This biography had a lot of information on St. Francis of Assisi. He was a verygenerous man who founded the Friars.
Along the way he accomplished many gooddeeds. He gave all that he had to the poor so that they could live a betterlife. 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 richmerchant named Pietro di Bernardone. In 1202 he was held prisoner for severalmonths over a dispute between Assisi and Perugia. This was followed by a periodof illness. He didn’t like the way his life was going so he turned to prayerand 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 attractedmany followers. He preached about the idea of having a simple life of followingthe Gospels. When Pope Innocent III found out about his good works Francis wasordained 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 Clareand established a branch for women called the Poor Clares. In 1221 Francis madea new edition for the lay people called the Third order. After a long life ofhard work he finally retired from leading the friars. At this time he was giventhe stigmata or imprint of the wounds of Christ on his own body. He also wrotethe Canticle of Brother Sun. He died October 3,1226.
He was canonized a Saint in1228 and his Feast day is October 4. This book taught me that Francis was a richman before he converted his life. I thought that he was always poor and he wasshowing appreciation for the things around him. This act of kindness makes methink of him as even a better person. This book also taught me that he didn’thave that many followers at first. When he started it was just him.
In 1221 hehad eleven. Over more than ten years he hadn’t made many followers. This booktaught me that Francis not only gave up his fortune but he firmly believed inbeing poor. Not for one second would he have thought that being rich would havehelped him more. From his point of view he had all he needed with him.
This booktaught me that people made fun of him for what he did. How could you make fun ofsomeone that is doing such a great deed? He wasn’t hurting anyone. He was justhelping 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 allpeople, and not only religious people. I liked this book because it got deepdown into St. Francis’ life and showed all of the good points. It sends out agood message to all people that read the book.
I didn’t like the book becauseit had a lot of stories that made the book kind of boring. They talked too muchabout rules instead of talking about what he did. The book was also to my likingbecause they used more action than normal biographies do. Normal biographies areusually all facts. This one had some stories and some neat quotes. St.
Franciswas a great man that teaches us a great lesson in courage. He gave up all thathe had to just to help other people. These days that is very rare. People justdon’t want to follow in his example anymore.
All Catholics should imitate histeachings.
