When Jorge Mario Bergoglio became a Pope in 2013, he chose a name that did not ever take a Pontiff: Francis. It was inspired by St. Francis of Assisi – the saint of the poor, the modest and the earth.
From the first day, Pope Francis lived by the name. He skipped the lush Vatican residence for a modest guest house. He washed the feet of prisoners, stood with refugees and insisted on world leaders to act on climate change. In every gesture he echoed the values of the saint he admired.
After the death of Pope Francis, the world not only remembers the man who has re -defined the modern papacy, but also looking back on the saint who inspired everything.
Who was St Francis of Assisi?
St Francis van Assisi was born in 1181 in Assisi, Italy, from a rich fabric trader named Pietro di Bernardone and his French wife, Pica. His baptismal name was Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, but his father gave him the nickname Francesco.
Francis grew up in comfort and luxury and received primary education in Latin, French and arithmetic to prepare for a career in his father's things.
In 1202 he joined a military expedition against the nearby city of Perugia. He was imprisoned in the fight and imprisoned for almost a year, during what time he got sick and started to question his life of wealth and status.
Around 1205 he experienced a religious vision while praying for a crucifix in the crumbling church of San Damiano, where he heard Christ say, “Francis, rebuilding my church.”
He literally took the message and began to repair old churches and used money from his father's company, which ultimately led to a public outages.
In 1206, Francis reduced his wealth – he gave his clothes and inheritance back to his father for the bishop of Assisi and chose a life of poverty and services. He started to live as a beggar, preaching of repentance, caring for lepers and embraced the arms and marginalized.
By 1209, Francis attracted a group of followers who were inspired by his radical example of the life of the gospel. In the same year he went to Rome and received informal approval from Pope Innocent III to form a new religious order – the Order of Friars Minor, generally known as the Franciscans.
In 1212 he helped set up a second order for women, called the poor ladies of San Damiano, later known as the poor Clares, led by St Clare of Assisi.
In 1224, while he had a retreat on Mount La Verna, Francis experienced a mystical event. He “received” the stigmata – the wounds of Christ – making him the first known person in history to wear them.
He died on October 3, 1226, at the age of about 44, in a hut near the church of the Portiuncula in Assisi.
In 1228, just two years after his death, Pope Gregory IX officially existed in Francis of Assisi as a saint.
Francis was declared the patron saint of animals and ecology because of his deep love for nature and all living beings.
