How to become a Saint with St Francis? #history

The rich young knight stripped off all his clothes and threw them on the ground at the foot of his father in front of the city courts. This is St. Francis of Assisi – one of the most important saints in the history of Christianity, and the 4th of October is when the church celebrates his life and legacy. Born in 1181, Francis was the son of a wealthy cloth merchant. He grew up surrounded by privilege, money, and the dreams of knighthood. But when he encountered Jesus, everything changed. Contemplating a painting of Christ crucified in the abandoned Church of San Damiano he heard a voice saying: “Rebuild my church” which he did. Brick by brick. Francis’s main legacy is his radical embrace of poverty. It led him to the point of standing before his father, giving him back his clothes, his inheritance, even his very name – saying he now had only one Father: the one in heaven. He lived with nothing so he could depend entirely on God. He called poverty his ‘lady,’ and his example inspired thousands to leave wealth behind and follow Christ with joy. Francis transformed Christian art. One Christmas he literally invented live Nativity plays at Greccio, helping ordinary people see and touch the wonder of the Christian Story. Artists like Giotto filled Italian churches with frescoes of his life, launching a new realism that helped give birth to the Renaissance. For Bonaventure, the author of his most famous biography, Francis was like the merchant in Jesus’ parable who sold everything for the pearl of great price. His life shows that when you let go of the world’s treasures, you discover a far greater one: the beauty of Jesus himself.