Francis of Assisi with a painting by Giotto

Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), son of a wealthy Italian cloth merchant, lived his youth in privilege, and as was expected of his class, fought in local wars. His gradual conversion to Christianity began in 1205 with a pilgimage to Rome, where in a dramatic act, he exchanged places with a beggar for a day and later embraced a leper.

Disowned when he used his father’s money to finance repairs on a local church in Assisi, Francis retired to the solitary life of a hermit under protection of the local bishop, and over two years gave money from his begging for the repairs of four churches. A pivotal moment occurred when he interpreted the words of Matthew 10:7-10 personally as directing him to become a beggar and give freely to the poor.

He preached a message that called for lives of poverty, caring love, and peace, one that later took Francis to the Holy Land with the crusaders to convert Muslims. Appalled by crusader brutality, he tried unsuccessfully to persuade the undisciplined soldiers to spare the lives of Muslims.

Gradually, Francis attracted a following of lower and middle class laymen, then later, a wealthy woman from Assisi, Clare, who founded an order for women called the Poor Clares. Because Francis stressed allegiance to the priests and bishops, Pope Innocent III granted the new community permission to work among the poor. The pope recognized that their beneficial work encouraged devotion among the poorer classes, helping to counter growing heretical movements.

"St. Francis Preaching to the Birds" (detail, original painting in color) by Giotto

Francis devised two Rules for his followers: live by the gospel, and possess nothing. In their early years Francis’s followers, called friars, rejected all learning, directly applying Scripture to their local situation. They gained followers by example rather than by persuasion or force. As the community grew to include country and city folk, the need for more sophisticated Rules became apparent. Due to the growing persecution of the friars in other countries and the need for protection by the church, Francis accepted official papal patronage and agreed to have his free community become an Order, named for him as the Franciscan Order, which follows the Rule of St. Francis. In England they were called Grey Friars, for the coarse grey monastic habits (robes) they wore.

This study is a resource from:
The Women's Division
General Board of Global Ministries
The United Methodist Church
E-mail: umw@gbgm-umc.org.
Web: http://gbgm-umc.org/umw/

Francis of Assisi*