View source for Francis of Assisi

{{Short description|Italian Catholic saint (c. 1181–1226)}}
{{About|the friar and patron saint}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox saint
| honorific_prefix    = [[Saint]]
| name                = Francis of Assisi
| honorific_suffix    = [[Order of Friars Minor|OFM]]
| image               = Philip Fruytiers - St. Francis of Assisi.jpg
| alt                 = 
| caption             = A painting of Saint Francis{{efn|The tunic that Saint Francis actually wore was simpler.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bryner |first=Jeanna |date=10 Sep 2007 |title=Tunic Worn by Saint Francis Identified |url=https://www.livescience.com/1855-tunic-worn-saint-francis-identified.html |access-date=18 Dec 2023 |website=LiveScience}}</ref> It reportedly was made by himself to be unattractive and uncomfortable,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wolf |first=Kenneth |date=March 2003 |title=St. Francis and His Tunic |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/6279/chapter-abstract/149948257?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false |pages=16–18 |doi=10.1093/0195158083.003.0003 |isbn=0-19-515808-3 |access-date=18 Dec 2023 |website=Oxford Academic|url-access=subscription }}</ref> unlike modern Franciscan habits.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Graves |first=Jim |date=22 Mar 2019 |title=7 Religious Talk About the Habits They Wear |url=https://www.ncregister.com/blog/7-religious-talk-about-the-habits-they-wear |access-date=18 Dec 2023 |website=National Catholic Register |quote=but our habits are comfortable to wear}}</ref>}} by [[Philip Fruytiers]]
| titles              = {{ubl|Founder of the Franciscan Order|Confessor of the Faith and Stigmatist}}
| birth_name          = Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone
| birth_date          = 1181
| birth_place         = [[Assisi]], [[Duchy of Spoleto]], [[Holy Roman Empire]]
| home_town           = 
| residence           = 
| death_date          = 3 October 1226 (aged approximately 44 years)
| death_place         = Assisi, [[Umbria]], [[Papal States]]{{sfn|Brady|Cunningham|2020}}
| venerated_in        = {{unbulleted list|[[Catholic Church]]|[[Anglicanism]]|[[Lutheranism]]|[[Old Catholic Church]]}}
| beatified_date      = 
| beatified_place     = 
| beatified_by        = 
| canonized_date      = 16 July 1228
| canonized_place     = [[Assisi]], [[Papal States]]
| canonized_by        = [[Pope Gregory IX]]
| major_shrine        = [[Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi]]
| feast_day           = 4 October
| attributes          = [[Religious habit|Franciscan habit]], birds, animals, [[stigmata]], [[crucifix]], book and a skull
| patronage           = [[Franciscan Order]]; poor people;<ref name="Times">{{Cite web |last=Pavia |first=Will |date=14 March 2013 |title=St Francis of Assisi: patron saint of the poor |url=https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/st-francis-of-assisi-patron-saint-of-the-poor-t2t23mh65ch |access-date=29 May 2023 |website=[[The Times]] |publisher=News Corporation}}</ref> peace; [[ecology]]; animals; [[stowaway]]s; [[merchant]]s; needlemakers; [[Aguada, Puerto Rico]]; [[Naga, Cebu]]; [[Buhi, Camarines Sur]]; [[Balamban, Cebu]]; [[Dumanjug, Cebu]]; [[General Trias, Cavite]] and Italy
| influences          = 
| influenced          = 
| tradition           = 
| major_works         = 
}}
{{Christian mysticism}}
{{Eucharistic Adoration}}

[[File:S.Francesco_speco.jpg|thumb|The oldest surviving depiction of Saint Francis is a [[fresco]] near the entrance of the [[Benedictine]] [[Abbey of Saint Scholastica, Subiaco|abbey of Subiaco]], painted between March 1228 and March 1229. He is depicted without the [[stigmata]], but the image is a [[religious image]] and not a portrait.{{sfn|Brooke|2006|pp=161–162}}]]

'''Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone'''<!--This name goes first per [[MOS:PSEUDONYM]]; discuss--> ({{circa}} 1181 – 3 October 1226), known as '''Francis of Assisi''',{{Efn|His mother was French and that may be why he was known as Francesco (Francis), a name with the possible meaning 'Frenchman'.}}{{Efn|{{langx|it|Francesco d'Assisi}}}} was an [[Italians|Italian]]{{efn|Though an [[Unification of Italy|Italian nation state]] had yet to be established, the Latin equivalent of the [[Italians#Name|term ''Italian'']] ({{lang|la|italus}}) had been in use for natives of [[Italian geographical region|the region]] since antiquity. For example in [[Pliny the Elder]], ''[[Epistulae (Pliny)|Letters]]'' 9.23.}} [[Mysticism|mystic]], poet and [[Friar|Catholic friar]] who founded the religious order of the [[Franciscans]]. Inspired to lead a [[Christianity|Christian]] life of poverty, he became a [[Mendicant|beggar]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Zielinski |first=Karen |date=23 Jan 2019 |title=Begging like St. Francis |url=https://www.globalsistersreport.org/column/ministry-spirituality/begging-st-francis-55802 |website=Global Sisters Report}}</ref> and an [[itinerant preacher]].

One of the most venerated figures in Christianity,{{sfn|Delio|2013}}{{sfn|Brady|Cunningham|2020}} Francis was [[canonized]] by [[Pope Gregory IX]] on 16 July 1228. He is commonly portrayed wearing a brown [[Religious habit|habit]] with a rope tied around his waist, featuring three knots symbolizing the [[evangelical counsels]] of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

In 1219, Francis went to Egypt in an attempt to convert the sultan [[Al-Kamil]] and put an end to the conflict of the [[Fifth Crusade]].{{sfn|Tolan|2009|p=}} In 1223, he arranged for the first live [[nativity scene]] as part of the annual [[Christmas]] celebration in [[Greccio]].{{efn|name=Nativity|The Christmas scenes made by Francis at the time were not inanimate objects, but live ones, later rendered into inanimate representations of the [[Holy Family]].}}<ref>{{CathEncy|wstitle=Christmas|volume= 3 |last= Martindale  |first= C. C. |author-link= C. C. Martindale |short=1}}</ref><ref name="cefa">{{CathEncy|wstitle=St. Francis of Assisi|volume= 6 |last= Robinson |first= Paschal  |author-link= Paschal Robinson|short=1}}</ref> According to Christian tradition, Francis received the [[stigmata]] during the [[Vision (spirituality)|apparition]] of a [[Seraph]]ic angel in a [[religious ecstasy]] in 1224.<ref name="ODCC Francis" />

Francis is associated with patronage of animals and the [[natural environment|environment]]. It became customary for churches to hold ceremonies blessing animals on his [[feast day]] of 4 October, which became [[World Animal Day]]. Francis was noted for his devotion to the [[Eucharist]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=St. Francis of Assisi – Franciscan Friars of the Renewal |url=http://franciscanfriars.com/vocations/stfrancis/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215105319/http://franciscanfriars.com/vocations/stfrancis/ |archive-date=15 December 2019 |access-date=24 October 2012 |publisher=Franciscanfriars.com}}</ref> Along with [[Catherine of Siena]], Francis was designated [[patron saint]] of Italy. He is also the namesake of the city of [[San Francisco]]. [[September 17|17 September]] is the feast of Francis' stigmatization.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Feast of the stigmatization of Francis of Assisi |url=https://www.italianartsociety.org/2016/09/september-17-is-the-feast-of-the-stigmata-of-st-francis-of-assisi/}}</ref>

== Names ==
Francis ({{langx|it|Francesco d'Assisi}}; {{langx|la|Franciscus Assisiensis}}) was named Giovanni by his mother. His surname, di Pietro di Bernardone, comes from his father, Pietro di Bernardone. His father was in France on business when Francis was born in [[Assisi]], a small town in Italy. Upon his return, Pietro took to calling his son Francesco ("Free man" or "Frenchman"), possibly in honour of his commercial success and enthusiasm for all things French.<ref name="Chesterton">{{Cite book |last=Chesterton |first=Gilbert Keith |author-link=G. K. Chesterton |title=St. Francis of Assisi |publisher=Image Books |year=1924 |edition=14 |location=[[Garden City, New York]] |page=158}}</ref><ref name="Chesterton2">{{Cite book |last=Chesterton |first=G. K. |author-link=G. K. Chesterton |title=St. Francis of Assisi |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |year=1923 |location=[[London]] |page=40 |url=https://archive.org/details/francisofassisi00chesuoft/}}</ref>

== Biography ==
[[File:Pintura Ducarmo Teles 1.jpg|thumb|''São Francisco das Chagas'', painted by Ducarmo Teles.]]

===Early life===
Francis of Assisi was born {{Circa|1181}},<ref>{{Cite web |title=St. Francis of Assisi |url=https://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.php?id=4829 |access-date=22 Sep 2023 |website=Catholic Online}}</ref><ref name="dukemag2">{{Cite journal |last=Dagger |first=Jacob |date=November–December 2006 |title=Blessing All Creatures, Great and Small |url=https://alumni.duke.edu/magazine/articles/blessing-all-creatures-great-and-small |journal=Duke Magazine |access-date=1 December 2019}}</ref> one of the children of an Italian father, Pietro di Bernardone dei Moriconi, a prosperous silk merchant, and a French mother, Pica di Bourlemont, about whom little is known except that she was a noblewoman originally from [[Provence]].<ref name="Lives">{{Cite book |last=Englebert |first=Omer |url=https://archive.org/details/livesofsaintshis00omer/page/529 |title=The Lives of the Saints |date=1951 |publisher=Barnes & Noble |isbn=978-1-56619-516-4 |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/livesofsaintshis00omer/page/529 529] |orig-date=1951}}</ref>

Indulged by his parents, Francis lived the high-spirited life typical of a wealthy young man.<ref name="ODCC Francis">{{Cite book |title=The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2005 |isbn=0199566712 |editor-last=Cross |editor-first=F. L. |location=New York |chapter=Francis of Assisi}}</ref> As a youth, he became a devotee of [[troubadours]] and was fascinated with all things [[Transalpine]].<ref name="Chesterton" /> Francis was handsome, witty, gallant and delighted in fine clothes.<ref name="cefa" /> He spent money lavishly.<ref name="cefa" /> Although many [[Hagiography|hagiographers]] remark about Francis' bright clothing, rich friends, and love of pleasures,<ref name="Lives" /> his displays of disillusionment toward the world that surrounded Francis came fairly early in his life, as is shown in the "story of the beggar". In this account, Francis was selling cloth and velvet in the marketplace on behalf of his father when a beggar came to him and asked for [[alms]]. At the end of his business deal, Francis abandoned his wares and ran after the beggar. When he found him, Francis gave the man everything he had in his purse. Francis' friends mocked him for his charity while his father scolded him in rage.<ref name="chest41">Chesterton (1924), pp.&nbsp;40–41</ref>

Around 1202, Francis joined a military expedition against [[Perugia]] and was taken as a prisoner at Collestrada. He spent a year as a captive,<ref name="Bonaventure">{{Cite book |last1=St. Bonaventure |author-link1=Bonaventure |title=The Life of St. Francis of Assisi (from the Legenda Sancti Francisci) |last2=Cardinal Manning |date=1988 |author-link2=Henry Edward Manning |publisher=TAN Books & Publishers |isbn=978-0-89555-343-0 |edition=1988 |location=[[Rockford, Illinois]] |page=190 |orig-date=1867}}</ref> during which an illness caused Francis to re-evaluate his life. However, upon his return to Assisi in 1203, Francis returned to his carefree life. Two years later, Francis left for [[Apulia]] to enlist in the army of [[Walter III, Count of Brienne]]. A strange vision{{vague|date=October 2025}} made him return to Assisi and lose interest in worldly life.<ref name="ODCC Francis" /> According to [[Hagiography|hagiographic]] accounts, thereafter Francis began to avoid the sports and feasts of his former companions. A friend asked him whether he was thinking of marrying, to which Francis answered: "Yes, a fairer bride than any of you have ever seen", meaning his "Lady Poverty".<ref name="cefa" />

On a [[pilgrimage]] to Rome, Francis joined the poor in begging at [[Old St. Peter's Basilica|St. Peter's Basilica]].<ref name="ODCC Francis" /> He spent some time in lonely places, asking God for [[divine illumination]]. Francis said that he had a mystical [[visions of Jesus and Mary|vision of Jesus Christ]] in the forsaken country chapel of [[San Damiano, Assisi|San Damiano]], just outside Assisi, in which the [[San Damiano cross|Icon of Christ Crucified]] said to him, "Francis, Francis, go and repair My church which, as you can see, is falling into ruins." Francis took this to mean the ruined church in which he was presently praying, so Francis sold some cloth taken from his father's store to assist the priest there.<ref name="chest54">Chesterton (1924), pp.&nbsp;54–56</ref><ref>According to the Franciscan Order, Francis of Assisi personally experienced the [[Itala Mela#The Trinitarian indwelling|Trinitarian indwelling]] for more times during his earthly life. See {{Cite book |last=Fr. Guglielmo Spirito, OFM Conv |title=Terra che diventa cielo - L'inabitazione trinitaria in san Francesco |year=2009 |isbn=978-8870947397 |editor-last=Edizioni Studio Domenicano |series=Le frecce |pages=312 |language=it,es |oclc=799697579 |issue=17}} (EAN 9788870947397). Also available in [[Spanish language|Spanish]]: A. Spirito (franciscano conventual), Guglielmo (1 de enero de 1994). ''El cielo en la tierra. La inhabitación trinitaria en s. Francisco a la luz de su tiempo y de sus escritos.'' Varia (2). Miscellanea Francescana. p. 312.</ref> When the priest refused to accept the ill-gotten gains, an indignant Francis threw the coins on the floor.<ref name="cefa" />

In order to avoid his father's wrath, Francis hid in a cave near San Damiano for about a month. When he returned to town, hungry and dirty, Francis was dragged home by his father, beaten, bound, and locked in a small storeroom. Freed by his mother during Bernardone's absence, Francis returned at once to San Damiano, where he found shelter with the officiating priest, but Francis was soon cited before the city consuls by his father. The latter, not content with having recovered the scattered gold from San Damiano, sought also to force his son to forego his inheritance by way of restitution. In the midst of legal proceedings before the [[Bishop of Assisi]], Francis renounced his father and his [[Property|patrimony]].<ref name="cefa" /> Some accounts report that Francis stripped himself naked in token of this renunciation and the bishop covered him with his own cloak.<ref>{{Cite web |last=de la Riva |first=Fr. John |date=2011 |title=Life of St. Francis |url=http://www.shrinesf.org/life-of-st-francis.html |access-date=11 June 2019 |website=St. Francis of Assisi National Shrine}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kiefer |first=James E. |date=1999 |title=Francis of Assisi, Friar |url=http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/258.html |access-date=11 June 2019 |website=Biographical sketches of memorable Christians of the past}}</ref>

For the next couple of months, Francis wandered as a beggar in the hills behind Assisi. He spent some time at a neighbouring monastery working as a [[wiktionary:scullion|scullion]]. Francis then went to [[Gubbio]], where a friend gave him alms, the cloak, girdle and [[pilgrim's staff|staff of a pilgrim]]. Returning to Assisi, Francis traversed the city, begging stones for the restoration of St. Damiano. These he carried to the old chapel, set in place himself, and rebuilt it over time. Over the course of two years, Francis embraced the life of a [[penitent]], during which he restored several ruined chapels in the countryside around Assisi, among them San Pietro in [[Spina]] (in the area of San Petrignano in the valley about a kilometre from modern [[Rivotorto]], on private property and once again in ruin); and the [[Porziuncola]], the little chapel of [[Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli|St. Mary of the Angels]] in the plain just below the town.<ref name="cefa" /> This later became Francis' favorite [[Dwelling|abode]].<ref name="chest54" /> By degrees, he took to nursing [[leper]]s, in the [[leper colony|leper colonies]] near Assisi.

<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Casa-de-sao-francisco.jpg|[[The Piccolino Chapel]], Francis’ legendary birthplace 
File:Sassetta 001.jpg|''Saint Francis renounces his earthly father''.
</gallery>

===Founding of the Franciscan Order===
====Friars Minor====
One morning in February 1208, Francis was taking part in a Mass in the chapel of St. Mary of the Angels, near which he had by then built himself a hut. The Gospel of the day was the "Commissioning of the Twelve" from the Book of Matthew, in which Jesus' disciples are commissioned to go and proclaim that the Kingdom of God is at hand. Francis was inspired to devote himself to a life of poverty. Having obtained a coarse woollen tunic, the dress then worn by the poorest Umbrian peasants, Francis tied it around himself with a knotted rope and went about exhorting the people of the countryside to penance, brotherly love and peace. His preaching to ordinary people was unusual as Francis had no license to do so.{{sfn|Brady|Cunningham|2020}}
 
Francis' example attracted others. Within a year, he had 11 followers. The brothers lived a simple life in the deserted leper colony of Rivo Torto near Assisi. They spent much of their time wandering through the mountainous districts of [[Umbria]], and through their earnestness toward people they encountered, often deeply impressed them.<ref name="cefa" />

[[File:Legend of St. Francis by Giotto.jpg|thumb|left|[[Pope Innocent III]] approving the statutes of the Order of the Franciscans, by [[Giotto]]]]

In 1209, Francis composed a simple rule for his followers ("friars"), the ''Regula primitiva'' or "Primitive Rule", which came from verses in the Bible. The rule was "to follow the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ and to walk in his footsteps." He then led 11 followers to Rome to seek permission from [[Pope Innocent III]] to found a new religious order.<ref name="chest107">Chesterton (1924), pp.&nbsp;107–108</ref> Upon entry to Rome, the brothers encountered Bishop Guido of Assisi, who had in his company [[Giovanni di San Paolo]], the [[Cardinal Bishop of Sabina]]. The Cardinal, who was the confessor of Pope Innocent&nbsp;III, was immediately sympathetic to Francis and agreed to represent Francis to the Pope. After several days, the Pope agreed to admit the group informally, adding that when God increased the group in grace and number, they could return for an official audience. The group was [[tonsure]]d.<ref name="Francis of Assisi and His World">Galli (2002), pp.&nbsp;74–80</ref> This was important in part because it recognized Church authority and prevented his following from accusations of heresy, as had happened to the [[Waldensians]] decades earlier. Though a number of the pope's counsellors considered the mode of life proposed by Francis to be unsafe and impractical, following a dream in which he saw Francis holding up the [[Basilica of St. John Lateran|Lateran Basilica]], he decided to endorse Francis's order. Per tradition, this occurred on 16 April 1210 and constituted the official founding of the [[Franciscan Order]].{{sfn|Brady|Cunningham|2020}} The group, then the "Lesser Brothers" (''Order of Friars Minor'' also known as the ''Franciscan Order'' or the ''Seraphic Order''), were centred in the Porziuncola and preached first in Umbria, before expanding throughout Italy.{{sfn|Brady|Cunningham|2020}} Francis was later ordained a deacon, but not a priest.<ref name="cefa" />

====Poor Clares and Third Order====
From then on, the new order grew quickly. Hearing Francis preaching in the church of [[Assisi Cathedral|San Rufino]] in Assisi in 1211, the young noblewoman [[Clare of Assisi]] sought to live like them. Her cousin Rufino also sought to join. On the night of [[Palm Sunday]], 28 March 1212, Clare clandestinely left her family's palace. Francis received her at the Porziuncola and thereby established the Order of Poor Clares.<ref name="chest110">Chesterton (1924), pp.&nbsp;110–111</ref> He gave Clare a [[religious habit]], a garment similar to his own, before lodging her, her younger sister Caterina, and other young women in a nearby monastery of [[Order of St. Benedict|Benedictine]] nuns until Francis could provide a suitable monastery. Later, he transferred them to San Damiano,{{sfn|Brady|Cunningham|2020}} to a few small huts or cells. This became the first monastery of the Second Franciscan Order, currently known as [[Poor Clares]].<ref name="cefa" />

For those who could not leave their affairs, Francis later formed the [[Third Order of Saint Francis|Third Order of Brothers and Sisters of Penance]], a fraternity composed of either [[laity]] or clergy whose members neither withdrew from the world nor took [[religious vows]]. Instead, they observed the principles of Franciscan life in their daily lives.{{sfn|Brady|Cunningham|2020}} Before long, the Third Order – currently titled the [[Secular Franciscan Order]] – grew beyond Italy.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Secular Franciscan Order |url=https://secularfranciscansusa.org |access-date=January 13, 2021 |website=Secular Franciscan Order US}}</ref>

===Travels===
Determined to bring the Gospel to all peoples and let God convert them, Francis sought on several occasions to take his message out of Italy. In approximately 1211, a [[captain]] of the [[Medrano|Medrano family]] held the lordship of the castle and town of [[Agoncillo, La Rioja|Agoncillo]], situated near the city of [[Logroño]], in the region of [[La Rioja]], Spain. Medrano's son was suffering from a mysterious and untreatable ailment. In 1211, Saint Francis of Assisi roamed those very paths of Agoncillo.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jzYg5AN1x28C&q=Medrano |title=Revista Hidalguía número 9. Año 1955 |publisher=Ediciones Hidalguia |pages=181–182 |language=es}}</ref> In a saintly manner, he visited Medrano's [[Castle of Aguas Mansas|Agoncillo castle]], placed his mystical hands upon the ailing boy and [[Miracle|miraculously]] healed him, securing the Medrano lineage in Agoncillo.<ref name=":2">Recoge esta historia, entre otros, D. Cesáreo Goicoechea en "Castillos de la Rioja, Logroño, 1949, y Fray Domingo Hernáez de Torres en "Primera parte de la Crónica ·[franciscana] de la Provincia de Burgos". Madrid, 1772.</ref><ref name=":1" />

The Medrano family generously donated some land, including a tower, situated close to the [[Ebro|Ebro River]] within the city of [[Logroño]] as a gift to Saint Francis, where he established the first Spanish [[convent]] of his Order there.<ref name=":1" />

===Missionary work during the Fifth Crusade===
In the late spring of 1212, Francis set out for Jerusalem, but was shipwrecked by a storm on the [[Dalmatia]]n coast, forcing him to return to Italy. On 8 May 1213, Francis was given the use of the mountain of [[La Verna]] (Alverna) as a gift from [[Count]] Orlando di Chiusi, who described it as "eminently suitable for whoever wishes to do penance in a place remote from mankind".<ref>Fioretti quoted in: St. Francis, ''The Little Flowers, Legends and Lauds'', trans. N. Wydenbruck, ed. Otto Karrer (London: [[Sheed and Ward]], 1979) 244.</ref> The mountain would become one of his favourite retreats for prayer.<ref name="chest130">Chesterton (1924), p. 130</ref>

During the [[Fifth Crusade]] in 1219, Francis went to Egypt where a Crusader army had been encamped for over a year besieging the walled city of [[Damietta]]. He was accompanied by Friar [[Illuminatus of Arce]] and hoped to convert the [[Sultan of Egypt]] or be martyred in the attempt. The Sultan, [[Al-Kamil]], a nephew of [[Saladin]], had succeeded his father as Sultan of Egypt in 1218 and was encamped upstream of Damietta. A bloody and futile attack on the city was launched by the Christians on 29 August 1219, following which both sides agreed to a ceasefire that lasted four weeks.<ref>Runciman, Steven. ''History of the Crusades, vol. 3: The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades'', Cambridge University Press (1951, paperback 1987), pp. 151–161.</ref> Probably during this interlude, Francis and his companion crossed the Muslims' lines and were brought before the Sultan, remaining in his camp for a few days.{{sfn|Tolan|2009|pp=4–}} Reports give no information about what transpired during the encounter beyond noting that the Sultan received Francis graciously and that Francis preached to the Muslims. He returned unharmed.{{efn|e.g., Jacques de Vitry, Letter 6 February or March 1220 and ''Historia orientalis'' (c. 1223–1225) cap. XXII; Tommaso da Celano, ''Vita prima'' (1228), §57: the relevant passages are quoted in an English translation in {{harvnb|Tolan|2009|pp=19–}} and {{harvnb|Tolan|2009|p=54}} respectively.}} No known Arab sources mention the visit.{{sfn|Tolan|2009|p=5}}

According to some late sources, the Sultan gave Francis permission to visit the sacred places in the Holy Land and even to preach there. All that can safely be asserted is that Francis and his companion left the Crusader camp for [[Acre, Israel|Acre]], from where they embarked for Italy in the latter half of 1220. Drawing on a 1267 sermon by [[Bonaventure]], later sources report that the Sultan secretly converted or accepted a death-bed baptism as a result of meeting Francis.{{efn|For grants of various permissions and privileges to Francis as attributed by later sources, see, e.g., {{harvnb|Tolan|2009|pp=258–263}}. The first mention of the Sultan's conversion occurs in a sermon delivered by Bonaventure on 4 October 1267. See {{harvnb|Tolan|2009|p=168}} }}

Whatever transpired as a result of Francis’ and al-Kamil’s meeting the Franciscans have maintained a presence in the [[Holy Land]] almost uninterrupted since 1217 and remain there (see [[Custody of the Holy Land]]). They received concessions from the [[Mameluke]] Sultan in 1333 with regard to certain Holy Places in [[Jerusalem]] and [[Bethlehem]] and (so far as concerns the Catholic Church) jurisdictional privileges from [[Pope Clement VI]] in 1342.<ref>Bulla ''Gratias agimus'', commemorated by Pope John Paul II in a [https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/letters/1992/documents/hf_jp-ii_let_19921130_p-schalluuck_it.html Letter] dated 30 November 1992. See also {{harvnb|Tolan|2009|p=258}}. On the Franciscan presence, including a historical overview, see, generally the official website at [http://www.custodia.org/default.asp?id=425 ''Custodia''] and [[Custodian of the Holy Land]]</ref>

===Reorganization of the Franciscan Order===
[[File:Francis preaching the birds.fresco. master of st francis. Assisi.jpg|thumb|left|St. Francis preaching to the birds outside of [[Bevagna]] (by [[Master of Saint Francis|Master of St. Francis]]).]] The growing order of friars was divided into [[ecclesiastical province|provinces]]; groups were sent to France, Germany, Hungary and Spain and to the East. Upon receiving a report of the martyrdom of five brothers in [[Morocco]], Francis returned to Italy via [[Venice]].<ref name="b162">Bonaventure (1867), p.&nbsp;162</ref> Cardinal [[Pope Gregory IX|Ugolino di Conti]] was then nominated by the pope as the protector of the order. Another reason for Francis' return to Italy was that the Franciscan Order had grown at an unprecedented rate compared to previous religious orders, but its organizational [[sophistication]] had not kept up with this growth and had little more to govern it than Francis' example and simple rule. To address this problem, Francis prepared a new and more detailed Rule, the "First Rule" or "Rule Without a [[Papal Bull]]" (''Regula prima'', ''Regula non bullata''), which again asserted devotion to poverty and the apostolic life. However, it also introduced a greater institutional structure, though this was never officially endorsed by the pope.{{sfn|Brady|Cunningham|2020}}

Brother Peter was succeeded by [[Brother Elias]] as [[Vicar]] of Francis. Two years later, Francis modified the "First Rule", creating the "Second Rule" or "Rule With a Bull", which was approved by Pope Honorius III on 29 November 1223. As the order's official rule, it called on the friars "to observe the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, living in obedience without anything of our own and in chastity". In addition, it set regulations for discipline, preaching and entering the order. Once the rule was endorsed by the pope, Francis withdrew increasingly from external affairs.{{sfn|Brady|Cunningham|2020}} In 1221 and 1222, he crossed Italy, first as far south as [[Catania]] in Sicily and afterwards as far north as [[Bologna]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ruggeri |first=Francesco Rocco |title=Sicilian Visitors Volume 2 |publisher=Lulu.com |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-387-97789-5}}</ref>

=== Stigmata, final days and sainthood ===
[[File:Cigoli, san francesco.jpg|thumb|Francis considered his [[stigmata]] part of the ''[[Imitation of Christ]]''.<ref name="Goff">Le Goff, Jacques. ''Saint Francis of Assisi'', 2003 {{ISBN|0-415-28473-2}} p. 44</ref><ref name="Miles160">Miles, Margaret Ruth. ''The Word made flesh: a history of Christian thought'', 2004 {{ISBN|978-1-4051-0846-1}} pp. 160–161</ref> by [[Cigoli]], 1699]]

While Francis was praying on the mountain of Verna, during a 40-day fast in preparation for [[Michaelmas]] (29 September), he is said to have had a vision on 17 September 1224, three days after the feast of the [[Exaltation of the Cross]], as a result of which Francis received the [[stigmata]]. Brother Leo, who had been with Francis at the time, left a clear and simple account of the event, the first definite account of the phenomenon of stigmata. "Suddenly he saw a vision of a seraph, a six-winged angel on a cross. This angel gave him the gift of the five wounds of Christ."<ref name="chest131">Chesterton (1924), p. 131</ref> Suffering from these stigmata and from [[trachoma]], Francis received care in several cities ([[Siena]], [[Cortona]], [[Nocera Umbra|Nocera]]) to no avail. He began to go blind and the bishop of Ostia ordered that his eyes be operated on which meant cauterizing the eyes with hot irons. Francis claims to have felt nothing at all when this was done.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Armstrong |first1=Regis J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J-geLPmduL4C&dq=st+francis+of+assisi+cauterized+eyes&pg=PA861 |title=Francis of Assisi - The Prophet: Early Documents, vol. 3: Early Documents |last2=Hellmann |first2=J. A. Wayne |last3=Short |first3=William J. |date=1999 |publisher=New City Press |isbn=978-1-56548-114-5 |page=861 |language=en |access-date=14 August 2024}}</ref> In the end, he was brought back to a hut next to the Porziuncola. Here, Francis spent his last days dictating his spiritual testament. Francis died on the evening of Saturday, 3 October 1226, singing [[Psalm 142|Psalm 141, ''"Voce mea ad Dominum"'']].

On 16 July 1228, Francis was declared a saint by Pope [[Gregory IX]] (the former cardinal Ugolino di Conti, a friend of Francis and Cardinal Protector of the Order). The next day, the pope laid the foundation stone for the [[Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi|Basilica of St. Francis]] in Assisi. Francis was buried on 25 May 1230, under the Lower Basilica, but his tomb was soon hidden on orders of Brother Elias to protect it from [[Saracen]] invaders. Francis' burial place remained unknown until it was rediscovered in 1818. Pasquale Belli then constructed a crypt for the remains in the Lower Basilica. It was refashioned between 1927 and 1930 into its present form by Ugo Tarchi. In 1978, the remains of Francis were examined and confirmed by a commission of scholars appointed by [[Pope Paul VI]] and put into a glass urn in the ancient stone tomb.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Key to Umbria: Assisi |url=http://www.keytoumbria.com/Assisi/S_Francesco_Crypt.html |access-date=2021-05-09 |website=www.keytoumbria.com}}</ref>

In 1935, Dr. Edward Frederick Hartung concluded that Francis contracted [[trachoma]] while in Egypt and died of [[quartan malaria]]. This data was published in the ''[[Annals of Medical History]]''.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=11 March 1935 |title=Medicine: St. Francis' Stigmata |url=https://time.com/archive/6820515/medicine-st-francis-stigmata/ |access-date=15 August 2024 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}</ref>

==Character and legacy==
[[Image:Francis_wolf.JPG|thumb|right|St. Francis talking to the [[wolf of Gubbio]] ([[:de:Carl Weidemeyer|Carl Weidemeyer]], 1911)]]
[[File:Sacro Monte Orta - Kapelle 13 Karneval 1.jpg|thumb|Francis led semi-naked for humility]]
Francis set out to replicate Christ and literally carry out his work. This is important in understanding Francis' character, his affinity for the Eucharist, and his respect for the priests who carried out the sacrament.{{sfn|Brady|Cunningham|2020}} Francis preached: "Your God is of your flesh, He lives in your nearest neighbour, in every man."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eimerl |first=Sarel |url=https://archive.org/details/worldofgiottoc1200eime |title=The World of Giotto: c. 1267–1337 |publisher=Time-Life Books |others=et al |year=1967 |isbn=0-900658-15-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/worldofgiottoc1200eime/page/15 15] |url-access=registration}}</ref>

Francis and his followers celebrated and even venerated poverty, which was so central to his character that in his last written work, the Testament, Francis said that absolute personal and [[corporate poverty]] was the essential lifestyle for the members of his order.{{sfn|Brady|Cunningham|2020}}

Francis believed that nature itself was the mirror of God. He called all creatures his "brothers" and "sisters" and even preached to the birds<ref name="b78" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Brunforte |first=Ugolino |author-link=Ugolino Brunforte |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rR25UQD0E6YC&pg=PT1 |title=The Little Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi |publisher=[[Christian Classics Ethereal Library|CCEL]] |isbn=978-1-61-025212-6 |location=[[Calvin College]] |orig-date=1958}}</ref> and supposedly persuaded a [[Wolf of Gubbio|wolf in Gubbio]] to stop attacking some locals if they agreed to feed the wolf. Francis' deep sense of brotherhood under God embraced others and he declared that "he considered himself no friend of Christ if he did not cherish those for whom Christ died".{{sfn|Brady|Cunningham|2020}}

Francis's visit to Egypt and attempted [[rapprochement]] with the Muslim world had far-reaching consequences, long past his own death, since after the fall of the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem|Crusader Kingdom]], it would be the Franciscans, of all Catholics, who would be allowed to stay on in the Holy Land and be recognized as "[[Custodian of the Holy Land|Custodians of the Holy Land]]" on behalf of the [[Catholic Church]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Custody of the Holy Land |url=https://terrasanta.edu.jo/en.aspx?id=3 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210928160912/https://terrasanta.edu.jo/en.aspx?id=3 |archive-date=28 September 2021 |access-date=2021-05-09 |website=terrasanta.edu.jo}}</ref>

At Greccio near Assisi, around 1220, Francis celebrated Christmas by setting up the first known ''presepio'' or ''crèche'' ([[Nativity scene]]).<ref name="b178">Bonaventure (1867), p. 178</ref> His nativity imagery reflected the scene in traditional paintings. Francis used real animals to create a living scene so that the worshipers could contemplate the birth of the child Jesus in a direct way, making use of the senses, especially sight.<ref name="b178" /> Both [[Thomas of Celano]] and [[Bonaventure]], biographers of Francis, tell how he used only a straw-filled manger (feeding trough) set between a real [[ox]] and donkey.<ref name="b178" /> According to Thomas, it was beautiful in its simplicity, with the manger acting as the altar for the Christmas Mass.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thomas of Celano |title=Francis of Assisi: Early Documents |publisher=New City Press |isbn=1-56548-115-1 |editor-last=Armstrong, O.F.M. Cap. |editor-first=Regis J. |volume=1 |publication-date=2001 |pages=255 |chapter=The Life of Saint Francis |orig-date=1228–1229 |editor-last2=Hellmann, O.F.M. Conv. |editor-first2=J. A. Wayne |editor-last3=Short, O.F.M. |editor-first3=William J. |chapter-url=https://digitalcollections.franciscantradition.org/document/bx4700-f6f722-1999/francis_of_assisi_early_documents_-_the_saint/1999-00-00?pageNo=255}}</ref>
[[File:Tapete de Corpus Christi em São Manuel, São Paulo, 2025.19.6.25.36.jpg|thumb|Corpus Christi carpet in [[São Manuel]], [[São Paulo (state)|São Paulo]], [[Brazil]], 2025. ]]
Some modern commentators and animal rights advocates have mistakenly portrayed Francis as a vegetarian. However, historical records indicate that he did consume meat, and his earliest biographers make no mention of Francis adhering to a meatless diet.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Frayne, Carl |year=2016 |title=On Imitating the Regimen of Immortality or Facing the Diet of Mortal Reality: A Brief History of Abstinence from Flesh-Eating in Christianity |journal=Journal of Animal Ethics |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=188–212 |doi=10.5406/janimalethics.6.2.0188 |jstor=10.5406}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Grumett, David |year=2007 |title=Vegetarian or Franciscan? Flexible Dietary Choices Past and Present |url=https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/files/79822354/GrumettJSRNC2007VegetarianOrFranciscan.pdf |journal=Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture |volume=1 |issue=4 |pages=450–467 |doi=10.1558/jsrnc.v1i4.450 |issn=1749-4907}}</ref> Francis' favourite dish was shrimp pie.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marabini, Liana |date=2020 |title=Shrimp and pike, Saint Francis' favourite dishes |url=https://newdailycompass.com/en/shrimp-and-pike-saint-francis-favourite-dishes |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240912214858/https://newdailycompass.com/en/shrimp-and-pike-saint-francis-favourite-dishes |archive-date=September 12, 2024 |website=Daily Compass |language=en-GB}}</ref>

===Nature and the environment===
{{See also|Wolf of Gubbio}}
[[File:St Francis Statue 2.JPG|thumb|left|A garden statue of Francis of Assisi with birds]]
Francis preached the Christian doctrine that the world was created good and beautiful by God but suffers a need for redemption because of human sin. As someone who saw God reflected in nature, "St. Francis was a great lover of God's creation ..."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Warner OFM |first=Keith |date=April 2010 |title=St. Francis: Patron of ecology |url=https://www.uscatholic.org/church/2010/09/st-francis-patron-ecology |journal=U.S. Catholic |volume=75 |issue=4 |page=25}}</ref> In the [[Canticle of the Sun]], he gives God thanks for Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Brother Wind, Water, Fire and Earth, all of which he sees as rendering praise to God.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Doyle |first=Eric |title=St. Francis and the Song of Brotherhood and Sisterhood |date=1996 |publisher=Franciscan Institute |isbn=978-1576590034}}</ref>

Many of the stories that surround the life of Francis say that he had a great love for animals and the environment.<ref name="b78">Bonaventure (1867), pp.&nbsp;78–85</ref> The ''[[Fioretti]]'' ("Little Flowers") is a collection of [[legend]]s and folklore that sprang up after Francis' death. One account describes how one day, while Francis was travelling with some companions, they happened upon a place in the road where birds filled the trees on either side. Francis told his companions to "wait for me while I go to preach to my sisters the birds."<ref name="b78" /> The birds surrounded him, intrigued by the power of his voice and not one of them flew away. He is often portrayed with a bird, typically in his hand.<ref name=":0" />

Another legend from the ''Fioretti'' tells that in the city of [[Gubbio]], where Francis lived for some time, was a [[Wolf of Gubbio|wolf "terrifying and ferocious, who devoured men as well as animals"]]. Francis went up into the hills and when he found the wolf, he made the sign of the cross and commanded the wolf to come to him and hurt nobody. Then Francis led the wolf into the town and surrounded by startled citizens made a pact between them and the wolf. Because the wolf had "done evil out of hunger", the townsfolk were to feed the wolf regularly. In return, the wolf would no longer prey upon them or their flocks. In this manner, [[Gubbio]] was freed from the menace of the predator.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/flowers1.htm |title=The Little Flowers of Saint Francis |year=1926 |editor-last=Hudleston |editor-first=Roger |access-date=19 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190705232048/http://www.ewtn.com/library/mary/flowers1.htm |archive-date=5 July 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

On 29 November 1979, [[Pope John Paul II]] declared Francis the patron saint of [[ecology]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pope John Paul II |author-link=Pope John Paul II |date=29 November 1979 |title=Inter Sanctos (Apostolic Letter AAS 71) |url=http://francis35.org/pdf/papal_declaration.en.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140809222858/http://francis35.org/pdf/papal_declaration.en.pdf |archive-date=9 August 2014 |access-date=7 August 2014}}</ref> On 28 March 1982, John Paul II said that Francis' love and care for creation was a challenge for contemporary Catholics and a reminder "not to behave like dissident predators where nature is concerned, but to assume responsibility for it, taking all care so that everything stays healthy and integrated, so as to offer a welcoming and friendly environment even to those who succeed us."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pope John Paul II |date=28 March 1982 |title=Angelus |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/it/angelus/1982/documents/hf_jp-ii_ang_19820328.html |access-date=9 June 2020}}</ref> The same Pope wrote on the occasion of the World Day of Peace, 1 January 1990, that Francis "invited all of creation – animals, plants, natural forces, even Brother Sun and Sister Moon – to give honour and praise to the Lord. The poor man of Assisi gives us striking witness that when we are at peace with God we are better able to devote ourselves to building up that peace with all creation which is inseparable from peace among all peoples."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pope John Paul II |author-link=Pope John Paul II |date=8 December 1989 |title=World Day of Peace 1990 |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/messages/peace/documents/hf_jp-ii_mes_19891208_xxiii-world-day-for-peace_en.html |access-date=24 October 2012}}</ref>

In 2015, [[Pope Francis]] published his encyclical letter [[Laudato Si'|''Laudato si{{'}}'']], about the ecological crisis and "care for our common home", which takes its name from the [[Canticle of the Sun]], which Francis of Assisi composed. It presents Francis as "the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and of an integral ecology lived out joyfully and authentically".<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html Pope Francis, "Laudato Si': On care for our common home", Libreria Editrice Vaticana.]</ref> This inspired the birth of the [[Laudato Si' Movement]], a global network of nearly 1000 organizations promoting the ''Laudato si''' message and the Franciscan approach to ecology.<ref>[https://www.ncronline.org/earthbeat/politics/global-catholic-climate-group-rebrands-laudato-si-movement "Global Catholic climate group rebrands as Laudato Si' Movement", National Catholic Reporter, August 2, 2021.]</ref>

===Feast day===
{{Main|Feast of Saints Francis and Catherine}}
[[File:Tomb of Saint Francis - Basilica di San Francesco - Assisi 2016.jpg|thumb|Francis' last resting place at [[Assisi]]]]

Francis' [[feast day]] is observed on 4 October. A secondary feast in honor of the [[stigmata]] received by Francis, celebrated on 17 September, was inserted in the [[General Roman Calendar]] in 1585 (later than the [[Tridentine calendar]]) and suppressed in 1604, but was restored in 1615. In the New Roman Missal of 1969, it was removed again from the General Calendar, as something of a duplication of the main feast on 4 October and left to the calendars of certain localities and of the Franciscan Order.<ref>Calendarium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana), p. 139</ref> Wherever the Tridentine Missal is used, however, the feast of the Stigmata remains in the General Calendar.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Stigmata of Saint Francis, Appearing and Disappearing in the Liturgy |url=http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2018/09/the-stigmata-of-saint-francis-appearing.html |access-date=2021-05-09}}</ref>

Francis is [[Calendar of saints (Church of England)|honoured]] in the Catholic Church, the [[Lutheranism|Evangelical Lutheran Churches]], the [[Anglican Communion]] (with a [[Lesser Festival (Anglicanism)|Lesser Festival]] in the [[Calendar of saints (Church of England)|Church of England]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Calendar |url=https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/common-worship/churchs-year/calendar |access-date=2021-04-09 |website=The Church of England}}</ref> the [[Calendar of saints (Anglican Church of Canada)|Anglican Church of Canada]], and the [[Calendar of saints (Episcopal Church)|Episcopal Church USA]]) and the [[Union of Utrecht (Old Catholic)|Old Catholic Churches]], among other churches and religious communities on 4 October.<ref>{{Cite web |title=St. Francis of Assisi |url=https://stfranciscrockett.com/st-francis-of-assisi |access-date=2021-02-02 |website=St. Francis of Tejas Church}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Michael |title=St. Francis of Assisi: The Legend and the Life |publisher=A&C Black |year=1999 |isbn=0-225-66736-3 |location=Great Britain |pages=267}}</ref>

The Feast Day of Francis of Assisi marks the conclusion of the season of [[Creationtide]] in various Christian Churches that begins on the [[Feast of Creation]] (September 1).<ref name="LWF2025">{{cite web |title=Ecumenical efforts to introduce a Christian Feast of Creation |url=https://lutheranworld.org/news/ecumenical-efforts-introduce-christian-feast-creation |publisher=[[Lutheran World Federation]] |access-date=1 September 2025 |language=en |date=2 April 2024}}</ref><ref name="CoE2025">{{cite web |title=Creationtide or the Season of Creation |url=https://www.churchofengland.org/about/environment-and-climate-change/season-creation |publisher=[[Church of England]] |access-date=1 September 2025}}</ref> It is a popular practice on Francis' feast day for people to bring their pets and other animals to church for a blessing.<ref>[https://www.earthday.org/patron-saint-animals-ecology/ Pappas, William. "The Patron Saint of Animals and Ecology", Earthday.org, October 6, 2016]</ref>

===Papal name===
On 13 March 2013, upon his [[2013 papal conclave|election]] as Pope, Archbishop and [[College of Cardinals|Cardinal]] Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina chose Francis as his [[papal name]] in honor of Francis of Assisi, becoming [[Pope Francis]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pope Francis |author-link=Pope Francis |date=16 March 2013 |title=Audience to Representatives of the Communications Media |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/speeches/2013/march/documents/papa-francesco_20130316_rappresentanti-media_en.html |access-date=9 August 2014}}</ref><ref name="Marotta 2016">{{Cite book |last=Marotta |first=Giulia |title=Handbook of Global Contemporary Christianity: Movements, Institutions and Allegiance |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |year=2016 |isbn=978-90-04-26539-4 |editor-last=Hunt |editor-first=Stephen J. |editor-link=Stephen J. Hunt |series=Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion |volume=12 |location=[[Leiden]] |pages=165–184 |chapter=Revolutionary Monasticism?: Franciscanism and Ecclesiastical Hierarchy as a Hermeneutic Dilemma of Contemporary Catholicism |doi=10.1163/9789004310780_009 |issn=1874-6691}}</ref>

At his first audience on 16 March 2013, Pope Francis told journalists that he had chosen the name in honor of Francis of Assisi because of his concern for the poor.<ref name="Marotta 2016" /><ref name="Pope Francis explains decision to take St Francis of Assisi">{{Cite news |date=16 March 2013 |title=Pope Francis explains decision to take St Francis of Assisi's name |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/16/pope-francis-st-francis-assisi |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130317092441/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/16/pope-francis-st-francis-assisi |archive-date=17 March 2013 |work=The Guardian |location=London}}</ref><ref name="Fracis">{{Cite web |date=14 March 2013 |title=New Pope Francis visits St. Mary Major, collects suitcases and pays bill at hotel |url=http://www.news.va/en/news/new-pope-francis-visits-st-mary-major-collects-sui |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130317025225/http://www.news.va/en/news/new-pope-francis-visits-st-mary-major-collects-sui |archive-date=17 March 2013 |access-date=4 January 2017 |work=[[News.va]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first1=Michael |last1=Martínez|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/13/world/pope-name/index.html?hpt=hp_t1|title=CNN Vatican analyst: Pope Francis' name choice 'precedent shattering'|website=[[CNN]]|date=13 March 2013|access-date= 13 March 2013}}</ref> He recounted that Cardinal [[Cláudio Hummes]] had told him, "Don't forget the poor", right after the election; that made Bergoglio think of Francis.<ref>{{cite web|first1=Laura |last1=Smith-Spark |last2=Messia|first2=Hada|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/16/world/europe/vatican-new-pope/index.html?hpt=hp_t1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130317035923/http://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/16/world/europe/vatican-new-pope/index.html?hpt=hp_t1 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-03-17 |title=Pope Francis explains name, calls for church 'for the poor'|website=CNN|date=16 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=16 March 2013 |title=Pope Francis wants 'poor Church for the poor' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21812545 |access-date=16 March 2013 |work=BBC News}}</ref> It is the first time a pope has taken the name.{{efn|On the day of his election, the Vatican clarified that his official papal name was "Francis", not "Francis I". A Vatican spokesman said that the name would become Francis I if and when there is a Francis II.<ref name="Fracis" /><ref name="Vatican: It">{{Cite news |last=Alpert |first=Emily |date=13 March 2013 |title=Vatican: It's Pope Francis, not Pope Francis I |url=https://www.latimes.com/world/la-xpm-2013-mar-13-la-fg-wn-vatican-pope-francis-name-20130313-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130315094438/http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-vatican-pope-francis-name-20130313,0,1309501.story |archive-date=15 March 2013 |access-date=4 January 2017 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref>}}

===Patronage===
[[File:Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church (Grove City, Ohio) - St. Francis of Assisi relic.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A [[relic]] of Francis of Assisi]]

On 18 June 1939, [[Pope Pius XII]] named Francis a joint [[patron saint]] of Italy along with [[Catherine of Siena]] with the apostolic letter "Licet Commissa".<ref>[[Pope Pius XII]] (18 June 1939). "Licet Commissa" (Apostolic Letter AAS 31, pp. 256–257)</ref> Pope Pius also mentioned the two saints in the laudative discourse he pronounced on 5 May 1949, in the Church of [[Santa Maria sopra Minerva]].{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

Francis is the patron of animals and ecology.<ref name="franciscanmedia.org" /> As such, he is the patron saint of the [[Laudato Si' Movement]], a network that promotes the Franciscan ecological paradigm as outlined in the encyclical Laudato Si'.<ref>[https://laudatosimovement.org/who-we-are/ Laudato Si' Movement, "Who we are", retrieved March 2, 2023]</ref>

He is also considered the patron against dying alone;{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}} against fire; patron of the [[Franciscan Order]] and [[Catholic Action]];<ref name="cns">[https://www.catholicsun.org/2018/10/04/feast-of-st-francis-of-assisi/ "Feast of St. Francis of Assisi", Catholic News Service, October 4, 2018]</ref> of families, peace and needleworkers,<ref name="newman">[http://www.newmanconnection.com/faith/saint/saint-francis-of-assisi "Saint Francis of Assisi", Newman Connection]</ref> and a number of religious congregations.<ref name=cns/>

He is the patron of many [[St. Francis of Assisi Church (disambiguation)|churches and other locations]] around the world, including: Italy;<ref name=newman/> [[St. Paul's Bay|San Pawl il-Baħar]], Malta; [[Freising]], Germany; [[Lancaster, Lancashire]]; [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kottapuram|Kottapuram, India]]; [[Buhi, Camarines Sur]], Philippines; [[General Trias]], Philippines; San Francisco;<ref name=newman/> [[Santa Fe, New Mexico]]; [[Colorado]]; [[Salina, Kansas]]; [[Metuchen, New Jersey]]; and [[Quibdó]], Colombia.

On October 1, 2025, the Italian Parliament approved a law that (re) institutes 4th October as a national feast.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.quotidiano.net/politica/san-francesco-festa-nazionale-da-quando-rrlhds0t|title=Il 4 ottobre diventa festa nazionale: è legge. Ecco da quando non si lavorerà a San Francesco|date=1 October 2025 |language=it}} </ref>

===The House of Medrano===

By the late 14th century, [[Diego López de Medrano, Lord of Agoncillo]], royal steward and ambassador to [[John I of Castile]], established a hereditary chaplaincy in the main [[chapel]] of the Monastery of San Francisco in Logroño.<ref name=":3">Government of Spain. ''Perpetual Chaplaincy of Diego López de Medrano. Order of the Franciscans.'' https://pares.mcu.es/ParesBusquedas20/catalogo/show/4016417
</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Informe del patronato de la capellanía perpetua fundada por Diego López de Medrano en la capilla principal del Monasterio de San Francisco de Logroño, de la que son patrones la casa de Agoncillo. |url=https://www.europeana.eu/da/item/2048340/providedCHO_ES_SNAH_45168_UD_4016289_ES_SNAH_45168_UD_4016289___ES_SNAH_45168_UD_4016417 |access-date=2025-01-12 |website=www.europeana.eu |language=da-DK}}</ref> The Medrano family held perpetual ecclesiastical patronage over the site, which functioned both as a center of worship and as a dynastic [[Cemetery|burial ground]]. This act formalized the family’s long-standing devotion to Saint Francis of Assisi. Although the convent met its demise in the 19th century, the remnants of its walls remain.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Rioja |first=El Día de la |date=2024-02-19 |title=Un convento de armas tomar |url=https://www.eldiadelarioja.es/noticia/z2dfd573c-eb33-bb3e-d4393945f387190a/202402/un-convento-de-armas-tomar |access-date=2024-04-28 |website=El Día de la Rioja |language=spanish}}</ref> As a result, the Medrano family, lords of Agoncillo, are distinguished by their devotion to Saint Francis of Assisi.<ref name=":2" /> Under the House of Medrano, the convent of San Francisco in Logroño enjoyed both royal favor and ecclesiastical prominence throughout its history. It was exempted from municipal taxes, held [[jurisdiction]] over its own lands and dependencies, and maintained close ties to the monarchy.<ref name=":4" />

On 29 March 1537, [[Maundy Thursday]], the ''Cofradía de la Santa Vera Cruz'' was established within the Convent of San Francisco in Logroño—then under the patronage of the House of Medrano.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":3" /> According to records from the Diocesan Historical Archive, this confraternity—one of the oldest in the region—had its own chapel inside the convent. The guardian of the convent served as the chaplain of the cofradía, and the Franciscan community was considered part of the brotherhood.<ref>{{Cite web |title=SEMANA SANTA DE LOGROÑO |url=https://www.hermandadcofradiaslogrono.org/semana-santa-de-logrono |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=web-hermandad |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=La Semana Santa de Logroño, una fiesta con mucho interés - Visita Logroño - Logroño |url=https://visitalogrono.com/-/la-semana-santa-de-logrono-una-fiesta-con-mucho-interes |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=Visita Logroño |language=es-ES}}</ref>

===Outside Catholicism===
====Anglicanism====

One of the results of the [[Oxford Movement]] in the [[Anglican Communion|Anglican Church]] during the 19th century was the re-establishment of religious orders, including some of Franciscan inspiration. The principal Anglican communities in the Franciscan tradition are the [[Community of St. Francis]] (women, founded 1905), the Poor Clares of Reparation (P.C.R.), the [[Society of Saint Francis|Society of St. Francis]] (men, founded 1934) and the [[Community of St. Clare]] (women, enclosed).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Society of St Francis |url=https://anglicanfranciscans.org/index.php |access-date=25 January 2024 |publisher=anglicanfranciscans.org}}</ref>

A U.S.-founded order within the Anglican world communion is the Seattle-founded order of Clares in Seattle (Diocese of Olympia), The Little Sisters of St. Clare.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Little Sisters of St. Clare |url=http://www.stclarelittlesisters.org/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100902173451/http://www.stclarelittlesisters.org/ |archive-date=2 September 2010 |access-date=16 April 2019}}</ref>

The Anglican church retained the Catholic tradition of blessing animals on or near Francis' feast day of 4 October, and more recently Lutheran and other Protestant churches have adopted the practice.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bliss |first=Peggy Ann |date=3 October 2019 |title=Animals to be blessed Saturday at Episcopal Cathedral |url=http://www.sanjuanweeklypr.com/pdf/ediciones-pasadas/Oct-3-19.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191007024646/http://www.sanjuanweeklypr.com/pdf/ediciones-pasadas/Oct-3-19.pdf |archive-date=7 October 2019 |access-date=6 October 2019 |work=The San Juan Daily Star |page=20}}</ref>

====Protestantism====
{{main|Franciscan spirituality in Protestantism}}
Several Protestant groups have emerged since the 19th century that strive to adhere to the teachings of St. Francis.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Heimann |first=Mary |date=May 2017 |title=The secularisation of St Francis of Assisi |journal=British Catholic History |volume=33 |issue=3 |pages=401–420 |doi=10.1017/bch.2017.4 |issn=2055-7973 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

There are also some small Franciscan communities within European Protestantism and the [[Old Catholic Church]]. There are some [[Franciscan orders in Lutheranism|Franciscan orders in Lutheran Churches]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Order of Lutheran Franciscans |url=http://www.lutheranfranciscans.org |access-date=20 June 2015 |publisher=Lutheranfranciscans.org}}</ref> including the [[Order of Lutheran Franciscans]], the [[Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary]] and the Evangelische Kanaan Franziskus-Bruderschaft (Kanaan Franciscan Brothers).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robson |first=Michael J. P. |title=The Cambridge Companion to Francis of Assisi |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2011 |isbn=9780511978128}}</ref>

====Orthodox churches====
Francis is not officially recognized as a saint by any Orthodox Church and the Orthodox Church has not pronounced any official view on the stigmata.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Manifestations - Questions & Answers |url=https://www.oca.org/questions/romancatholicism/manifestations}}</ref> The Orthodox saint, bishop and theologian [[Ignatius Brianchaninov]] referred to a particular hagiographer of Francis of Assisi as being in delusion:

"As an example of a book written in the state of delusion called opinion, we cite the following: 'When Francis was caught up to heaven,' says a writer of his life, 'God the Father, on seeing him, was for a moment in doubt to as [sic] to whom to give the preference, to His Son by nature, or to His son by grace-Francis.' What can be more frightful or madder than this blasphemy, what can be sadder than this delusion?".<ref>Chapter 11 from "The Arena" by Ignatius Brianchaninov.</ref> 

Francis of Assisi received limited veneration by Orthodox Christians in the Middle Ages, and there are Orthodox icons of him at the Church of Panagia Kera at Kritsa, in Crete.<ref>The church of Panagia Kera at Kritsa. Orthodox Crete. Retrieved from: https://orthodoxcrete.com/en/places/the-church-of-panagia-kera-at-kritsa/</ref>

Francis' feast is celebrated at [[New Skete (New York)|New Skete]], an [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Eastern Orthodox]] [[monastic]] community in [[Cambridge, New York]], United States, founded by Catholic Franciscans in the 20th century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Events, New Skete Monastery |url=https://newskete.org/events#cedf0dc2-8e10-4c59-a72c-a3a3517beb29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119133924/https://newskete.org/events#cedf0dc2-8e10-4c59-a72c-a3a3517beb29 |archive-date=19 November 2021 |access-date=21 December 2019 |website=newskete.org}}</ref>

[[Joseph the Hesychast]] had Francis as his baptismal name, with the Greek tradition requiring a Saint's name to be taken at baptism.

The Romanian Orthodox priest, iconographer and saint [[Arsenie Boca]] painted an icon of Saints in Draganescu Church, which included St. Francis of Assisi.<ref name="Discovery">Comșuța Radu, The Discovery of a Mystery, 2018, Descoperirea unei Taine. Retrieved from: https://www.academia.edu/41412677/The_Discovery_of_a_Mystery</ref>

[[File:Icon of St. Francis of Assisi in Draganescu Church, Romania.png|thumb|Icon of Saints, including Francis of Assisi, by the Romanian Orthodox Saint Arsenie Boca, located in Draganescu Church.<ref name="Discovery" />]]

====Other religions====

Outside of Christianity, other individuals and movements are influenced by the example and teachings of Francis. These include the philosopher [[Eckhart Tolle]], who has made videos on the spirituality of Francis.<ref>{{Cite web |title=St Francis of Assisi – What is Perfect Joy! |url=https://www.eckharttollenow.com/new-home-video/?shortcode=7ti9fq |access-date=26 June 2019 |website=Eckhart Tolle Now}}</ref>

The interreligious spiritual community of [[Skanda Vale]] in Wales also takes inspiration from the example of Francis and models itself as an interfaith Franciscan order.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Skanda Vale – Frequently asked questions |url=https://www.skandavale.org/faq/ |access-date=14 November 2018 |website=Skanda Vale}}</ref>

===Main writings===
[[File:Lucas wadding, francisci assisiatis opuscula, per balthasar moretus, anversa 1623 (coll. priv.).jpg|thumb|300px|''Francisci Assisiatis opuscula'', Antverpiae, apud Balthasarem Moretum, 1623]]
* ''Canticum Fratris Solis'' or ''Laudes Creaturarum''; [[Canticle of the Sun]], 1224
* ''Oratio ante Crucifixum'', Prayer before the Crucifix, 1205 (extant in the original Umbrian dialect as well as in a contemporary Latin translation)
* ''Regula non bullata'', the Earlier Rule, 1221
* ''Regula bullata'', the Later Rule, 1223
* ''Testament'', 1226
* ''Admonitions'', 1205 to 1209<ref>{{Cite web |title=Essay about St. Francis and the Franciscan Admonitions &#124; Bartleby |url=https://www.bartleby.com/essay/St-Francis-And-The-Franciscan-Admonitions-FKNT35YTC}}</ref>
For a complete list, see ''The Franciscan Experience''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Writings of St. Francis – Part 2 |url=http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/fra/FRAwr02.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130128093924/http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/fra/FRAwr02.html |archive-date=28 January 2013 |access-date=17 January 2013}}</ref>

Francis is considered the first Italian poet by some literary critics.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3uq0bObScHMC |title=The Cambridge History of Italian Literature |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-52166622-0 |editor-last=Brand |editor-first=Peter |chapter=2 – Poetry. Francis of Assisi (pp. 5ff.) |access-date=31 December 2015 |editor-last2=Pertile |editor-first2=Lino |editor-link2=Lino Pertile |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3uq0bObScHMC&pg=PA5}}</ref> He believed commoners should be able to pray to God in their own language and often wrote in [[Umbrian language|Umbrian]] rather than Latin.<ref name="Francis">{{Cite book |last=Chesterton |first=G.K. |url=http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/stf01010.htm |title=St. Francis |publisher=Image |year=1987 |isbn=0-385-02900-4 |pages=160 p |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130812043401/http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/stf01010.htm |archive-date=12 August 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The anonymous 20th-century prayer "[[Prayer of Saint Francis|Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace]]" is widely attributed to Francis, but there is no evidence for it.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Renoux |first=Christian |title=La prière pour la paix attribuée à saint François: une énigme à résoudre |publisher=Editions franciscaines |year=2001 |isbn=2-85020-096-4 |location=Paris}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Renoux |first=Christian |title=The Origin of the Peace Prayer of St. Francis |url=http://www.franciscan-archive.org/franciscana/peace.html |access-date=9 August 2014}}</ref>
{{Clear}}

==In art==
The Franciscan Order promoted devotion to the life of Francis from his canonization onwards, and Francis appeared in European art soon after his death.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zutshi |first=Patrick |title=The Franciscan order in the medieval English province and beyond |date=2018-07-10 |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |isbn=978-90-485-3775-4 |editor-last=Zutshi |editor-first=Patrick |pages=51–66 |chapter=Images of Franciscans and Dominicans in a manuscript of Alexander Nequam's ''Florilegium'' (Cambridge University Library, MS Gg.6.42) |doi=10.1017/9789048537754.004 |editor-last2=Robson |editor-first2=Michael |s2cid=240379755}}</ref> The order commissioned many works for Franciscan churches, either showing him with sacred figures or episodes from his life. There are large early [[fresco]] cycles in the [[Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi]], parts of which are shown above.

There are countless seventeenth- and eighteenth-century depictions of Saint Francis of Assisi and a musical angel in churches and museums throughout western Europe. The titles of these depictions vary widely, at times describing Francis as "consoled", "comforted", in "ecstasy" or in "rapture"; the presence of the musical angel may or may not be mentioned.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Roberts |first=Holly |date=2020 |title=The Musical Rapture of Saint Francis of Assisi: Hagiographic Adaptations and Iconographic Influences |journal=Music in Art: International Journal for Music Iconography |volume=45 |issue=1–2 |pages=72–86 |issn=1522-7464}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" heights="154" caption="Francis of Assisi in art">
File:Master of the bardi saint francis . St. Francis and scenes from his life 13 cent Santa croce.jpg|''St. Francis and scenes from his life'', 13th century, in [[Santa Croce, Florence]].
File:Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata.jpg|''[[Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata (van Eyck)|Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata]]'', [[Jan van Eyck]], c. 1430–1432, [[Turin]] version
File:Domenico Veneziano - The Stigmatization of St Francis (predella 1) - WGA06432.jpg|''The Stigmatization of St Francis'', [[Domenico Veneziano]], 1445
File:Giovanni Bellini - Saint Francis in the Desert - Google Art Project.jpg|''[[St. Francis in Ecstasy (Bellini)|Saint Francis in the Desert]]'' [[Giovanni Bellini]], c. 1480
File:Carlo Crivelli - Saint Francis Collecting the Blood of Christ - Google Art Project.jpg|''Saint Francis with the Blood of Christ'', [[Carlo Crivelli]], c. 1500
File:El Greco - Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata - Google Art Project.jpg|''[[Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy (El Greco, 1600)|Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata]]'', Studio of [[El Greco]], 1585–1590
File:Ribalta-san francisco-prado.jpg|''Francis of Assisi with angel music'', [[Francisco Ribalta]], c. 1620
File:Francisco de Zurbarán 053.jpg|''Saint Francis in Meditation'', [[Francisco de Zurbarán]], 1639
File:Saint Francis of Assisi by Jusepe de Ribera.jpg|''Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy'', Jusepe de Ribera, 1639
File:Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy-Caravaggio (c.1595).jpg|''[[Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy (Caravaggio)|Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy]]'', [[Caravaggio]], c. 1595
File:Josep Benlliure Gil19.jpg|''Francis of Assisi visiting his convent while far away, in a chariot of fire'', [[José Benlliure y Gil]] (1855–1937)
File:The Ecstasy of st Francis--Sassetta--Bernson collecton--Settignano.jpg|''The Ecstasy of St. Francis'', [[Stefano di Giovanni]], 1444
File:Nazario Gerardi as St. Francis in Francesco, giullare di Dio 2.jpg|Nazario Gerardi as Francis in ''[[The Flowers of St. Francis]]'', 1950
File:Statue in Cloisters said to have the cure for toothache. You can see teeth as votive offerings at the foot of the statue!.jpg|Statue in [[Askeaton Abbey]], Ireland, claimed to cure [[toothache]], 14th–15th century
File:Late 15th - Early 16th century depiction of Saint Francis of Assisi, by Tiberio of Assisi.jpg|''St Francis'', [[Tiberio d'Assisi]], 1470 – 1524
File:El Greco Ecstasy of Saint Francis higher res.jpg|''[[Ecstasy of St. Francis of Assisi]]'', attributed to [[El Greco]].
</gallery>
[[File:Greek Orthodox Icon of St. Francis of Assisi (Church of Panagia Kera).png|thumb|A Greek Orthodox icon, of Cretan origin. From the Church of Panagia Kera (14th century).]]

==Media==
[[File:Assisi San Francesco BW 2.JPG|thumb|Basilica of St. Francis, Assisi]]
[[File:Chania - Katholische Kirche - Innenhof.jpg|thumb|Statue of St. Francis in front of the Catholic church of [[Chania]]]]

===Films===
* ''[[The Flowers of St. Francis]]'', a 1950 film directed by [[Roberto Rossellini]] and co-written by [[Federico Fellini]]. Francis was played by Nazario Gerardi, a [[Franciscans|Franciscan]] friar from the monastery [[Nocera Inferiore]].
* ''[[Francis of Assisi (film)|Francis of Assisi]]'', a 1961 film directed by [[Michael Curtiz]], based on the novel ''The Joyful Beggar'' by [[Louis de Wohl]], starring [[Bradford Dillman]] as Francis. [[Dolores Hart]], who plays [[Clare of Assisi|Clare]], later became a [[Benedictine]] nun. 
* ''[[Francesco di Assisi]]'', a 1966 made-for-television film directed by [[Liliana Cavani]], starring [[Lou Castel]] as Francis.
* ''[[The Hawks and the Sparrows]]'', a 1966 film directed by [[Pier Paolo Pasolini]]
* ''[[Brother Sun, Sister Moon]]'', a 1972 film by [[Franco Zeffirelli]], starring [[Graham Faulkner]] as Francis.
* ''[[Francesco (1989 film)|Francesco]]'', a 1989 film by [[Liliana Cavani]], contemplatively paced, follows Francis of Assisi's evolution from a rich man's son to a religious humanitarian, and eventually to a full-fledged self-tortured saint. Francis is played by [[Mickey Rourke]].
* ''St. Francis'', a 2002 film directed by [[Michele Soavi]], starring [[Raoul Bova]] as Francis.
* ''Clare and Francis'', a 2007 film directed by [[Fabrizio Costa]], starring [[Maria Palma Petruolo]] and [[Ettore Bassi]]
* ''[[Pranchiyettan and the Saint]]'', a 2010 satirical Indian [[Malayalam film]]
* ''Finding St. Francis'', a 2014 film directed by Paul Alexander
* ''L'ami – François d'Assise et ses frères'' (The friend – Francis of Assisi and his brothers),<ref name="movie-lami">{{Cite web |date=2016 |title=L'ami (2016) |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5096600/ |access-date=2023-11-25 |website=imdb.com |quote=The movie follows from 1209 to 1226 Elia da Cortona, one of the most faithful followers of S. Francis.}}</ref> a 2016 film directed by Renaud Fely and Arnaud Louvet starring [[Elio Germano]]
* ''The Sultan and the Saint'',<ref name="wildgoose.tv">{{Citation |title=St. Francis of Assisi: Sign of Contradiction |url=https://wildgoose.tv/programs/st-francis-of-assisi-sign-of-contradiction-46401f |access-date=2023-09-12}}</ref> a 2016 film directed by [[Alexander Kronemer]], starring Alexander McPherson
* ''Sign of Contradiction'',<ref name="wildgoose.tv" /> a 2018 documentary film featuring commentary by Fr. Dave Pivonka, Cardinal [[Raniero Cantalamessa]] and others, focusing on a revealing of the true St. Francis to modern audiences.
*''In Search of St. Francis of Assisi'',<ref>[https://www.greenappleent.com/project/in-search-of-francis-of-assisi/ ''In Search of Saint Francis of Assisi''], Green Apple Entertainment. Retrieved 20 December 2019.</ref> documentary featuring Franciscan friars and others
* ''[[The Letter: A Message for our Earth]]'', a 2022 film on YouTube Originals by Nicolas Brown, telling the story of Saint Francis and the encyclical 'Laudato Si'.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-04 |title=Pope Francis YouTube Doc 'The Letter: A Message For Our Earth' Launches From Vatican City – Trailer |url=https://variety.com/2022/digital/global/youtube-doc-the-letter-a-message-for-our-earth-featuring-pope-francis-1235392482/ |access-date=2022-11-25 |website=Variety}}</ref>

===Music===
{{For|musical settings of the prayer incorrectly attributed to Francis|Prayer of Saint Francis#Musical settings}}
* [[Franz Liszt]]:
** ''Cantico del sol di Francesco d'Assisi'', S.4 (sacred choral work, 1862, 1880–81; versions of the Prelude for piano, S. 498c, 499, 499a; version of the Prelude for organ, S. 665, 760; version of the Hosannah for organ and bass trombone, S.677)
** ''St. François d'Assise: La Prédication aux oiseaux'', No. 1 of ''Deux Légendes'', S.175 (piano, 1862–63)
* [[Gabriel Pierné]]: ''Saint François d'Assise'' (oratorio, 1912)
* [[William Henry Draper (hymnwriter)|William Henry Draper]]: ''[[All Creatures of Our God and King]]'' (hymn paraphrase of ''[[Canticle of the Sun]]'', published 1919)
* [[Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco]]: ''Fioretti'' (voice and orchestra, 1920)
* [[Gian Francesco Malipiero]]: ''San Francesco d'Assisi'' (soloists, chorus and orchestra, 1920–21)
* [[Hermann Suter]]: ''Le Laudi'' (The Praises) or ''Le Laudi di San Francesco d'Assisi'', based on the ''Canticle of the Sun'', ([[oratorio]], 1923)
* [[Amy Beach]]: ''[[Canticle of the Sun (Beach)|Canticle of the Sun]]'' (soloists, chorus and orchestra, 1928)
* [[Paul Hindemith]]: ''[[Nobilissima Visione]]'' (ballet 1938)
* [[Leo Sowerby]]: ''[[The Canticle of the Sun (Sowerby)|Canticle of the Sun]]'' (cantata for mixed voices with accompaniment for piano or orchestra, 1944)
* [[Francis Poulenc]]: ''[[Quatre petites prières de saint François d'Assise]]'' (men's chorus, 1948)
* [[Seth Bingham]]: ''The Canticle of the Sun'' (cantata for chorus of mixed voices with soli ad lib. and accompaniment for organ or orchestra, 1949)
* [[William Walton]]: ''Cantico del sol'' (chorus, 1973–74)
* [[Olivier Messiaen]]: ''[[Saint François d'Assise|St. François d'Assise]]'' (opera, 1975–83)
* {{interlanguage link|Juliusz Łuciuk|pl}}: ''Święty Franciszek z Asyżu'' (oratorio for soprano, tenor, baritone, mixed chorus and orchestra, 1976)
* [[Peter Janssens]]: ''Franz von Assisi'', ''Musikspiel'' (Musical play, text: Wilhelm Wilms, 1978)
* Michele Paulicelli: ''{{interlanguage link|Forza venite gente|it}}'' (musical theater, 1981)
* [[John Michael Talbot]]: ''Troubador of the Great King'' (1981), double-LP composed in honor of the 800th birthday of St. Francis of Assisi.
* [[Karlheinz Stockhausen]]: ''[[Samstag aus Licht#Scene 4: Luzifers Abschied|Luzifers Abschied]]'' (1982), scene 4 of the opera ''[[Samstag aus Licht]]''
* [[Libby Larsen]]: ''I Will Sing and Raise a Psalm'' (SATB chorus and organ, 1995)
* [[Sofia Gubaidulina]]: ''Sonnengesang'' (solo cello, chamber choir and percussion, 1997)
* {{interlanguage link|Juventude Franciscana|pt|Juventude Franciscana}}: ''Balada de Francisco'' (voices accompanied by guitar, 1999)
* [[Angelo Branduardi]]: ''L'infinitamente piccolo'' (album, 2000)
* [[Lewis Nielson]]: ''St. Francis Preaches to the Birds'' (chamber concerto for violin, 2005)
* [[Peter Reulein]] (composer) / [[Helmut Schlegel]] (libretto): ''[[Laudato si' (oratorio)|Laudato si']]'' ([[oratorio]], 2016)
* [[Daniel Dorff]]: ''Flowers of St. Francis'' (solo for Bass Clarinet, 2013)
* [[Mel Hornyak & Elliot Valentine Lee]]: ''Litany of the Martyrs'', appears in ''Adamandi'' (musical number, 2022)

===Selected biographical books===
Hundreds of books have been written about him. The following suggestions are from Franciscan friar Conrad Harkins (1935–2020), director of the Franciscan Institute at St. Bonaventure University.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Harkins |first=Conrad |date=1994 |title=Francis of Assisi: Recommended Resources |url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-42/francis-of-assisi-recommended-resources.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020141857/https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-42/francis-of-assisi-recommended-resources.html |archive-date=20 October 2020 |access-date=11 April 2021 |website=Christianity Today}}</ref>

* [[Paul Sabatier (theologian)|Paul Sabatier]], ''Life of St. Francis of Assisi'' (Scribner's, 1905).
* [[Johannes Jørgensen]], ''St. Francis of Assisi: A Biography'' (translated by T. O’Conor Sloane; Longmans, 1912).
* Arnaldo Fortini, ''Francis of Assisi'' (translated by Helen Moak, Crossroad, 1981).
* [[Nikos Kazantzakis]], ''[[The Poor Man of Assisi|Saint Francis]]'' (Ο Φτωχούλης του Θεού, in Greek; 1954)
* [[John Moorman]], ''St. Francis of Assisi'' (SPCK, 1963)
* John Moorman, "The Spirituality of St. Francis of Assisi" (''Our Sunday Visitor'', 1977).
* Erik Doyle, ''St. Francis and the Song of Brotherhood'' (Seabury, 1981).
* [[Raoul Manselli]], ''St. Francis of Assisi'' (translated by Paul Duggan; Franciscan, 1988).

===Other===
<!-- Note: Before adding to this section, please consider whether the addition will help the reader better understand St. Francis, his life, or his impact on subsequent generations. Mere reference to St. Francis is not enough to justify inclusion. -->
* In [[Rubén Darío]]'s poem "''Los Motivos del Lobo''{{-"}} ("The Reasons of the Wolf") St. Francis tames a terrible wolf only to discover that the human heart harbours darker desires than those of the beast.
* In [[Fyodor Dostoevsky]]'s ''[[The Brothers Karamazov]]'', Ivan Karamazov invokes the name of "Pater Seraphicus", an epithet applied to St. Francis, to describe Alyosha's spiritual guide Zosima. The reference is found in Goethe's ''Faust'', Part 2, Act 5, lines 11,918–25.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Медведев |first=Александр |date=2015 |title="Сердце милующее": образы праведников в творчестве Ф. М. Достоевского и св. Франциск Ассизский |url=https://www.academia.edu/25350873 |journal=Известия Уральского федерального университета. Серия 2: Гуманитарные науки. |volume=2 |issue=139 |pages=222–233 |access-date=11 July 2019 |via=www.academia.edu}}</ref>
* In ''[[Mont Saint Michel and Chartres]]'', [[Henry Adams]]' chapter on the "Mystics" discusses Francis extensively.
* ''Francesco's Friendly World'' was a 1996–97 [[direct-to-video]] Christian animated series produced by [[Lyrick Studios]] that was about Francesco and his talking animal friends as they rebuild the Church of San Damiano.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mark Bernthal |url=http://www.markbernthal.com/markbernthal-com/Mark_Bernthal_-_TV-VIDEOS.html |website=www.markbernthal.com |format=Video}}</ref>
* Rich Mullins co-wrote ''Canticle of the Plains'', a musical, with Mitch McVicker. Released in 1997, it was based on the life of St. Francis of Assisi, but told as a Western story.
* [[G. K. Chesterton]]'s book ''St. Francis of Assisi'', a biographical and philosophical explanation of St. Francis<ref>{{Cite web |date=1923 |title=St. Francis of Assisi by G. K. Chesterton |url=https://archive.org/details/saint-francis-by-g-k-chesterton}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Feast of Saint Francis]]
* ''[[Saint-François d'Assise|St. François d'Assise]]'', an opera by [[Olivier Messiaen]]
* [[Blessing of animals]]
* [[Fraticelli]]
* [[List of places named after Saint Francis|List of places named after St. Francis]]
* [[Pardon of Assisi]]
* [[portal:Catholicism/Patron Archive/October 4|St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint archive]]
* [[Society of Saint Francis|Society of St. Francis]]
* [[Subiaco Abbey#St. Benedict's Cave (Sacro Speco)|St. Benedict's Cave]], which contains a portrait of Francis made during his lifetime
* [[Juniper (friar)|St. Juniper]], one of Francis' original followers
* [[Wolf of Gubbio]]
* [[Itala Mela#Trinitarian indwelling|Trinitarian indwelling]] 
===Prayers===
* [[Canticle of the Sun]], a prayer by Francis
* [[Little Office of the Passion]], composed by Francis
* [[Prayer of Saint Francis|Prayer of St. Francis]], a prayer often misattributed to Francis

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=

<ref name="franciscanmedia.org">{{Cite web |title=Saint Francis of Assisi |url=https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-francis-of-assisi/ |access-date=20 March 2019 |website=Franciscan Media}}</ref>

}}

===General references===
{{refbegin}}
*{{Cite web |last1=Brady |first1=Ignatius Charles |last2=Cunningham |first2=Lawrence |date=September 29, 2020 |title=St. Francis of Assisi |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Francis-of-Assisi |access-date=5 October 2020 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.}}
*{{Cite book |last=Brooke |first=Rosalind B. |title=The Image of St Francis: Responses to Sainthood in the Thirteenth Century |date=2006 |publisher=University Press |location=Cambridge}}
*{{Cite news |last=Delio |first=Ilia |date=20 March 2013 |title=Francis of Assisi, nature's mystic |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/francis-of-assisi-natures-mystic/2013/03/20/82619910-9166-11e2-bdea-e32ad90da239_story.html |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}.
* Scripta Leonis, Rufini et Angeli Sociorum S. Francisci: The Writings of Leo, Rufino and Angelo Companions of St. Francis, original manuscript, 1246, compiled by Brother Leo and other companions (1970, 1990, reprinted with corrections), Oxford: Oxford University Press, edited by Rosalind B. Brooke, in Latin and English, {{ISBN|0-19-822214-9}}, containing testimony recorded by intimate, longtime companions of St. Francis.
* Francis of Assisi, ''The Little Flowers (Fioretti)'', London, 2012. limovia.net {{ISBN|978-1-78336-013-0}}.
* Bonaventure; Cardinal Manning (1867). The Life of St. Francis of Assisi (from the Legenda Sancti Francisci) (1988 ed.). Rockford, Illinois: TAN Books & Publishers {{ISBN|978-0-89555-343-0}}.
* Chesterton, Gilbert Keith (1924). St. Francis of Assisi (14th ed.). Garden City, New York: Image Books.
* Englebert, Omer (1951). The Lives of the Saints. New York: Barnes & Noble.
* Karrer, Otto, ed., St. Francis, The Little Flowers, Legends and Lauds, trans. N. Wydenbruck (London: [[Sheed and Ward]], 1979).
* {{Cite book |last=Tolan |first=John V. |author-link=John V. Tolan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LKoSDAAAQBAJ |title=Saint Francis and the Sultan: The Curious History of a Christian-Muslim Encounter |publisher=University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-19-923972-6 |location=Oxford}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Cite magazine |last=Acocella |first=Joan |date=14 January 2013 |title=Rich Man, Poor Man: The Radical Visions of St. Francis |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/01/14/rich-man-poor-man |access-date=23 January 2015 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |pages=72–77 |volume=88 |issue=43}}.
* {{Cite book |last=Bonaventure |first=Saint Cardinal |author-link=Bonaventure |url=https://www.ccel.org/ccel/ugolino/flowers.html |title=Little Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi |publisher=J.M. Dent; New York: E.P. Dutton |year=1910}} 
* {{Cite book |last=Brady |first=Kathleen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KN6OzgEACAAJ |title=Francis and Clare: The Struggles of the Saints of Assisi |publisher=Lodwin Press, New York |year=2021 |isbn=978-1737549826}}
* ''The Little Flowers [Fioretti] of Saint Francis'' (Translated by Raphael Brown), [[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]], 1998. {{ISBN|978-0-385-07544-2}}.
* [[Valerie Martin]], ''Salvation: Scenes from the Life of St. Francis'', New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2001. {{ISBN|0-375-40983-1}}.
* Giovanni Morello and Laurence B. Kanter, eds., ''The Treasury of Saint Francis of Assisi'', Electa, Milan, 1999. Catalog of exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, March 16 – June 27, 1999.
*{{Cite book |last=O'Reilly |first=Bernard |title=Beautiful pearls of Catholic truth |publisher=Henry Sphar & Co. |year=1897 |chapter=[[s:Beautiful pearls of Catholic truth/Sayings of Brother Giles, one of the First Disciples of St. Francis of Assisi.|Sayings of Brother Giles, one of the First Disciples of St. Francis of Assisi.]]}}
* Paul Moses, ''The Saint and the Sultan: The Crusades, Islam and Francis of Assisi's Mission of Peace'', New York: Doubleday, 2009.
* [[Donald Spoto]], ''Reluctant Saint: The Life of Francis of Assisi'', New York: Viking Compass, 2002. {{ISBN|0-670-03128-3}}.
* Augustine Thompson, O.P., ''Francis of Assisi: A New Biography'', Cornell University Press, 2012.{{ISBN|978-0-80145070-9}}.
* [[André Vauchez]], ''[[Francis of Assisi: The Life and Afterlife of a Medieval Saint]]'', Yale University Press, 2012. {{ISBN|978-0-30017894-4}}.
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|d=Q676555}}
* [https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/216793/Saint-Francis-of-Assisi "St. Francis of Assisi"], ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' online
* [http://www.bartleby.com/210/10/041.html "St. Francis of Assisium, Confessor"], ''Butler's Lives of the Saints''
* [http://franciscan-archive.org/ The Franciscan Archive]
* [http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=50 St. Francis of Assisi – Catholic Saints & Angels]
* [http://www.christianiconography.info/goldenLegend/francis.htm Here Followeth the Life of St. Francis] from Caxton's translation of the Golden Legend
* [http://www.stpetersbasilica.info/Exterior/Colonnades/Saints/St%20Francis%20of%20Assisi-19/StFrancisofAssisi.htm Colonnade Statue in St. Peter's Square]
* [http://www.stpetersbasilica.info/Statues/Founders/FrancisofAssisi/Francis%20of%20Assisi.htm Founder Statue in St. Peter's Basilica]
* {{Cite web |title=The Poor Man of Assisi |url=https://digilander.libero.it/raxdi/inglese/index6.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180323111105/https://digilander.libero.it/raxdi/inglese/induf.htm |archive-date=23 March 2018 |website=Invisible Monastery of charity and fraternity – Christian prayer group}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Francis of Assisi}}
* {{Librivox author |id=9777}}
* [https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/saint-francis-of-assisi Saint Francis of Assisi] Exhibition at the [[National Gallery]], London, May 6 – July 30, 2023. Review: [https://www.nybooks.com/online/2023/07/20/opulence-and-humility-saint-francis-of-assisi/ Julian Bell, "Opulence and Humility"], ''[[The New York Review of Books]]'', August 17, 2023. Review: [[Mary Wellesley]] [https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v45/n15/mary-wellesley/at-the-national-gallery "St Francis of Assisi"], ''London Review of Books'', 27 July 2023.

{{Francis of Assisi}}
{{Franciscans}}
{{History of Christianity}}
{{Catholic saints}}
{{History of the Catholic Church|collapsed}}
{{History of Catholic theology|collapsed}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|Catholicism|Saints}}
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[[Category:Christians of the Fifth Crusade]]
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[[Category:Franciscan mystics]]
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