St.+Francis+of+Assisi

Saint Francis of Assisi was born sometime from 1181-1182. He was a Catholic deacon and a preacher. He also was the founder of the Order of Friars Minor, more commonly known as the F ranciscans.

He is known as the patron saint of animals, the environment and one of the two patrons of Italy, and it is customary for Catholic Churches to hold ceremonies blessing animals on his feast day. This day takes place on October 4th.

Francis was one of seven children born to Pietro di Bernardone, a rich cloth merchant, and his wife Pica, about whom little is known except that she was originally from France. From a young age, Francis became a devotee of troubadors and was intrigued by all French things.

In 1201, he joined a military expedition against Perugia and was taken as a prisoner at Collestrada, spending a year as a captive. It is possible that his spiritual conversion was a gradual process rooted in this experience. Upon his return to Assisi in 1203, Francis returned to his carefree life and in 1204, a serious illness led to a spiritual crisis. In 1205 Francis left for Puglia to enlist in the army of the Count of Brienne. A strange vision made him return to Assisi, deepening his ecclesiastical awakening.

After this time in his life, Francis heard a sermon preached from Matthew. This inspired him to live a life completely devoted to poverty. Within a year of this, he had 11 followers. He and the "brothers" lived a simple life in the deserted lazar house of Rivo Torto near Assisi; but they spent much of their time wandering through the mountainous districts of [|Umbria].

In 1209, Francis led his first eleven followers to Rome to gain permission from Pope Innocent III to found a new religious order. While entering Rome, the brothers encountered Bishop Guido of Assisi, who had in his company Giovanni di San Paolo, the Cardinal Biship of Sabina. The Cardinal, who was the confessor of Pope Innocent III, was immediately sympathetic to Francis and agreed to represent Francis to the pope. Reluctantly, Pope Innocent agreed to meet with Francis and the brothers the next day. After several days, the pope agreed to admit the group informally, adding that when God increased the group in grace and number, they could return for an official admittance. The group was tonsured. From here his order spread throughout the country.

He died on the evening of October 3, 1226. His death was due to extreme eye problems. A year and a half later he was declared a saint. Saint Francis is considered the first Italian poet by literary critics. He believed commoners should be able to pray to God in their own language, differently than most people in the era straying away from the normal Latin. To this day his writings are considered to have great literary and historical value.