Francis of Assisi
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- For the opera by Olivier Messiaen see Saint-François d'Assise.
| Saint Francis of Assisi | |
|---|---|
 Saint Francis by Cimabue Lower Church, San Francesco, Assisi. | |
| Confessor | |
| Born | 1181/1182, Assisi, Italy |
| Died | October 3, 1226, Assisi, Italy |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Canonized | July 16, 1228, Assisi by Pope Gregory IX |
| Major shrine | Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi |
| Feast | September 17 October 4 |
| Attributes | Cross, Dove, Pax et Bonum, Poor Franciscan habit, Stigmata |
| Patronage | animals, Catholic Action, environment, merchants, Meycauayan, Italy, Philippines, stowaways[1] |
Francis of Assisi (Giovanni Francesco Bernardone; born 1181/1182 – October 3, 1226)[2] was a friar and the founder of the Order of Friars Minor, more commonly known as the Franciscans.
He is known as the patron saint of animals, the environment and Italy, and it is customary for Catholic churches to hold ceremonies honouring animals around his feast day of 4 October.[3]
Childhood and early adulthood
Francis was one of seven children born to Pietro di Bernardone, a rich cloth merchant, and his wife Pica Bourlemont, about whom little is known except that she was originally from France[4]. Pietro was in France on business when Francis was born, and Pica had him baptized as Giovanni di Bernardone[3] in honor of Saint John the Baptist,in the hope he would grow to be a great religious leader. When his father returned to Assisi, he was furious about this, as he did not want his son to be a man of the Church and decided to call him Francesco, in honor of his commercial success and enthusiasm for all things French.[5]
As a youth, Francesco—or Francis in English—became a troubador and yearned to become a writer of French poetry.[2][5] And although many biographers remark about his bright clothing, rich friends, street brawls, and love of pleasure,[4] 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.[6]
In 1201, he joined a military expedition against Perugia, he was taken as a prisoner at Collestrada, and spent a year as a captive.[7] It is probable that his conversion to more serious thoughts was a gradual process relating to 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. In Spoleto, a strange vision made him return to Assisi, deepening his ecclesiastical awakening [2].
It is said that 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 begged at the church doors for the poor, he said he had had a mystical vision of Jesus Christ in the Church of San Damiano just outside of Assisi, in which the Icon of Christ Crucified came alive and said to him three times, "Francis, Francis, go and repair My house which, as you can see, is falling into ruins". He thought this to mean the ruined church in which he was presently praying, and so sold his horse and some cloth from his father's store, to assist the priest there for this purpose.[2][8]
His father Pietro, highly indignant, attempted to change his mind, first with threats and then with corporal chastisement. After a final interview in the presence of the bishop, Francis renounced his father and his patrimony, laying aside even the garments he had received from him. For the next couple of months he lived as a beggar in the region of Assisi. Returning to the town for two years this time, he restored several ruined churches, among them the Porziuncola, little chapel of St Mary of the Angels, just outside the town, which later became his favorite abode.[8]
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