Painting Saint Francis: A Contemplative Reflection
Dear Friends,
As I begin work on an icon of Saint Francis and the Wolf of Gubbio for my upcoming class at Holy Cross Monastery, I find myself reflecting less on the historical details of Francis’s life and more on the spiritual movement within it—the slow transformation of a human heart toward God.
Icons often teach us long before they are finished. While preparing the board, laying the ground, and beginning the first lines of the drawing, I realize that Saint Francis’s life itself unfolds like an icon written in stages.
Francis did not begin as a saint. He began as many of us do—comfortable, admired, and confident in worldly success. Yet illness, disappointment, and prayer opened a space within him where God could speak. His conversion was not sudden perfection but a gradual awakening.
Again and again, Francis encountered Christ in unexpected places: in solitude, in poverty, in the suffering face of the leper, and finally before the crucifix at San Damiano. When he heard the words, “Repair my house,” he responded with simplicity. He did not yet understand their full meaning; he simply acted in faith.
This is deeply iconographic.
When we begin an icon, we do not see the finished image clearly. We proceed step by step—layer upon layer—trusting that illumination will come through obedience to the process. Francis lived in this same spirit of obedience. By renouncing wealth and security, he allowed his life to become transparent to divine light.
Francis teaches us that holiness is not escape from the world but reconciliation with it. Seeing all creation as brother and sister, he recognized the presence of God shining through every living thing. Peace with nature flowed from peace with God.
The story of the Wolf of Gubbio expresses this beautifully. Francis did not conquer the wolf; he restored relationship. Violence ceased when fear gave way to compassion. The icon reminds us that peace begins in the conversion of the human heart.
As iconographers—and as Christians—we are invited into the same work. We repair the house of God first within ourselves. Through prayer, humility, and attention, the hard surfaces of the heart are gradually burnished until they reflect Christ’s light.
While painting Saint Francis, I am reminded that the icon is not only an image of a saint. It is also a question addressed to each of us:
Where is God asking me to bring peace?
What must I release in order to follow Christ more freely?
How might my own life become a window into divine love?
May Saint Francis intercede for us, teaching us to walk gently, to live simply, and to recognize all creation as a sacred gift.
With gratitude and peace,
Christine Simoneau Hales, Iconographer
LINKS For Christine Simoneau Hales 2026
- https://newchristianicions.com my main website
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