Saint Francis of Assisi (around 1181 – 1226) is, with Saint Dominic, the dominant figure of the 13th-century spiritual renewal, and doubtless the most universally loved saint of the entire Middle Ages. Son of a wealthy cloth merchant of Assisi, a brilliant and spendthrift young man dreaming of chivalric glory, he underwent a shattering conversion: he embraced a leper, heard the Christ of San Damiano say to him "repair my house", then publicly stripped off his clothes before his father and the bishop, to have no other Father but the one in heaven. From this total renunciation was born an evangelical movement of unheard-of fruitfulness.[1][2][3]
Wedded to "Lady Poverty", preaching penance and peace along the roads of Italy, he gathered companions and founded the Order of Friars Minor. His life is marked by gestures that shaped Christian piety: the unarmed encounter with the Sultan of Egypt in the midst of the Crusade (1219), the first living Nativity scene at Greccio (1223), the stigmata of La Verna (1224) — he is the first known stigmatic in history —, and finally the Canticle of the Creatures, one of the oldest poems in the Italian language, in which he calls the sun his brother and death his sister.[4][5][6][7]
"But what we can glory in is our infirmities, and in bearing each day the holy Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." — Saint Francis of Assisi, Admonitions, V[8]
This article traces the life of Francis — the prodigal child of Assisi, the convert, the poor man, the founder, the missionary, the stigmatic —, then his spirituality (poverty, minority, imitation of the crucified Christ, devotion to the Eucharist and the priesthood, brotherhood with creation, perfect joy, fidelity to the Church), and finally his death, his relics and his canonization. It does not retell the full history of the Franciscan order, nor that of the basilica of Assisi, nor the biography of Saint Clare and of the great disciples Anthony of Padua and Bonaventure.
Sources: how do we know Saint Francis?
Few medieval saints are so well documented. Our knowledge of Francis rests on three circles of sources, of unequal closeness.
First, his own writings: he is one of the rare saints of the Middle Ages of whom texts written by his own hand, or dictated by him, survive. They include the Rule of the Friars Minor (1221 and 1223), the Testament (1226), the Admonitions, the Canticle of the Creatures, several letters (to the faithful, to the clerics, to the guardians of the order) and prayers.[9] These texts, sober and burning, give direct access to his thought — a precious thing, since later biographies were often rewritten to serve the order's internal debates.
Next, the official biographies. From the moment of the canonization, Pope Gregory IX charged Thomas of Celano, a friar who had known Francis, with writing his life: this is the Vita Prima (1228–1229), followed by a Vita Secunda (1246–1247) gathering the memories of the first companions.[10][11] In 1260–1263, the Minister General Saint Bonaventure composed the Legenda Maior, declared the official biography at the chapter of 1266 — to the point that the order then ordered the destruction of the earlier Lives, which explains why some of them nearly disappeared.[12]
Finally, the legends of the companions: the Legend of the Three Companions, the Legend of Perugia, the Speculum perfectionis, which hand down a fresher, rougher and more concrete memory of the beginnings. Modern historical criticism, since Paul Sabatier (1894), hotly debates the dating and respective value of these texts; but their convergence on the essential — radical poverty, joy, love of the crucified Christ — is remarkable.[13]
The prodigal child of Assisi (around 1181–1202)
Birth and baptism: Giovanni become "Francesco"
Francis was born in Assisi, in Umbria, around 1181–1182, while his father, Pietro di Bernardone, a wealthy cloth merchant, was travelling on business in France. His mother, Lady Pica, had him baptized under the name of Giovanni (John). On his return, his father gave him the nickname Francesco, "the Frenchman" — perhaps from love of French trade, perhaps in homage to his mother, whom tradition says was Provençal.[14][15] The nickname stuck: the child already carried in his very name the merchant and courtly horizon he would one day leave behind.
A rich, brilliant and spendthrift youth
The Bernardone family belonged to the rising merchant bourgeoisie of Assisi, rich but not noble. Francis grew up in comfort, learning a little Latin, a great deal of French, and the songs of the troubadours. Handsome, generous, elegant, lavish with his father's money, he became the king of the gilded youth of Assisi, leading the nightly revels.[16][17] Thomas of Celano hides nothing of this past: Francis "surpassed all his companions in vanity" and "wasted his time miserably almost until his twenty-fifth year".[18] This frankness of the sources is part of the saint's greatness: his holiness is not that of an over-wise child, but of a man turned inside out.
"He wasted and miserably lost his time almost until his twenty-fifth year. […] He surpassed all his companions in vanity." — Thomas of Celano, Vita Prima, I, 1–2[19]
The dream of chivalry
The young man dreamed of military glory and knighthood. When war broke out between Assisi and its rival Perugia, he enlisted. At the battle of Collestrada (1202), Assisi was crushed; Francis was taken prisoner and spent about a year in a Perugian jail, where a grave illness seized him.[20][21] Released, still convalescent, he nevertheless prepared a new military expedition to join the papal armies in Apulia. It was on that road that everything was about to change.
The conversion (around 1205–1206)
The dream at Spoleto: "Whom is it better to serve?"
Set out for Apulia, Francis stopped at Spoleto, where, in a dream, a voice asked him whether it was better to serve the master or the servant. Understanding that he had been pursuing the servant (the warlord) instead of the Master (Christ), he turned back toward Assisi, to the great scandal of his companions.[22][23] The dreamer of chivalry was now seeking another King.
The kiss of the leper
The decisive turning point was, by his own admission, the encounter with a leper. Francis, who "could not bear the sight of lepers", one day dismounted, gave alms to the sick man and kissed his hand — or, in other accounts, embraced him. What had been bitter to him became sweetness.[24][25] He himself, in his Testament, makes this gesture the threshold of his whole new life:
"This is how the Lord gave me, Brother Francis, the grace to begin doing penance: when I was in sin, it seemed too bitter for me to see lepers. And the Lord Himself led me among them, and I showed mercy to them. And when I left them, what had seemed bitter to me was turned into sweetness of soul and body." — Saint Francis of Assisi, Testament[26]
The Christ of San Damiano: "Go, repair my house"
Around autumn 1205, praying in the dilapidated little church of San Damiano, outside the walls of Assisi, Francis heard the crucifix speak to him three times: "Francis, do you not see that my house is falling into ruin? Go, and repair it."[27][28] At first he took it literally: he set about materially restoring the ruined chapels — San Damiano, Saint Peter's, then the Porziuncola (Saint Mary of the Angels). Later he would understand that the "house" to be raised up was the whole Church. To pay for the stones, he sold cloth from his father's shop: this was the beginning of the conflict with his father.
"Francis, go, repair my house which, as you see, is falling completely into ruin." — Words of the crucifix of San Damiano, as reported by Saint Bonaventure[29]
The stripping before the bishop
Furious to see his son squandering his goods and renouncing trade, Pietro di Bernardone dragged him before the bishop of Assisi, Guido. Francis's gesture has remained famous: before the crowd, he stripped off all his clothes, gave them back to his father along with the money, and declared that he would henceforth call "father" only God.[30][31] The bishop covered him with his mantle. This public destitution — the renunciation of inheritance, name and security — is the founding act of his vocation: he was literally wedding poverty.
"From now on I can say freely: 'Our Father who art in heaven,' and no longer: 'My father, Pietro di Bernardone.'" — Words attributed to Francis at the stripping, according to Franciscan tradition[32]
The evangelical life and the birth of the order (1208–1212)
The Gospel of the Porziuncola (1208–1209)
One morning in 1208 or 1209, at Mass in the Porziuncola, Francis heard the Gospel of the sending of the disciples: "Take no gold, nor silver… nor bag, nor two tunics, nor sandals…" (Mt 10:9–10). He cried out: "This is what I want!" and at once adopted this apostolic way of life — a single rough habit girt with a cord, bare feet, no money, preaching penance and peace.[33][34] The word heard at San Damiano now took on its full meaning: it was no longer merely walls to be raised up, but the Gospel ideal itself.
The first companions
His joyful radicality attracted others. Bernard of Quintavalle, a wealthy burgher of Assisi, sold everything and followed him; Peter Cattani, a jurist, then the priest Sylvester, Brother Giles and others joined them.[35][36] When they were twelve, Francis wrote a brief rule of life, made up almost entirely of words from the Gospel, and decided to go and have it approved in Rome — already concerned to undertake nothing without the authority of the Church.
The approval of Innocent III (around 1209–1210)
In Rome, around 1209–1210, Pope Innocent III — the most powerful pontiff of the Middle Ages — hesitated before these poor men in rags: their ideal of absolute poverty seemed impracticable. Tradition reports that a dream decided him: he saw the Lateran basilica threatening ruin, held up by the shoulder of a poor little man — Francis.[37][38] The pope orally approved the rule and authorized the brothers to preach penance. The Order of Friars Minor was born; its institutional history is told in the article devoted to it.
Clare and the Poor Ladies (1212)
In 1212, a young noblewoman of Assisi, Clare Offreduccio, won over by Francis's preaching, fled her home on the night of Palm Sunday; at the Porziuncola, Francis cut her hair and clothed her in the habit of penance. This is the origin of the second order, the Poor Ladies (Poor Clares), settled at San Damiano.[39][40] The life, spirituality and struggle of Clare for the "privilege of poverty" are treated in the article Saint Clare of Assisi: it suffices here to note that she was, more than any other, the faithful guardian of Francis's ideal.
The missionary of peace (1213–1220)
The desire for martyrdom
Burning to proclaim Christ to non-Christians, even to martyrdom if need be, Francis twice attempted to reach the lands of Islam: toward Syria (headwinds) then toward Morocco through Spain (illness stopped him).[41][42] His missionary zeal is inseparable from his gentleness: he did not want to conquer, but to bear witness and, if need be, to die.
The meeting with Sultan al-Kâmil (1219)
The most striking episode occurred during the Fifth Crusade. In 1219, Francis joined the crusaders' camp before Damietta, in Egypt. Disapproving of the bloodshed, he crossed the enemy lines alone with Brother Illuminatus and presented himself to the Sultan of Egypt, al-Malik al-Kâmil, Saladin's nephew.[43][44] Received with respect, he preached Christ for several days; the sultan, struck by his poverty and courage, let him leave unharmed, reportedly with gifts. Franciscan tradition — illustrated by Giotto — adds the offer of an ordeal by fire. Whatever the share of embellishment, the central fact is attested: in the heart of a war of religion, Francis chose unarmed dialogue over the sword.[45] This journey began the Franciscan presence in the Holy Land (first friars sent as early as 1217, Francis's own coming in 1219); the official guardianship of the Holy Places (Custody of the Holy Land) would only be instituted more than a century later, by the bulls Gratiam agimus and Nuper carissimae of Pope Clement VI in 1342.[46]
The turning point of the order and the great works (1220–1223)
Renouncing government
On his return (1220), Francis found the order grown immense and torn by tensions over the interpretation of poverty and of the rule. Judging himself unable to govern so great an institution — and faithful to his ideal of minority —, he renounced the office of Minister General, entrusting it to Peter Cattani and then to Brother Elias, keeping for himself only the role of the living model of the rule.[47][48] This voluntary surrender of power is one of the deepest acts of his humility.
The Bullated Rule (1223)
After a first rule of 1221 (the Regula non bullata), Francis wrote the definitive, more juridical text: the Bullated Rule (Regula bullata), approved by Pope Honorius III in the bull Solet annuere of 29 November 1223.[49] This rule, still in force among the Franciscans, sealed the lasting insertion of the order into the Church. In it, Francis maintained the heart of his intuition:
"The rule and life of the Friars Minor is this: to observe the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, living in obedience, without property, and in chastity." — Saint Francis of Assisi, Bullated Rule, ch. I[50]
The Nativity scene of Greccio (Christmas 1223)
At Christmas 1223, in a cave at Greccio, Francis wanted to see with the eyes of the body the poverty of the Nativity: he had a manger, hay, an ox and an ass set out, and Mass was celebrated on the spot.[51][52] This is the first living Nativity scene in history — the origin of all Christmas cribs. The gesture sums up his spirituality: making tangible the abasement of God made a poor child.
The stigmata of La Verna (14 September 1224)
The seraph and the five wounds
In the summer of 1224, Francis withdrew for a forty-day retreat on Mount La Verna (Alverna), in Tuscany. On the morning of the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, 14 September 1224, at prayer, he saw coming down from heaven a six-winged seraph bearing the image of the crucified Christ.[53][54] When the vision faded, his body bore the five wounds of the Passion: hands and feet marked as by nails, whose flesh formed the head and the bent point, and the side opened whence the blood flowed. Francis is the first known stigmatic in Christian history.[55][56] Thomas of Celano, who saw and touched these wounds with his own hands, swore it on the holy Gospels: in the hands and feet there were no cracks made by nails, but the nails themselves, formed of flesh, and the right side red with blood.[57]
"While he was praying on the mountainside, he saw a seraph with six wings of fire, coming down from the heights of heaven […]. At once there appeared in his hands and feet the marks of the nails, just as he had seen them in the image of the Crucified." — Saint Bonaventure, Legenda Maior, XIII[58]
The meaning: becoming "another Christ"
Francis hid these wounds as much as he could. The Church has seen in them the seal of his conformity to Christ: the man who had desired martyrdom and spent his life contemplating the Crucified received in his flesh the living image of the Passion. Tradition would give him the title of alter Christus, "another Christ". The feast of the Impression of the Stigmata is celebrated on 17 September.[59] From the first disputes, the papacy defended these stigmata: on 31 March 1237, Gregory IX severely rebuked those who subjected them to scholarly criticism and withdrew the right to preach from a Dominican who had spoken against them, then, on 5 April, demonstrated their authenticity; in 1255, Alexander IV in turn exalted this gift of God and had its detractors punished.[60]
The Canticle of the Creatures (1225)
One of the first poems in the Italian language
Almost blind, gravely ill, sheltered at San Damiano near Clare, Francis composed around 1225 the Canticle of Brother Sun (or Canticle of the Creatures, Laudes Creaturarum), in Umbrian dialect — one of the first poetic texts in the Italian language.[61] In it he praises God through his creatures, called brothers and sisters:
"Praised be You, my Lord, with all Your creatures, / especially Sir Brother Sun […]. / Praised be You, my Lord, for Sister Moon and the stars […] / for Brother Wind […], for Sister Water, who is very useful and humble, precious and chaste […], for Brother Fire […], for Sister our Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us." — Saint Francis of Assisi, Canticle of Brother Sun[62]
Sister Death and peace
Shortly before dying, Francis added the stanza on "Sister our bodily death", and, during a quarrel between the bishop and the podestà of Assisi whom he reconciled, the stanza on pardon: "Praised be You, my Lord, for those who forgive for love of You."[63] This cosmic song is not pantheism: creation is not worshipped, it is a path of praise toward the Creator. That is why Pope Francis, in 2015, gave his encyclical on the care for creation the title taken from this canticle, Laudato si' ("Praised be You").
The spirituality of Saint Francis
Lady Poverty
At the centre of everything stands poverty, which Francis personifies as "Lady Poverty", the mystical bride he chose at the foot of the Cross — where Christ, stripped, had nothing left. Real poverty (no money, no property, no security) and interior poverty (appropriating neither goods, nor offices, nor even one's own merits).[64][65] In his Admonitions, he forcefully denounces the "sin of self-will" — attributing to oneself the good that God alone accomplishes in us:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. […] He who has the true spirit of poverty hates himself and loves those who strike him on the cheek." — Saint Francis of Assisi, Admonitions, XIV[66]
Minority and humility
Francis did not want "brothers", but "lesser brothers" (friars minor): the smallest, the last, with no power and no dignity. This minority explains his refusal of honours, his renunciation of the government of the order, his wish that the brothers work with their hands and, failing that, beg. Humility is for him the truth of the creature before its Creator:
"Consider, O man, the degree of perfection to which the Lord has raised you. […] Of what, then, can you boast?" — Saint Francis of Assisi, Admonitions, V[67]
Imitation of the crucified Christ
Francis's whole life is a contemplation of the poor and crucified Christ, from the cross of San Damiano to the stigmata of La Verna. He does not meditate an abstract doctrine: he wants to wed in his flesh the abasements of the Lord — the manger of Greccio (Christmas) and the wounds of La Verna (the Cross) are the two poles of a single devotion to the humanity of Christ.[68][69]
"Let us consider, brothers, the Good Shepherd: to save His sheep, He bore the suffering of the Passion and the Cross. […] We should be ashamed, we servants of God: for the saints acted, and we recount what they did in order to gain honour and glory for ourselves." — Saint Francis of Assisi, Admonitions, VI[70]
The Eucharist and respect for priests
Far from any anticlericalism, Francis professed an ardent devotion to the Eucharist and an absolute respect for priests, even unworthy ones, because they touch the Body of Christ. His Testament is explicit: he refuses to consider sin in them; he venerates their priesthood.[71][72] The Admonitions exhort us to recognize, beneath the humble appearances of bread, the Lord Himself:
"Behold: each day He humbles Himself, just as when, leaving His royal palace, He became incarnate in the Virgin's womb; each day He comes to us, under the humblest appearances." — Saint Francis of Assisi, Admonitions, I[73]
"Blessed is the servant who puts his faith in clerics who live in accord with the teaching and institutions of Holy Roman Church […]. No one has the right to judge clerics, even sinners." — Saint Francis of Assisi, Admonitions, XXVI[74]
This total fidelity to the Roman Church radically distinguishes Francis from the contemporary poverty movements that fell into heresy (Waldensians, Cathars). Where they opposed the purity of the "perfect" to a wealthy Church, Francis reformed by obeying, and that is why the Church recognized him instead of condemning him.
Brotherhood with creation
The Canticle says it as a poet: for Francis, the sun, water, fire, earth and animals are brothers and sisters, creatures of the same Father. The Fioretti (a late, popular collection) added the sermon to the birds and the wolf of Gubbio — edifying tales rather than strictly historical ones, but faithful to the spirit of the saint.[75] This cosmic brotherhood is neither sentimental nor pantheist: it flows from the fatherhood of God over all creation and from the humility of one who knows himself, too, a mere creature. This is what grounds the patronage of ecology the Church would later recognize in him.
Perfect joy
An inseparable trait of Francis: joy. The convert who lost everything called himself the "herald of the great King" and sang along the roads. The famous account of "perfect joy" (reported in the Fioretti) teaches that the highest Christian joy lies neither in successes nor in miracles, but in patience in bearing, for love of Christ, contempt and suffering.[76] This gladness at the heart of destitution is one of the most original marks of his holiness.
| Spiritual trait | Franciscan source | Concrete expression |
|---|---|---|
| Poverty ("Lady Poverty") | Testament; Rule; Admonitions XIV | Renunciation of the inheritance; neither money nor property |
| Minority, humility | Admonitions V, XIX; Rule | "Friars Minor"; renounces governing the order |
| Crucified Christ | Cross of San Damiano; La Verna | Stigmata (1224); alter Christus |
| Eucharist, respect for priests | Testament; Admonitions I, XXVI | Veneration of the priesthood and the Sacred Species |
| Brotherhood with creation | Canticle of Brother Sun | Brother Sun, Sister Water; sermon to the birds |
| Joy | Fioretti; Vita Prima | "Herald of the great King"; "perfect joy" |
| Peace | greeting "Pace e bene" | Reconciliation of the bishop and the podestà |
Death, relics and canonization
Death at the Porziuncola (3 October 1226)
Worn out by fasts, illnesses and the stigmata, almost blind, Francis asked to die where it had all begun: at the Porziuncola. On the evening of 3 October 1226, after having the Passion according to Saint John read to him and his Canticle sung, he welcomed death, calling it "my sister", and died reciting Psalm 141 (142).[77][78] He had asked to be laid naked on the bare earth, to render Poverty his last homage. His liturgical feast is set on 4 October.
"Welcome, my Sister Death." — Words attributed to Saint Francis dying, according to Franciscan tradition[79]
The relics and the basilica of Assisi
The body was first laid in the church of Saint George in Assisi. As early as 1228, Gregory IX laid the first stone of a great basilica; on 25 May 1230, the relics were transferred there and soon hidden beneath the high altar to protect them from theft. The tomb, rediscovered in 1818, is today at the heart of the Assisi sanctuary, whose history and whose frescoes by Giotto and Cimabue are treated in the dedicated article.
The canonization (Gregory IX, 1228)
The canonization was of exceptional swiftness: less than two years after his death. Pope Gregory IX — the former Cardinal Hugolin, protector and friend of Francis and of Clare — canonized him at Assisi on 16 July 1228, by the bull Mira circa nos ("Wondrous things concerning us").[80][81] In it, the pope presents Francis as a new labourer sent by God "at the eleventh hour" to awaken a lukewarm Christendom.
"At the eleventh hour, [God] raised up His servant Francis, a Catholic and wholly apostolic man […], that he might work in His vineyard, that he might root up the thorns and brambles." — Pope Gregory IX, bull Mira circa nos (1228)[82]
Heritage and posterity
A universal saint
Francis marked spirituality, art and culture far beyond the order he founded. His devotion to the humanity of Christ (the Nativity scene, the Stations of the Cross, contemplation of the Passion) transformed Western piety; his Canticle opened Italian poetry; the frescoes of Giotto at Assisi count among the founding acts of modern painting. Great disciples — Anthony of Padua, Bonaventure, Elizabeth of Hungary (a tertiary), Angela of Foligno, Margaret of Cortona, Louis of Toulouse — carried his intuition forward.
Patron of ecology and a pope's name
In 1979, John Paul II proclaimed Francis patron of ecology and of those who care for nature.[83] In 2013, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, elected pope, took the name of Francis — the first in history — in memory of the Poverello, "the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation". Eight centuries after his death, the poor man of Assisi remains one of the most radiant faces of the Gospel.
Further reading
- Writings of Saint Francis: the Testament, the Admonitions, the Canticle of Brother Sun, the Bullated Rule (1223) and the Letters, gathered in the Sources Franciscaines (Éditions Franciscaines / Cerf) — the reference collection in French for all texts by and on Francis.
- Medieval biographies: Thomas of Celano, Vita Prima (1228–1229) and Vita Secunda (1246–1247); the Legend of the Three Companions; Saint Bonaventure, Legenda Maior (1260–1263), the official biography; the Fioretti (14th c.), a popular, late collection.
- Studies: Paul Sabatier, Vie de saint François d'Assise (1894), the founding classic of criticism; Catholic Encyclopedia, art. "St. Francis of Assisi" (New Advent); Encyclopædia Britannica, art. "Saint Francis of Assisi".
- Related articles on Ignispedia: the Order of Friars Minor (history, branches, rule); the Assisi sanctuary (basilica, frescoes, tomb); Saint Clare of Assisi and the Poor Clares; Saint Anthony of Padua and Saint Bonaventure; Saint Dominic, the other great mendicant founder; the popes Innocent III, Honorius III and Gregory IX.
Notes and References
Thomas of Celano, Vita Prima sancti Francisci (First Life of Saint Francis), 1228–1229, the official source commissioned by Gregory IX shortly after the canonization. The basic text for the youth, the conversion, the stripping before the bishop, the Porziuncola, Greccio and the death. Critical ed.: Analecta Franciscana, vol. X, Quaracchi; French translation in the Sources Franciscaines (Éditions Franciscaines / Cerf).
1 10 15 16 30 52 68 78Catholic Encyclopedia, art. "St. Francis of Assisi", New Advent (newadvent.org/cathen/06221a.htm): the reference Catholic notice — birth around 1181–1182 at Assisi, father Pietro Bernardone a cloth merchant, nickname "Francesco", worldly youth, war against Perugia and captivity (1202), conversion and San Damiano, stripping, Porziuncola, approval by Innocent III, Clare (1212), journey to the sultan (1219), stigmata (1224), death (3 Oct. 1226), canonization by Gregory IX (1228).
3 14 20 34 35 40 41 47 56Encyclopædia Britannica, art. "Saint Francis of Assisi": survey of the youth, the battle of Collestrada and the captivity at Perugia, the conversion, the foundation of the Friars Minor, the renunciation of the government of the order, the meeting with Sultan al-Kâmil, the stigmata and the death.
4 17 21 42 48Meeting of Francis and Sultan al-Malik al-Kâmil at Damietta (Egypt) during the Fifth Crusade, in 1219, with Brother Illuminatus. Attested by Celano (Vita Prima), Bonaventure (Legenda Maior, IX) and non-Franciscan sources (Jacques de Vitry, a contemporary witness, Historia occidentalis and letters). The episode of the ordeal by fire belongs to hagiographical embellishment; the fact of crossing the lines and of the peaceful meeting is solidly established. Surveys: America Magazine, "In 1219, St. Francis crossed Crusade lines to meet Egypt's sultan" (2017); Gordon Conwell, "Damietta: Francis and the Sultan".
5 43 45First living Nativity scene of Greccio, Christmas 1223, reported by Thomas of Celano (Vita Prima, 84–87): Francis had a manger prepared with hay, an ox and an ass, and Mass was celebrated on the spot. Origin of the tradition of Christmas cribs. Surveys: Franciscan Media, "Greccio and the First Live Nativity"; EWTN Vatican, "St. Francis and the First Nativity Scene".
6 51Stigmata of La Verna: Francis received the five wounds of the Passion on 14 September 1224 (feast of the Exaltation of the Cross), on Mount La Verna, after a vision of a six-winged seraph bearing the Crucified. First known case of stigmatization in Christian history. Sources: Bonaventure, Legenda Maior, XIII; Celano, Vita Prima, 94–96. Surveys: Franciscan Media, "The Stigmata of St. Francis"; Encyclopædia Britannica, "Francis's vision and the stigmata of the Crucified". Feast of the Impression of the Stigmata on 17 September.
7 53 55 59Saint Francis of Assisi, Admonitions, V ("Not to glory, but to place one's pride in the cross of the Lord"): "But what we can glory in is our infirmities; it is our daily share in the holy Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." Text after the French edition of the Admonitions de saint François (translation of the chapters and warnings; Fr Cuthbert calls them Saint Francis's "Sermon on the Mount").
8 67Writings of Saint Francis: the saint is one of the rare medieval spiritual authors of whom his own texts survive — Regula non bullata (1221), Regula bullata (1223), Testament (1226), Admonitions, Canticle of Brother Sun, Letter to All the Faithful, Letter to the Clerics, prayers. Gathered in the Sources Franciscaines (Éditions Franciscaines / Cerf) and the Opuscula sancti Francisci (Quaracchi).
9 65Thomas of Celano, Vita Secunda (Memoriale in desiderio animae), 1246–1247, written at the request of the general chapter to gather the memories of the first companions. Stresses interior poverty and spiritual anecdotes more strongly. Transl. Sources Franciscaines.
11 64Paul Sabatier, Vie de saint François d'Assise, Fischbacher, Paris, 1894: the founding work of the "Franciscan question" (comparative criticism of the sources). A Protestant and liberal, Sabatier must be read with discernment, but his work relaunched the scientific study of the primitive biographies.
13Thomas of Celano, Vita Prima, I, 1–2: testimony on Francis's dissipated youth, who "wasted and miserably lost his time almost until his twenty-fifth year" and "surpassed all his companions in vanity". English translation in the body; Latin original in the Quaracchi ed.
18 19Legend of the Three Companions (Legenda trium sociorum), a collection attributed to the companions Leo, Rufinus and Angelo: source for the dream at Spoleto, the meeting with the leper, the first companions (Bernard of Quintavalle, Peter Cattani). Dating and composition debated by critics; transl. Sources Franciscaines.
22 25 36Saint Francis of Assisi, Testament (1226): autobiographical account of the beginning of the conversion through the meeting with the lepers — "When I was in sin, it seemed too bitter for me to see lepers; and the Lord Himself led me among them, and I showed mercy to them; and when I left them, what had seemed bitter to me was turned into sweetness of soul and body." Transl. Sources Franciscaines.
24 26Words of the crucifix of San Damiano ("Go, repair my house which is falling into ruin"), heard by Francis around autumn 1205 and reported notably by Bonaventure, Legenda Maior, II, and by the Legend of the Three Companions. On the comparative analysis of the sources for the episode, cf. the study "The Episode of San Damiano in the Sources for the Life of St. Francis" (Franciscan Studies). The Romanesque crucifix is today kept in the basilica of Saint Clare in Assisi.
27 29Words attributed to Francis at the stripping before Bishop Guido ("From now on I can say: Our Father who art in heaven, and no longer: my father Pietro di Bernardone"), according to the Franciscan tradition taken up by the biographies (Celano, Vita Prima; Three Companions). The scene is famous in iconography (Giotto's fresco, Assisi).
32Dream of Pope Innocent III seeing the Lateran basilica threatening ruin and a poor little man (Francis) holding it up with his shoulder, reported by Bonaventure (Legenda Maior, III) and Celano. The oral approval of the first rule dates from around 1209–1210. Cf. the Ignispedia article Innocent III.
38On the flight of Clare Offreduccio on the night of Palm Sunday 1212, her clothing at the Porziuncola and the foundation of the Poor Ladies at San Damiano, see the Ignispedia article Saint Clare of Assisi and the Catholic Encyclopedia, art. "St. Clare of Assisi", New Advent.
39Franciscan presence in the Holy Land and official Custody: the first brothers were sent to the East as early as 1217 and Francis himself came in 1219; but the official guardianship of the Holy Places was only instituted in 1342 by Pope Clement VI, by the bulls Gratiam agimus and Nuper carissimae (21 November 1342), which entrust the official custody of the Holy Places to the Franciscans on behalf of the Catholic Church. Cf. Custody of the Holy Land and the custodian's interview (National Catholic Register).
46Regula bullata (Bullated Rule of the Friars Minor), approved by Pope Honorius III in the bull Solet annuere of 29 November 1223. Text still in force in the Franciscan order; chapter I: "The rule and life of the Friars Minor is this: to observe the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, living in obedience, without property, and in chastity." Cf. Sources Franciscaines and Encyclopædia Britannica, art. "Regula secunda".
49 50Testimony of Thomas of Celano on the body of Francis after his death, quoted by Aimé Michel, Métanoïa. Phénomènes physiques du mysticisme, Albin Michel, Paris, 1986, p. 142: muscles not contracted, limbs not stiffened, and, in the hands and feet, not the imprints of nails but the nails themselves formed of flesh, with the right side red with blood. Celano's Tractatus de Miraculis specifies that these nails, pressed on one side, protruded on the other; Celano swears he saw and touched them. To be read with caution: the vocabulary of "radiant beauty" denotes the freshness of the body, not an emission of light.
57Pontifical defence of the stigmata of Francis: on 31 March 1237, Gregory IX severely rebuked Gugliemo, who was subjecting the stigmata to critical reflection, and withdrew that same day the right to preach from the Dominican Evecardo, who had spoken against them; on 5 April 1237, he demonstrated their authenticity. On 8 April 1255, Alexander IV in turn exalted this gift of God and ordered that its adversaries be punished. Cf. René Laurentin and Dr Pierre Mahéo, Les stigmates d'Yvonne-Aimée de Malestroit dans le sillage de François d'Assise, O.E.I.L., Paris, 1988, p. 16.
60Saint Francis of Assisi, Canticle of Brother Sun (Cantico di frate Sole, Laudes Creaturarum), composed around 1225 at San Damiano in Umbrian dialect — one of the first poetic texts in the Italian language. Incipit: "Altissimu, onnipotente, bon Signore, tue so' le laude, la gloria e l'honore et onne benedictione…" Praise of God through Brother Sun, Sister Moon and the stars, Brother Wind, Sister Water, Brother Fire, Sister our Mother Earth. Transl. Sources Franciscaines.
61 62Stanzas added by Francis shortly before his death: the one on pardon ("Praised be You, my Lord, for those who forgive for love of You…"), composed on the occasion of the reconciliation of the bishop and the podestà of Assisi, and the one on "Sister our bodily death". The title of Pope Francis's encyclical Laudato si' (2015) is taken from the refrain of the Canticle. Cf. Sources Franciscaines and Cantico di frate Sole.
63Saint Francis of Assisi, Admonitions, XIV ("On the spirit of poverty"): "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Mt 5:3). […] He who has the true spirit of poverty hates himself and loves those who strike him on the cheek (cf. Mt 5:39)." French edition of the Admonitions.
66Saint Francis of Assisi, Admonitions, VI ("On the imitation of the Lord"): "Let us consider, brothers, the Good Shepherd: to save His sheep, He bore the suffering of the Passion and the Cross. […] We should be ashamed, we servants of God: for the saints acted, and we recount what they did in order to gain honour and glory for ourselves." French edition of the Admonitions.
70Saint Francis of Assisi, Testament (1226): text dictated shortly before his death, in which Francis recalls the origin of his vocation (the lepers), his veneration of priests and of the Sacred Species ("I do not want to consider sin in them"), his attachment to poverty and his desire that the Rule be observed without glosses. Transl. Sources Franciscaines.
71Saint Francis of Assisi, Admonitions, XXVI ("On honouring clerics"): "Blessed is the servant who puts his faith in clerics who live in accord with the teaching and institutions of Holy Roman Church. And woe to those who despise them: no one has the right to judge clerics, even sinners; it is the Lord who reserves judgment of them to Himself." French edition of the Admonitions.
72 74Saint Francis of Assisi, Admonitions, I ("The Body of the Lord"): on the Real Presence and eucharistic abasement — "each day He humbles Himself, just as when, leaving His royal palace, He became incarnate in the Virgin's womb; each day it is He Himself who comes to us, and under the humblest appearances". French edition of the Admonitions.
73Fioretti of Saint Francis (I Fioretti di san Francesco), an anonymous 14th-century collection (Tuscan translation of the Actus beati Francisci et sociorum eius): source of the popular accounts of the sermon to the birds and the wolf of Gubbio. Edifying and faithful to the Franciscan spirit, but late and legendary: to be quoted as spiritual tradition, not as a first-hand historical source.
75Account of "perfect joy" (Fioretti, ch. 8): to Brother Leo, on the road to Saint Mary of the Angels, Francis teaches that perfect joy lies neither in learning, nor in miracles, nor in conversions, but in patience in bearing, for love of Christ, rejection, cold and blows. Franciscan spiritual tradition.
76Death of Saint Francis on the evening of 3 October 1226 at the Porziuncola (Saint Mary of the Angels): according to Celano (Vita Prima, 108–110), he asked to be laid naked on the bare earth, had the Passion according to Saint John read to him, had his Canticle sung, and died reciting Psalm 141/142, welcoming "Sister Death". Liturgical feast on 4 October.
77 79Canonization of Saint Francis by Pope Gregory IX (the former Cardinal Hugolin, protector of the order) at Assisi on 16 July 1228, less than two years after his death. The pope then laid the first stone of the basilica; the relics were transferred there on 25 May 1230. Sources: Catholic Encyclopedia, art. quoted; EWTN, "The Bull of Canonization of St. Francis of Assisi: Mira Circa Nos".
80Bull of canonization Mira circa nos (Gregory IX, 1228): in it the pope celebrates the "wondrous things" God worked through Francis, raised up "at the eleventh hour" as a labourer for His vineyard, to root up thorns and brambles and to awaken a lukewarm Christendom. Full text (English) on EWTN, "The Bull of Canonization of St. Francis of Assisi: Mira Circa Nos"; English translation of the passage in the body.
81 82John Paul II, apostolic letter Inter sanctos (29 November 1979), proclaiming Saint Francis of Assisi heavenly patron of ecologists and of those who care for nature. Pope Francis took up this lineage by choosing the name of Francis in 2013 and by entitling his encyclical on the care for creation Laudato si' (2015), after the Canticle of the Creatures.
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