Il Poverello

O how beautiful, how splendid, how glorious did he appear in the innocence of his life, in the simplicity of his words, in the purity of his heart, in his love for God, in his fraternal charity, in his ardent obedience, in his peaceful submission, in his angelic countenance! - Thomas of Celano

These words written by Thomas of Celano described the one and only Francesco Bernardone, better known as St. Francis of Assisi. Thomas, a follower of St. Francis, was his first biographer.

Raised in wealth and luxury, Francis spent much of his youth seeking pleasure. He eventually turned his back on everything to embrace God, live a life of poverty, and serve lepers and the lowly. If Francis were alive today, he would probably be thought of as some sort of kook or fanatic and maybe even mentally unstable.

The people of Assisi and his parents couldn’t understand why someone would trade his fashionable clothes for the rags of a beggar. They couldn’t fathom why a playboy was hanging out with lepers. They thought he lost his mind.

Francis’ conversion had empowered and inflamed him with a burning love for God. One day after hearing the gospel story of Christ sending his disciples to preach, he asked the priest to clarify the gospel. When he heard that Christ’s disciples were supposed to possess neither gold, nor silver, nor money; were to have neither bread nor staff; were to have neither shoes nor two tunics; but were to preach the kingdom of God and penance, he said, “This is what I want! This is what I’m looking for! This is what I want to do from the bottom of my heart!”

The infectious, passionate, concrete faith of Francis soon ignited a movement throughout Europe and the rest of the world. Today, there are more than one hundred thousand Franciscans in North America, as well as more than a million others worldwide. These followers of Francis make up the largest order in the Catholic Church.

Down through the ages, many people have sought to follow his example in their lives, including King Louis IX of France, the poet Dante, Michelangelo, Arlo Guthrie, Michael Faraday, Roger Bacon and numerous theologians.

Today, October 4, we celebrate his feastday.