Franciscan devotion

Domain XIII · Contemplative & religious disciplines · Bonaventure, Francis of Assisi · Assisi (La Verna)

What it is

Franciscan devotion is a family of openly taught Catholic prayer practices centred on the humanity and Passion of Christ and on God's presence in creation. Two are covered here. (1) Bonaventure's Itinerarium is a contemplative ascent in six stages, which Bonaventure reads from the vision of the…

Format

• No session counts or durations are given in the sources for either practice; none are stated here. Neither practice is a clinical protocol, and the tradition presents the Itinerarium as a lifelong path rather than a course.
• Version followed: St Bonaventure's Itinerarium mentis in Deum (The Mind's Road to God) in George Boas's English translation; the Stations of the Cross (Way of the Cross, Via Crucis) as described in a Secular Franciscan Order (USA) formation resource (Ream and Ream, rev. 2017), read within the…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Secularising a client's faith against their wishes. Working: the client chooses the frame.
• The therapist being drawn into theology (refer). Working: wonder and meaning rather than strain.
• Community as a support for grief and isolation; equally, discomfort in a community where the client experienced abuse or exclusion.
• Conflicting advice; a director or superior using spiritual authority coercively (section 5). Working: consistent, complementary support.
• A client using "grace" to bypass needed change or treatment; or feeling excluded from grace (possible depression, scrupulosity, moral injury).

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.