La Verna and the stigmata
The conversion of Saint Francis began when he met a leper. In that meeting he experienced the presence of the Lord who challenged and inspired him to set out on a journey in which he would try to walk as literally as possible in the footsteps of Christ. Francis followed this calling and towards the end of his life he went to the mountain of La Verna to pray and fast. He had always made time to go to lonely places to pray. While in prayer on the mountain he saw a vision of a Seraph, an angel such as the prophet Isaiah saw in the Temple. A Seraph has six wings and as Francis watched the Seraph open its wings Francis could see that behind the wings was the figure of a man crucified. This was clearly a vision of Christ crucified. Saint Bonaventure relates that Francis understood from the vision that he was 'to be totally transformed into the likeness of Christ crucified'. The most basic duty of a disciple of Christ is to take up the cross and follow Christ to Calvary. For Francis his Calvary was on La Verna where he was marked in his hands, feet and side with the five wounds of Christ. This wonder of the stigmata in Francis is a confirmation that in his life he had indeed followed Christ and lived out the challenge of the Gospel. His love of Christ transformed him even physically into a likeness of Christ. Bonaventure wrote of Francis: 'Now, finally, near the end, you were shown at the same time the sublime similitude of the Seraph and the humble likeness of the Crucified'.
