HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY: FRANCIS OF ASSIS

Jason M. Fletcher
Historical and Contemporary Models of Missions, Evangelism, and Church Growth
DMN 8803
January 10, 2010
 The earliest known writing of Francis of Assisi is a prayer used in the celebration of the

Eucharist in which he prays, “Most High, glorious God, enlighten the darkness of my heart and

give me true faith, certain hope, and perfect charity, sense and knowledge, Lord, that I may carry

out Your holy and true command.”1 Because he lived simply and followed Christ‟s teaching,

Francis of Assisi became the leader of a great missionary movement during the early part of the

13th century.

Francis of Assisi, as he is known today, was born as “Giovanni Francesco di

Bernardone,” the son of an affluent Italian cloth merchant who lived around 1182.2 Though he

was raised in a family who obviously lived outside of poverty, merchants were still considered

social outcasts and part of a class lower than nobility, a class called minores. 3 He received no

more than three years of formal education at the schola minor attached to the Church of San

Giorgino between the ages of seven and ten.4 It would be here that he would have learned

enough Latin to be able to recite the Lord‟s Prayer and the Apostle‟s Creed at Mass. Though he

never mastered Latin, he received more education than most people of his time.5

1
Regis J. Armstrong, J. A. Wayne Hellman, and William J. Short, eds. Francis of Assisi:
Early Documents, vol. 1, (New York: New City Press, 2000), 40.
2
R.W. Southern, Western Society and the Church in The Middle Ages (London: Penguin
Books, 1990), 281.
3
Donald Spoto, Reluctant Saint (New York: Viking Compass, 2002), 4.
4
Spoto, Reluctant Saint, 18.
5
Ibid., 18-19.

1
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The education that he was to receive from his father, however, was business. By the time

he was twelve years old his father took him out of school and started taking him on his business

trips to France. They would travel two or three times a year with each trip lasting up to two

months.6 During these times Francis was introduced to the French language and singing by the

traveling troubadours. It was in this house of privilege that Francis would grow up and become

an associate in his father‟s business, selling fine clothes and material from around the world.7 In

1196, at the age of 13, he was officially invited to join the merchants‟ guild.8

As a young man he was known for his extravagant lifestyle as well as his generosity to

the poor. He was known to have spent his days and nights roaming through the city of Assisi

singing and partying with his friends. He also spent considerable sums of money throwing

banquets, often giving away food to the poor.9 It was during one day while selling his father‟s

wares that he was too busy with work to respond to the request of a beggar. As soon as the man

left, Francis became overwhelmed with regret and made a vow to God that he would never

refuse alms “for the love of God.”10 His help and concern for the poor would drive his ministry

for the rest of his life.

A turning point in his life would come in 1202, when the men of Assisi went to war.

Francis was captured and spent about a year in an Etruscan prison. Conditions were notably

harsh and upon his release in 1203 due to a truce that had been signed as well as a generous

6
Spoto, Reluctant Saint, 22.
7
Margaret Oliphant, Francis of Assisi (London: Macmillan and Co., 1870), 6.
8
Spoto, Reluctant Saint, 24.
9
Ibid., 25.
10
Oliphant, Francis of Assisi, 7.
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ransom paid by Francis‟ father, he returned to Assisi sick with malaria and badly malnourished.

He would spend another year bedridden with sickness.11 Though he regained much of his

strength, Francis did not regain his earlier pursuits of pleasure and wealth. He did not have any

direction or ambition in life until one day in 1205 when he stumbled into an old chapel, San

Damiano, which stood about a mile outside of Assisi. He sat and meditated in the old,

dilapidated church that had fallen into disrepair. It was upon this time of reflection that he

sensed the crucified Christ speak to him, “‟Francis,‟ it said, calling him by name, „go rebuild My

house; as you see, it is all being destroyed.‟”12 It was at this point that Francis had found his

purpose in life, to rebuild Christ‟s church.

He began his spiritual journey completely on his own. His first mission was to physically

rebuild that dilapidated chapel, San Damiano. He received permission from the priest to sweep

the floors and repair the walls. He used his business experience as well as his charm to barter in

exchange for whatever he needed. He was known to find stones in fields or streams and when he

needed lumber or heavy supplies he would simply ask for donations. In any case, Francis

repaired that chapel and moved on to repair two more just like it.13 While his early ministry

consisted of physically rebuilding the church, he went on to rebuild it spiritually. After Francis‟

conversion, the bishop in Assisi, Guido, encouraged him to take a pilgrimage to Rome. Clothed

in only a simple tunic with a rope for a belt, Francis left for the center of the Catholic Church.

When he arrived he encountered a group of sick beggars at the entrance to St. Peter‟s Basilica

11
Spoto, Reluctant Saint, 36-37.
12
Regis J. Armstrong, J. A. Wayne Hellman, and William J. Short, eds. Francis of Assisi:
Early Documents, vol. 2, (New York: New City Press, 2000), 249.
13
Spoto, Reluctant Saint, 72.
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and gave them what was left of the small purse the bishop had given him.14 It would seem that

from early on in his conversion Francis desired to give freely to those in need and live as simply

as humanly possible.

While on his return from Rome, Francis encountered a leper colony. At this time, lepers

were considered social outcasts and had no legal standing or rights under any law, either civil or

ecclesiastical. Having no food or money himself to give, he knelt beside one of the lepers and

merely embraced him.15 This would have been scandalous to any one of Francis‟

contemporaries as lepers were considered “untouchables.” It had a tremendous impact upon

Francis as his mission now was not merely physically rebuilding dilapidated chapels, but upon

ministering to and rebuilding the lives of people. Specifically, he began a ministry to the lepers

and outcasts in his own community. Though he would beg for them, taking them food and alms,

this was only the beginning of his service.16 He would carry the lepers on his back to streams to

bathe them and wash their wounds even to the point of cleaning out “the pus from their sores.”17

The next transition for Francis would come upon his completion of the repairs of his third

chapel called St. Mary‟s. It was owned by a Benedictine monastery that had since abandoned the

chapel. Once Francis was finished with the physical repairs, it was ready for Mass. The priest

read from Matthew 10:7-9 which included Jesus‟ command to his disciples to go and proclaim

the good news, taking nothing with them.18 Francis wasted no time in applying what he had just

14
Spoto, Reluctant Saint, 57.
15
Ibid., 58.
16
Ibid., 58-59.
17
Armstrong, Hellman, and Short, eds. Francis of Assisi, vol. 1, 194.
18
Spoto, Reluctant Saint, 67.
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heard. Included in his schedule each day from this point forward, after the work of the day was

done, he would walk throughout the area and preach to whomever he met along the way.19

The content of his preaching emphasized an active faith. An outline of his preaching has

survived: “Do penance—change your lives—by performing good works, since we will all soon

die. Give to others, and it will be given to you. Forgive and you shall be forgiven. And if you

do not forgive others their sins, the Lord will not forgive your sins.”20 From this summary one

may see that Francis did not find it sufficient for a person to merely attend Mass or give to the

Church. His emphasis was upon giving to poor, as he himself practiced. The urgency of his

message speaks aloud, “since we will all soon die.” One does not have work hard to conjecture

if his urgency was as a result of his own physical frailty and near-death experience coupled with

a retrospective look at his squandered youth. Forgiveness was also a key element in his

preaching.

It would not be long before others saw Francis‟ work and sought to follow after him.

Francis did not seek out followers, he simply led by example and people started gravitating

toward him. His first two followers were Bernard Quintavalle, a wealthy merchant from Assisi

and Peter Catanio. When these two men met with Francis for guidance, they read three passages

of Scripture which became the cornerstone for the movement that was about to be birthed. The

first passage was from Mark 10:21 where Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell all of his

possessions and give the proceeds to the poor. This would lead brother Bernard to sell his

profitable business and all his possessions and distribute alms to the poor. The second passage

19
Spoto, Reluctant Saint, 69.
20
Armstrong, Hellmann, and Short, Francis of Assisi, vol. 1, 78.
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was from Luke 9:3 in which Jesus instructed his disciples to take nothing for their journey, not

even an extra tunic. The early followers also followed this passage in that they held no

possessions and wore the most basic of garments. This was in stark contrast to the robes and

jewels that adorned the bishops of the time as well as even the wealth of the Benedictine monks.

The final passage they read together was Matthew 16:24 that emphasized Jesus‟ followers must

deny themselves.21

Within a year that group of three had grown to almost a dozen. When they would travel

to other towns and minister to the poor, they would often be asked what religious order they

belonged. At this point, Francis would simply respond, “We are penitents and were born in

Assisi.”22 What this shows is that even though Francis had developed a following, he resisted

institutionalizing his group. Though his followers looked to him for leadership, for Francis,

there was no hierarchy as he considered himself merely one of a group of brothers. In a society

that was very stratified with clear lines of social hierarchy, Francis clung to the conviction that

whatever group that was starting to coalesce around him would be more egalitarian.

Heeding the advice of bishop Guido, Francis would return to Rome. The group had

grown to the size that it needed the official blessing of the Pope or it might see the same fate as

other similar groups before who had been branded as heretics, most notably the Waldensians.23

At the age of 28 in 1210, he traveled to Rome with eleven of his followers to petition Pope

Innocent III for permission from the Church to preach and gather others who wanted to follow in

21
Spoto, Reluctant Saint, 72.
22
Armstrong, Hellmann, and Short, Francis of Assisi, vol. 2, 43.
23
Spoto, Reluctant Saint, 93.
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his way of life.24 An interesting aspect of this was that while the Pope granted Francis‟ request,

Francis departed from Rome with only the Pope‟s verbal commitment. He carried no official

papal document to carry with him as he embarked on his plan.25

One of the novelties of Francis‟ request included his appeal to be allowed to preach

anywhere, not being restricted to a certain territory.26 This would free him from being under the

authority of his current bishop, bypassing the accepted authoritarian structure of the Church. His

first true missionary journey would be with his original spiritual brother, Bernard, would be to

Spain. Over three years he supervised the spreading of his message of unconditional love and

forgiveness all over the towns and villages of Spain.27 They would move on from there to

Germany and even England.28 Francis would later heed the call of the Pope to crusade against

the Saracens and travel to Egypt in an attempt to convert the new Sultan, Al-Kamil.29 It would

be this freedom that would allow his followers the ability within seventy years to have a presence

in China and parts of Asia.30

Another novelty was that in comparison to the traditional monastic orders, Francis was

convinced that the gospel was best lived out among people, not behind the confines of the

24
Southern, Western Society, 281.
25
Spoto, Reluctant Saint, 93.
26
Ibid., 93.
27
Ibid., 139.
28
Ibid., 142.
29
John Holland Smith, Francis of Assisi, (New York: Charles Scribner‟s Sons, 1972),
129.
30
Spoto, Reluctant Saint, 99.
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cloister.31 Thus, Francis did not look to retreat from the world but to follow Christ‟s command

to go into the world.

Finally, Francis did not seek ordination into the priesthood, neither did he expect his

followers to become priests. In fact, one of his original followers, Peter Catanio, was a candidate

for the priesthood, though he renounced that way to follow the way of Francis.32 Upon receiving

Pope Urban‟s blessing, he and his original eleven followers were asked to submit to tonsure—the

ceremonial cutting of the hair on the crown of one‟s head to signify admission to the lowest class

of church status as a sign of loyalty to the Church. One biographer notes that this must have

caused Francis “some dismay.”33

He wanted to call his new band, fratres minores, the “lesser brothers,” with the

understanding that they would be subject to all men.34 Eventually it would be recognized with

the more formal title of the “Order of Lesser Brothers.” It is commonly referred to the as the

Franciscans today, probably to the revulsion of its founder.

The original rule, or guiding principles, that Francis laid down for this new order is lost to

history. Scholars do believe that it included a strong call to total renunciation of the world. This

renunciation would include selling all forms of property and giving away all personal wealth and

belongings to the poor.35 Originally it was delivered orally by Francis to Pope Urban III. It

31
Spoto, Reluctant Saint, 92.
32
Ibid., 72.
33
Ibid., 95.
34
Armstrong, Hellman, and Short, Francis of Assisi, vol. 1, 216.
35
Southern, Western Society, 281.
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remained an oral tradition until 1223 when by necessity of growth the rule was expanded and

formalized into what is known as The Earlier Rule.36

While Francis resisted the institutionalization of his group, in less than ten years since he

received approval to form the fratres minores it had grown to around five thousand brothers.37

With the increasing size came the increasing needs. There was a need for the brothers to own

property and houses to provide shelter for the burgeoning ranks. Francis saw property as the

doorstep to authority and power. It was like a slippery slope leading to the same trappings that

had caught the Benedictine monks and the priesthood.38

There was also an increase in the number of priests and those who valued formal

education who had joined the ranks of the brothers. Education required books, another form of

property and wealth that Francis resisted.39

With the calls to formalize and institutionalize the movement growing stronger from

within its own ranks and from the Church, in 1220, Francis resigned his supervision function

within the Order. He resisted writing a Rule, for obvious reasons, but saw that as his final act of

service to the group which he had helped found. Through sickness and the resistance of his

successor to Francis ever completing his task, Francis completed the Early Rule by the end of

1221. Much to his dismay, the progressives revised it, removing some of the harsher elements of

36
Regis J. Armstrong and Ignatius C. Brady, Francis and Clare: The Complete Works,
(New York: Paulist Press, 1982), 107.
37
Spoto, Reluctant Saint, 152-153.
38
Ibid., 171.
39
Ibid.,,172.
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Francis‟ ideals, most notably, the original principle which called for the brothers to hold no

possessions and take nothing with them on their journeys.

He would continue to be plagued by ill-health for the rest of his life. Eventually, he

would lose his sight and suffer at the hands of several physicians to no avail.40 Though bed-

ridden and in constant pain, near the end of his life, he was instrumental in ending a war that had

broken out in their region.41 He would die surrounded by his followers on October 3, 1226, at

the age of 44. His last recorded words to his brothers were, “I have done what is mine; May

Christ teach you what is yours!”42 His final request was that as soon as he died, for his body to

be laid on the floor completely stripped of any clothes for “about the time it would take to walk a

leisurely mile.”43 Hence, he would die completely naked of this world, his heart fully enveloped

in the heart of Christ.

Several aspects of the life of Francis of Assisi are striking in their application to the

church. First, was his sense of dedication and urgency. While he did not begin his adult life

following God, once he does, he does it with all of his strength and might. He was completely

dedicated to following the will of God even when it meant going against the established order or

culture. He also sensed the urgency and fleeting nature of life. His health issues limited his

ability to travel, but that did not stop him from traveling across continents or even oceans to

spread the gospel. Much of what he accomplished was within the span of about two decades.

What would the modern implications be, would we to live with such an urgency?

40
Spoto, Reluctant Saint, 204-205.
41
Ibid., 206.
42
Armstrong, Hellman, and Short, Francis of Assisi, vol. 2, 386.
43
Ibid., 388.
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Second, Francis followed a leadership by example. Instead of focusing on teaching his

pupils as a professor at a university, Francis focused on modeling the way of life that he felt

Christ would have him to live. When the fraternity grew, there is no evidence that Francis shied

away from any of the physical duties required of any of the other brothers. He still worked,

cared for the poor, and preached until he was physically incapable. Even blind and bedridden he

continued to minister to those who sought him out. He lived by the example of not asking

someone else to do something which he was unwilling to do himself.

Thirdly, we see in Francis the desire to create a truly organic movement of the people of

God doing the work of God. He resisted any sense of formalization or institutionalization

throughout his lifetime. While true he kept a strong connection to the Catholic church, his

structure was something completely outside of the norm for the Middle Ages. The speed of how

fast the movement grew was a testimony to its truly organic nature. Francis held the door wide

open to those who wanted to join, as opposed to the priesthood and the monastic orders which

were beholden to the cultural stratification of the time. That blessing, however, was also a

struggle as the life of the organization needed some sense of structure in order to survive. That

tension arose toward the end of Francis‟ life. Upon his death the institutionalization of the Order

swung in the entire opposite direction of its founder. The tension exists today within the church,

to simply live out the commands of Christ and yet serving within an institution called the local

church.

Finally, Francis‟ emphasis on the brotherhood of mankind is the most significant

contribution. He saw the sanctity of human life within a group of people that were considered

complete outcasts, and sought ways to minister to them and reach them with God‟s love. There

was never anyone outside of God‟s reach according to Francis. What would churches and
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communities look like today who did not consider anyone outside of the reach of God‟s love?

When churches target to reach people and minister only to those that are in their same culture

and socio-economic status, it sends the message that some are less worthy of the Gospel. Francis

teaches us to take the gospel to the hard people and to the hard places.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Armstrong, Regis J. and Ignatius C. Brady. Francis and Clare: The Complete Works. New York:
Paulist Press, 1982.

Chesterton, Gilbert K. St. Francis of Assisi. Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, 1924.

________, J. A. Wayne Hellman, and William J. Short, eds. Francis of Assisi: Early Documents.
vol. 1. New York: New City Press, 2000.

________, J. A. Wayne Hellman, and William J. Short, eds. Francis of Assisi: Early Documents.
vol. 2. New York: New City Press, 2000.

McDow, Malcom and Alvin Reid. Firefall: How God Has Shaped History Through Revivals.
Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1997.

Oliphant, Margaret. Francis of Assisi. London: Macmillan and Co., 1870.

Smith, John Holland. Francis of Assisi. New York: Charles Scribner‟s Sons, 1972.

Spoto, Donald. Reluctant Saint. New York: Viking Compass, 2002.

Southern, R.W. Western Society and the Church in The Middle Ages. London: Penguin Books,
1990.