New vision
When we read that Francis tamed a wild wolf, preached to birds and wrote a Canticle in praise of all God's creatures, we have to ask how did Francis come to this vision of the world? Even before Francis met the leper he found that his appreciation of nature and of the world was changing. The catalyst for this was an illness. Celano records that Francis was worn down by a long illness. During this illness he was at home in Assisi and it was some time before he was well enough to walk but, eventually, with the aid of a walking stick he was able one day to go outside the house. Celano notes that when Francis went outside he began to see the countryside with a greater interest because 'the beauty of the field, the delight of the vineyards and whatever else was beautiful to see could offer him no delight at all'. St Bonaventure, when he made a retreat on La Verna and wrote his treatise, The Journey of the Human Person into God, said that until we are remade from the disorder of sin we are unable to see the full beauty of God's creation. Francis, after his illness, found that he saw creation with new eyes; he no longer saw beauty in the same way as before. This remaking of Francis by grace was developed further when he experienced the Lord in the person of the leper and realized that what he had thought to be ugly and sickening was in fact sweet to his body and soul. Francis would be remade even more on the mountain of La Verna.
