11.02 St. Francis of Assisi, Humanitarian/Saint/Martyr
Francis of Assisi (Giovanni Francesco Bernardone; born 1181/1182 – October 3, 1226) 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 honoring animals around his feast day of 4 October.
in a pilgrimage to Rome where St. Francis begged at the church doors, he saw the Icon of Christ Crucified come alive and tell him "Francis, Francis, go and repair My house which, as you can see, is falling into ruins" three times. Francis initially took this to mean the church he was praying in and sold some of the clothes from his father's store he had with him and his horses in order to help the monks fix the church.
His rich father was very angry at this and threatened him with threats and even corporal chastisement. However, Francis ended up denouncing his father and his family and upbringing and even the things his father gave him and lived as a beggar for two years in Assisi restoring churches.
At the end of this period (according to Jordanus, on 24 February 1209), Francis heard a sermon that changed his life. The sermon was about Matthew 10:9, in which Christ tells his followers that they should go forth and proclaim that the Kingdom of Heaven was upon them, that they should take no money with them, nor even a walking stick or shoes for the road. Francis was inspired to devote himself to a life of poverty.
Clad in a rough garment, barefoot, and, after the Evangelical precept, without staff or scrip, he began to preach repentance. He was soon joined by his first follower, a prominent fellow townsman, the jurist xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, who contributed all that he had to the work. Within a year Francis had eleven followers. Francis chose never to be ordained a priest and the community lived as "lesser brothers," fratres minores in Latin.
The brothers lived a simple life in the deserted lazar house of Rivo Torto near Assisi; but they spent much of their time wandering through the mountainous districts of Umbria, always cheerful and full of songs, yet making a deep impression on their hearers by their earnest exhortations.
In 1209 Francis led his first eleven followers to Rome to seek permission from xxxxxxxxxx to found a new religious order. Upon entry to Rome, the brothers encountered Bishop Guido of Assisi, who had in his company Giovanni di San Paolo, the cardinal bishop of Sabina. The Cardinal, who was the confessor of xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, was immediately sympathetic to Francis and agreed to represent Francis to the pope. Reluctantly, Pope Innocent agreed to meet with Francis and the brothers the next day. After several days, the pope agreed to informally admit the group, adding that when God increased the group in grace and number, they could return for an official admittance. The group was tonsured and Francis was ordained as a deacon, allowing him to read Gospels in the church.
On Palm Sunday, 28 March 1211 Francis received xxxxxxx at the Porziuncola and hereby established the Order of Poor Dames, later called Poor Clares. In the same year, Francis left for Jerusalem, but he was shipwrecked by a storm on the Dalmatian coast, forcing him to return to Italy.
On 8 May 1213 he received the mountain of La Verna (Alverna) as a gift from the count Orlando di Chiusi who described it as “eminently suitable for whoever wishes to do penance in a place remote from mankind.” The mountain would become one of his favorite retreats for prayer. In the same year, Francis sailed for Morocco, but this time an illness forced him to break off his journey in Spain. Back in Assisi, several noblemen (among them xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, who would later write the biography of St. Francis) and some well-educated men joined his order.
In 1215 Francis went again to Rome for the Fourth Lateran Council. During this time, he probably met xxxxxxxxxxxxx.
In 1216 Francis received from the new pope xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx the confirmation of the indulgence of the Porziuncola, now better known as the Pardon of Assisi, which the Pope decreed to be a complete remission of their sins for all those who prayed in the Porziuncola.
In 1219 Francis left, together with a few companions, on a pilgrimage of non-violence to Egypt. Crossing the lines between the sultan and the Crusaders in Damietta, he was received by the sultan xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. Francis challenged the Muslim scholars to a test of true religion by fire; but they retreated. When Francis proposed to enter the fire first, under the condition that if he left the fire unharmed, the sultan would have to recognize Christ as the true God, the sultan was so impressed that he allowed Francis to preach to his subjects. Though Francis did not succeed in converting the sultan, the last words of the sultan to Francis of Assisi were, according to xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, bishop of Acre, in his book "Historia occidentalis, De Ordine et praedicatione Fratrum Minorum (1221)" : “Pray for me that God may deign to reveal to me that law and faith which is most pleasing to him.”.
Many of the stories that surround the life of St. Francis deal with his love for animals. Perhaps the most famous incident that illustrates the Saint's humility towards nature is recounted in the "Fioretti" ("Little Flowers"), a collection of legends and folklore that sprang up after the Saint's death. It is said that, one day, while Francis was traveling with some companions, they happened upon a place in the road where birds filled the trees on either side. Francis told his companions to "wait for me while I go to preach to my sisters the birds". The birds surrounded him, drawn by the power of his voice, and not one of them flew away. Francis spoke to them:
My sister birds, you owe much to God, and you must always and in everyplace give praise to Him; for He has given you freedom to wing through the sky and He has clothed you... you neither sow nor reap, and God feeds you and gives you rivers and fountains for your thirst, and mountains and valleys for shelter, and tall trees for your nests. And although you neither know how to spin or weave, God dresses you and your children, for the Creator loves you greatly and He blesses you abundantly. Therefore... always seek to praise God.
Main article: Wolf of Gubbio
Another legend from the Fioretti tells that in the city of Gubbio, where Francis lived for some time, was a wolf "terrifying and ferocious, who devoured men as well as animals". Francis had compassion upon the townsfolk, and went up into the hills to find the wolf. Soon, fear of the animal had caused all his companions to flee, though the saint pressed on. When he found the wolf, he made the sign of the cross and commanded the wolf to come to him and hurt no one. Miraculously the wolf closed his jaws and lay down at the feet of St. Francis. "Brother Wolf, you do much harm in these parts and you have done great evil...", said Francis. "All these people accuse you and curse you... But brother wolf, I would like to make peace between you and the people". Then Francis led the wolf into the town, and surrounded by startled citizens made a pact between them and the wolf. Because the wolf had “done evil out of hunger”, the townsfolk were to feed the wolf regularly, and in return, the wolf would no longer prey upon them or their flocks. In this manner Gubbio was freed from the menace of the predator. Francis, ever the lover of animals, even made a pact on behalf of the town dogs, that they would not bother the wolf again. It is also said that Francis, to show the townspeople that they would not be harmed baptised the wolf.
These legends exemplify the Franciscan mode of charity and poverty as well as the saint's love of the natural world. Part of his appreciation of the environment is expressed in his Canticle of the Sun, a poem written in Umbrian Italian in perhaps 1224 which expresses a love and appreciation of Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Mother Earth, Brother Fire, etc. and all of God's creations personified in their fundamental forms. In "Canticle of the Creatures," he wrote: "All praise to you, Oh Lord, for all these brother and sister creatures."
Francis's attitude towards the natural world, while poetically expressed, was conventionally Christian. He believed that the world was created good and beautiful by God but suffers a need for redemption because of the primordial sin of man. He preached to man and beast the universal ability and duty of all creatures to praise God (a common theme in the Psalms) and the duty of men to protect and enjoy nature as both the stewards of God's creation and as creatures ourselves.
Legend has it that St. Francis on his deathbed thanked his donkey for carrying and helping him throughout his life, and his donkey wept.
to sum up:- He was born to a well-off family and instead of using that money to live a life of riches and excess, he instead lived a life of poverty and preaching the gospel and doing good things.
- The founder of the order of Franciscan monks.
- Known for his charity and willingness to live a life of poverty in what is now known as the Franciscan way.
- Crossed the battle lines of the Crusades and spoke with the Sultan of Egypt.
- Challenged Muslim scholars in Egypt to a "test of true religion" where Francis would walk into a fire and if he walked out, they would admit that Christ is the true God. The scholars refused but the Sultan was so impressed that he allowed Francis to preach to the people in his country.
- He received the Stigmata late in his life.
- Was made a Saint shortly after his death.
- He is the patron Saint of the environment and animals, believing that we very much should respect the environment and help maintain it.
- Considered to be the first Italian poet by many literary critics.
- His writings (and poetry) not only has immense spiritual value, but much literary value as well.
- Believed that the people should be able to pray to God in their own language instead of in Latin.
- Also has attributed to him my favorite quote ever: "Preach the Gospel at all times and, if necessary, use words."
Awesome guy, very worthy of being here and gets bonus points for his poetry and other writings, his environmentalism, and non-violent response to the Crusades and his journeys past the battle lines of the Crusades. I'd been thinking of him for a while now, and I'm actually kind of angry with myself that I didn't pick him earlier after reading everything he did in his life, because he did so much more than I even thought he did... He deserved to be drafted much much higher than this.
I don't get the "and the other shoe drops" comments like its a horrible pick... Mary was an important figure in history and is still a very important figure to well over a billion people (more if you count those who just think she was an important figure and not a saint or always a virgin or the other Catholic-specific stuff)
By most recognized?Mary, Tut, Pope and Di are pretty much in a league of their own. I could argue that if you put these 4 in a room with a wide diversity of people, the Pope would be the easiest to recognize. Simply because the pictures of Mary probably don't accurately reflect reality. Di would be close. It is a cluster, almost as difficult as judging immigrants was.
