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Saint Francis of Assisi, O.F.M.

Saint Francis of Assisi by Jusepe de Ribera.jpg

Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy

an oil painting by Jusepe de Ribera (1642)

Religious, deacon, confessor

and religious founder

Born 1181 – 1182 Assisi, Duchy of Spoleto, Holy Roman Empire

Died October 3, 1226 (aged 43–45)

Assisi, Marche, Papal States;[1] 

Honored in Roman Catholic Church Anglican Communion Lutheran Church Old Catholic Church

Canonized July 16, 1228, Assisi, Italy by Pope Gregory IX

Major shrine Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi

Feast October 4

Attributes Tau cross, dove, birds, animals, wolf at feet, Pax et Bonum, Poor Franciscan habit, stigmata

Patronage animals; the environment; Italy; merchants; stowaways;[2] cub scouts; San Francisco, California

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Saint Francis of Assisi (Italian: San Francesco d'Assisi, born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, but nicknamed Francesco ("the Frenchman") by his father, 1181/1182 – October 3, 1226)[1][3] was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Order of Friars Minor, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the Third Order of Saint Francis for men and women not able to live the lives of itinerant preachers followed by the early members of the Order of Friars Minor or the monastic lives of the Poor Clares.[1] Though he was never ordained to the Catholic priesthood, Francis is one of the most venerated religious figures in history.[1]

Francis' father was Pietro di Bernardone, a prosperous silk merchant. Francis lived the high-spirited life typical of a wealthy young man, even fighting as a soldier for Assisi.[4] While going off to war in 1204, Francis had a vision that directed him back to Assisi, where he lost his taste for his worldly life.[4] On a pilgrimage to Rome, he joined the poor in begging at St. Peter's Basilica.[4] The experience moved him to live in poverty.[4] Francis returned home, began preaching on the streets, and soon amassed a following. His Order was authorized by Pope Innocent III in 1210. He then founded the Order of Poor Clares, which became an enclosed religious order for women, as well as the Order of Brothers and Sisters of Penance (commonly called the Third Order).

In 1219, he went to Egypt in an attempt to convert the Sultan to put an end to the conflict of the Crusades.[5] By this point, the Franciscan Order had grown to such an extent that its primitive organizational structure was no longer sufficient. He returned to Italy to organize the Order. Once his community was authorized by the Pope, he withdrew increasingly from external affairs. In 1223, Francis arranged for the first Christmas manger scene.[4] In 1224, he received the stigmata,[4] making him the first recorded person to bear the wounds of Christ's Passion.[6] He died during the evening hours of October 3, 1226, while listening to a reading he had requested of Psalm 140.

On July 16, 1228, he was proclaimed a saint by Pope Gregory IX. He is known as the patron saint of animals, the environment, and is one of the two patron saints of Italy (with Catherine of Siena). It is customary for Catholic and Anglican churches to hold ceremonies blessing animals on his feast day of October 4.[7] He is also known for his love of the Eucharist,[8] his sorrow during the Stations of the Cross, and for the creation of the Christmas creche or Nativity Scene.[9]

Contents [hide] 1 Early life 2 Founding of the Franciscan Order 3 Missions work 4 Reorganization of the Franciscan Order and death 5 Character and legacy 5.1 Nature and the environment 5.2 Feast day 5.3 Pope Francis

6 Main writings 7 Media 7.1 Films 7.2 Music 7.3 Books 7.4 Other

8 See also 9 References 10 Bibliography 11 Further reading 12 External links

Early life

Francis of Assisi was one of seven children born to Pietro, and his wife Pica de Bourlemont, about whom little is known except that she was a noblewoman originally from Provence, France.[10] Pietro was in France on business while Francis was born in Assisi, and Pica had him baptized as Giovanni.[7][11] When his father returned to Assisi, he took to calling him Francesco ("the Frenchman"), possibly in honour of his commercial success and enthusiasm for all things French.[12] Since the child was renamed in infancy, the change can hardly have had anything to do with his aptitude for learning French, as some have thought.[3]

As a youth, Francesco became a devotee of troubadours and was fascinated with all things Transalpine.[3][12] Although many hagiographers remark about his bright clothing, rich friends, and love of pleasures,[10] his displays of disillusionment toward the world that surrounded him came fairly early in his life, as is shown in the "story of the beggar." In this account, he was selling cloth and velvet in the marketplace on behalf of his father when a beggar came to him and asked for alms. At the conclusion of his business deal, Francis abandoned his wares and ran after the beggar. When he found him, Francis gave the man everything he had in his pockets. His friends quickly chided and mocked him for his act of charity. When he got home, his father scolded him in rage.[13]

In 1201, he joined a military expedition against Perugia and was taken as a prisoner at Collestrada, spending a year as a captive.[14] It is possible that his spiritual conversion was a gradual process rooted in this experience. Upon his return to Assisi in 1203, Francis returned to his carefree life and in 1204, a serious illness led to a spiritual crisis. In 1205, Francis left for Puglia to enlist in the army of the Count of Brienne. A strange vision made him return to Assisi, deepening his ecclesiastical awakening.[3]

According to the hagiographic legend, thereafter he began to avoid the sports and the feasts of his former companions. In response, they asked him laughingly whether he was thinking of marrying, to which he answered, "yes, a fairer bride than any of you have ever seen," meaning his "Lady Poverty". He spent much time in lonely places, asking God for enlightenment. By degrees he took to nursing lepers, the most repulsive victims in the lazar houses near Assisi. After a pilgrimage to Rome, where he joined the poor in begging at the doors of the churches, he said he had a mystical vision of Jesus Christ in the country chapel of San Damiano, just outside of Assisi, in which the Icon of Christ Crucified said to him, "Francis, Francis, go and repair My house which, as you can see, is falling into ruins." He took this to mean the ruined church in which he was presently praying, and so he sold some cloth from his father's store to assist the priest there for this purpose.[3][15]