Shintai´s story of his special connection to Saint Francis, Saint Clare and the Third Order …
(Saint Francis founded the Third Order, after being asked by “commonly married couples” to bless their lives. The Franciscan Order was “the first”, the Sisters of Poor Clare – also known as The Clarisses – “the second” and the laymen “the third”.)
My story starts back in the late 1930s…
My father studied medicine at the university of Leuven in Belgium, where my mother was born and raised. They met each other in a Franciscan study group. Both my father and mother were affected by the spiritual dimension that was presented and they promised each other to live life together in the spirit of the Third Order of Saint Francis.
To confirm their promise, they asked – as usual by entering an order – for a spiritual name. My father was given the name “Joannes”, my mother “Agnes”. These names were engraved in their engagement rings.
A few years later, on February 22nd 1941, they married. Their first child – a son – was named after the grandfather. The second son was named Joannes and their first daughter Agnes. (I came years later in the row as child number 7).
I clearly remember my mother’s tender energy when she told me about Francesco´s devotion to Life and that there also existed a nun order, the Clarisses – where the sisters lived in monasteries, in prayer and in complete silence.
If one had an intense desire or needed support, one could write them a card. The card would then be laid on the floor in the middle of their chapel and they would pray over it. And then God would help those who needed it most. This story made a profound impression on me.
When I was seven or eight years old, I regularly went alone to the Dominican Church right next to our home to Lodi (morning prayer) and was deeply touched by the singing. One morning, I literally saw The Light and heard myself thinking “When I’m grown up, I want to become a monk”…
I did not become that, but the Light has since then led me on a long and winding road to Assisi, where I now can merge into Francesco’s and Chiara´s energy field. It feels like being home.
In 1985, my mother received a new spiritual name, this time from our common teacher Michael Barnett. He says that when a name comes to him, its sound is crucial, a sound in resonance with one’s soul.
Her spiritual name was Karissa. So much in resonance with the Clarisses as it could be…
My parents´ story ended in 1990 when they separated – aged 75 – and both started a new life. My father devoted his spiritual life to writing several critical books about Christianity, Karissa merged into a silent life with prayer and awareness…
Shintai