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SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI

“Why after you? Why after you?” This question, asked by one of the first and closest followers of St Francis, has been echoed ever since. Why do so many people go after Saint Francis today?

Today more biographies exist of the Little Man of Assisi than of any other saint and new studies appear every year. Over the last 800 years his inspiration, his words and his way of living have inspired the rich and the poor, governments and individuals, secular and religious organisations. His inspiration is timeless and his influence worldwide.

Born into a rich merchant family, Francis left his material wealth to seek wealth with the Lord. Taking the Gospels as his way of life, Francis worked and lived with the poor. His influence spread, and soon followers came to be with him, to live as he did. These we call Franciscans. Today, and in today's world, they live as poor witnesses to the life of St Francis who was a rich witness to the life of Christ.

Saint Francis, a man of our time. A man for all time and every time.

Why is St Francis so universally loved and followed? To read a homily in answer to this question (in a pdf file) Click here

To read the life story of Saint Francis (in a pdf file) click here

THE LIFE OF SAINT FRANCIS IN THE FRESCOES OF GIOTTO DI BONDONE (1266-1337)

On the walls of the nave of the upper church of St. Francis in Assisi (built over the tomb of the saint) Giotto and his collaborators in about 1305 or 1306 painted a grand series of 28 frescoes illustrating the life of Saint Francis, derived from ancient biographies of the Saint, especially that of St. Bonaventure. Nearly all of them are reproduced below.

1. A man of Assisi prophetically venerates the young Francis, spreading his mantle at his feet in the town square

Afterwards, when he had perfectly put on Christ, Francis would say that even while he was in secular attire he could scarcely ever hear any mention of the divine love without being deeply moved in his heart. At the same time the sensitivity of his gentleness, together with a refined set of manners, a patience and affability beyond human decorum, and a generosity beyond his means singled him out as a young man of flourishing natural disposition. This seemed to be a prelude to the even greater abundance of God's blessings that would be showered on him in the future. Indeed a certain exceptionally simple man of Assisi, whom it is believed God had instructed, whenever he chanced to meet Francis going through the city, used to take off his cloak and spread the garment under his feet, claiming that Francis was worthy of reverence, since he was destined to do great things in the near future and would be magnificently honoured by the entire body of the faithful.

Cf. St. Bonaventure's Major Legend of St. Francis, I:1

2. Francis gives his mantle to a poor knight

Up to this time, Francis was ignorant of God's counsel for him. Drawn in several directions to the external by the demand of his father as well as forced down to the inferior by the corruption of his natural origin, he had not yet learned how to contemplate the celestial nor had he become accustomed to savour the divine. And because affliction can enlighten spiritual awareness, the hand of the Lord was upon him, afflicting his body with prolonged illness in order to prepare his soul for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. And when the strength of his body was restored, dressed as usual in his fine clothes, he met a knight who was of noble birth but poor and badly clothed. Moved by a pious impulse of care for his poverty, he took off his own garments and clothed the man on the spot. At one and the same time he fulfilled the two-fold duty of covering over the embarassment of a noble knight and relieving the want of a poor human being.

Cf. St. Bonaventure's Major Legend of St. Francis, I:2

3. Francis sees in a dream a palace filled with arms marked with the cross

When he had fallen asleep, the divine kindness showed him a large and splendid palace with military arms emblazoned with the insignia of Christ's cross. When he asked to whom these belonged, the response he received was that all these things were for him and his knights. He assessed the unusual vision to be a judgment of great prosperity in the future. For this reason he set out to join a generous count in Apulia, hoping to obtain the glory of knighthood, as his vision had foreshadowed. Shortly after he had embarked on his journey and had gone as far as the neighbouring city, he heard the Lord speaking to him during the night , "Francis, who can do more for you, a lord or a servant, a rich person or one who is poor?" When Francis replied that a lord and a rich person could do more, he was at once asked, "Why, then, are you abandoning the Lord for a servant and the rich God for a poor mortal?" And Francis replied, "Lord, what do you want me to do?" And the Lord answered him, "Go back to your own land ..." When morning came, he returned in haste to Assisi, free of care and filled with joy, and he awaited the Lord's will.

Cf. St. Bonaventure's Major Legend, I:3

4. Francis prays before the Crucifix at San Damiano

One day while passing in front of the church of St Damian, which was threatening to collapse because of age, Francis felt an irresistible urge to go inside. He prostrated himself before the image of Christ with devotion. Suddenly he felt like a completely different being. While he was in the grip of this emotion, the image of Christ crucified began to talk. He called him by name and said to him: 'Go, Francis, and repair my house because it is falling into ruin.' Francis was stupified. He trembled all over and almost went out of his mind at those words. He prepared himself to obey and summoned all his energies in order to carry out the command.

Cf. St. Bonaventure's Major Legend of Saint Francis, VI:2

5. Francis renounces his paternal inheritance, stripping off his clothes before the Bishop of Assisi

His father of the flesh worked on leading the child of grace, now stripped of his money, before the bishop of the city that he might renounce his family possessions into his hands and return everything he had. The true lover of poverty showed himself eager to comply and went before the bishop without delaying or hesitating. He did not wait for any words nor did he speak any, but immediately took off his clothes and gave them back to his father. Then it was discovered that the man of God had a hair shirt next to his skin under his fine clothes. Moreover, drunk with remarkable fervour, he even took off his trousers, and was completely stripped naked before everyone. He said to his father, "Until now I have called you father here on earth, but now I can say without reservation, 'Our Father who art in heaven,' since I have placed all my hope and all my treasure in him." The bishop, recognising and admiring such intense fervour in the man of God, immediately stood up and in tears drew him into his arms, covering him with the mantle that he was wearing. Like the pious and good man that he was, he bade his servants give him something to cover his body. They brought him a poor cheap cloak of a farmer who worked for the bishop, which he accepted gratefully and with his own hand marked a cross on it with a piece of chalk, thus designating it as the covering of a crucified and half-naked poor man.

Cf. St. Bonaventure's Major Legend of St. Francis, II:4

6. Innocent III in a dream sees St. Francis supporting the falling Lateran

While the Vicar of Christ listened attentively to a parable told by Francis and its interpretation, he was quite amazed and recognised without a doubt that Christ had spoken in this man. But he also confirmed a vision he had recently received from heaven, that, as the Divine Spirit indicated, would be fulfilled in this man. He saw in a dream, as he recounted, the Lateran basilica almost ready to fall down. A little poor man, small and scorned, was propping it up with his own back bent so that it would not fall. "I'm sure," he said, "he is the one who will hold up Christ's Church by what he does and what he teaches." Because of this, filled with exceptional devotion, he bowed to the request in everything and always loved Christ's servant with special love. Then he granted what was asked and promised even more. He approved the rule, gave them a mandate to preach penance, and had small tonsures given to all the lay brothers, who were accompanying the servant of God, so that they could freely preach the word of God.

Cf. St. Bonaventure's Major Legend of St. Francis, III:10

7. Pope Innocent III approves the Franciscan Rule

At an audience in the spring of 1209 Pope Innocent III must have been startled when he was approached by a group of barefooted men who called themselves 'The Pentinents of Assisi,' dressed in the coarse tunic worn by Umbrian peasants. The group was led by a young man 'short, thin, with burning eyes,' whose face bore the marks of penitential self-denial. The presentations were made by Bishop Guido of Assisi. The thin man with the burning eyes began to speak: he did not protest against anybody or anything. He asked only to be allowed to live in evangelical poverty, according to the Rule that he had presented 'written with few words, and making use above all of the texts of the Gospel.' Pope Innocent unexpectedly adopted a special procedure and verbally approved the Rule that Francis had presented to him. Many of the Pope's advisors objected that this Rule was too austere, but Cardinal Giovanni di San Paolo told the Pope, 'If we reject the petition of this poor man on the grounds that the Rule is new and too austere when he petitions us to approve a form of life which is in keeping with the Gospel, we must fear that we may displease the very Gospel of Jesus Christ.' So was born the Franciscan Order.

Cf. St. Bonaventure's Major Legend of Saint Francis, III:10

8. St. Francis, glorious in a chariot of fire, appears to the friars in Rivotorto

While the brothers were still staying in an abandoned hut near Assisi, one Saturday the holy man entered the city of Assisi to preach in the cathedral on Sunday morning, as was his custom. In a hut situated in the garden of the canons, away from his sons in body, the man devoted to God spent the night in his customary way in the prayer of God. About midnight, while some of the brothers were resting and others were persevering in prayer, behold, a fiery chariot of wonderful brilliance entering the door of the house moved here and there through the little house three times. On top of it sat a bright globe that looked like the sun, anf it made the night bright as day. Those who were awake were dumbfounded, while those sleeping were disturbed and, at the same time, terrified: they sensed the brightness with their hearts as much as with their bodies, while the conscience of each was laid bare to the others by the power of that marvelous light. As they looked into each other's hearts, they all understood that the holy father, while away from them in body, was present in spirit, like a second Elijah, that they might follow him as true Israelites.

Cf. St. Bonaventure's Major Legend of St. Francis, IV:4

9. A Brother sees a precious throne in heaven destined for the humble Francis

A certain brother, a man of outstanding virtue and devotion, when he was in the company of the man of God and was praying fervently with him in a deserted church, passed into an ecstasy, and saw among the many thrones in heaven one more noble than the rest, adorned with precious stones and glittering with great glory. He wondered within himself at the splendour of the lofty throne, and thought quietly about whose it might be. Then he heard a voice saying to him: 'This throne belonged to one of those who fell, and now it is reserved for the humble Francis.'
As they went along the road, talking to one another about God, that brother, mindful of his vision, skilfully asked Francis what he thought of himself. The humble servant of Christ said to him: 'I see myself as the greatest of sinners.' When the brother protested that, to the contrary, he could not say or feel this with a good conscience, Francis continued: 'If Christ had pursued a great criminal with such mercy, I surely think he would be much more grateful to God than I.' At hearing such remarkable humility, the brother was convinced of the truth of his vision, knowing from the Gospel that the truly humble will be exalted to the height of glory from which the proud have been cast out.

Cf. St Bonaventure's Major Legend of Saint Francis, VI:6

10. Francis, through Fra Sylvester, expels the demons of civil war from Arezzo

It happened once that he came to Arezzo at a time when the whole city was shaken by a civil war that threatened its destruction. From the outskirts he saw demons over the city leaping for joy and arousing the troubled citizens to mutual slaughter. In order to put to flight those seditious evil spirits, he sent Brother Sylvester, a man of dove-like simplicity, before him as a herald, telling him, "Go in front of the city gate and, on behalf of Almighty God, command the devils to leave at once." The man obediently hurried to carry out his Father's orders and, caught up in praise before the face of the Lord, he began to cry out boldly in front of the city gate, "In the name of Almighty God and by the command of his servant Francis, get away from here, all you demons." At once the city returned to tranquillity and the citizens reformed their civil law peaceably.

Cf. St Bonaventure's Major Legend of Saint Francis, VI:9

11. Francis before the Sultan challenges his priests to a test of fire to prove which is the true faith

Although a cruel edict had been issued by the Sultan that whoever brought back the head of a Christian would be rewarded with a gold piece, Francis taking a companion with him decided to make the journey. After they had been maltreated in many ways, by divine providence they were led to the Sultan as the man of God had hoped. When that ruler inquired by whom, why, and how they had been sent and got there, Francis answered with an intrepid heart that he had been sent not by man but by the Most High God in order to point out to him and his people the way of salvation and to annouce the Gospel of truth. The Sultan, perceiving in the man of God a fervour of spirit and a courage that had to be admired, willingly listened to him and invited him to stay longer with him. Francis urged the Sultan to have an enormous fire lit and offered to walk into it with his Moslem priests to test which of them preached the truth. The Sultan replied that he did not dare to accept this choice and offered Francis many precious gifts which the man of God spurned as if they were dirt. This aroused the admiration and respect of the Sultan all the more, so that he allowed Francis to go back safely to his own country.

Cf. St. Bonaventure's Major Legend of St. Francis, IX:8

12. The companions of Francis gaze in admiration at the Saint in ecstasy

The brothers who were devoutly observing him heard him on several occasions groan with loud cries, imploring the divine mercy for sinners and weeping over the Lord's passion as if it were before him. He was seen praying at night with his hands outstretched in the form of a cross, his whole body lifted up from the ground and surrounded by a sort of shining cloud, so that the extraordinary illumination around his body was a witness to the wonderful light that shone within his soul.

Cf. St. Bonaventure's Major Legend of St. Francis, X:4

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