Saint Francis of Assisi (September 26, 1181 – October 3, 1226) is a Christian Saint. He is the founder of the Franciscan Order and patron saint of animals, the environment, merchants, Italy and Catholic Action. He was born in Assisi in Italy where a large basilica was built in his honor.
On his feast day, October 4, many churches have a ceremony for people to bring their pets and working animals to church.
Early life
Saint Francis was born to Pietro Bernardone, a wealthy cloth merchant, and his wife Pica. He was originally named Giovanni Francesco Bernardone. In his youth, he was first interested by French troubadours, known as wanderers who improvised songs on a stringed instrument. He later planned a career in military. When he was serving in the war between Assisi and Perugia in 1202, at the battle of Ponte Saint Giovanni, he was captured and imprisoned for a year.
When Francis returned to Assisi he had a religious conversion experience, including a reported message from Christ calling him to leave this worldly life. He began taking his Christianity faith seriously. He acted towards people as if the Gospels were his law, taking Jesus Christ as a literal example for loving one another. He dressed in rough clothes, ask and begged for his sustenance, and preached purity and peace. His family disapproved, and his father disinherited him, so Francis renounced his wealth and inheritance. After that Francis started visiting hospitals and caring for the sick including of leprosy.
In 1209 Francis started to attract followers, and with a blessing from the pope, he founded the Franciscans based on a simple statement by Jesus: “Leave all and follow me”. In 1219, he went to Egypt to convert the Sultan so the conflict of the Crusades could end.
Images for kids
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The oldest surviving depiction of Saint Francis is a fresco near the entrance of the Benedictine abbey of Subiaco, painted between March 1228 and March 1229. He is depicted without the stigmata, but the image is a religious image and not a portrait.
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Pope Innocent III approving the statutes of the Order of the Franciscans, by Giotto, 1295–1300
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St. Clare is received by St. Francis, Josep Benlliure
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Honorius III Approving the Rule of St. Francis of Assisi, Bartolome del Castro, c. 1500 (Philadelphia Museum of Art)
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Francis considered his stigmata part of the Imitation of Christ. Cigoli, 1699
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A garden statue of Francis of Assisi with birds
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Francis' last resting place at Assisi
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A relic of Francis of Assisi
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Basilica of Saint Francis, Assisi
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The house where Francis of Assisi lived when young
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Saint Francis Abandons His Father. Francis of Assisi breaking off his relationship with his father and renouncing his patrimony, laying aside publicly even the garments he had received from him.
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St. Francis and scenes from his life, 13th century
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Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata, Jan van Eyck, c. 1430–1432, Turin version
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The Stigmatization of St Francis, Domenico Veneziano, 1445
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Saint Francis in the Desert Giovanni Bellini, c. 1480
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Francis of Assisi with angel music, Francisco Ribalta, c. 1620
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Saint Francis in Meditation, Francisco de Zurbarán, 1639
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Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy, Jusepe de Ribera, 1639
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Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy, Caravaggio, c. 1595
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Francis of Assisi visiting his convent while far away, in a chariot of fire, José Benlliure y Gil (1855–1937)
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The Ecstasy of St. Francis, Stefano di Giovanni, 1444
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Nazario Gerardi as St. Francis in The Flowers of St. Francis, 1950
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Statue in Askeaton Abbey, Ireland, claimed to cure toothache, 14th–15th century
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