FREE ESSAY ON ST. FRANCIS

ST. FRANCIS

Saint Francis of Assisi 
By Msgr. Leon Cristiani
This biography had a lot of information on St. Francis of Assisi. He was a very generous
man who founded the Friars. Along the way he accomplished many good deeds. He gave all
that he had to the poor so that they could live a better life. The only things he needed
were food, shelter, and companionship.
St. Francis of Assisi was born in September of the year 1182. He was born to a rich
merchant named Pietro di Bernardone. In 1202 he was held prisoner for several months over
a dispute between Assisi and Perugia. This was followed by a period of illness. He didn't
like the way his life was going so he turned to prayer and service for the poor. In 1206
he officially turned down his fathers fortune. To help bring his life to good he decided
to become a hermit. This attracted many followers. He preached about the idea of having a
simple life of following the Gospels. When Pope Innocent III found out about his good
works Francis was ordained a deacon. His followers increased in population and were
called friars, which is a lower form of Francis' name. In 1212 he got help from Saint
Clare and established a branch for women called the Poor Clares. In 1221 Francis made a
new edition for the lay people called the Third order. After a long life of hard work he
finally retired from leading the friars. At this time he was given the stigmata or
imprint of the wounds of Christ on his own body. He also wrote the Canticle of Brother
Sun. He died October 3,1226. He was canonized a Saint in 1228 and his Feast day is
October 4.
This book taught me that Francis was a rich man before he converted his life. I thought
that he was always poor and he was showing appreciation for the things around him. This
act of kindness makes me think of him as even a better person. This book also taught me
that he didn't have that many followers at first. When he started it was just him. In
1221 he had eleven. Over more than ten years he hadn't made many followers. This book
taught me that Francis not only gave up his fortune but he firmly believed in being poor.
Not for one second would he have thought that being rich would have helped him more. From
his point of view he had all he needed with him. This book taught me that people made fun
of him for what he did. How could you make fun of someone that is doing such a great
deed? He wasn't hurting anyone. He was just helping people. This book taught me that he
made more than a Franciscan order. He also made an order for women and for lay people.
His teachings were for all people, and not only religious people.
I liked this book because it got deep down into St. Francis' life and showed all of the
good points. It sends out a good message to all people that read the book. I didn't like
the book because it had a lot of stories that made the book kind of boring. They talked
too much about rules instead of talking about what he did. The book was also to my liking
because they used more action than normal biographies do. Normal biographies are usually
all facts. This one had some stories and some neat quotes.
St. Francis was a great man that teaches us a great lesson in courage. He gave up all
that he had to just to help other people. These days that is very rare. People just don't
want to follow in his example anymore. All Catholics should imitate his teachings.
Bibliography
The book mentioned at top of report