Your Friday photo is in honor of the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi…

The feast is on October 4th every year to commemorate the life of Saint Francis (1181- 1226).

This story and photo from Agnes Montano is particularly apropos because Saint Francis is the patron saint of animals and the environment.

One day Avatar Meher Baba dictated the following about saints, especially in regard to Saint Francis.

Not all Meher Baba’s guests at Meher Mount come in human form.

When my husband Juan Mendez and I were caretaking at Meher Mount, a yearling buck visited on a daily basis. He would spend most of the day leisurely resting in a spot by the statue of St. Francis.

Francis — as we started calling the deer — was not frightened by our presence.

One day Francis ventured onto the veranda. He nuzzled against one of the glass doors in the reception area. Then he seemed to look straight at Meher Baba’s photos hanging on the wall.

He pressed his nose hard against the door, as if wanting to come inside.

The gentle nature of this deer was an endearing reminder of the connections we – animals, plants and trees – share with the Divine and how God expresses Himself in all living beings.

~Agnes Montano, Temporary Caretaker & Board Member

Sources

• Bhau Kalchuri, Lord Meher: The Biography of the Avatar of the Age Meher Baba, Online Edition, page 2098, accessed September 11, 2024. (c)Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust.

• Carolyn M. Ball, Meher Baba in Assisi . (Myrtle Beach, SC: Arti Books). (c)2019 by Carolyn M. Ball.

• Agnes Montano, “Francis (the Deer) Visits St. Francis (the Statue),” Meher Mount Story Blog, accessed September 11, 2024.