St. Francis of Assisi

A Merchant's Son Dreams of Glory

St. Francis of Assisi was born around 1181 in the Umbrian hill town of Assisi, Italy, the son of Pietro di Bernardone, a prosperous cloth merchant. As a young man he was known for his charm, generosity, and love of festivity, and he dreamed of glory as a knight. A year spent as a prisoner of war after a battle with neighboring Perugia, followed by a long illness, began a slow interior conversion that would reshape his life entirely.

San Damiano and the Friars Minor

Praying before the crucifix in the ruined chapel of San Damiano, Francis heard Christ call him to rebuild His Church. He took the words literally at first, repairing chapels with his own hands, and famously renounced his inheritance before the bishop of Assisi, returning even the clothes he wore. Embracing 'Lady Poverty,' he began to live as a penniless itinerant preacher. Others soon joined him, and in 1209 Pope Innocent III gave verbal approval to his simple rule of life, marking the beginning of the Order of Friars Minor, the Franciscans.

Clare, the Sultan, and Greccio

The movement grew with astonishing speed. In 1212 Francis received the young noblewoman Clare of Assisi, who founded the Poor Clares under his guidance, and a Third Order later opened his way of penance to laypeople. Longing to preach Christ even at the cost of his life, Francis traveled to Egypt in 1219 during the Fifth Crusade and met the Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil, an encounter remembered as a model of peaceful witness. At Greccio in 1223 he assembled the first living Nativity scene, a devotion that spread throughout the world as the Christmas crib.

Stigmata, Canticle, and Sister Death

In 1224, while praying on Mount La Verna, Francis received the stigmata, the wounds of Christ's Passion, becoming the first saint known to bear them. Nearly blind and physically broken, he composed the Canticle of the Creatures, praising God through 'Brother Sun' and 'Sister Moon.' He died at the Portiuncula chapel below Assisi on the evening of October 3, 1226, welcoming 'Sister Death.'

Canonization and the Basilica in Assisi

Pope Gregory IX canonized Francis less than two years later, in 1228, and laid the foundation stone of the great Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, where his tomb remains one of the most visited pilgrimage sites in Christendom. His feast is kept on October 4. He is a patron of Italy, of animals, and of ecology, and his radical poverty and joy in creation have made him among the most beloved saints of the Church; Pope Francis took his name in 2013.

Significance

Francis took the Gospel at its word, and in giving up everything he found a joy that still draws people to Christ. His poverty, his peaceful witness, and his delight in every creature as a gift of the one Creator speak to anyone concerned for peace and for the care of creation. The friars, sisters, and lay followers who share his way, along with the Christmas crib set up in homes each year, keep his simple love for the poor Christ alive.