Life of Saints - St. Francis of Assisi
He was born in Italy circa 1181. St. Francis of Assisi was well known for drinking and partying in his youth. Francis himself said, "I lived in sin" during that time. After fighting in a battle between Assisi and Perugia, Francis was captured and imprisoned at ransom. He spent nearly a year in prison—awaiting his father's ransom. During this time he began receiving visions from God. After his release from prison, Francis reportedly heard the voice of Christ.
There he had a dream in which God told him he had it all wrong and told him to return home. And return home he did. Francis' conversion did not happen over night. God had waited for him for twenty-five years and now it was Francis' has to wait till God call him. Francis started to spend more time in prayer.
One day while riding through the countryside, Francis, the man who loved beauty, who was so picky about food, who hated deformity, came face to face with a leper. Repelled by the appearance and the smell of the leper, Francis nevertheless jumped down from his horse and kissed the hand of the leper. When his kiss of peace was returned, Francis was filled with joy. As he rode off, he turned around for a last wave, and saw that the leper had disappeared. He always looked upon it as a test from God...that he had passed.
While he was praying there, he heard Christ on the crucifix speak to him, "Francis, repair my church." Francis assumed this meant church with a small c -- the crumbling building he was in. He repair the church he was in. Later he realized that was Church.
Francis was a man of action. He went to meet Pope and ask permission to live the Gospel. Another time he went to Syria to convert the Moslems while the Fifth Crusade was being fought(In the middle of a battle)
Francis' final years were filled with suffering as well as humiliation. Praying to share in Christ's passion he had a vision received the stigmata, the marks of the nails and the lance wound that Christ suffered, in his own body. Francis never recovered from this illness. He died on October 4, 1226 at the age of 45. Francis is considered the founder of all Franciscan orders and the patron saint of ecologists and merchants.
Saint Francis of Assisi
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Make Me a Channel of Your Peace
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