4th October: St Francis of Assisi

October 4th is the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi. Here are some facts you may not have known about St. Francis.

1. When he was born, he was given the name Giovanni by his mother. His father, Pietro di Bernardone, a prosperous silk merchant, was a Francophile and took to calling his son Francesco ("the Frenchman") instead.
2. As a young man, he lived an extravagant life - he liked gambling, drinking, partying and women. He became a soldier and went to fight against Perugia and was taken as a prisoner at Collestrada, spending a year as a prisoner of war.
3. He didn't like school and only went for three years. He never really got the hang of writing Latin.
4. He is the patron saint of animals, the environment; Italy; merchants; stowaways; Cub Scouts; San Francisco, and California.
5. His patronage of animals came about because he believed that animals, too, had the capacity to understand the gospel and would preach to them as well as to humans. One legend said that on coming upon a road where there were trees full of birds, he said, "wait for me while I go to preach to my sisters the birds." He preached a sermon to the birds and not one of them flew away. He also went in search of a wolf that was terrorising a village, and on finding the animal, made the sign of the cross over it, and the wolf lay down and submitted to him. Hence Francis is often portrayed in art as having a bird perched on his hand or a wolf lying at his feet.
6. He founded the Franciscan order, an order devoted to poverty and also the Poor Clares, a women's order presided over by his lifelong friend (and possibly former girlfriend) Clare of Assisi.
7. After an illness led to his conversion, Francis's father was furious by his religious life and actions such as stealing his father's clothes to give to the poor. He was accused of stealing in a public trial during which Francis took off all the clothes he was wearing, handed them back to his father and denounced him, no longer wishing to be identified as his son.
8. During the Fifth Crusade, Francis and a companion went into Muslim territory and visited the Sultan al-Kamil, and preached to him. He challenged those present to a “trial-by-fire” in which he and a Muslim would step into a Fire, with the idea that the follower of the true religion would be spared by God. Francis offered to go first, but the Sultan turned down the challenge. Nonetheless, the Sultan was so impressed by his faith that he gave Francis permission to preach in his land.
9. Towards the end of his life, Francis's own followers, the Franciscans, rejected his rule with only a few remaining faithful. Francis was very ill then, and also had stigmata (the five wounds of Christ). He died in pain in 1226, aged 45.
10. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina chose Francis as his papal name in honour of Saint Francis of Assisi, becoming Pope Francis.