{"id":1231,"date":"2016-10-06T13:11:17","date_gmt":"2016-10-06T17:11:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.northernway.org\/weblog\/?p=1231"},"modified":"2016-10-06T13:11:17","modified_gmt":"2016-10-06T17:11:17","slug":"saint-francis-of-assisi-mother-cathar-heretic-praying-hands-letter-x","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.northernway.org\/weblog\/?p=1231","title":{"rendered":"Saint Francis of Assisi Mother Cathar Heretic Praying Hands Letter X"},"content":{"rendered":"

The current pope, Pope Francis, was so inspired by St. Francis of Assisi to choose his name for himself when he became pope. I wonder if he knows about Saint Francis’ possible heretical background.<\/p>\n

Margaret Starbird wrote:<\/p>\n

October 4 is the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi\u00e2\u20ac\u201d13th century founder of the Franciscan order. \u00c2\u00a0I was baptized on his feast day many years ago\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand have always had a special love for him. The \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Song of Saint Francis\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and his \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Canticle to the Sun\u00e2\u20ac\u009d are beloved around the world. [Hear it in the video below] His message of joy in God’s creation resonates with all generations.<\/p>\n

\"Cathar
Clasp your hands like this but then point your fingers down toward the floor. You will see the heretical little X’s appear made by your fingers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of my favorite movies\u00e2\u20ac\u201dfrom the 1970\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s(!) \u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u201dis \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Brother Sun, Sister Moon,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d [movie trailer below] based on the life of Saint Francis, whose mother is alleged to have been from a prominent Cathar family from Proven\u00c3\u00a7e. \u00c2\u00a0At one point in the movie, Francis notices that his mother is praying with her hands folded, fingers crossed in little X’s and pointed downward. Saint Francis comes over to her and straightens out her fingers pointing them all upward in the traditional Roman Catholic prayer position, but after he turned away to go back to his friends, his mother put her hands back in the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153alternative\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Christian position of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153prayer form the heart.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00c2\u00a0My mother, who was an Episcopalian, used to pray in that Protestant hand position, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve found numerous paintings of Mary Magdalene with her hands folded together that way as well. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interesting that the fingers form little X\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s because the letter X was one of the prominent symbols of the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Grail Church\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that recognized Jesus and Mary Magdalene as partners. Details are available on my website: www.margaretstarbird.net<\/a><\/p>\n

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Here is the url for the trailer for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Brother Sun, Sister Moon\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in case you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never seen the movie. \u00c2\u00a0It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a classic\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/div>\n