OFM
Order of Friars Minor
Province of St. Thomas the Apostle, India
Joy is Being Franciscan
Joy is Being Franciscan
St. Francis of Assisi (1181/1182–1226) is one of the most beloved and influential saints in Christian history. Known as the “Poor Man of Assisi,” he was the founder of the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans) and is the patron saint of Italy and of ecology. His life continues to inspire believers and non-believers alike because of his radical simplicity, deep joy, love for creation, and total surrender to God.
Francis was born in Assisi, Italy, into a wealthy merchant family. His father, Pietro Bernardone, was a successful cloth trader, and Francis grew up surrounded by comfort and opportunity. As a young man, he enjoyed music, friendship, and celebration. He dreamed of becoming a knight and achieving honor and glory on the battlefield.
However, during a war between Assisi and Perugia, Francis was captured and imprisoned. The experience of illness, suffering, and disappointment changed him deeply. After returning home, he felt restless and dissatisfied with his former ambitions. Gradually, through prayer and reflection, he began to sense that God was calling him to something greater.
His decisive moment of conversion came when he heard Christ speak to him from the crucifix in the dilapidated Church of San Damiano:
“Francis, go and repair my house, which as you see is falling into ruin.”
At first, he took this literally and began repairing small churches. Later, he realized that Christ was calling him to renew the spiritual life of the Church.
Francis made a bold and dramatic decision: he renounced his wealth and inheritance. In front of the bishop and townspeople, he returned his clothes to his father and declared that from then on he would say only, “Our Father who art in heaven.” He chose a life of poverty, not because he was forced into it, but because he freely desired to imitate Christ.
For Francis, poverty was not misery. It was freedom — freedom from possession, pride, and power. He called poverty his “Lady Poverty,” embracing it as a joyful path to union with God.
Francis did not interpret the Gospel in a complicated way. He simply lived it. When Jesus said, “Take nothing for your journey,” Francis and his companions took nothing. When Jesus said, “Love your enemies,” Francis practiced forgiveness and peace. When Jesus washed the feet of others, Francis served the poor, the sick, and even lepers — whom he once feared.
He gathered around him a group of brothers who wished to live the same way. Together they formed the Order of Friars Minor. They traveled, preached repentance and peace, worked with their hands, and depended entirely on God’s providence.
One of Francis’ most remarkable qualities was his relationship with creation. He saw all creatures as brothers and sisters because they came from the same loving Creator. He called the sun “Brother Sun,” the moon “Sister Moon,” and even death “Sister Death.”
The famous stories of Francis preaching to the birds and taming the Wolf of Gubbio illustrate his harmony with nature. Whether literal or symbolic, these stories reflect his belief that all creation praises God.
His beautiful hymn, “The Canticle of the Creatures,” is one of the earliest works of Italian literature. In it, he praises God through the elements of nature — fire, water, wind, earth — expressing profound gratitude and wonder.
At the heart of Francis’ life was prayer. His prayer could be summed up in four words:
“My God and my all!”
Prayer transformed his ambitions and gave him strength to lead others. Through prayer, he discovered his deep unity with Christ and the Church. He spent long hours in silence, contemplation, and praise.
Toward the end of his life, while praying on Mount La Verna, Francis received the stigmata — the wounds of Christ — in his hands, feet, and side. This extraordinary event symbolized his complete identification with the suffering and love of Jesus.
Though gentle and joyful, Francis was also a reformer. He lived during a time when the Church needed renewal. Instead of criticizing from outside, he renewed it from within — through example, humility, and obedience. He remained a faithful son of the Church.
He also inspired St. Clare of Assisi, who founded the Poor Clares, and many lay people who wished to live the Franciscan spirit in the world.
Francis died in 1226 at the age of 44. He was canonized just two years later. His legacy continues through:
The Franciscan Order
The Poor Clares
The Secular Franciscans
Countless people inspired by his spirit of peace and simplicity
Today, he is remembered as:
A saint of peace
A lover of the poor
A brother to all creation
A poet and mystic
A joyful disciple of Christ
In a world driven by wealth, competition, and consumption, Francis offers a different vision — one of simplicity, gratitude, and trust in God. He teaches that true joy comes not from possessing but from giving, not from power but from humility, not from self-importance but from love.
He reminds us that every creature reflects God’s goodness, and that when we embrace God’s overflowing love, we too begin to blossom.