Francis of Assisi

Saint Francis of Assisi (born in Assisi, Italy, 1181; died there on October 3, 1226) founded the Franciscan Order or "Friars Minor". He is the patron saint of animals, merchants, Catholic action and the environment.

Work and extension of the Brotherhood

It was not, however, a life of idle mendicancy into which the brothers entered when they set out in 1210 with the papal approbation, but one of diligent labor. Their work embraced devoted service of each other in the abodes of sickness and poverty, earnest preaching by both priests and lay brothers, and missions in an ever widening circle, which finally included heretics and Muslims.

Related Topics:
Mendicancy - 1210 - Lay brother - Muslim

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They came together every year at Pentecost in the little church of the Portiuncula at Assisi, to report on their experiences and strengthen themselves for fresh efforts.

Related Topics:
Pentecost - Portiuncula

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There is considerable uncertainty as to the chronological and historical details of the last fifteen years of the founder's life.

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But to these years belong the accounts of the origin of the first houses in Perugia, Cortona, Pisa, Florence, and elsewhere (1211-1213); the first attempts at a Muslim mission, in the sending of five brothers, soon to be martyrs, to Morocco, as well as in a journey undertaken by Francis himself to Spain, from which he was forced by illness to return without accomplishing his objective; the first settlements in the Spanish peninsula and in France; and the attempts, unsuccessful at first, to gain a foothold in Germany. The alleged meeting of Francis and Saint Dominic in Rome at the time of the Fourth Council of the Lateran (1215) belongs to the domain of legend; even Sabatier's argument to show that such a meeting actually took place in 1218 is open to serious objection.

Related Topics:
Cortona - Pisa - Florence - 1211 - 1213 - Martyr - Morocco - Spain - Germany - Saint Dominic - Rome - Fourth Council of the Lateran - 1215 - Sabatier - 1218

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Historical in the main are the accounts relating to the journey of Francis to Egypt and Palestine, during the Fifth Crusade, where he attempted to convert the Sultan Al-Kamil and gave fearless proofs of his readiness to suffer for his faith; the internal discord, which he found existing in the order on his return to Italy in 1220; the origin of his second and considerably enlarged rule, which was replaced two years later by the final form, drawn up by Cardinal Ugolino (the later Pope Gregory IX); and possibly the granting by Pope Honorius III (in 1223) of the Indulgence of the Portiuncula - a document which Sabatier, who formerly rejected it, later pronounced authentic.

Related Topics:
Egypt - Palestine - Fifth Crusade - Al-Kamil - Italy - 1220 - Cardinal Ugolino - Pope Honorius III - 1223 - Indulgence of the Portiuncula

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