On October 4th, we celebrate the Feast of Saint Francis, Founder of the Franciscan Order. This year’s Feast Day is especially significant as it falls during the Franciscan Jubilee Year (proclaimed by Pope Leo XIV from January 10, 2026, to January 10, 2027), which marks the 800th anniversary of St. Francis’s death.
Saint Francis of Assisi (1182 – 1226) is the patron saint of Italy, animals, and ecology. During his life, he astounded and inspired the Church by taking the gospel literally—not in a narrow fundamentalist sense, but by actually following all that Jesus said and did, joyfully, without limit, and without a sense of self-importance. His efforts to reform Catholicism stemmed from his humble, personal approach based on poverty and peace as tools of God. The spirit of Francis continues to inspire so many in following Christ, in building dialogue among all in truth and charity, and in safeguarding creation.
SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI, FOUNDER
By Fr. Peter Mallin, OFM Conv.
Born in Assisi in Umbria, Italy in 1182; died in Assisi, October 3, 1226; canonized in 1228.
Saint Francis of Assisi, “the little beggar” is perhaps the most popular saint in history.
Born to noble parents – his father a rich cloth merchant – Francis grew up in relative luxury and was an avid pleasure seeker leading a frivolous existence. Despite his frivolity and high living, however, he was always generous with the poor.
He sought glory in war, and was captured in battle and held captive for over a year. On returning home, he continued to long for glory in battle and he soon headed off again. However, along the way he fell ill with a fever, and, having already realized the emptiness of his life, he turned back to Assisi following a dream in which Christ instructed him to do so. His attitude on returning home was less exuberant. He spent time with his friends but his heart and mind were distant. He had begun to fall in love with ‘lady poverty.’
One day, while on horseback, Francis unexpectedly drew near a poor leper, a sight which filled him with disgust and repulsion. But he made an effort to fight against the repulsion and he dismounted his horse and embraced the man and gave him all he had. Later, while praying in the church of San Damiano, he heard the Lord tell him, “Repair my Church.” Francis took it literally and began to live in a ruined Church and rebuild it. Soon, after the town had mocked him for giving away his inheritance and selling his father’s cloth in order to pay for materials, the sons of many of the noble families in the town began to also give away everything and join him. These were the beginnings of the Franciscan order.
In 1212, moved by a sermon he preached, Clare of Assisi, a young noblewoman asked to join him and Francis and Clare founded the Poor Clares, a parallel women’s order. His plans to convert Muslims in North Africa being thwarted by shipwreck, Francis returned and preached in Italy.
In 1224 Saint Francis became the first person recorded to receive the stigmata – the wounds of Christ – which he bore for two years until his death in 1226, at the age of 44
This year, the world observes the 800th anniversary of his death. The famous Peace Prayer of St. Francis, composed around the time of World War I, best sums up St. Francis’ spirit:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
St. Francis Prayer for Peace by Pope Leo