Saint Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) is the co-founder (with Clare of Assisi) of the Franciscan Order. He was born the son of a wealthy cloth merchant named Pietro di Bernardone, and he was very worldly in his early years.
When about twenty, Francis went out with the his youthful buddies to fight the a neighboring group called the Perugians. The Assisians were defeated this particular time, and Francis, being among those taken captive, was held as a prisoner for over a year in Perugia. A low fever which he contracted there seems to have turned his thoughts to the things of God and the Sprit; we do know that he realized that the life he had been living was empty, and he wanted more.
After gaining his freedom and returning to Assisi, Francis still joined with his buddies in the noisy pursuits of his former friends, but his changed attitudes showed to his friends that his heart was no longer with them. Francis had began to yearn for the life of the spirit Who had possessed his heart. After a short period of uncertainty he began to seek in prayer and solitude the answer to his call; he had already given up his fancy clothes and wasteful lifestyle.
One day, in the church of San Damiano, he seemed to hear Christ saying to him, "Francis, repair my 
falling house." He took the words literally, and sold a bale of silk from his father's warehouse to pay for repairs to the church of San Damiano. His father was outraged, and there was a public confrontation at which his father disinherited and disowned him, and Francis in turn renounced his father's wealth--one account says that he not only handed his father his purse, but also took off his expensive clothes, laid them at his father's feet, and walked away naked! That took real commitment in those days when there were no "safety net" of public assistance. Francis told every one that he was "wedded to Lady Poverty", and renounced all material possessions, and devoted himself to serving the poor. Francis then wandered the hills behind Assisi, improvising hymns of praise as he went. "I am the herald of the great King", he declared in answer to some robbers, who promptly robbed him of all he had and threw him scornfully in a snow drift. Naked and half frozen, Francis crawled to a neighboring monastery and there worked for a time as the lowest of the kitchen servants.
In Francis' day the most dreaded of all diseases was something known as leprosy. (we don't know exactly what the disease was, but we can equate it with AIDS sufferers of today) Lepers were kept at a distance and regarded with fear and disgust. Francis cared for them, fed them, bathed their sores, and kissed them.
Francis began to live as a hermit and soon attracted followers. He preached the necessity of a poor, simple life-style based on the ideals of the Gospels. He got his meals, not by asking for money so that he might live at the expense of others, but by scrounging crusts and discarded vegetables from trash-bins, and by working as a day laborer, insisting on being paid in bread, milk, eggs, or vegetables rather than in money. Pope Innocent III approved his way of life, gave him and his disciples permission to preach on moral topics, and had Francis ordained a deacon. The followers increased and were called Friars Minor by Francis, that is, the lesser brethren. They would have no money, and no property, individually or collectively. Their task was to preach, "using words if necessary," but declaring by word and action the love of God in Christ. Francis sort of liked drama, (just look at his parting from his father, for example), and it was probably he who set up the first Christmas manger scene, to bring home the Good News of God made man for our salvation, home to men's hearts and imaginations as well as to their intellects.
With the collaboration of Saint Clare of Assisi (1194-1253), Francis founded (1212) a branch of his Order for women, called the Poor Clares. Clarehouse here in Tulsa is named for her. Later, Francis established (1221) another branch for lay men and women, called the Third Order. In 1219, during the Fifth Crusade, Francis made his famous but fruitless attempt to convert the sultan al-Kamil while the crusaders laid siege to Damietta in Egypt. I think that is one of the most amazing things he ever did. Francis returned to Italy, but a permanent result of his mission, was that the Franciscans were given custody of the Christian shrines then in Muslim hands.
After returning from the Crusades, Francis retired from the government of the order to a life of contemplation, during which he received the Stigmata (the imprint of the wounds of Christ in his own body) and composed his famous poem, the Canticle of Brother Sun. He died on October 3, 1226 and was canonized in 1228. Francis's feast day is October 4.
Most high, omnipotent, good Lord, grant your people grace gladly to renounce the vanities of this world; that, following the way of blessed Francis, we may for love of you delight in your whole creation with perfect joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
*Many of the words and ideas above are from various sources around the web, not all my own.
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