Little Sisters of St. Francis
I have always welcomed birds into my yard. Their colors, songs, the squabbles and elaborate hierarchy of feeding and perching are always a delight to study and enjoy. When I had a house in Pennsylvania, we hung a bird feeder high enough off the ground for the bears to miss as they made their rounds. Yankee bird feeders advertise as “squirrel proof”–an assurance missed by the squirrels that would do their “Flying Wallendas” wire walk and reach their favorite treats easily.
While bears are not a worry out here on the North Fork of Long Island, we still have a profusion of birds around the house and yard. I love it when one of them perches on the rose trellis and looks at me through the window. I have my birds and groups of birds that I watch for every day: the pair of cardinals, the mourning doves, the bold sparrows, ravens, and the ever-present robins, starlings and blue jays.
I found an unusual statute of St. Francis, and put him in the backyard over near my beloved minosa tree. St. Francis, of course, acts as a bird feeder, but he is there primarily as a reminder to me that any religion that would honor and saint anyone nutty enough to preach to birds and animals is the religion for me! His kinship with creatures, the wonder of his poetry and song in praise of Creation, makes me feel that, for once, Catholics have it right.
St. Francis of Assisi – Sermon to the Birds
“My little sisters, the birds, much bounden are ye unto God, your Creator, and always in every place ought ye to praise Him, for that He hath given you liberty to fly about everywhere, and hath also given you double and triple rainment; moreover He preserved your seed in the ark of Noah, that your race might not perish out of the world; still more beholden to Him for the element of air which He hath appointed for you; beyond all this, ye sow not, neither do you reap; and God feedeth you, and giveth you the streams and fountains for your drink; the mountains and valleys for your refuge and the high trees whereon to make your nests; and because ye know hot how to spin or sow, God clotheth you, you and your children; wherefore your Creator loveth you much, seeing that He hath bestowed on you so many benefits; and therefore, my little sisters, beware of the sin of ingratitude, and study always to give praises unto God.”
