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Francis of Assisi: Difference between revisions
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== Early life == | == Early life == | ||
As Francis was in prayer one day in 1206 at the ruined chapel of San Damiano outside the gate of Assisi, he heard a voice from the crucifix above the altar command: “Go, Francis, and repair my house which, as you see, is falling in ruins.” Renouncing worldly goods and family ties, Francis embraced a life of poverty and, for two or three years, fervently dedicated himself to repairing the church of San Damiano, a chapel honoring St. Peter, and the Portiuncula, the chapel of St. Mary of the Angels, near Assisi. | Francis was born in 1182. His family name was Bernardone and his father was a cloth merchant. He led a boisterous and an indulgent life as a youth, and he used his money to pay for all the parties they held, and so he was called “the king of feasts.” | ||
He left home to fight in the war with Perugia in 1202, a warring city state next to his own, and was captured and imprisoned for a year. Upon his return, he still was continuing in his old pleasureful ways. He was determined to become a knight. He heard the tales of [[King Arthur]] and the Round Table and the knights and the chivalry, and so he conceived of himself in the person of a knight. But as he was going to receive the necessary training, a mysterious voice spoke to him from within and posed to him this great riddle: “Francis, who can do more for you, the Lord or the servant?” | |||
Francis answered, “The Lord.” | |||
The voice said, “Therefore why do you leave the Lord for the servant and the prince for the vassal?” | |||
Francis answered, “O Lord, what do you wish me to do?” | |||
And the Lord said, “Return to Assisi and what you are to do will be revealed to you there.” | |||
And so he returned. He became a very different Francis. He was quiet and serious. He knew the conversion of the [[Saint Paul|apostle Saul]] on the road to Damascus. He had stepped into the very living presence of the aura of [[Jesus Christ]], and that was enough to strip from him the outer layer, merely a patine over his soul of light, of the world consciousness. | |||
== His calling == | |||
As Francis was in prayer one day in 1206 at the ruined chapel of San Damiano outside the gate of Assisi, he heard a voice from the crucifix above the altar command: “Go, Francis, and repair my house which, as you see, is falling in ruins.” | |||
Francis set about to do his heavenly Father’s business. He took a bolt of cloth from his human father, and he sold it. He presented the money to the Church. The priest refused it because he had heard that Francis had stolen the goods from his father in order to get the money. | |||
Francis’ father pressed charges against him for the theft. Because Francis had taken the vow of the oblate, he was tried in an ecclesiastical court. Upon hearing the charges read by his father, Francis stripped himself of his clothing and threw them at the feet of his father. He said, “Here, I strip myself. Take what I have.” | |||
Immediately the bishop walked over to Francis and laid his own mantle upon him. Francis had received the appearance of the Saviour directly, and now the outer Church recognized him. The mantle of the bishop was laid upon him. He gave up the clothing, the right and wrong of this world, and he was clothed upon with the mantle of the one who was anointed within the structure of Jesus’ Church. The case was dismissed because the money had already been returned to Francis’ father by the priest of the Church. | |||
Renouncing worldly goods and family ties, Francis embraced a life of poverty. He wandered around the countryside for a year clothed in tattered rags. He returned to Assisi and begged for lime and mortar to repair the church of San Damiano, and for two or three years, he fervently dedicated himself to repairing the church of San Damiano, a chapel honoring St. Peter, and the Portiuncula, the chapel of St. Mary of the Angels, near Assisi. He was treated with great scorn by the people of Assisi, but he continued to pursue the path that he knew to be his own. | |||
== Francis’ “day of decision” == | |||
The Portiuncula, which was to become the cradle of the Franciscan Order, was described by Saint Bonaventure as “the place that Francis loved most in the whole world.” It was there that Francis received the revelation of his true vocation. | The Portiuncula, which was to become the cradle of the Franciscan Order, was described by Saint Bonaventure as “the place that Francis loved most in the whole world.” It was there that Francis received the revelation of his true vocation. | ||
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<blockquote>Go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils. Freely ye have received, freely give. Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves; for the workman is worthy of his meat.</blockquote> | <blockquote>Go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils. Freely ye have received, freely give. Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves; for the workman is worthy of his meat.</blockquote> | ||
Francis later recalled this as his “day of decision”—the day in which “the Most High personally revealed to me that I ought to live according to the Holy Gospel.” He donned a coarser garment, went barefoot, and began to preach to the townspeople, attracting followers to his way of life. | Francis later recalled this as his “day of decision”—the day in which “the Most High personally revealed to me that I ought to live according to the Holy Gospel.” He donned a coarser garment, went barefoot, and began to preach to the townspeople, attracting followers to his way of life. His early followers came from the well-to-do families of Assisi; some that had been on the path of pleasure with him. | ||
== The founding of the Franciscan Order == | == The founding of the Franciscan Order == | ||
In 1209, Francis, with a band of eleven disciples, went to Rome to seek the approval of Pope Innocent III for a “rule of life” to formally begin his religious order. The Pope assented when he recognized Francis as the same figure he had seen in a dream holding up the Lateran basilica on his own back. This marked the official founding of the | In 1209, Francis, with a band of eleven disciples, went to Rome to seek the approval of Pope Innocent III for a “rule of life” to formally begin his religious order. The Pope initially agreed to the new rule, but many of his advisors objected. Cardinal Giovanni di San Paolo (who later became Pope Gregory the Ninth) told the Pope, “If we reject the petition of this poor man on the grounds that the Rule is new and too austere when he petitions us to approve a form of life which is in keeping with the Gospel, we must fear that we may displease the very Gospel of Jesus Christ.” The Pope assented when he recognized Francis as the same figure he had seen in a dream holding up the Lateran basilica on his own back. | ||
This marked the official founding of the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor (the “little brothers”), which was founded “to follow the teachings of our Lord [[Jesus Christ]] and to walk in his footsteps.” | |||
Francis wrote: “The Rule and life of the Friars Minor is this, namely, to observe the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ by living in obedience, without property, and in chastity.” | |||
Francis and his companions made their home near a river, and it was a hovel in which these despisers of large and beautiful habitations sought refuge. Here they found shelter from the storms, for as Francis said, “One goes more quickly to heaven from a hovel than from a palace.” Then they were driven from their place by a peasant, and so they left the refuge peacefully and took the road to Portiuncola, which became their base for the next ten years. Francis continued preaching in Assisi, and in those ten years the order grew from an initial twelve friars to three thousand in number. | |||
In 1212, when Clare, a young devotee of noble birth, determined to follow his way of life, Francis began a second order for women, which became known as the Poor Clares (or the Order of Saint Clare). Around 1221, he established the Third Order of Brothers and Sisters of Penance, a lay fraternity for those who did not wish to withdraw from the world or take religious vows but desired to live by Franciscan precepts. | |||
== Francis and Clare == | == Francis and Clare == | ||
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[[Stigmata]] | [[Stigmata]] | ||
== For more information == | |||
For more on the life of Saint Francis and the ongoing mission of Francis and Clare in this age, see: | |||
* Sermon by Elizabeth Clare Prophet on the life of Saint Francis, June 30, 1978. | |||
* Dictation Out of the Love of Francis and Clare, July 1, 1977, published in {{POWref|57|14|, July 15, 2014}} | |||
== Sources == | == Sources == | ||
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{{POWref|28|9|, March 3, 1985, endnotes}} | {{POWref|28|9|, March 3, 1985, endnotes}} | ||
Elizabeth Clare Prophet, sermon on the life of Francis of Assisi, June 30, 1978. | |||
[[Category:Christian saints]] | [[Category:Christian saints]] | ||
[[Category:Embodiments of ascended masters]] | [[Category:Embodiments of ascended masters]] | ||
<references /> | <references /> | ||