Francis of Assisi

Most people will recognize the name of St. Francis of Assisi and probably know that he talked to the birds, but few know that he was a seminal figure in the history of Christianity. Let us review his life in order to understand his mission.

Francis was born the son of a wealthy cloth merchant in Assisi in the year 1182 and named Giovanni di Bernadone by his mother. His father was away on business at the time of the birth and upon his return insisted the baby's name be changed to Francesco, perhaps to honor his mother, who was probably French. He worked in his father's business as a young man and was a popular person about town, known for a generosity that bordered on extravagance. There are many stories concerning how this adventurous young man became a man of God. The most important of them concerns an event that occurred while he prayed in front of a crucifix in the ruins of the Church of San Damiano, a neglected shrine near Assisi. A voice spoke to him, saying, "Francis, seest thou not that my house is in ruins? Go and restore it for me." Thus began his life's work. The year was 1205.

Francis did rebuild San Damiano, beginning by himself, collecting stones one at a time. He then begged others to bring him stones and the project gathered momentum. His determination to rebuild San Damiano caused him to sell several bales of his father's cloth to obtain building materials. This resulted in a long and bitter conflict between father and son that ended with Francis before a tribunal renouncing his father and everything he had received from him, even the clothes on his back, and walking out into the bitter winter weather wearing only a hair shirt. He was now the servant only of his God. It is said that as he walked out under the frosty trees that he burst into song, suggestive of the philosophy that he was to develop of the joy of being at one with all things.

As he gathered followers they took on other projects such as the restoration of the church of St. Mary of the Angels at the Portiuncula, which became the home of his first band of followers. Francis felt that the group must be organized and recognized by the Church, so in 1209 he journeyed to Rome to petition the Pope for a charter for the Order. Innocent III at first dismissed the petition of this ragged monk, but he was shown in a dream that the request should be approved, and so the Order of Friars Minor was established.

So Francis drew up first Rule to govern his little group of a dozen. The most notable thing about this fledgling group of men is that Francis was not content with the adoration of the Christ figure. He wanted more. He wanted the simpler life that is suggested in the New Testament when Jesus exhorts his followers to take no thought of what they should drink or eat, or what they should wear; that if their sight was on the Kingdom of God, it would be provided. (Matthew 6:28ff) Francis understood this and believed it and was determined to live in the manner taught by the Christ.

A unique aspect of Francis' manifestation of the life of the Christ was that he was deeply influenced by the romantic imagery of the Troubadours, a movement centered around the devotion of the lover to his chosen lady. In Francis' case the lady was named Poverty and it was to Dame Poverty that the Brothers were wed. As they traveled the countryside as Troubadours, singing, performing and begging they came to be called by Francis the Fools of God. It was this free and joyous life that led Francis to proclaim: "Blessed is he who expecteth nothing, for he shall enjoy everything."

In 1212 Francis headed for Syria but was shipwrecked on the coast of Yugoslavia. He then tried to go to Morocco but fell ill in Spain. Finally in 1219 he made it to Egypt with Crusaders and to the presence of the Sultan, Melek el-Kamil. The sultan was so taken with him that he granted him freedom to come and go and to preach to his subjects. These journeys have troubled many biographers, but the Sufi writer Idries Shah feels that Francis was in fact a Sufi mystic of high order and was simply seeking out his roots.

The culminating episode of Francis' life came in 1224 as he fasted and prayed on Mount Alvernia. Some accounts say he had wished to experience the suffering of Christ, others that he offered himself up to heal the world. At any rate, he received the stigmata, the wounds symbolizing the ordeal of the crucifixion. He suffered greatly the rest of his life and died two years later in 1226. Shortly before his death he wrote his greatest poem, The Canticle of the Sun. He was canonized in 1228.

It is difficult to assess the impact that Francis has had on the world. Some have compared him to Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed and Confucius in that he brought a message that has profoundly affected humanity. Like them, he did not want to start a new religion, simply to reform the lives of his followers and restore to their lives the spiritual element that makes living worthwhile. To that end he taught simplicity of living and, above all, a heart filled with love for all things. It is probable that his greatest effect on Christianity was to humanize the image of the Christ and demonstrate that it can be made manifest in the life of a common man.

Edmund Szekeley says of him that he was the last Essene.