In all the books written on Saint Francis, I have read so far, this book talks
deeply about the love and dedication Francis had for christ. It is described
that Francis was born in the same manner as christ, in Assisi in the year 1182
to Pietro Bernadone and Lady Pica Bernadone. They were a happy family
not just because of Francis and their other children but of the fact that Pietro
was a cloth Merchant and he brought financial wealth to the family.
Then one might ask, how come in such a noble and rich family a man such
as Francis who lived through out his life in utmost poverty and would even
consider himself as the Groom to the lady Poverty could have sprung out.
Well although Francis grew up like any other boys and had his own love of
things such as Troubadour, crusaders, knighthood and the language French,
which held great importance to him as said in the book 'in moments of deep
emotion it was always the French tongue that came to his lips', he was still
sensitive and was of good heart, that if any beggar was to come by to their
house begging for food in the name of christ, Francis will fight the urge to
reject the man by saying "He asked me in the name of christ, how could I
be so hardhearted" and will go on and give the beggar more than the beggar
had asked for, knowing well of the risk he was taking with his father's mone
This was the first spark of greatness in the heart of our beloved Francis, and
from that began his ever questioning of things.
Francis always wanted to become a knight of great honour but after
loosing the war between neighbouring countries which he participated so
eagerly, he realized that the beauty that God brought to this world has been
tainted by the wars and gruesome death brought by man. Francis was to
prove himself to the world not by knighthood nor kingship but by being a
servant to God and his creation.
At a point Francis had started hearing the voice of god inside him and the
change that took place was seen not just by him but everyone around him.
His parent saw this change in him and tried to be patient and see if he would
change his ways and they sought to silently watch him. Francis started to
build the church ordered by God to him, but it wasn't easy for a drama had
occured between him and his father, when he collected a huge sum of money
from the sales of his father's cloth. Francis later realized that what he did
was not the best move, for in building God's church the money was not
important. He realized that he was to build the church of San Damiano, not
as a rich man but as a poor man.
Of course their were the lepers, for there was not a Francis without the
lepers which he loved and would often visit them daily. He would wash
them so tenderly and kiss their hand giving them the kiss of peace. When the
time came, people started to flock to Francis for his words of wisdom and
self-truth. His first disciples were Bernard da Quintavalle and Peter Cathanii,
the business man and lawyer. To show that all those who came to him where
not of poor background and hopeless but was drawn to Francis because of
their trust and faith that Francis brought to all. Saint Francis love for all
creatures was immeasurable that even he used to preach to the birds of the
trees and once tamed an angry wolf with love. As many disciples came
Francis thought them the way to live by being
simple and content with the little the world had to give.
Francis was a man of immortal soul but his body like any other was
mortal. So as the time went by with his frequent visits to the lepers he also
contracted leprosy and was coming closer to death, day by day. Francis was
not afraid of death and he considered it a friend for in his prayer he said " It
is in dying that we are born to eternal life". He also used to help his disciple
contemplate the idea of death, that at dinner time he would place a skull on
the table noting to all that death was not in the distance but was verily close
by. Saint Francis, a man so great and loved by all was to eventually leave
this world. But as the time of birth of Francis was significant so was his
death. Before Francis died he went in isolation to pray and would allow no
one to see him. He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane for redemption and
thus said:
"O lord Jesus christ, I ask of thee before I die;
the first, that in my lifetime I may feel, as far as
possible, both in my soul and body, that pain
which thou, sweet lord didst endure in the hour
of thy most bitter passion;the second, that i may feel
in my heart as much as possible of that
excess of love by which thou, O son of God,
was inflamed to suffer so cruel a passion for us"
And it is said that at that moment Francis saw the vision of christ on his
cross and he was granted great agony and at the same time great joy, which
christ had experienced. And not just of the soul did he feel, this but of body
for he had on him the same wound christ received on the cross. Francis died
in Portiuncula in peace and well mind and spirit.
