Honoring the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi

Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) was a medieval monk who lived a rather short life but had a great impact on the life of the Catholic Church in hi own time and his influence continues into our own time today.

Francis was born Giovanni Pietro di Bernardone in the Italian town of Assisi. His father was a successful business man and his mother was a French woman. His family was able to provide Francis with a comfortable lifestyle and he grew up liking fine clothes, rich friends and having a good time.

Changing Values

Sometime as he was approaching adulthood, Francis seems to have had several experiences that caused him to rethink his manner of living and values. One happened while working for his father. He was approached by a beggar who asked him for money. Francis was astonished at first and tried to ignore the man but then found himself running after him and giving him all the money he had in his purse. He was astonished by his own behavior, mocked by his friends and scolded by his father.

When he was in his early twenties, he was taken prisoner in one of Italy’s many wars and held captive for about a year. It was during that time that Francis lost interest in his former life and began praying for guidance.

Drawn to Spirituality

When released, he adopted a very ascetic lifestyle. He became a manual laborer working on the repair of local churches. He also began nursing lepers. Somewhat after that time, he became an itinerant preacher.

Over time, Francis’ lifestyle attracted the attention of many other people. He seemed to have awakened in many a latent spiritual hunger which was much needed at the time. At one point, he was invited to Rome where Pope Innocent III was won over by his spirituality and helped him develop the format with a religious order for his followers.

Later, women too, started to form a Franciscan religious order which is today known as the Poor Clares, and a Third Order movement also began for lay persons drawn to the spirituality of Francis.

The main features of the new Franciscan religious groups were: First living a life of radical poverty, second great simplicity of lifestyle, third begging for alms, fourth championing the poor, fifth preaching repentance and last, a total trust in the providence of God.

Francis of Assisi adopted such a life for himself and lived joyfully a radical form of Christianity and called his followers to do likewise.

Spreading the Word of God

There are many stories and tales about St. Francis. Some involved animals and how he preached to the birds who listened to him and how he befriended and tamed a wolf that was scaring the town’s people. There are stories of how Francis helped the poor and understood the ecological needs of planet earth.

During his lifetime, Francis visited other areas in Europe and also in the Near East spreading the word of God often with the help of music. He visited Jerusalem and witnessed the Crusades seemingly managing to preach to some Muslim leaders.

Held in Respect

Durig the last years of his life, he received the stigmata, a fact he often tried to hide. When he was dying, Francis asked to be placed on the ground and he died singing a psalm.

Francis of Assisi is held in respect by a number of other religious groups, including Anglicans and Lutherans. He was canonized by the Catholic Church in 1228, just two years after his death.

He remains a great example of a religious leader who went the whole way in following Christ.