Fiat Lux: 'Let there be light' - Savitri MacCuish, Lalita Doerstel, Dr Mansukh Patel, Andrew Wells

Over the evocative music of Arvo Part, he quotes his mother, Ecchaben Patel: ‘In the medicine of the future, people won’t use so many drugs. Instead, they will use the medicine of light.’

This subtle yet dramatic opening sets the scene for the twin themes of this remarkable film.

Firstly, we discover the therapeutic value of light both physically and spiritually, as we follow the journey of the World Peace Flame from the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi to its blessing in Rome by HH Pope John II, carried by Mansukh Patel, Lalita Doerstel, Andrew Wells and Savitri MacCuish of the Life Foundation

Secondly, the film offers touching, incisive and at times hilarious insights into the teachings of St Francis of Assisi – a life-long source of inspiration for Mansukh Patel – often illuminated from his Gandhian background.

Mahatma Gandhi, Mansukh Patel and Kenya's Rift Valley

Mansukh Patel gained familiarity with Mahatma Gandhi at an early age since his parents, Chhaganbhai and Ecchaben Patel, had worked in Gandhi’s Satyagraha movement in India. Growing up in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley amidst the turbulent aftermath of the Mau Mau revolt, Mansukh often witnessed his father’s Gandhian approach in extreme situations.

Although poor, Mansukh’s parents always looked for opportunities to offer meals or other favours to local people in need. Once, while walking home from a distant appointment, Mansukh’s father was accosted by Mau Mau guerrillas on a lonely bridge late at night. They stripped him and were about to take his life when one of them called out, ‘Is that you?’ A young African man was speaking up, recognising Mansukh’s father who given him household chores in exchange for meals. After much heated discussion, this young man convinced the other guerrillas to let Mansukh’s father go free.

Mansukh has often recounted the scene of his father’s return. His mother’s anxious, lonely vigil, and then the sight of his father pushing open the door and staggering over the threshold. He was nearly naked and exhausted – yet alive because of the kindness he had shown to one young man in need.

When Mansukh Patel went on to form the Life Foundation under the inspiration of his parents, along with fellow university students Chris Barrington, Rita Goswami, John Jones and Annie Jones, these experiences helped the group craft a unique application of Gandhi’s approach in a western context. Focusing primarily on Gandhi’s self-help philosophy, Mansukh, John, Rita, Annie and Chris began offering self-help approaches at a level suited to Britain in the 1980s – training people in self-help techniques to help heal the emotional and health-related ‘poverty’ that is so prevalent in western society today.

And because of their context in western society, much of their work has been illuminated by the attitude of care and concern expressed in the life of one of the greatest spiritual giants of the Western Hemisphere – St Francis of Assisi. Andrew Wells makes this point powerfully in the film, seated below a replica of the cross that ‘spoke’ to St Francis, in the actual room where the ‘little poverello’ was born.

St Francis of Assisi in the film Fiat Lux

According to Andrew, St Francis says something very exciting. ‘Within every one of us, there is a clear awareness of what we should do next to make our lives move in the most effective direction.’ In a short, powerful statement, Andrew emphasises the words of the Saint to us across 800 years: ‘Do it.’ While Nike may have used this phrase as the basis of an advertising success empire, Andrew points out that St Francis actually lived this philosophy – and so can we.

Similarly, Savitri MacCuish builds on St Francis’ innate capacity to notice the joy and radiance of Spirit in every facet of life. Quoting the Christian mystic, Savitri says, ‘They called me heretic, rebel, a thing to flout, and drew a line to turn me out. Ahh, but love and wit were sure to win. I drew a larger one to draw them in!’

Mansukh Patel, Savitri MacCuish, Lalita Doerstel and Andrew Wells explore many of St Francis’ most beloved places during their journey to Rome. In Greccio, scene of the very first Nativity, Mansukh points out that every great faith tradition carries its seekers towards the same destination, like tributaries to a great river.

In Poggio Bestone, St Francis’ breathtakingly beautiful ‘place of atonement’, Lalita Doestel describes how prayer and meditation can so easily take you into that exhilarating state where you are both aware of your own purpose, as well as completely in-tune with it.

By the ancient steps of the Poggio Bestone monastery, which clings tenaciously to the steep slopes of the Rieti Valley’s eastern rim, Andrew Wells reminds us that Francis, like every one of us, was aware of the times in his life when he’d made mistakes, hurt people or otherwise done something to be ashamed of. According to Andrew, St Francis reminds us that there is a simple way out of the guilt that could engulf us because of these memories – and that is the remembrance that we are all children of Spirit, which is incapable of judging.

Mansukh Patel believes with this awareness, our mistakes become mere stepping stones to strengthen our ability to respond more appropriately the next time.