FRANCISCAN VIRTUES
ATTENTIVENESS

By Brother Patrick

To be attentive is to act with care and purpose. To be attentive is to be alert, awake, and aware. To be attentive is to be focused, mindful, and vigilant. In the book, Franciscan Virtues Through the Year: 52 Steps to Conversion from Francis of Assisi, we read: “Attentiveness is a broad virtue. It means not only paying attention to the person with whom we are speaking, but also paying attention to whatever task we are doing or whatever ministry God has given us to perform. Attentiveness means attention to God in prayer, without letting our minds be distracted by other things. It means focusing on God and seeing all things in relation to Him.”

Attentiveness is a common thread that runs through the preaching and writings of both Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV. In his encyclical, Laudato Si, Pope Francis (1936-2025) calls us to be attentive to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor. He writes: “We are speaking of an attitude of the heart, one which approaches life with a serene attentiveness, that is capable of being fully present to someone without thinking of what comes next (LS 226).” Two years later, Pope Francis says: “This is the Christian life: to walk attentively, tirelessly, and courageously (1-6-15).” Seven years after that, the pope says: “To love means being attentive to the other; to love means being aware of his or her needs; to love means being willing to listen and welcome; to love means being ready [to act] (8-7-22).”

Likewise, Pope Leo XIV speaks often about attentiveness. In September 2025, during a meeting with members of religious orders, the pope encourages them to listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit; to discern the challenges facing God’s people; and to respond to those challenges with love, wisdom, and attentiveness. Like the great saints who founded the great religious orders, Pope Leo encourages the clergy and the consecrated to be “attentive to the signs of the times.” He says: “Your founders were capable of observing, evaluating, loving, then setting out, even at the risk of great suffering and failure, to serve the needs of their brothers and sisters, recognizing the voice of God in the poverty of their neighbors (9-18-25).”

In Dilexi Te, his apostolic exhortation on the Lord’s love for the poor and our shared duty to care for the poor, the sick, and the left behind, the Holy Father writes: “All of this entails one aspect of the option for the poor that we must constantly keep in mind, namely that it demands of us an attitude of attentiveness to others (DT 101).”

Like Pope Francis, Pope Leo calls us to a “loving attentiveness” that will serve as the foundation of our efforts to love those in need, to care for those in need, to advocate for those in need, and to stand in solidarity with those in need. Those in need may be the people we can see up close: the colleague at work, the old man next door, or the young family down the street. Those in need may also be the people we may see only from a distance: the transgender teenagers who are homeless, the lonely people who are locked away in nursing homes, and the immigrants who are locked away in detention centers with no concern for their rights or their dignity as beloved children of God.

To be attentive is to see. To be attentive is to care. To be attentive is to act. Even if our action is simply a prayer, a kind word, or a gift of alms.

Pope Leo also speaks about Brother Lawrence (1614-1691), a Carmelite monk, and his book: The Practice of the Presence of God. The pope says: “Together with the writings of Saint Augustine (354-430) and other books, this is one of the texts that has most shaped my spiritual life (12-11-25).” Brother Lawrence is not a priest. He is not a theologian. He is not a spiritual director. He is a lay brother. He lives for five decades in a monastery. He repairs sandals. He works in the kitchen. Despite these humble jobs, however, Brother Lawrence is renowned for holiness.

The Practice of the Presence of God is a book about cultivating a constant awareness of God’s grace and action in our lives and in the world around us. It is a book about attentiveness. Brother Lawrence says: “Do not grow tired of doing little things for the love of God. God does not care so much about the size of the work, but instead about the love with which it is performed (14).” This is the way of Brother Lawrence. This is the way of Saint Francis. This is the way of Saint Clare. This is the way of Saint Teresa of Calcutta. This is the Little Way of Saint Therese.

It is the way of being fully attentive to the person who needs our love and our care. It is the way of being full attentive to the task at hand, even if the task is small. It is the way of being full attentive to the task at hand, even if it is just repairing a sandal, answering a door, feeding a sick loved one, changing a child’s dirty diaper, or comforting an anxious puppy. Brother Lawrence believes that when we are attentive to the little things over and over again, for God’s sake, we grow in faith, hope, and love. When we are attentive to the little things, we cultivate in ourselves “a habit of love (15).” This habit of love has far reaching influence. This habit of love “will naturally produce more of itself (15).” This habit of love causes ripples across the waters of our lives and changes the lives of those who are touched by it.

Every act of love can shift the balance of the world.

Brother Lawrence teaches us that discipleship is all about being attentive to the presence of God in our lives. Discipleship is all about being attentive to the presence of God in our lives as we live in faith, hope, and love with every thought, word, and deed. He says: “All things are possible for those who believe, less difficult for those who hope, more easy for those who love, and easiest of all for those who persevere (15).” Finally, Brother Lawrence says: “Our ultimate goal in this life should be to become the most perfect disciples of God we can possibly be, in order to resemble what we hope to be for all eternity (15).” And so, in this spirit, we pray: “Lord make me attentive to your presence and your actions in my life, in the lives of others, and in the world around me. Amen.”

Glory to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Saint Francis of Assisi, pray for us! Saint Clare of Assisi, pray for us! Our Lady of the Angels, pray for us! Brother Lawrence, pray for us! Pope Francis, pray for us!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brother Patrick Garvey is co-founder and spiritual director of the Assisi Project. He is a graduate of the University of Southern Maine, Saint John Seminary, and the Catholic University of America. He is a writer, spiritual director, retreat leader, and university lecturer. He also serves as an Associate Minister in the Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport in Massachusetts. On October 3, 2023, the Feast of the Transitus of Saint Francis of Assisi, Brother Patrick was consecrated as a diocesan hermit by Bishop Mark O’Connell, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Boston. For more information about the Assisi Project and our ministries with adults of all ages and backgrounds, please contact Brother Patrick at brpatrick@assisiproject.com.

Art Credit: Life of Saint Francis by José Benlliure Gil  – Wikimedia Commons

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ABOUT US

Founded in 2007, the Assisi Project is a Fellowship of Franciscans in Spirit with friends and followers throughout the world. We are dedicated to helping Christian believers of all ages more faithfully live the Gospel of Christ in the spirit of Saint Francis and Saint Clare of Assisi. We are also dedicated to promoting a devotion to Pope Francis (1936-2025) as a patron of peace, mercy, and fraternity in our sick and suffering world.

The Assisi Project is a non-profit, tax exempt charitable organization. Please support our ministry via Pay Pal (see link below) or mail a tax-deductible donation to the Assisi Project, Post Office Box 3158, Gloucester, Massachusetts 01931-3158. The Assisi Project Podcast is produced by the Assisi Project, Inc. Copyright 2025. All rights reserved. May the Lord give you peace!

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