St. Francis of Assisi, oil on canvas, Philip Fruytiers, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp
Saint Francis of Assisi
Francis of Assisi was born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone in c. 1181 in Assisi, Italy (d. 3 October 1226). Francis was an Italian mystic and Catholic friar who founded the Franciscans, OFM, and considered one of the most venerated figures in Christianity. He was inspired to lead a life of poverty as a traveling preacher and commonly portrayed wearing a brown habit with a rope tied around his waist, featuring three knots that symbolize the three Franciscan vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.
When Francis was born, his father Pietro, who was a successful silk merchant, took to calling his son Francesco ("Free man" or "Frenchman"), possibly in honor of his enthusiasm for all things French. His mother, Pica di Bourlemont, was a French noblewoman originally from Provence. Indulged by his parents, Francis lived the high-spirited life typical of a wealthy young man and spent money lavishly. Francis was described as handsome, witty, gallant, delighted in fine clothes and was fascinated with all things Transalpine.
Although many hagiographers (biographers of saints) remarked about his bright clothing, rich friends, and love of pleasures, he displayed disillusionment toward the world that surrounded him early in his life, as is shown in the "Story of the beggar". In this account, he was selling cloth and velvet in the marketplace on behalf of his father when a beggar came to him and asked for alms. At the conclusion of his business deal, Francis abandoned his wares and ran after the beggar. When he found him, Francis gave the man everything he had in his pockets. His friends mocked him for his charity; his father scolded him in rage.
A series of visions seemed to either occur to Francis or the people associated with him. Francis had been praying asking God for guidance and sometime after had a dream/vision where God revealed to him a palace with military weapons and told Francis the palace would be for him and his knights. Francis then interpreted this as a sign that he should join the military. In 1202, he joined a military expedition against Perugia; but subsequently taken prisoner at Collestrada. He spent a year captive and sick, causing him to re-evaluate his life.
However, upon his return to Assisi, Francis returned to his carefree life a year later.
In 1205, at the age of 24, Francis left for Apulia to enlist in the army of Walter III, Count of Brienne. Other stories say, Francis experienced a mystical vision of Jesus Christ in the country chapel of San Damiano, just outside Assisi, in which the Icon of Christ Crucified said to him, "Francis, Francis, go and repair My church which, as you can see, is falling into ruins." He interpreted this as a sign to repair the ruined church that he was currently praying in; went and sold some cloth from his father's store and offered the money gained to the priest there in hopes of providing funds for the repairs needed. The priest refused to accept the ill-gotten gains and Francis threw the coins on the floor.
In order to avoid his father's wrath, Francis hid in a cave near San Damiano for a month. When he returned to town, hungry and dirty, he was dragged home by his father, beaten, bound, and locked in a small storeroom. Freed by his mother during father’s absence, Francis returned to San Damiano, finding shelter with the officiating priest, but he was soon cited before the city consuls by his father and sought to force his son to forego his inheritance by way of restitution. In the midst of legal proceedings before the Bishop of Assisi, Francis renounced his father and his patrimony.
For the next couple of months, Francis wandered as a beggar in the hills behind Assisi. When he returned to Assisi, he traversed the city, begging for stones for the restoration of St. Damiano's. He then carried these stones to the old chapel, set in place himself, and at length rebuilt it.
Over the course of two years, he embraced the life of a penitent, during which he restored several ruined chapels in the countryside around Assisi, San Pietro in Spina and the Porziuncola, the little chapel of St. Mary of the Angels, which later became his favorite dwelling. Over the years, he took to nursing lepers in the lazar houses near Assisi.
During this time, Francis began to gain a following and decided to request the establishment of a religious order. Initially, Pope Innocent III said no, but then had a dream/vision about Francis holding up an about-to-collapse cathedral of Rome. It would come to be known as one of the more famous dream/visions people associated with Francis would have. The Pope sent men in search of Francis and granted him his request.
Francis had traveled to Assisi and was praying in an isolated garden, the friars back at the countryside all witnessed a vision of a fiery chariot with a globe of light and glanced at Francis miraculously present in the apparition, a claim of Francis being in two different places at once. Another event of Bilocation, in Arles, France, Francis couldn't travel and did not, yet many friars in attendance witnessed Francis present in the entrance of the room where they were all gathered.
Francis and another friar were praying at a deserted church and the companion fell into ecstasy and experienced a vision - beautifully decorated thrones in heaven and as soon as he wondered who the throne belonged to, God answered the companion, “This throne belonged to one of the fallen angels and is now reserved for Francis.”
Other mystical instances included Francis seeing devils over a city of Arezzo causing antagonism and so he sent Friars to cast out devils in the name of God, they instead cast them out in the name of Francis and the devils fled.
In 1219, when Francis was 37 years of age, he traveled to the Egypt/Muslim territory in an attempt to convert the sultan al-Kamil and put an end to the conflict of the Fifth Crusade. As the Sultan heard the words of Francis, he softened his resolve and was eager to hear more of his teachings. Francis offered to participate in the trials of fire to prove his (Francis’s) faith but the Sultan refused, due to fear of a revolt from his people. Ironically, the Sultan gained a profound admiration for Francis.
Often Francis would seek out solitude in order to experience deeper and more intense prayer. On a particular time, unknowingly, friars came upon Francis and witnessed an occurrence of ecstasy - Francis suspended in air, hovering above ground, a shimmering cloud folded around him and a glow emanating from within him.
Keeping in line with spending more time in secluded prayer, Francis would make “hermitage” trips but due to his failing health he had to be taken by donkey. This time, the owner of the donkey had grown weak, tired and in need of water. Francis dismounted from the donkey and began to pray over a particular rock and water miraculously sprang forth and the man began to drink from it.
In 1223, Francis arranged for the first live nativity scene as part of the annual Christmas celebration in Greccio. This was significant because he not only saw himself as part of creation, but his spirituality overturned the spirituality of hierarchical ascent and replaced it with a spirituality of descending solidarity between humanity and creation. Instead of using creatures to ascend to God (from earth to heaven), he found God in all creatures, identifying with them as brother and sister; he found heaven on earth.
A legend exists that when Francis traveled to Bevagna, he came upon a large flock of different birds and as he approached them, they all turned to face him. Francis then began speaking to the birds and the birds in turn began to stretch their necks, stretch their wings, open their beaks and gaze attentively towards Francis. Francis began to walk among them and none stirred or flew away. Once he had finished his sermon of blessing them, they collectively, all together flew away.
Francis is associated with patronage of animals and the environment. It became customary for churches to hold ceremonies blessing animals on his feast day of the 4th of October.
1224- During another moment of prayer time and fasting, Francis began a series of visions - Day 1 of fasting - a Seraph approached him and a vision of Jesus crucified appeared folded within 2 of the 6 wings. As Francis thought about the vision, feeling both joy and sorrow, his hands and feet mysteriously began to take on the marks and pains of the crucifixion as well as the spear mark on his side. Francis had and would be the first to receive the stigmata - an affliction that others claimed he would try to keep hidden for the rest of his life. during the apparition of a Seraphic angel in a religious ecstasy
Francis died on October 3, 1226 and people continued to claim apparitions of Francis after his death. He was canonized by Pope Gregory IX on 16 July 1228. According to Christian tradition, he founded the men's Order of Friars Minor, the women's Order of St. Clare, the Third Order of St. Francis and the Custody of the Holy Land. Once his community was authorized by Pope Innocent III, he withdrew increasingly from external affairs.
1224 - In the same year of Francis receiving the stigmata, he wrote “Canticle of the Sun” originally in Italian. It has been noted by scholars of it bearing occult traditions, as related to alchemy and Hermeticism with assigning gender to the elements and cardinal directions: Brother Wind, Sister Water, Brother Fire, Sister Mother Earth; Air=Masculine associated with East, Water=Feminine associated with West; Fire=Masculine associated with South, Earth=Feminine associated with North.
It goes on to say that the order in which they appear in the text is important because, in the case of ceremonial rituals, the order in which the elements or elemental forces are spoken/evoked is specific. This is the same order used by Francis in his “Canticle of the Sun”: East, West, South, North - forming a cross.
Also, Francis uses the same gendering common in mystical traditions, such as the case with the Sun and Moon as well as referring to death as Sister Bodily Death which is connected with the feminine/Mother Earth.
Saint Francis would correspond through letters with his followers during the formation and establishment of his Third Order of Saint Francis. These letters would then be collected and closely followed the preachings and examples outlined there within to later be developed into the rules for penance. These letters were translated into liturgical texts.
St. Francis is buried at the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, in Assisi, Italy. Prior to his final resting place, the body of St. Francis had been hidden with claims of fearing theft of the body for relics. When the remains were found, unbeknownst to many, sealed into the basilica, his body contained the following items with it 12 silver coins, 29 beads, a ring, a piece of iron and a stone that Francis' head rested on.