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A Brief Outline of St. Francisˇ¦ Life
The prospective novice will no doubt have read a life of St. Francis by this time; as a matter of fact, this is how most tertiaries have been led to follow the Saint. Here, therefore, we shall give only an outline of his life.
„h 1182: St. Francis was born, the son of Peter Bernadone and Lady Pica. ... The young Francis took part in the work of fortifying his city.
„h 1202: In a battle near the bridge of San Giovanni Francis was taken prisoner by the Perugian soldiers. He retained his knightly spirit while in prison, however, and he was able to maintain his joyful outlook on life among embittered and disagreeable companions. ...
„h 1204: Francis fell ill, probably because his constitution was weakened by his life in prison. ...
„h 1205: Francis was once again taken up with the dreams of greatness. ... ˇ¨ In obedience to this mysterious voice, Francis returned to Assisi. ... Francis was not satisfied with his fatherˇ¦s cloth business, and the joyful fes-tivities in which he had once reveled now disgusted him. ...
„h 1206: One day, while he was rapt in prayer before the crucifix at St. Damianˇ¦s, our Lord spoke to him: ˇ§Go, Francis, repair my house! ...
„h 1208: The moring of February 24, while Francis was at Mass in the Portiuncula, he was struck by these words of the Gospel: ˇ§Do not procure pocket-money, whether gold or silver or copper; or a traveling bag, or an extra coat, or sandals, or a staffˇ¨ (Mt. ... From this time on, the Gospel was to be his rule of life. ... Before long there were twelve of them sharing the life of poverty at Rivo Torto. Francis formed them to his own ideal, sent them to work in the fields and the leper colo-nies, and taught them to beg. ... Then began the friarsˇ¦ life of apostolic work. ... About this time Francis also founded his so-called Third Order by giving a short and simple rule to his first lay followers.
„h 1212: At the end of March, St. ... Francis gave her the habit at the Portiuncula, and thus began the history of the Second Order, that of the Poor Ladies or Poor Clares. Together with his friars, St. Francis continued to evangelize the various regions of Italy, proposing a rule of life for everyone. The people were gradually won over to this life which stressed penance and yet was so filled with the joy and liberty of the children of God. ... At Pente-cost, Francis called his friars together for a chapter at the Portiuncula. ... La Verna to St. Francis as a gift. Accom-panied by Brother Bernard, Francis set out for Morocco, but he had to stop in Spain because of illness and eventually returned to Italy.
„h 1215: The Council of the Lateran took place in this year, and Francis probably attended its ses-sions, meeting St. ... The latter suggested combining the two or-ders, but Francis declined the offer because he thought the Church could be better served if the special character of each order were preserved intact. In this same year, Francis received Brother Thomas of Celano into the order; Brother Thomas was to become the Saintˇ¦s famous biographer.
Approximate Word count = 2681
Approximate Pages = 10.7
(250 words per page double spaced)
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