PATRON SAINT OF: A N I M A L S M E R C H A N T S E C O L O G Y

A little bit about him

In 1182, Pietro Bernardone returned from a trip to

France to find out his wife had given birth to a son. Far from being happy because he had been gone, Pietro was furious because she'd had his new son baptized Giovanni after John the Baptist. The last thing Pietro wanted in his son was a man of God - he wanted a man of business, a cloth merchant like he was, and he especially wanted a son who would reflect his infatuation with France. He renamed his son Francesco -- which is the equivalent of calling him Frenchman.

Growing up
Francis enjoyed a very easy rich life growing up. Ever since he was born, he was loved by everyone. This

meant he was constantly happy. No-one ever said anything bad about little Francis. If he was ill, he would get taken care of, if he was picky, he was excused, if he did badly in school, nobody minded. In a way, his life was too good for him. Nobody ever tried to control or teach him.

Growing up
As he came into his teen years, Francis became the leader of a group

that went out and had wild parties. Although, he was fulfilling his fathers dream. He was falling in love with France. The music of France, the people of France, the music of France and the romance of France. It was not also long before he realised that he was good at business. Francis began to get greedy. He wanted more, much more. Not for one moment did he want holiness. Francis wanted to be a knight in shining armour. He first got his chance when Assisi declared war on their long-time enemy, the nearby town of Perugia.

Francis finally gets what he wants

Most of the troops of Assisi were butchered in the fight. Only those wealthy enough to expect to be ransomed were

taken prisoner. At last, Francis was with the nobility he had always wanted to be in, although he was in a dark cellar in shackles. A year later, he was ransomed, and this experience didnt seem to change him much! In fact, the first thing he done when he was released was to gather his friends and have a party!

The beginning of his vocation

Francis had a new chance, to go out and become a Knight for the

Fourth Crusade. It was his dream. His father bought him lovely armour, covered in gold with a magnificent cloak. However, he only made a days ride from Assisi before returning home. He had had a dream where God had appeared to him and told him what he was doing was wrong. God told him to go home. So, go home he did. He was the village idiot. Everyone stood pointing, laughing and shouting rude comments. His Father was very angry at this news, mainly because he had spent a lot of money on buying that armour!

Life on hold?
Francis' conversion did not happen over

night. God had waited for him for twenty-five years and now it was Francis' turn to wait. Francis started to spend more time in prayer. He went off to a cave and wept for his sins. Sometimes God's grace overwhelmed him with joy. Life couldn't just stop for God. There was a business to run, customers to wait on.

The Test
One day, Francis was on his way to the cave where he

often went to pray riding through the countryside. All of a sudden a man just appeared in the middle of the field. Francis, a man who very strongly disliked disfigurements and deformities, a man who loved beauty, jumped of his horse, threw his arms around the leper and kissed him. As he did, he felt the joy sweep through his body. It is apparent that Francis always thought this was a test from God.

The Petty Crime

The search for conversion had led him to the

ancient church in San Damiano. While he was praying there, the Lord spoke to him. Francis, repair my Church. So, Francis went away, took materials from his fathers shop and sold them to get the money to repair the Church. And he did exactly that!

 His father, Pietro, saw this as an act of theft.

Put together with his cowardice, waste of money, and

disinterest in money seemed to make his father think that he was no longer his son, but a mad man! Pietro dragged Francis before the whole town and the Bishop and demanded that he pay back all the money he had wasted. Pietro was that angry, he took away all his sons right as the hier to his money, his business, his everything!

A small act of kindness

The Bishop was very kind indeed to Francis; he told

him that he would have to pay all the money back. However, do not worry, because: God will provide That was all Francis needed to hear. He gave back all the money owed and took off all his clothes in-front (the clothes his father had paid for and given him) in front of the whole crowd!

 He then declared: Pietro Bernardone is no longer my father. From

now on, I can say with complete freedom Our Father who art in Heaven. Wearing nothing but the shirt and trousers he had left, he went of into the freezing woods singing. When the robbers beat him, and took all his clothes, he got back up out of that ditch and went away, singing. Now, Francis, had nothing, and everything.

Vacating his vocation

Francis went back to what he considered to be Gods

call. He begged for stones, and went back to reparing the San Damiano Church with his own hands. Not long after starting, with the help of God, Francis was finished. In this Church, he began to preach. Francis was not a real Priest at the time, but still preached about returning to God and obedience to the Church. Francis knew about the decay in the Church, but always showed the people and the building his utmost respect.

Francis companions
Slowly, companions came to Francis, people who

wanted to follow his life. Sleeping in the open, begging for food to eat... And loving God. Francis knew that he now had to have some kind of direction in his life so he opened the Bible in 3 different places. He read the command for the rich young man to sell all his things and give to the poor, the order for the disciples to take nothing on the journey and the command to take up the cross daily.

 "Here is our rule," Francis said - as simple, and as

seemingly impossible, as that. He was going to do what no one thought possible any more - live by the Gospel. Francis took these commands so literally that he made one brother run after the thief who stole his hood and offer him his robe!

 Francis never wanted to found a religious order -- this former knight

thought that sounded too military. He thought of what he was doing as expressing God's brotherhood. His companions came from all walks of life, from fields and towns, nobility and common people, universities, the Church, and the merchant class. Francis practiced true equality by showing honor, respect, and love to every person whether they were beggar or pope. Francis' brotherhood included all of God's creation. Much has been written about Francis' love of nature but his relationship was deeper than that. We call someone a lover of nature if they spend their free time in the woods or admire its beauty. But Francis really felt that nature, all God's creations, were part of his brotherhood. The sparrow was as much his brother as the pope. In one famous story, Francis preached to hundreds of birds about being thankful to God for their wonderful clothes, for their independence, and for God's care. The story tells us the birds stood still as he walked among him, only flying off when he said they could leave.

His hard life devoted to poverty

When ever one of his friars saw someone poorer than

themselves, they would always make sure they got a bite to eat or something like that. Francis didnt try to abolish poverty, he just tried to make it Holy. Francis, and his followers, never accepted money. They treated them as pebbles in the road. Eventually, news of this reached the Bishop and he was horrified.

 He asked: How can you live like this? Francis and his friars replied: If we had any

possessions, we would need weapons and laws to defend them. Also, Francis reasoned, what could you do to a man who owns nothing? You can't starve a fasting man, you can't steal from someone who has no money, you can't ruin someone who hates prestige. They were truly free.

The end for Francis

After this, many more things happened in his life. For instance, he rode a mule to try and make peace with

the Muslims of the Sultan, and he returned to Italy to find that in ten years, he had gained five thousand followers! He finally gave up authority in his order -- but he probably wasn't too upset about it. Now he was just another brother, like he'd always wanted. Francis' final years were filled with suffering as well as humiliation. Praying to share in Christ's passion he had a vision received the stigmata, the marks of the nails and the lance wound that Christ suffered, in his own body.

 Years of poverty and wandering had made Francis ill. When

he began to go blind, the pope ordered that his eyes be operated on. This meant cauterizing his face with a hot iron. Francis spoke to "Brother Fire": "Brother Fire, the Most High has made you strong and beautiful and useful. Be courteous to me now in this hour, for I have always loved you, and temper your heat so that I can endure it." And Francis reported that Brother Fire had been so kind that he felt nothing at all. How did Francis respond to blindness and suffering? That was when he wrote his beautiful Canticle of the Sun that expresses his brotherhood with creation in praising God. Francis never recovered from this illness. He died on October 4, 1226 at the age of 45. Francis is considered the founder of all Franciscan orders and the patron saint of ecologists and merchants.

How is Francis a disciple of Jesus?

He lived a simple life just like Jesus. 2. He did as Jesus asked him, for the young rich man, to sell his things, and give to the poor. 3. He had his own disciples, and he taught them his way of life. All these things make him a disciple of Jesus, because they are all the things that were asked of him. He went away into a life isolation to re-build Jesus real house and then began to preach his teachings in there.
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 In fact, Francis is also a disciple of God.

He re-built his house 2. He fulfilled his vocation 3. He lived a simple life as he was called to do 4. He always listened to God and did as he was asked 5. He was always willing to complete the mission God was going to set him. Francis was a not only a disciple, but an example. He lead others in the way that God and Jesus did.
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How has Francis life reflected the message of the Gospel?

Francis life is a perfect reflection of the Gospel

because he is in the gospel and furthermore, he preaches it. One of his most famous quotes is: Always preach the gospel, and if necessary, use words. By this he is saying, you can live the way the Lord wants you to, you can lead by example as he did. You can live it and you can be the gospel if you love the Lord and you want to follow in his footsteps.

The impact Saint Francis of Assisi has on modern society

Saint Francis of Assisi has a huge impact on modern

society. His life had an impact on everyone he ever met and should have an impact on everyone who ever hears the story of this fantastic Saint. The message that I think this would give to a Christian today is that it doesnt matter what you had, havent got and want to have, as long as you have faith, and love for the Lord, then you will live a long and prosperous life.

Why did Francis do what he did?

Why did Francis do what he did? He had everything... Money Family Power

Because he knew what his vocation was and he knew that if he listened to the Lord, he would be greatly rewarded and he was. He was blessed with a long life which he loved and enjoyed thoroughly!

So what exactly did he do?

He taught his disciples that no matter what you have, always share with people less fortunate than yourself and always make sure you help people if you can. Lead a good, Christian life, because its not about what you have, its about what you can gain with the love of the Lord.

What made Francis do this?

He knew that he had been chosen to fulfil the Lords wishes and he did so. Jesus influenced him to go out and do this because of the simple life that he led and how he and his disciples went around spreading the good word and helping those less fortunate than themselves along the way.

Comparison
Saint Francis of Assisi Led a simple life devoted to spreading the good word of the Lord Had a group of disciples Fed 5000 people with his lifestyle and his love of the Lord Loved the world the God had created Preached in his place of worship the Gospel Jesus Led a simple life devoted to teaching others to spread the good word of the Lord Had a group of disciples Fed 5000 people with a few loaves of bread and some fish Loved the world which his Father had created Preached in his place of worship the Gospel

Problems of being a Disciple

You are always going to have some raciest people in

the society in which you live. These are the people that would make you question what you are doing. Is God actually real? Is what Im doing pointless? Is the gospel just something that a mad man scribbled on a wall? You will probably always be criticised in one way or another for your religion.