A History of Saint Francis

A History of Saint Francis Saint Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), Italian mystic and preacher, founded the Franciscan Order in 1209. The order is devoted to preaching the Gospel and living in strict poverty. Known as the Seraphic Saint, Francis was born in Assisi, Italy in 1182. His mother, Pica, had him baptized Giovanni di Bernadone, in honor of John the Baptist. But, his father, a wealthy cloth merchant, renamed him Francesco (French in Italian) because of his commercial success and interest in France. Francis was a handsome and cheerful young man and enjoyed the pleasures of life. He also spent a short time in the military and following a battle between Assisi and Perugia, he was held captive in Perugia for over a year. While imprisoned, he suffered a severe illness during which he resolved to alter his way of life. He felt God was calling him to live as Jesus did, so he decided to give up his wealth and embrace a life of poverty and service to the poor and sick. "When people serve the poor," Francis said, "they are serving Christ himself.” After a pilgrimage to Rome, where he begged at the church doors for the poor, he claimed to have had a mystical experience in the Church of San Damiano just outside of Assisi. There the Icon of Christ Crucified came alive and said to him three times, "Francis, Francis, go and repair My house which, as you can see, is falling into ruins." He thought this to mean the ruined church in which he was presently praying, and so sold his horse and some cloth from his father's store, to assist the priest there for this purpose. His father Pietro, highly indignant, attempted to change his mind, first with threats and then with corporal chastisement. After a final interview in the presence of the bishop, Francis renounced his father and his patrimony, laying aside even the garments he had received from him. For the next couple of months he lived as a beggar in the region of Assisi. Returning to the town, he restored several ruined churches, among them the Porziuncola—little chapel of St. Mary of the Angels—situated just outside of town, and which later became his favorite abode. He performed charities among the lepers and began working on the restoration of other dilapidated churches. Francis then devoted the next three years to the care of outcasts and lepers in the woods of Mount Subasio. In 1208, one day during Mass, he heard a call telling him to go out into the world and, according to the text of Matthew 10:5-14, to possess nothing, but to do good everywhere. Francis put on the clothes of a poor shepherd and began preaching to people about peace with God, with one's neighbor, and with one's self. He looked on all people and things as his brothers and sisters because they were created by the same God. In 1209, Francis gathered round him the 11 young men who became the original brothers of his order and took them to Rome where Pope Innocent