He Chose a Greater Chivalry: St. Francis of Assisi (Part 5)

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In the early autumn Francis, feeling the hand of death upon him, was carried to his beloved Porziuncola, that he might breathe his last sigh where his vocation had been revealed to him and whence his order had struggled into sight. On the way thither he asked to be set down, and with painful effort … Read more

He Chose a Greater Chivalry: St. Francis of Assisi (Part 4)

Return to Order He Chose a Greater Chivalry: St. Francis of Assisi (Part 4) 1

It had become evident that the simple, familiar, and unceremonious ways which had marked the Franciscan movement at its beginning were gradually disappearing, and that the heroic poverty practiced by Francis and his companions at the outset became less easy as the friars with amazing rapidity increased in number. And this Francis could not help … Read more

He Chose a Greater Chivalry: St. Francis of Assisi (Part 3)

Return to Order He Chose a Greater Chivalry: St. Francis of Assisi (Part 3) 1

In the autumn of the same year (1212) Francis’s burning desire for the conversion of the Saracens led him to embark for Syria, but having been shipwrecked on the coast of Slavonia, he had to return to Ancona. The following spring he devoted himself to evangelizing Central Italy. About this time (1213) Francis received from … Read more

He chose a greater chivalry: St. Francis of Assisi (Part 1)

Return to Order He chose a greater chivalry: St. Francis of Assisi (Part 1) 3

Founder of the Franciscan Order, born at Assisi in Umbria, in 1181 or 1182 — the exact year is uncertain; died there, 3 October, 1226. Francis received some elementary instruction from the priests of St. George’s at Assisi, though he learned more perhaps in the school of the Troubadours, who were just then making for … Read more