Trust in God requires not the felt experience of God but the handing over of one’s life to God in darkness and silence, realizing that one’s life is not one’s own but belongs entirely to God. Francis trusted in the power of God’s love present in the poor, the lepers, the sick, and the simple creatures of life. He handed himself over to this power as one completely embraced by love. Through the fire that consumed his ego, Francis gave birth to a deeper self in love; he was born anew, and this birth was a new Francis in whom was visible the face of Christ.
—from the book Compassion: Living in the Spirit of St. Francis
by Ilia Delio, OSF
