St. Francis of Assisi

26th Week in Ordinary Time

Some Notes on St. Francis of Assisi (1811/1812-1226).

1. Born in Assisi, Italy, St. Francis of Assisi, a mystic, poet, and stigmatist, was canonized on 16 July 1228. He founded the Franciscan religious orders of the Ordo Fratrum Minorum (OFM) and, with St. Clare of Assisi, the Order of St. Clare (the Poor Clares), as well as a lay Third Order. He was a leader of the movement of evangelical poverty in the early 13th century. The “Poverello” (Poor Little Man) and St. Catherine of Siena are the Patron Saints of Italy. In 1979, Pope John Paul II recognized him as Patron Saint of Ecology.

2. In late 1205, while journeying to join the papal forces against Emperor Frederick II, he dreamt that he had to return to Assisi to wait for God’s call. He then dedicated himself to solitude and prayer that he might know God’s will. Several other episodes contributed to his conversion: a vision of Christ while Francis prayed in a grotto near Assisi; his experience of begging in rags and mingling with other beggars in Rome; an incident when he not only gave alms to a man with leprosy, but also kissed his hand.

3. But the most important occurred at the ruined chapel of San Damiano. Francis heard the crucifix above the altar command him: “Go, Francis, and repair my church which, as you see, is in ruins.” Francis hurried home, gathered some fine cloth from his father’s shop, and sold off both cloth and the horse he rode on. He threw the money out the window when the priest of San Damiano refused it. Angered, his father called him before the Bishop of Assisi. Francis took off his garments. Completely naked, he said to his father, “Until now I have called you my father on earth. But henceforth I can truly say, ‘Our Father, who art in heaven.’”

4. He renounced worldly goods and family ties to embrace a life of poverty. He begged for alms to repair the church of San Damiano and restored the now-famous little chapel of St. Mary of the Angels, the Porziuncola. There, on the Feast of St. Matthias in 1208, he heard Mt. 10:7, 9-11, where Christ commissioned the Apostles to preach the kingdom, not being burdened with money, sandals or staff.

5. This was the decisive moment for Francis. “This is what I want to do from the bottom of my heart.” He then removed his shoes, discarded his staff, put on a rough tunic, and began to preach repentance to townspeople, and soon attracted many followers.

6. In 1209, he composed a simple rule, “Regula Primitiva,” drawn from the Bible. He then led his group of 11 disciples to Rome to seek the approval of Pope Innocent III. On April 16, 1216, after seeing Francis in a dream holding the the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, the pope gave oral approbation to the Franciscan Rule of Life. This marked the official founding of the Franciscan order, the Friars Minor or the Lesser Brothers. They were street preachers, with no possessions and only the Porziuncola as the center. They preached first in Umbria and then spread to the rest of Italy.

7. Francis considered all nature as the mirror of God. He called all creatures his “brothers” and “sisters.” This we observe in his “Canticle of the Creatures” or Canticle of the Sun,” which Pope Francis used in his Encyclical, “Laudato si’.”

St. Francis even preached to the birds and persuaded a wolf to stop attacking the people and their livestock if the people agreed to feed the wolf.

8. In 1212, Francis cofounded a second order, the Poor Clares. He gave a religious habit, similar to his own, to the noblewoman later known as St. Clare, Clara, of Assisi and later lodged her and her companions in the church of San Damiano. He eventually formed a lay fraternity, the Third Order of Brothers and Sisters of Penance.

9. In 1219, Francis finally got a chance to preach to Muslims. While the Crusaders were besieging Damietta in Egypt, he went into the Muslim camp to preach to the Muslims under Sultan al-Kamil. The Sultan, it is said, graciously accepted him and even gave him permission to visit the Holy Land.

10. In the summer of 1224, while praying at La Verna on or about Sept 14, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, Francis had a vision of a smiling but crucified seraph. As the seraph disappeared, Francis received Christ’s stigmata. For the remainder of his life, he took the greatest care to hide his gift.

11. He lived for two more years in constant pain and almost totally blind. He passed away in Porziuncola on Oct 3, 1226. His remains are now enshrined in the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.

12. Prayer -- O God, by your gift, St. Francis was conformed to Christ in poverty and humility. Grant that, by walking in his footsteps, we may follow your Son and, through joyful charity, come to be united with you, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayers, best wishes, God bless!