Franciscan Sister of Christian Charity Sister Mary Ann Spanjers continues the Franciscan Discernment Series with the 13th episode reflecting on “Jesus born of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Franciscan Spiritual Discernment December 2025
“He was born of the Blessed Virgin Holy Mary”
As we celebrate this Christmas season we look to Our Blessed Mother Mary, so highly esteemed by St. Francis that he wrote a special Vespers of the Lord’s Birth!
It begins: Exult in God our help!
Shout to the Lord God living and true with cries of gladness!
Because the Lord, the Most High
the awesome, is the Great King over all the earth.
Because the Most Holy Father of heaven, Our King before all ages,
sent His Beloved Son from on high
and he was born of the Blessed Virgin Holy Mary.
Fr Roch Niemier, OFM writes that Francis’ devotion to Mary is well-known. Of the churches he repaired during the early years of his conversion, his favorite was the one dedicated to Our Lady of the Angels.
The foundation of Francis’ devotion to Mary was the fact that Mary was the Mother of our Lord Jesus. It was she who made the Lord of majesty our brother. Mary becomes the Mother of the Word, the Son of God. And because of that we become sons and daughters of God; we have a new status as adopted children of God.
The incarnation of Jesus is central to Franciscan spirituality; Francis embraced Mary with an indescribable love, and as Mary gave birth to Jesus, Francis gave birth to a brotherhood at this place named after the Virgin.
Francis’ devotion to Mary was not overly sentimental, nor did he place her on a pedestal, one sees this in Francis’ Later Exhortation when he writes,
“We are … Christ’s mothers when we carry Him in our heart and body through love and a pure and sincere conscience; and give Him birth through a holy activity, which must shine before others by example.”
As I look at the statues and images of Our Blessed Mother in our simple wooden Christmas Crib, in all of the Churches, in my bedroom and office, in our outside grotto at our Motherhouse I see so many ways she is depicted; She is Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, La Virgin de la Puerta…so many real ways Mary continues to show us how to carry Jesus in our heart and body through love, as St. Francis exhorts us. Let us pray together that each of us give Jesus birth through a holy activity which will shine before others by our example.
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