Saint of the day October 4, 2024

St. Francis of Assisi was born in Italy circa 1181. His father was a wealthy cloth merchant who owned farmland around Assisi, and his mother was a beautiful French woman. By age 14, he had left school and become known as a rebellious teenager who frequently drank, partied and broke the city curfew. He was also known for his charm and vanity.

In 1202 war broke between Assisi and Perugia, and Francis eagerly took his place with the cavalry. Unskilled and with no combat experience, Francis was quickly captured by enemy soldiers. Dressed like an aristocrat and wearing expensive new armor, he was considered worthy of a decent ransom, and the soldiers decided to spare his life. Francis would spend nearly a year in prison with such miserable conditions.

After a year of negotiations, Francis' ransom was accepted, and he was released from prison in 1203. When he came back to Assisi, however, Francis was a very different man. Upon his return, he was dangerously sick in both mind and body — a battle-fatigued casualty of war.

One day, as legend has it, Francis encountered a leper while riding on a horse in the local countryside. Before the war, Francis would have run from the leper, but his behavior was very different on this occasion. Viewing the leper as a symbol of moral conscience — or as Jesus incognito, according to some religious scholars — he embraced and kissed him, later describing the experience as a feeling of sweetness in his mouth. After this incident, Francis felt an indescribable freedom. His earlier lifestyle had lost all of its appeal.

Subsequently, Francis, now in his early 20s, began turning his focus toward God. During this time, while praying before an old Byzantine crucifix at the church of San Damiano, Francis reportedly heard the voice of Christ, who told him to rebuild the Christian Church and to live a life of extreme poverty. Francis obeyed and devoted himself to Christianity. He began preaching around Assisi and was soon joined by 12 loyal followers.

After his epiphany at the church of San Damiano, Francis experienced another defining moment in his life. To raise money to rebuild the Christian church, he sold a bolt of cloth from his father's shop, along with his horse. His father became furious upon learning of his son's actions and subsequently dragged Francis before the local bishop. The bishop told Francis to return his father's money, to which his reaction was extraordinary: He stripped off his clothes, and along with them, returned the money to his father, declaring that God was now the only father he recognized. This event is credited as Francis' final conversion, and there is no indication that Francis and his father ever spoke again thereafter.

Francis set out on a mission to restore Jesus Christ's own, original values to the now-decadent church. Continuously pushing himself in the quest for spiritual perfection, Francis was soon preaching, teaching a new kind of emotional and personal Christian religion that everyday people could understand. He even went so far as to preach to animals, which garnered criticism from some and earned him the nickname "God's fool." But Francis' message was spread far and wide, and thousands of people were captivated by what they heard.

In 1224 Francis reportedly received a vision that left him with the stigmata of Christ — marks resembling the wounds Jesus Christ suffered when he was crucified, through his hands and the gaping lance wound in his side. This made Francis the first person to receive the holy wounds of the stigmata. They would remain visible for the rest of his life.

Francis of Assisi died on October 3, 1226, at the age of 44, in Assisi, Italy. Today, Francis has a lasting resonance with millions of followers across the globe. He was canonized as a saint just two years after his death, on July 16, 1228, by his former protector, Pope Gregory IX. Today, Saint Francis of Assisi is the patron saint for ecologists — a title honoring his boundless love for animals and nature.

Reflection

Saint Francis of Assisi is perhaps the most known and loved saint within the Catholic Church. Though many flock to him because of his portrayal as one who loved animals and nature, he became one of the greatest saints in history for one simple reason: he was a true servant of the Most High God.

Saint Francis was unquestionably one of the greatest saints to ever live. The way he accomplished this greatness is worth studying and imitating. Though it is hard to imagine ourselves ever reaching the heights of sanctity that Saint Francis achieved, know that it is possible for us all. Saint Francis embraced the will of God with a radical abandonment and ongoing zeal. This resulted in his becoming one with Christ and doing great things for God and His Church in a very short period.