St Francis Research Paper

St Francis is one of the most beloved saints of all time. St. Francis was born in 1181 in Assisi, Italy. He was the son of a wealthy cloth merchant, Peter Bernadone. Francis grew up leading a privileged life with the finer things that money could buy. At the age of 14, Francis left school, started partying, and drinking with his friends and had dreams of becoming a knight. At the age of 19, he joined the military and went to battle against the nearby town of Perugia, France. Becoming a prisoner of war and held for ransom due to the fact, his father was wealthy. He was in prison for a year and this is where Francis had lost heart for rivalry. He found an abandoned church and he spent every day there praying. Francis dedicated his life …show more content…
He lived there for two years praying, meditating, and rebuilding the Church of San Damiano. He also wore only a dirty tunic and no shoes. He would go back to Assisi and ask for alms to help him rebuild the church, no one would help because of being from a wealthy family. God granted him the gift of prophecy and the gift of miracles. He would heal the sick, lepers, with just one kiss. He walked village to village, preaching the love of God. He invited people to join him in his life of service to God. They called him” the little poor man of Assisi.” Bernard, a wealthy man, invited Francis to his home. They had a conversation all night long and it was decided that Bernard agreed that everything he owned was given to him from God and that he should return all back to him. Bernard ended up selling his home, business, and selling all of his possessions and giving the proceeds to the poor before joining Francis on his journey to live servicing God. He ended up with 11 followers and took a journey to Rome to get the permission from the pope to start a religious Order. The pope understood their vow of poverty and blessed the Order. The Franciscan Order established with members that took a vow to live in poverty in their daily lives. There was a female, Clare, who is known for her love of God and of the poor. She was very much attracted to the Gospel way of life preached by St. Francis. She met with Francis and committed …show more content…
There have been many stories about Francis and his preaching to animals as if they were his friends or family. One day, he ran up to a multitude of birds of different types, and realized that they were not going to fly away. He started to tell them to listen to the Word of God. “My brother birds, you should greatly praise your Creator and love him always. He gave you feathers to wear, wings to fly, and whatever you need.” The birds then stretched their necks and started spreading their wings, and started staring at Francis. Then he blessed then with the sign of the cross and gave them permission to fly to another place. From then on, he knew that all animals and anything created by his Creator would be his brother or sister. Another story was about an untamed wolf that was terrorizing and killing people and children in the town of Gubbio. He went up to the wolf and said that he wanted to make peace between the people and him. He made a promise to the wolf that he would never go hungry again if he would stop killing people in the town. Francis then went to the middle of town and asked the people if they would kindly feed the wolf, he has promised he will not terrorize and kill any more people in the town. The wolf gently placed his paw in Francis’ hand and the people started to cheer. The wolf’s peaceful ways had been a living reminder to them of the wonders, patience, virtues, and holiness of St. Francis. It had