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The One Saint Everyone Loves: St. Francis of Assisi
It’s the feast day of a playboy who became a beloved saint
In our current Age of Rage, it is nearly impossible to get people to agree on anything. Today, in an effort to show that it still can be done, I give you a man who has inspired all of us for 800 years. It sounds unthinkable, given the way we tear down even our heroes every chance we get, but it’s true. Whether you’re Catholic or Protestant, Christian or non-Christian, Republican or Democrat, it’s almost certain you at least grudgingly admire Francis de Bernardone, better known to history as St. Francis of Assisi, perhaps the most beloved saint of all time.
Francis de Bernardone was born in Assisi, Italy (then part of the Holy Roman Empire) in 1181 or 1182 (the records are not certain) to a wealthy cloth merchant. He spent his youth enjoying the benefits of that wealth, carousing with friends at parties and festivals (he was nicknamed “the King of the Revels”) and generally living the life of a spoiled playboy. In 1202, war broke out between Assisi and the rival city of Perugia, and Francis joined the militia both out of civic duty and in hopes of military glory. The forces of Assisi were completely routed, and Francis was taken prisoner and held in a dungeon for a year before his father raised the ransom demanded for his release.
