St Francis of Assisi
1182-1226
By Fr. Patrick McCloskey, OFM

Francis Bernadone was born in Assisi, Italy and his parents, Pica and Pietro, were part of Assisi’s prosperous merchant class. A born leader, Francis instigated many revels among the young men of Assisi.  Shaken by a year’s imprisonment as a prisoner of war and by a long illness, Francis decided to abandon his knightly ambitions and dedicate himself to God’s service.  He would eventually describe himself as “the herald of the great king.”

One day the crucifix at San Damiano, a dilapidated wayside chapel near Assisi, told him, “Rebuild my house, for it is nearly falling down.”  He then repaired San Damiano and two other nearby churches.  That required begging stones in Assisi; Francis survived the occasional mocking which greeted him there.

Francis’ life took a new direction when he met a man suffering from leprosy.  Tempted to ride on, Francis dismounted, kissed the man and gave him some money.  Later Francis and his followers would work among people suffering from leprosy.  At the end of his life, Francis wrote of this incident on the road outside Assisi.  “What had previously nauseated me,” he said, “became a source of spiritual and physical consolation for me.” (Testament).  Francis overcame himself on that road and afterwards was much more ready to care for the suffering.

Francis quickly attracted followers and in 1209 went to Rome to get approval from Pope Innocent III for this new group, originally called the “Penitents from Assisi.”  They dedicated themselves to prayer, to manual labor and preaching the gospel.  Their poverty lent credibility to their way of life.

By this time, however, many groups had formed to follow the gospel in poverty and simplicity.  Some of these groups eventually separated themselves from the Church because, for one thing, they rejected the bishop’s right to supervise preaching in his diocese.  They also set themselves up as members of the “spiritual” (sinless) Church as opposed to the carnal (sinful) Church of their own day.  Some of these groups also rejected the sacraments.

Francis wanted to show his loyalty to the Church from the very start.  He succeeded in gaining verbal approval from the pope despite the doubts of some cardinals about whether such a radical following of Jesus was possible in the 13th century.  In time Francis called his followers Friars Minor (Lesser Brothers).  As their numbers grew, he sent them throughout Europe.  In 1219 he assigned Berard and his companions to preach the gospel in Morocco.  That same year Francis himself traveled to Egypt and the Holy Land.

When Francis returned to Assisi in 1220, he had become sick, and he realized that his group needed more capable administration than he could give it.  Therefore he resigned as the leader.  In the next two years, Francis devoted a lot of time to formulating a Rule to be submitted to the pope for approval.  The final Rule was approved in 1223.  Actually, Francis slipped in under the wire.  The verbal approval given to his very small Rule of 1209—a collection of Gospel texts—exempted him from the decision of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) that no new religious Rules should be approved.

In response to St. Clare’s desire to follow the gospel, Francis helped her organize the “Poor Ladies of San Damiano” (the Poor Clares).  Lay men and women living “in the world” asked Francis to establish a group for them.  The result was the Third order—now known as the Secular Franciscan Order.