Saint Francis of Assisi was an Italian monk who founded the monastic order of the Franciscans. He was from a wealthy family and spent most of his youth carousing the streets of Assisi with other young nobles. After fighting in the war between Assisi and Perugia, he contracted an illness and had his first mystical experience. After he was healed, Francis had another mystical experience while praying in a neglected church: “After a period of prayer and meditation, Francis heard the voice of Jesus coming from a nearby crucifix: ‘Francis go, repair my house, which, as you see, is falling completely to ruin’.” It was this call that inspired Francis to leave Assisi, determined to live more simply with his fellow monks.
Even though many of his writings and sermons did not last, The Canticle of Brother Sun has survived the many centuries and is now looked at as one of Francis’ greatest writings. The Canticle is a poem which talks of the different aspects of nature, such as earth, wind, and water, and praises God for creating them. The Canticle also contains many parallels to the gospels. After his experience in the church, Francis was inspired by the life of Jesus. As G. K. Chesterton says, “Francis of Assisi was a mirror of Christ”. Francis saw great promise in the life that Jesus lived in the gospels and tried to be an example of Him through his own work. The poem reveals many of Francis’ own teachings of chastity, poverty, and obedience along with the call to respect nature.
One of the values Francis instilled the most in his monks was obedience to God. In his life, Francis was devoted to serve God and gave God complete control over his life. Part of this trust that Francis had was that God would provide for him in same way ...
... middle of paper ...
...gan: William B. Eerdman Publishing Company, 2004.
Gecser, Otto, Jozef Lazlovsky, Balázs Nagy, Marcell Sebők, and Katalin Szende. Promoting the Saints: Cults and Their Contexts from Late Antiquity until the Early Modern Period. New York: Central European University Press, 2011.
Line, Francis Raymond and Helen E. Line. Man with a Song: Some Major and Minor Notes in the Life of Saint Francis of Assisi. United States: Image Press, 1982.
Robson, Micheal. Saint Francis of Assisi: The Legend and the Life. London: Geoffrey Chappan, 1997.
Sorrell, Roger D. Saint Francis of Assisi and Nature: Tradition and Innovation in Western Christian Attitudes toward the Environment. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.
Talbot, John Micheal and Steve Rabey. The Lessons of Saint Francis: How to bring Simplicity and Spirituality into your Daily Life. New York: Penguin Group, 1997.
In the journal of Environmentalism as Religion, Paul H. Rubin discuss about how environmental is similar to religion. Rubin want everyone to know that the environment and religion are somehow similar in a way, which they both have belief system, creation stories and original sin.
Aquinas, St. Thomas. COMMENTARY on SAINT PAUL'S EPISTLE to the GALATIANS. Trans. F. R. Larcher. Albany: Magi Books, 1996.
Woodward, Kenneth L. Making Saints : How the Catholic Church Determines Who Becomes a Saint, Who Doesn't, and Why. New York, NY : Simon & Schuster, 1996.
Chapter one, ‘Beginnings at Assisi,’ offers a vivid description of the social, political, economic, cultural, demographic description of Assisi and its inhabitants. Here, the author describes the life of Francis and the situations and circumstances prompting his journey to spread the ideal gospel life to the world. This chapter is relevant in determining the circumstances that instigated a need for reforms in the Catholic Church. This chapter is applicable in my life because it offers insight on the fundamental Christian I can rely on in my daily life.
St. Francis of Assisi was born in Umbria in the year 1182. He was a child every father hoped for, he was filled with life, a determined and courageous individual. He was gifted with rather good looks, qualities that attracted friends and a gift of leadership. His father was an extremely wealthy merchant in Assisi. But this son, his favourite, was the one who broke Peter Bernardone’s heart. The boy turned on his father, and in a vicious event that eventually resulted into a public scene. St. Francis of Assisi stepped away from his father, his business and left his father in a state of immense emotional suffering.
In his youth, St. Boniface encountered many priests or clerics who traveled from town to town. Through these spiritual conversations, it became evident to St. Boniface that he wanted to pursue a life with God. Eventually, after continuos begging and his fathers fatal sickness, he was sent to the care of the Monastery of Examchester. (Appleton) It is here, that St. Boniface expressed to the Abbot at the time, that he wanted to live a monastic life. The father of the monastery, after council, granted him his wish. Here is where the saint began to prove his love for God, and could begin his journey of the Christian life. After exceeding all expectations and surpassing the knowledge of his teachers, he moved to a neighboring monastery, called Nursling, whereby he studied under the influence of Abbot Winbert.(St. Boniface Church) Here he gained vast knowledge of scriptures and the spiritual exposition of the Bible. Here, he gained such a reputation that men and women from far and wide traveled to study scriptures under his guidance. At the age of 30 he was humbly ordained a priest and yet another branch of his life was fulfilled.
Catherine of Siena. The Dialogue of the Divine Providence . Trans. Algar Thorold. 1907. 25 Feb. 2004 .
Francis was born at Assisi in Umbria in the early 1180’s. His fath er was Pietro Bernadone, a very wealthy cloth merchant. His baptized name was Giovanni but it was changed to Francesco. Francis received a decent amount of schooling as a child although he did not show much interest in it. He was very spoiled and did not want to go into his father’s business. He had high status, was handsome, wore fine clothing, and was very well known with the people of Assisi.
Environmental activism or environmental awareness in the Catholic Church can go back as far as the 1100s. One of the earliest and the original Catholic environmentalist is Saint Francis of Assisi. Pope Francis paid homage to the Church’s patron saint of animals and ecologists by naming his encyclical “Laudato Si” (“Praised Be”), a line taken from St. Francis of Assisi’s “Canticle of Creatures.”Saint Francis composed the canticle in 1225, and dedicated the first of its three parts to praising the Lord through various natural elements, including “Sister Mother Earth / who sustains and governs us.” Known for his love of animals and the Earth (and for apparently preaching to birds), Pope John Paul II made Saint Francis the patron saint of ecologists
While the Pope emphasizes conservation is a noble calling, Emerson and Thoreau presume it is a human issue, however both have the same message. Vatican Radio reported that Francis reflected on the creation of the universe passage in the Book of Genesis,” “In the ‘first creation’ we must respond with the responsibility that the Lord gives us: ‘The earth is yours, take it forward; let it grow.’ Even for us there is a responsibility to nurture the Earth, to nurture Creation, to keep it and make it grow according to its laws. . .” he said ("Pope: Conservation Not Going 'green,' but Being Christian"). This quote corresponds with a quote from Walden, “Heaven is under our feet is well as over our heads”. Thoreau and Pope Francis comment how nature is spiritual, and therefore society should take care of it. The Pope uses his worldwide, 1.2 billion Catholic platform ("Pope Francis’s Encyclical on the Environment") to make a change in saving and preserving the planet. He does this via speaking on behalf of the Amazon basin, calling for “respect and protection of the entire creation which God has entrusted to man”. This creation, he said, should not “be indiscriminately exploited, but rather made into a garden.” (Weiss). Let alone he released Laudato Si (“Praised Be”), an encyclical on climate and justice to enter into dialogue with all people about our common home. ("Pope Francis’s Encyclical on the Environment"). The Pope is upfront that climate change is caused by humans and is a significant threat ("Pope Francis’s Encyclical on the Environment"). He says, "We received this world as an inheritance from past generations, but also as a loan from future generations, to whom we will have to return it!” ("Nature Never Forgives: 7 of Pope Francis's Greenest Quotes"). Pope Francis calls for reform because it is a Christian duty, accentuating this principle through,
Late in the fifth century the son of a well-off family in Italy left for isolation on his mission to truly seek god. This man was St. Benedict, who is credited with the first establishment of the concept of withdrawing from all temptation for Christian beliefs in the west. St. Benedict left his home and went to the top of a mountain, where he established a monastic community. In this community the individuals who resided there, constantly reiterated their faith. They sacrificed whatever they may have had to prove their true commitment to God. This became an early ideal of Christianity, that one must suffer loss and sacrifice to prove their loyalty to the faith. It was believed in this time period that if one is content with only what they truly need one is freer to think about other people and to think about God . These individuals were called Regular Clergies (monks) and were considered heroes of the faith.
A tireless understudy, educator, and scholar, St. Thomas Aquinas was the best Christian scholar of the Medieval times. He was from Roccasecca, Italy, child of Check Landolfo of Aquino and Royal lady Teodora of Teano. “At the age of five the Court of Aquino determined to send him to be brought up in the celebrated Benedictine Monastery of Monte Cassino, among the noble youths who were educated there; so that while he learned all things necessary for his future life in the world, he could at the same time advance in the love and fear of God.” From that point, he happened to study at the College of Naples and, over the protests of his family, turned into a Dominican monk in 1244. After further study and educating at the College of Paris, he came back to Italy in 1259 and put in almost ten years presenting and working at Dominican religious communities by Rome.
The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved February 21, 2010 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org
Francis of Assisi lived about eight hundred years ago. He was born in the city of Assisi, Italy, in 1182. He was the son of Piero of Bernadone, who was a wealthy merchant. He received a education and seemed to follow his father's footsteps as a wealthy merchant. In 1201 he took part in an attack on Perugia, was taken hostage, and remained a captive there for a year. After his release, Francis joined the army but couldn't complete his time because he got sick. This period of time would change his life forever. During his sickness, Francis would spend hours meditating on the Lord in an old church, and he felt God drawing near to him. Some people come to Jesus with a memorable experience, but others come to Christ through a process. Francis' conversion wasn't an overnight experience, but it was definitely real.
Spoto, D. (2002). The Reluctant Saint: The life of Francis of Assisi. New York: Penguin Group.