Every year on October 4, people all over the world commemorate St. Francis of Assisi, the humble friar from Umbria who showed that compassion and simplicity are the foundations of faith. Born around 1181 in Assisi, Italy, this Christian saint, founder of the Franciscan Order, is one of the most adored figures in Catholic history, known for giving up a life of privilege and comfort to live in absolute poverty.

Francis was the son of Pietro di Bernardone, a successful silk merchant, and a French noblewoman, Pica di Bourlemont. In his early life, Francis lived the high-spirited life typical of a wealthy young man. He was handsome, witty, gallant and delighted in fine clothes. He spent money lavishly and his love of life and spirit of worldliness made him a recognized leader of the young men of the town. 

Yet his life changed after imprisonment during a local war and a long illness that left him questioning everything. He encountered beggars and lepers who inspired in him a sense of compassion, something he described as a “fever of love” toward God and others.

He renounced his family’s wealth publicly, even returning his clothes to his father before the bishop of Assisi, and embraced what he called “Lady Poverty”. For years he rebuilt small countryside churches such as San Damiano and the Porziuncola, living as a penitent and preaching a message of simplicity and love.

Francis began to preach openly, even though he was a layman. In 1209 he and a few companions wrote a simple Gospel rule: “to follow the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ and walk in his footsteps.” They traveled to Rome to seek approval, and the pope gave his blessing to their new community: that’s when the Franciscan Order was born. The Franciscan monks lived without possessions, dedicating themselves to work, prayer and helping the poor.

Francis believed that all nature deserves care and respect because it reflects the goodness of God. Legends tell how he preached to birds that listened without flying away, and how in Gubbio he persuaded a fierce wolf to stop attacking villagers if they agreed to feed it. 

In his “Canticle of the Creatures”, he thanked the Creator for “Brother Sun” and “Sister Moon,” for wind, fire and water. Because he saw every creature as part of one family, he became known as the patron saint of animals and patron saint of nature, a nature protector and gentle animal lover.

Every year, thousands of pilgrims from all over the world travel to Assisi to pay homage to St. Francis. A pilgrimage to Assisi offers, in fact, a moving encounter with the life and story of the saint. The Basilica of St. Francis, with frescoes depicting scenes of his life, stands above his tomb. Inside the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, near Assisi, there is the Porziuncola, the tiny chapel where the Franciscan movement began, an unmissable stop for anyone wishing to understand his legacy.

Two years after his death on October 3, 1226, Francis was declared a saint. Along with St. Catherine of Siena, he is still today a patron saint of Italy and a symbol of compassion and humility. Pope Francis chose his name in 2013 to honor “the saint of the poor.” Even centuries later, the holy man from Assisi remains a symbol of faith lived through simplicity: a life that joined poverty, prayer and love for nature.