Society of the Divine Word, USA Western Province

Praised be my Lord and God, with all his creatures, and especially our brother the sun, who brings us the day and brings us the light: fair is he, and he shines with great splendor. Lord, he is a sign to us of you! Praised be my Lord for our sister the moon, and for the stars, set clear and lovely in heaven.

St. Francis of Assisi

Feast Day: October 4

St. Francis was born at Assisi, Italy, in 1182. The son of a wealthy cloth merchant, he enjoyed the benefits of his father's success: good food, fine clothing and entertainment. Love of adventure prompted him to become involved in the wars then waged through the cities and regions of Italy.

On his way to battle at Spoleto one day, when he was in his early twenties, he became ill and heard a voice telling him to "serve the master rather than men." Returning to Assisi, he experienced a great change within himself. Meeting a leper on the road, he embraced him and gave him alms. He began to visit the sick and support the poor. Praying one day before the crucifix in the deserted country church of St. Damian, he heard a voice saying to him, "Francis, go and rebuild my house; it is falling down." In 1206, the young man left and sold his goods to repair the poor churches in his neighborhood and to care for the needy.

His father, thinking his son had gone mad, summoned him before the bishops. Francis stripped off his clothes and giving them to his father said, "I have called you my father on earth, but now I say, 'Our Father, who art in heaven."' He left his father's home to follow Christ as a poor man, vowing to keep the words of the Gospel literally. Francis wished to preach the kingdom of heaven, to give freely what he received, to possess neither gold nor silver.

Joyful, simple, a lover of people and nature, Francis soon attracted companions who shared his love of Christ and the Gospel. In 12 10, he went to Rome to seek approval of his way of life from Pope Innocent 111. Blessing his endeavor and officially recognizing the Franciscans, the pope afterwards told of a dream in which he saw Francis holding up the pillars of the Church. He was joined by St. Clare in 1212 and convened over five thousand Franciscans at Assisi in 1219 for the General Chapter of Mats.

With his call to return to the spirit of the Gospel, Francis gave new life to the Christian people of Italy and Europe. Missionaries were sent to Tunis and Morocco for the first time in 1219. He also traveled to the Holy Land where he preached to the Moslems and visited the places where Jesus lived and died. During this Journey, he unsuccessfully tried to convert Sultan Malek al-Kamil of Egypt. His deep affection for the events of Jesus' life inspired him to recreate the Holy Child's birth at Christmas by erecting a creche at Grecchia in 1223. He loved the Passion of Jesus so much that he received the wounds of Christ known as the stigmata on his own body on the feast of the Holy Cross in 1224. "Nothing comforts me so much as to think of the life and Passion of our Lord," he said. "Were I to live till the end of the world I would need no other book."

In poor health and half blind, Francis died welcoming his Sister Death, while the Passion of Jesus was read aloud from the Gospel on October 3, 1226.

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