The story of St. Francis of Assisi. The patron saint of Italy.
If you come to visit Assisi, you will surely be interested in knowing the history of San Francesco, symbol of the city and very dear to all the inhabitants of the place.
The precise date of birth is unfortunately not known, but it is placed between the end of 1181 and the beginning of 1182. His father, Pietro di Bernardone was a cloth merchant from Assisi.
He grew up in his father's workshop together with his brother Angelo and the attentive eye of his mother, Madonna Pica. It seems she was the one who taught Francesco to sing in French which made him a point of reference for the young people of the city.
He tried to become a knight, experiencing imprisonment and failure, entering into a crisis with himself and becoming fertile ground for the new life that awaited him. He received the call to religious life at San Damiano, a pleasant place that also inspired the canticle of creatures, but he made his spiritual reference the chapel of the Porziuncola in Santa Maria degli Angeli.
In a short time, Francis attracted many young people from the area, giving life to the dream of a community inspired by the poverty of the first disciples of Christ. As the founder of the fraternity, you compose the rule, then approved by the pontiff, indicated the guidelines and became a model for what would later become the Franciscan ideal. He died at Vespers on October 3, 1226, but being Saturday, Vespers were already those of Sunday, and then, the date of his death is remembered on October 4. (for more information on the death of St. Francis see the video)
Two years later he was canonized by Pope Gregory IX, who laid the first stone for his sepulcher: the famous Basilica of San Francesco, a treasure chest of the greatest masterpieces of Italian medieval painting.
St. Francis is today, patron saint of Italy, a symbol of the renewal of the church, protections of ecology and environmental movements and therefore is also much loved by the younger generations, who identify with his desire to change the world.
Adored by children for his sensitivity towards creation and for his ability to communicate in a simple but effective way.
Discover the figure of St. Francis with our tour, which can also be customized for children, on the curiosities and secrets of his life and the frescoes that have immortalized his memory.
The famous phrases of St. Francis of Assisi:
- Start with the necessary, move on to the possible, and you'll find yourself doing the impossible.
- A man who works with his hands is a worker; a man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman; but a man who works with his hands, his brain and his heart is an artist.
- A ray of sunshine is enough to blow away many shadows.
- Do not be afraid to tell me that death is near, because it is the door of life for me.
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