered the rest of the ashes on himself. He then prayed a penitential psalm to acknowledge what we would be without God, and walked away in silence. The nuns understood him completely.
How often the daughters of St. Clare have reminded the world of the values of poverty and humility. First to receive the sermon of the ashes, they have kept it alive through the centuries, drawing us back to what is true. Franciscan friars presented this icon in gratitude to Mother Mary Francis and the Poor Clare nuns of Roswell, New Mexico on July 26, 2004.
© Robert Lentz, 2004
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