Saint Francis of Assisi

Deacon, Founder of the Franciscans
(1181–1226)

Saint Francis of Assisi, born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone around 1181 in Assisi, Umbria, is perhaps the most universally beloved of all the saints, a man whose life of radical Gospel poverty, fraternal charity, and mystical love for the suffering Christ has captured the imagination of Christians and non-Christians alike across eight centuries. His father was a wealthy cloth merchant who gave his son the nickname Francesco, the Frenchman, in honour of his mother's French origin, and Francis grew up in comfortable circumstances, enjoying the life of a young man of means with all its pleasures and aspirations.

A combination of illness, a failed military adventure, and a profound spiritual experience before a crucifix in the ruined chapel of San Damiano outside Assisi transformed him. The crucifix spoke to him and said, Francis, go and repair my house, which you see is falling into ruin. He took this literally at first, selling cloth from his father's warehouse to pay for repairs to the chapel, which led to a public confrontation with his father that ended in Francis stripping off his clothes before the bishop and all the people of Assisi and declaring that henceforth he would call only God his father.

He embraced radical poverty, preached penance and peace, cared for lepers, and began to attract companions who wanted to live the same life. He received papal approval for his simple rule of life from Innocent III in 1209, and the Order of Friars Minor grew with extraordinary rapidity throughout Europe and beyond. In 1219 Francis went on mission to Egypt, where he met personally with the Sultan Malik al-Kamil in an interview remarkable for its mutual respect. In 1224 he received the stigmata on Mount La Verna, the first known stigmatist in Christian history.

He died on October 3, 1226, at the Portiuncula chapel, having asked to be laid naked on the bare earth as his last act of poverty. He was canonised by Gregory IX in 1228. He is the patron of Italy, of ecology, and of animals, and his feast is celebrated on October 4th.