The saints

Saint Francis of Assisi

Founder and Friar · Feast day October 4 · 1181 to 1226 · Assisi, Italy · Also known as Francesco, the Poverello

Saint Francis of Assisi gave up wealth and every comfort to marry Lady Poverty and follow Christ with a joy that has never stopped drawing the world. Founder of the Franciscans, preacher to rich and poor and even to the birds, and the first recorded to bear the wounds of Christ, he is one of the most beloved figures in all of history.

Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.Matthew 19:21 (KJV)

The rich young man of Assisi

Francis was the son of a wealthy cloth merchant of Assisi, and in his youth he was the leader of the town's gilded young men, generous, charming, and in love with fine clothes, feasting, and dreams of knightly glory. He rode off to war, was captured and imprisoned, and returned home changed, sensing that the life he had loved was empty.

One day, praying in the crumbling little church of San Damiano, he heard the crucifix say to him, Francis, rebuild my church, which is falling into ruin. He took it first as stone and mortar and began to repair the chapel with his own hands, selling his father's cloth to pay for it, and only later understood the greater house he was called to renew.

Married to Lady Poverty

His father, enraged at the loss of his goods, dragged Francis before the bishop of Assisi. In front of the whole town Francis stripped off his fine clothes, handed them back, and declared that from now on he would call no man father but his Father in heaven. He walked out into the countryside singing, owning nothing, and never turned back.

He embraced poverty as a bride, begging his bread, sleeping in the open, and serving the lepers whom everyone else avoided, kissing the hand he had once found loathsome. Others were drawn by his joy and freedom, and soon a band of brothers gathered, whom he called the Friars Minor, the little brothers, sent out two by two to preach repentance and peace and to work with their hands.

A brotherhood of joy

Francis wanted only to live the gospel plainly, without possessions, in humility and gladness. His movement spread across Italy and beyond with astonishing speed, and Clare, a noblewoman of Assisi, followed his way and founded an order of sisters. He drew up a simple rule, went before the pope, and won approval for a life that looked to the world like madness and to him like freedom.

He preached everywhere, to crowds and to kings, and famously even to the birds, calling all creatures his brothers and sisters, for they and he shared one Maker. In the midst of the Crusades he crossed the battle lines to speak of Christ, with courtesy, to the Sultan of Egypt himself.

The stigmata and the Canticle

Near the end of his life, praying on the mountain of La Verna, Francis received the stigmata, the wounds of the crucified Christ appearing in his own hands, feet, and side, the first recorded instance in history. His body was worn out by years of hardship and fasting, and he was going blind.

Yet in his suffering he composed the Canticle of the Creatures, praising God for Brother Sun and Sister Moon, for wind and water and fire, and even for Sister Death, whom he welcomed as a friend. He died in 1226, lying on the bare ground as he had asked, singing to the last. Within two years he was proclaimed a saint.

Why Francis still matters

Francis is loved across every division of the church and far beyond it, because he took the gospel at its word and lived it with joy. He is the patron of animals and of the care of creation, and the enduring proof that the way of poverty, humility, and love is not a burden but a freedom the rich can only envy. He make his own the prayer that still bears his name: Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

A note for all traditions: the saints are honored across the church as examples of faith and, in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions, as friends who pray with us, never worshiped, for worship belongs to God alone. What Scripture records and what later tradition holds are distinguished above. In every tradition there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, and every believer, not only the saints, is called to follow him.

Related: Patron saint of animals · Saint Patrick · Saints for October 4 · Saint of the day