Finally, a statue with pigeons pre-installed

This postcard from Julia in Munich features a bronze statue of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and the environment.  Almost invariably, he is portrayed with animals, usually doves.  I suppose I have seen hundreds of statues of St. Francis, placed everywhere from gardens to animal shelters, and they always delight me.

The name of the statue seems to translate as “Francis as Peace Offerings,” which I’m sure is an accurate transcription, but it isn’t getting the idea across to me.  The only story I know about St. Francis as a peacemaker is the episode involving the Wolf of Gubbio, but I don’t see a specific reference to that story in the statue.

This statue was created by Martin Mayer and is located in Munich on the Sonnenstrasse, which Julia describes as a “touristic pedestrian” area.  She also passed on her favorite quote, which I leave with you as your thought for the day: “Freundlichkeit ist eine sprache die Taube hören und Blinde sehen können (Kindness is a language which the deaf hear and the blind can see).”