4 October: Saint Francis of Assisi, Patron Saint of Italy

From wealth to poverty for love of God

One day, as young Francis was riding his horse in the countryside around Assisi, he came across a leper. He was usually very afraid of lepers and did not go near their homes, refusing to even look at them. If he did meet one on his path, he would turn his head the other way and pinch his nose to avoid the bad smell that came from them. But this was not an ordinary day. He got off his horse, gave the leper a silver coin, and kissed his hand. Then he resumed his journey. A few days later, with a pocket full of money, he went to visit a hospice of lepers. He called them all together and gave them alms, kissing the hand of each of them. He had defeated himself, and from that moment onwards, he was never afraid of lepers, whom he humbly served.

Francis had changed. He was no longer the carefree young man who walked around Assisi’s streets dressed like a jester, joking and drinking with his friends. He no longer was a spendthrift with the money he earned helping his father, Pietro di Bernardone, a wealthy merchant. He had been converted to love God and his brothers and sisters. Francis was a new man. He no longer wanted to lead a superficial life, empty of meaning. He understood that Christ was the Master to serve, and that his betrothed would always be Lady Poverty. It was 1205 and he was 23 years old. He was born in 1182 to Lady Pica de Bourlémont, originally from Provence, where his father often went to trade in fabrics. His Baptism name was John, but he was known as Francis, precisely because of his French roots.

Until his encounter with the leper, Francis had spent his youth having fun, without a care in the world. He had joined the militia that defended Assisi, the Ghibellines, against Perugia, which was under the Guelphs, but he was taken prisoner in the Battle of Collestrada (1202) and kept captive for one year, until his father paid a ransom. He became ill during his confinement and drew nearer to the faith. After returning to his family, he spent time recovering on his parent’s estate, drawing ever nearer to nature, in which he could see the signs of the Creator. Despite his trials, he continued to dream of being a knight. He thus left for Puglia to fight under the leadership of Gualtiero di Brienne. However, while he was in Spoleto, he fell sick again. His dreams had been shattered. In that moment, he heard a voice telling him to return to Assisi.

These experiences had left their mark and he was no longer the young man he had been. He decided to give all his money to the Church and to alms. But it wasn’t enough. He went on a pilgrimage to Rome and met a poor man. He wanted to experience what it meant to be reduced to poverty. And so, he swapped his clothes with those of the poor man and begged for alms at the doors of a Church. At the end of the day, he recovered his clothes, gave the poor man what he had earned and returned to Assisi. From that time onwards, he understood that poverty would no longer scare him.

Not far from Francis’ home, there was a small church, San Damiano, which had fallen to ruin. The only thing that was still left standing was a large painted wooden crucifix. One day, the Crucifix spoke to him, saying, “Francis, go and rebuild my church which, as you see, is falling down”. Francis immediately replied, “Yes, Lord, I will do it willingly”.

He began to live like a hermit. People thought he had gone mad and he became the joke of the town. Worried that he had lost his mind, his father brought him home and locked him up for a few days in a small store room, feeding him only bread and water. But Francis’ mother intervened and he was freed. The tension with his father became a full blown disagreement that even included discussion on inheritance.

In fact, to put together some money to repair San Damiano, Francis had used the profits from the sale of a few fabrics, which angered his father to the point that he reported him to the authorities. Pietro di Bernardone even took Francis before the Bishop, to be judged. But on that occasion, Francis did something that would go down in history. He stripped off his clothes in the rooms of the old Cathedral of Assisi, Saint Mary Major, renouncing all earthly possessions. Bishop Guido covered Francis with his cloak, and with this gesture, welcomed him under his protection. Francis renounced Pietro di Bernardone as his father, and stated that his Father was in Heaven. He was definitively free from any human trap or bond.

After he had repaired San Damiano, Francis wanted to repair other churches too, like Saint Mary of the Angels, known as the Porziuncola, and San Pietro della Spina.

Detached from everything, he wore a simple tunic and began a new life. He travelled through cities and villages, begging for alms and proclaiming the Word of God. From then on, he was joined by members of the nobility, the bourgeoisie, clerics and lay people, who wished to live according to his Rule, having given up all the concerns and vanities of the world. Bernardo di Quintavalle was the first one to give up all his possessions to the poor. Some companions followed Francis more closely, such as Egidio of Assisi, Pietro Cattani, Angelo Tancredi, Masseo Leone and Ginepro. They soon became 12. Francis called his companions “brothers”.

On 24 February 1209, Francis attended Holy Mass celebrated by a priest in the Porziuncola chapel. When he heard the Reading of Matthew 10:15, which refers to the mission Jesus entrusted to the Apostles, he understood that that was the life he was called to live.

The first Rule he wrote was a series of quotations from the Bible and very simple rules of life. It was approved by Innocent III in 1209, giving rise to the Order of Friars Minor. The basic principles were fraternity, by living together, humility, by serving the least ones, poverty and a missionary spirit.

Captivated by Francis’ example, in the evening of Palm Sunday 1211 or 1212, Chiara degli Offreducci (Clare of Assisi) ran away from home to meet him at the Porziuncola. Francis cut her hair and gave her the Franciscan habit to wear. She was followed soon after by her sister Agnes, and the Second Franciscan Order was born.

In 1217, during the General Chapter at Santa Maria della Porziuncola in Assisi, Francis decided to send some friars to France, Germany, Hungary, Spain and to the other provinces of Italy that had not yet been reached by his disciples.

He sent his brothers out in pairs to preach in villages and cities. His way of life did not include remaining inside a monastery, but rather sharing all the difficulties and trials of life, with others.

Francis tried to go to the Holy Land to convert the infidels, three times. The first time he set sail from Ancona, perhaps around 1212-13, but due to a storm, he landed on the Dalmatian coast and returned to Assisi. The following year, he tried to enter Morocco via Spain, but an illness forced him to return. His third attempt was in 1219, when the second General Chapter was celebrated in the Porziuncola. He left for the east, passing through Ancona. In August he reached Damietta, which was besieged by the crusaders. With Brother Illuminato, he went to meet Sultan al-Malik al-Kāmil, to proclaim the Gospel to him. He was unable to convert him, but Francis was not harmed. Indeed, the Sultan gave him freedom of movement throughout his land. In Autumn 1220, he returned to Italy.

In 1219 a group of Friars Minor had been living in the retreat at Olivais, near Coimbra, Portugal, Five friars left Olivais and headed to the areas controlled by the Moors in Andalusia, then to Morocco, where they were martyred by the Saracens on 16 January 1220. An Augustinian canon, named Fernando, had met them in Coimbra and had been struck by their witness. He wanted to join the Order of Friars Minor and would later become the famous Saint Anthony of Padua.

In 1223, Francis wanted to recreate the essence of the birth of Jesus. He set up the scene in Greccio with a manger, a donkey and an ox. The characters were portrayed by the shepherds and by local people. The Altar for the celebration was placed inside the manger and Francis, who was a deacon, sang the Gospel and preached to those who had come to relive the birth of our Saviour.

On 17 September 1224, while he was meditating on the suffering of Christ in La Verna, in the Casentino Forests, a seraph appeared to him and gave him the stigmata. In 1225, he composed his celebrated Canticle of the Creatures. In June of 1226, he wrote his Testament, in which he underscored the importance of preserving the original spirit of the Rule, never abandoning the vocation to help the least ones and those in need.

Upon his return to Assisi, feeling that death was approaching, he retreated to the Porziuncola and called for Iacopa de’ Settesoli (“Brother Iacopa”). Surrounded by his friars, he gave them his Testament, asking that it be observed as a supplement to the Rule, forbidding any additions to it or interpretations. He died after sunset on 3 October 1226.

On 4 October, with a solemn procession, he was translated from the Porziuncola to the Church of San Giorgio in Assisi. Along the way, his mortal remains were shown to Clare and her sisters at San Damiano.

He was canonized by Gregory IX, in the presence of his mother, Lady Pica, on 16 July 1228, after one of the briefest canonical processes in Church history. Some forty miracles attributed to him were examined. Among them were healings of lepers, of people with dropsy and paralysed people, rescued castaways, released prisoners and a return from death.

His mortal remains were kept in San Giorgio until 25 May 1230, when they were transferred to Assisi’s Lower Basilica. Dedicated to Francis, its construction had been ordered by Brother Elias.