-
April
-
Pope Francis
-
Cypriot financial crisis (2012-2013)
-
Language education
-
Grammy Award
-
Russian oligarchs
-
Manga
-
Buffalo Bill
-
Giacomo Puccini
-
Google Play
-
Drug rehabilitation
-
Sandro Botticelli
-
Hugo Chávez
-
Speed dating
-
Miracles of Jesus
-
Italian literature
-
Screenplay
-
Agatha Christie
-
Great Depression
-
Eurogroup
-
Tex Willer
-
Tram
-
Bitcoin
-
Fiat money
-
English law
-
Buy Nothing Day
-
Homeschooling
-
Harlequin
-
Abba
-
Francis of Assisi
|
WIKIMAG n. 5 - Aprile 2013
Francis
of Assisi
Text is available under the
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional
terms may apply. See
Terms of
Use for details.
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the
Wikimedia Foundation,
Inc., a non-profit organization.
Traduzione
interattiva on/off
- Togli il segno di spunta per disattivarla
St. Francis of Assisi, O.F.M. |
Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy
an oil painting by
Jusepe de Ribera (1642) |
Religious, deacon, confessor
and religious founder |
Born |
1181 – 1182
Assisi,
Duchy of Spoleto,
Holy Roman Empire |
Died |
October 3, 1226 (aged 43–45)
Assisi,
Marche,
Papal States;[1] |
Honored in |
Roman Catholic Church
Anglican Communion
Lutheran Church
Old Catholic Church
New Age
ecologists |
Canonized |
July 16, 1228,
Assisi, Italy by
Pope Gregory IX |
Major
shrine |
Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi |
Feast |
October 4 |
Attributes |
Tau cross,
dove, birds, animals, wolf at feet,
Pax et Bonum,
Poor Franciscan habit,
stigmata |
Patronage |
animals; the
environment;
Italy;
merchants;
stowaways;[2]
cub scouts;
San Francisco, California |
St. Francis of Assisi (Italian:
San Francesco d'Assisi, born
Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, but
nicknamed Francesco ("the Frenchman") by his father,
1181/1182 – October 3, 1226)[3][4]
was an
Italian
Catholic
friar and
preacher. He founded the men's
Order of Friars Minor, the women’s
Order of St. Clare, and the
Third Order of Saint Francis for men and women not able to live the
lives of itinerant preachers followed by the early members of the Order
of Friars Minor or the monastic lives of the
Poor Clares.[5]
Though he was never
ordained to the
Catholic priesthood, Francis is one of the most venerated religious
figures in history.[5]
Francis' father was Pietro di Bernardone, a prosperous silk merchant.
He lived the high-spirited life typical of a wealthy young man, even
fighting as a soldier for
Assisi.[6]
While going off to war in 1204, Francis had a vision that directed him
back to Assisi, where he lost his taste for his worldly life.[6]
On a pilgrimage to
Rome, he
joined the poor in begging at
St. Peter's Basilica.[6]
The experience moved him to live in poverty.[6]
Francis returned home, began preaching on the streets, and soon amassed
a following. His Order was authorized by
Pope Innocent III in 1210. He then founded the Order of Poor Clares,
which became an
enclosed religious order for women, as well as the Order of Brothers
and Sisters of Penance (commonly called the Third Order).
In 1219, he went to Egypt in an attempt to convert the Sultan to put
an end to the conflict of the
Crusades.[7]
By this point, the Franciscan Order had grown to such an extent that its
primitive organizational structure was no longer sufficient. He returned
to Italy to organize the Order. Once his community was authorized by the
Pope, he withdrew increasingly from external affairs. In 1223, Francis
arranged for the first Christmas manger scene.[6]
In 1224, he received the
stigmata,[6]
making him the first recorded person to bear the wounds of
Christ's Passion.[8]
He died during the evening hours of October 3, 1226, while listening to
a reading he had requested of
Psalm
140.
On July 16, 1228, he was pronounced a saint by
Pope Gregory IX. He is known as the
patron saint of
animals,
the
environment, and is one of the two
patron saints of
Italy
(with
Catherine of Siena). It is customary for Catholic and Anglican
churches to hold ceremonies blessing animals on his
feast day of October 4.[9]
He is also known for his love of the
Eucharist,[10]
his sorrow during the
Stations of the Cross, and for the creation of the Christmas creche
or
Nativity Scene.[11]
Early life
Francis of Assisi was one of seven children born to Pietro, and his
wife Pica de Bourlemont, about whom little is known except that she was
a noblewoman originally from
Provence, France.[12]
Pietro was in France on business while Francis was born in Assisi, and
Pica had him
baptised as Giovanni.[9][13]
When his father returned to
Assisi,
he took to calling him Francesco ("the Frenchman"), possibly in honour
of his commercial success and enthusiasm for all things French.[14]
Since the child was renamed in infancy, the change can hardly have had
anything to do with his aptitude for learning French, as some have
thought.[4]
As a youth, Francesco became a devotee of
troubadours and was fascinated with all things Transalpine.[4][14]
Although many
hagiographers remark about his bright clothing, rich friends, and
love of pleasures,[12]
his displays of disillusionment toward the world that surrounded him
came fairly early in his life, as is shown in the "story of the beggar."
In this account, he was selling cloth and velvet in the marketplace on
behalf of his father when a beggar came to him and asked for
alms. At
the conclusion of his business deal, Francis abandoned his wares and ran
after the beggar. When he found him, Francis gave the man everything he
had in his pockets. His friends quickly chided and mocked him for his
act of
charity. When he got home, his father scolded him in rage.[15]
In 1201, he joined a military expedition against
Perugia
and was taken as a prisoner at Collestrada, spending a year as a
captive.[16]
It is possible that his spiritual conversion was a gradual process
rooted in this experience. Upon his return to Assisi in 1203, Francis
returned to his carefree life and in 1204, a serious illness led to a
spiritual crisis. In 1205, Francis left for
Puglia to enlist in the army of the
Count of Brienne. A strange vision made him return to Assisi,
deepening his ecclesiastical awakening.[4]
According to the hagiographic legend, thereafter he began to avoid
the sports
and the feasts of his former companions. In response, they asked him
laughingly whether he was thinking of marrying, to which he answered,
"yes, a fairer bride than any of you have ever seen," meaning his "Lady
Poverty".
He spent much time in lonely places, asking God for enlightenment. By
degrees he took to nursing lepers, the most repulsive victims in the
lazar houses near
Assisi.
After a
pilgrimage to
Rome, where
he joined the poor in begging at the doors of the churches, he said he
had a mystical
vision of Jesus Christ in the country chapel of
San Damiano, just outside of Assisi, in which the
Icon of Christ Crucified said to him, "Francis, Francis, go and
repair My house which, as you can see, is falling into ruins." He took
this to mean the ruined church in which he was presently praying, and so
he sold some cloth from his father's store to assist the priest there
for this purpose.[4][17]
His father, Pietro, highly indignant, attempted to change his mind,
first with threats and then with beatings. In the midst of legal
proceedings before the
Bishop of Assisi, Francis renounced his father and his patrimony,
laying aside even the garments he had received from him in front of the
public. For the next couple of months he lived as a beggar in the region
of Assisi. Returning to the countryside around the town for two years,
he embraced the life of a
penitent, during which he restored several ruined chapels in the
countryside around Assisi, among them the
Porziuncola, the little
chapel
of
St. Mary of the Angels just outside the town, which later became his
favorite abode.[17]
Founding of the Franciscan Order
At the end of this period (on February 24, 1209, according to Jordan
of Giano), Francis heard a
sermon
that changed his life forever. The sermon was about
Matthew 10:9, in which Christ tells his followers they should go
forth and proclaim that the
Kingdom of Heaven was upon them, that they should take no money with
them, nor even a walking stick or shoes for the road. Francis was
inspired to devote himself to a life of poverty.[4]
Clad in a rough garment, barefoot, and, after the Gospel precept,
without staff or
scrip, he
began to preach repentance.[4]
He was soon joined by his first follower, a prominent fellow townsman,
the jurist
Bernardo di Quintavalle, who contributed all that he had to the
work. Within a year Francis had eleven followers. Francis chose never to
be ordained a priest and the community lived as "lesser brothers,"
fratres minores in Latin.[4]
The brothers lived a
simple life in the deserted
lazar house of Rivo Torto near Assisi; but they spent much of their
time wandering through the mountainous districts of
Umbria,
always cheerful and full of songs, yet making a deep impression upon
their hearers by their earnest exhortations.[4]
Francis' preaching to ordinary people was unusual since he had no
license to do so.[5]
In 1209 he composed a simple rule for his followers ("friars"), (the
Regula primitiva or “Primitive Rule”) which came from verses in the
Bible. The rule was “To follow the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ
and to walk in his footsteps.” In 1209, Francis led his first eleven
followers to Rome to seek permission from
Pope Innocent III to found a new religious Order.[20]
Upon entry to Rome, the brothers encountered Bishop Guido of Assisi, who
had in his company
Giovanni di San Paolo, the
Cardinal Bishop of Sabina. The Cardinal, who was the confessor of
Pope Innocent III, was immediately sympathetic to Francis and agreed to
represent Francis to the pope. Reluctantly, Pope Innocent agreed to meet
with Francis and the brothers the next day. After several days, the pope
agreed to admit the group informally, adding that when God increased the
group in grace and number, they could return for an official admittance.
The group was
tonsured.[21]
This was important in part because it recognized Church authority and
prevented his following from possible accusations of heresy, as had
happened to the
Waldensians decades earlier. Though Pope Innocent initially had his
doubts, following a dream in which he saw Francis holding up the
Basilica of St. John Lateran (the
cathedral of Rome, thus the 'home church' of all Christendom), he
decided to endorse Francis' Order. This occurred, according to
tradition, on April 16, 1210, and constituted the official founding of
the
Franciscan Order.[5]
The group, then the "Lesser Brothers" (Friars Minor or
Franciscan Order), preached on the streets and had no possessions.
They were centered in Porziuncola, and preached first in Umbria, before
expanding throughout Italy.[5]
Missions work
Pope Innocent III has a dream of St. Francis of Assisi
supporting the tilting church (attributed to Giotto)
From then on, his new Order grew quickly with new vocations.[22]
When hearing Francis preaching in the church of
San Rufino in Assisi in 1209,
Clare of Assisi became deeply touched by his message and she
realized her calling.[22]
Her cousin Rufino, the only male member of the family in their
generation, also joined the new Order.
On the night of
Palm Sunday, March 28, 1211, Clare snuck out of her family's palace.
Francis received Clare at the Porziuncola and hereby established the
Order of Poor Ladies, later called
Poor Clares.[22]
This was an Order for women, and he gave a religious habit, or dress,
similar to his own to the noblewoman later known as St. Clare of Assisi,
before he then lodged her and a few companions in a nearby monastery of
Benedictine nuns. Later he transferred them to San Damiano.[5]
There they were joined by many other women of Assisi. For those who
could not leave their homes, he later formed the Third Order of Brothers
and Sisters of Penance. This was a fraternity composed of either
laity or
clergy
whose members neither withdrew from the world nor took
religious vows. Instead, they carried out the principles of
Franciscan life in their daily lives.[5]
Before long this Order grew beyond Italy.
Determined to bring the Gospel to all God’s creatures, Francis sought
on several occasions to take his message out of Italy. In the late
spring of 1212, he set out for Jerusalem, but he was shipwrecked by a
storm on the
Dalmatian coast, forcing him to return to Italy. On May 8, 1213, he
was given the use of the mountain of
La
Verna (Alverna) as a gift from
Count
Orlando di Chiusi, who described it as “eminently suitable for whoever
wishes to do penance in a place remote from mankind.”[23][24]
The mountain would become one of his favorite retreats for prayer.[24]
In the same year, Francis sailed for Morocco, but this time an illness
forced him to break off his journey in Spain. Back in Assisi, several
noblemen (among them
Tommaso da Celano, who would later write the biography of St.
Francis) and some well-educated men joined his Order. In 1215, Francis
went again to Rome for the
Fourth Lateran Council. During this time, he probably met a
canon,
Dominic de Guzman[2]
(later to be Saint Dominic, the founder of the Friars Preachers, another
Catholic religious order). In 1217, he offered to go to France.
Cardinal Ugolino of Segni (the future Pope Gregory IX), an early and
important supporter of Francis, advised him against this and said that
he was still needed in Italy.
St. Francis before the Sultan — the alleged trial by fire
(fresco,
Giotto attrib.)
In 1219, accompanied by another friar and hoping to convert the
Sultan of Egypt or win martyrdom in the attempt, Francis went to Egypt
where a
Crusader army had been encamped for over a year besieging the walled
city of
Damietta two miles (3.2 kilometers) upstream from the mouth of one
of the main channels of the Nile. The Sultan,
al-Kamil, a nephew of
Saladin,
had succeeded his father as Sultan of Egypt in 1218 and was encamped
upstream of Damietta, unable to relieve it. A bloody and futile attack
on the city was launched by the Christians on August 29, 1219, following
which both sides agreed to a ceasefire which lasted four weeks.[25]
It was most probably during this interlude that Francis and his
companion crossed the Saracen lines and were brought before the Sultan,
remaining in his camp for a few days.[26]
The visit is reported in contemporary Crusader sources and in the
earliest biographies of Francis, but they give no information about what
transpired during the encounter beyond noting that the Sultan received
Francis graciously and that Francis preached to the Saracens without
effect, returning unharmed to the Crusader camp.[27]
No contemporary Arab source mentions the visit.[28]
One detail, added by Bonaventure in the official life of Francis
(written forty years after the event), concerns an alleged challenge by
Francis offering trial-by-fire in order to prove the veracity of the
Christian Gospel.[29]
Although Bonaventure does not suggest as much, subsequent biographies
went further, claiming that a fire was kindled which Francis
unhesitatingly entered without suffering burns. Such an incident is
depicted in the late 13th c. fresco cycle, attributed to Giotto, in the
upper basilica at Assisi (see accompanying illustration).[30]
According to some late sources, the Sultan gave Francis permission to
visit the sacred places in the Holy Land and even to preach there. All
that can safely be asserted is that Francis and his companion left the
Crusader camp for
Acre, from where they embarked for Italy in the latter half of 1220.
Drawing on a 1267 sermon by Bonaventure, later sources report that the
Sultan secretly converted or accepted a death-bed baptism as a result of
the encounter with Francis.[31]
The Franciscan Order has been present in the
Holy
Land almost uninterruptedly since 1217 when Brother Elias arrived at
Acre. It received concessions from the
Mameluke Sultan in 1333 with regard to certain Holy Places in
Jerusalem and
Bethlehem, and (so far as concerns the Catholic Church)
jurisdictional privileges from
Pope Clement VI in 1342.[32]
At Greccio near Assisi, around 1220, Francis celebrated Christmas by
setting up the first known presepio or crèche (Nativity
scene).[33]
His nativity imagery reflected the scene in traditional paintings. He
used real animals to create a living scene so that the worshipers could
contemplate the birth of the child
Jesus in
a direct way, making use of the senses, especially sight.[33]
Thomas of Celano, a biographer of Francis and
Saint Bonaventure both, tell how he only used a straw-filled manger
(feeding trough) set between a real
ox and
donkey.[33]
According to Thomas, it was beautiful in its simplicity with the manger
acting as the altar for the Christmas Mass.
Reorganization of the Franciscan Order and death
Saint Francis of Assisi with the Sultan
al-Kamil (15th century)
By this time, the growing Order of friars was divided into
provinces and groups were sent to France, Germany, Hungary, Spain
and to the East.
When receiving a report of the martyrdom of five brothers in
Morocco,
Francis returned to Italy via
Venice.[34]
Cardinal
Ugolino di Conti was then nominated by the Pope as the protector of
the Order. The friars in Italy at this time were causing problems, and
as such, Francis had to return in order to correct these problems. The
Franciscan Order had grown at an unprecedented rate, when compared to
prior religious orders, but its organizational sophistication had not
kept up with this growth and had little more to govern it than Francis'
example and simple rule.[5]
To address this problem, Francis prepared a new and more detailed Rule,
the "First Rule" or "Rule Without a
Papal Bull" (Regula prima Regula non bullata) which
again asserted devotion to poverty and the apostolic life. However, it
introduced greater institutional structure, although this was never
officially endorsed by the pope.[5]
On September 29, 1220, Francis handed over the governance of the
Order to Brother Peter Catani at the Porziuncola. However, Brother Peter
died only five months later, on March 10, 1221, and was buried in the
Porziuncola. When numerous miracles were attributed to the deceased
brother, people started to flock to the Porziuncola, disturbing the
daily life of the Franciscans. Francis then prayed, asking Peter to stop
the miracles and to obey in death as he had obeyed during his life. The
reports of miracles ceased. Brother Peter was succeeded by Brother Elias
as Vicar
of Francis. Two years later, Francis modified the "First Rule" (creating
the "Second Rule" or "Rule With a Bull"), and Pope Honorius III approved
it on November 29, 1223.[5]
As the official Rule of the order, it called on the friars "to observe
the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, living in obedience without
anything of our own and in chastity." In addition, it set regulations
for discipline, preaching, and entry into the order.[5]
Once the Rule was endorsed by the Pope, Francis withdrew increasingly
from external affairs.[5]
During 1221 and 1222, Francis crossed Italy, first as far south as
Catania
in Sicily and afterwards as far north as
Bologna.
St. Francis receives the Stigmata (fresco attributed to
Giotto)
While he was praying on the mountain of Verna, during a forty-day
fast in preparation for
Michaelmas (September 29), Francis is said to have had a vision on
or about September 14, 1224, the Feast of the
Exaltation of the Cross, as a result of which he received the
stigmata.[35]
Brother Leo, who had been with Francis at the time, left a clear and
simple account of the event, the first definite account of the
phenomenon of stigmata.[4][35]
"Suddenly he saw a vision of a seraph, a six-winged angel on a cross.
This angel gave him the gift of the five wounds of Christ."[35]
Suffering from these stigmata and from
trachoma, Francis received care in several cities (Siena,
Cortona,
Nocera) to no avail. In the end, he was brought back to a hut next
to the Porziuncola. Here, in the place where it all began, feeling the
end approaching, he spent the last days of his life dictating his
spiritual testament. He died on the evening of October 3, 1226, singing
Psalm 142(141) – "Voce mea ad Dominum".
On July 16, 1228, he was pronounced a saint by Pope
Gregory IX (the former cardinal Ugolino di Conti, friend of St
Francis and Cardinal Protector of the Order). The next day, the Pope
laid the foundation stone for the
Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi. He was buried on May 25, 1230,
under the Lower Basilica, but his tomb was soon hidden on orders of
Brother Elias to protect it from Saracen invaders.. His burial place
remained unknown until it was discovered in 1818. Pasquale Belli then
constructed for his remains a crypt in neo-classical style in the Lower
Basilica. It was refashioned between 1927 and 1930 into its present form
by Ugo Tarchi, stripping the wall of its marble decorations. In 1978,
the remains of St. Francis were examined and confirmed by a commission
of scholars appointed by
Pope Paul VI, and put in a glass urn in the ancient stone tomb.
Saint Francis is considered the first Italian poet by literary critics.[citation
needed] He believed commoners should be able to
pray to God in their own language, and he wrote often in the dialect of
Umbria instead of Latin. His writings are considered to have great
literary and religious value.[36]
Character and
legacy
Habit of Francis of Assisi
It has been argued that no one in history was as dedicated as Francis
to imitate the life, and carry out the work of Christ, in Christ’s own
way.[5]
This is important in understanding Francis' character and his affinity
for the Eucharist and respect for the priests who carried out the
sacrament.[5]
He and his followers celebrated and even venerated poverty. Poverty was
so central to his character that in his last written work, the
Testament, he said that absolute personal and corporate poverty was the
essential lifestyle for the members of his order.[5]
He believed that nature itself was the mirror of God. He called all
creatures his “brothers” and “sisters,” and even preached to the birds
and supposedly persuaded a wolf to stop attacking some locals if they
agreed to feed the wolf. In his “Canticle of the Creatures” (“Praises of
Creatures” or “Canticle of the Sun”), he mentioned the “Brother Sun” and
“Sister Moon,” the wind and water, and “Sister Death.” He referred to
his chronic illnesses as his “sisters." His deep sense of brotherhood
under God embraced others, and declared that “he considered himself no
friend of Christ if he did not cherish those for whom Christ died.”[5]
Francis's visit to Egypt and attempted
rapprochement with the Muslim world had far-reaching consequences,
long past his own death, since after the fall of the
Crusader Kingdom it would be the Franciscans, of all Catholics, who
would be allowed to stay on in the Holy Land and be recognized as "Custodians
of the Holy Land" on behalf of the
Catholic Church.
Nature and
the environment
A garden statue of Francis of Assisi with birds
Many of the stories that surround the life of St. Francis deal with
his love for
animals.[37]
Perhaps the most famous incident that illustrates the Saint's humility
towards nature is recounted in the "Fioretti" ("Little Flowers"), a
collection of
legends
and folklore that sprang up after the Saint's death. It is said that,
one day, while Francis was travelling with some companions, they
happened upon a place in the road where birds filled the trees on either
side. Francis told his companions to "wait for me while I go to preach
to my sisters the birds."[37]
The birds surrounded him, intrigued by the power of his voice, and not
one of them flew away. He is often portrayed with a bird, typically in
his hand.
Another legend from the
Fioretti tells that in the city of
Gubbio,
where Francis lived for some time, was a
wolf "terrifying and ferocious, who devoured men as well as animals."
Francis had compassion upon the townsfolk, and so he went up into the
hills to find the wolf. Soon, fear of the animal had caused all his
companions to flee, though the saint pressed on. When he found the wolf,
he made the sign of the cross and commanded the wolf to come to him and
hurt no one. Miraculously the wolf closed his jaws and lay down at the
feet of St. Francis. "Brother Wolf, you do much harm in these parts and
you have done great evil," said Francis. "All these people accuse you
and curse you...But brother wolf, I would like to make peace between you
and the people." Then Francis led the wolf into the town, and surrounded
by startled citizens made a pact between them and the wolf. Because the
wolf had “done evil out of hunger, the townsfolk were to feed the wolf
regularly. In return, the wolf would no longer prey upon them or their
flocks. In this manner
Gubbio
was freed from the menace of the predator. Francis even made a pact on
behalf of the town dogs, that they would not bother the wolf again.
Finally, to show the townspeople that they would not be harmed, Francis
blessed the wolf.
Francis preached the teaching of the Catholic Church, that the world
was created good and beautiful by God but suffers a need for redemption
because of the primordial sin of man. He preached to man and beast the
universal ability and duty of all creatures to praise God (a common
theme in the
Psalms)
and the duty of men to protect and enjoy nature as both the stewards of
God's creation and as creatures ourselves.[37]
On November 29, 1979, Pope John Paul II declared St. Francis to be
the Patron of Ecology.[38]
Then during the World Environment Day 1982, he said that St. Francis'
love and care for creation was a challenge for contemporary Catholics
and a reminder "not to behave like dissident predators where nature is
concerned, but to assume responsibility for it, taking all care so that
everything stays healthy and integrated, so as to offer a welcoming and
friendly environment even to those who succeed us." The same Pope wrote
on the occasion of the World Day of Peace, January 1, 1990, the saint of
Assisi "offers Christians an example of genuine and deep respect for the
integrity of creation..." He went on to make the point that St Francis:
"As a friend of the poor who was loved by God's creatures, Saint Francis
invited all of creation – animals, plants, natural forces, even Brother
Sun and Sister Moon – to give honor and praise to the Lord. The poor man
of Assisi gives us striking witness that when we are at peace with God
we are better able to devote ourselves to building up that peace with
all creation which is inseparable from peace among all peoples."[39]
Pope John Paul II concluded that section of the document with these
words, "It is my hope that the inspiration of Saint Francis will help us
to keep ever alive a sense of 'fraternity' with all those good and
beautiful things which Almighty God has created."
Feast day
Saint Francis's
feast day is observed on October 4. A secondary feast in honor of
the
stigmata received by St Francis, celebrated on September 17, was
inserted in the
General Roman Calendar in 1585 (later than the
Tridentine Calendar) and suppressed in 1604, but was restored in
1615. In the New Roman Missal of 1969, it was removed, as something of a
duplication of the main feast on October 4, from the General Calendar
and left to the calendars of certain localities and of the Franciscan
Order.[40]
Wherever the traditional Roman Missal is used, however, the feast of the
Stigmata remains in the General Calendar.
On June 18, 1939,
Pope Pius XII named Francis a joint
Patron Saint of
Italy
along with
Saint Catherine of Siena with the apostolic letter "Licet Commissa",
AAS XXXI (1939), 256–257. Pope Pius mentioned the two saints in the
laudative discourse he pronounced on May 5, 1949, in the Church of
Santa Maria sopra Minerva.
St. Francis is honored in the
Church of England, the
Anglican Church of Canada, the
Episcopal Church USA, the
Old Catholic Churches, the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and other churches and
religious communities on October 4. The
Evangelical Church in Germany, however, commemorates St. Francis'
feast day on his death day, October 3.[citation
needed]
Pope Francis
On 13 March 2013, upon his
election as
Pope, Cardinal
Jorge Mario Bergoglio of
Argentina chose Francis as his
papal name in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi, becoming
Pope Francis.[41]
Main writings
Church of Saint Francis,
Salta
- Canticum Fratris Solis or Laudes Creaturarum,
Canticle of the Sun.
- Prayer before the Crucifix, 1205 (extant in the original Umbrian
dialect as well as in a contemporary Latin translation).
- Regula non bullata, the Earlier Rule, 1221.
- Regula bullata, the Later Rule, 1223.
- Testament, 1226.
- Admonitions.
For a complete list, see The Franciscan Experience.[42]
Media
Films
-
The Flowers of St. Francis, a 1950 film directed by
Roberto Rossellini and co-written by
Federico Fellini
- Uccellacci e uccellini (The
Hawks and the Sparrows), a 1966 film directed by
Pier Paolo Pasolini
-
Francis of Assisi, a 1961 film directed by
Michael Curtiz, based on the novel The Joyful Beggar by
Louis de Wohl
- Francis of Assisi (1966 film), a 1966 film directed by
Liliana Cavani
-
Brother Sun, Sister Moon, a 1972 film by
Franco Zeffirelli
-
Francesco, a 1989 film by
Liliana Cavani, contemplatively paced, follows Francis of
Assisi's evolution from rich man's son to religious humanitarian,
and eventually to full-fledged self-tortured saint. Saint Francis is
played by
Mickey Rourke, and the woman who later became Saint Clare, is
played by
Helena Bonham Carter
- St. Francis, a 2002 film directed by
Michele Soavi, starring
Raoul Bova and Amélie Daure
- Clare and Francis, a 2007 film directed by Fabrizio
Costa, starring Mary Petruolo and Ettore Bassi
-
Pranchiyettan and the Saint, a 2010 satirical
Malayalam film
Classical music
-
Franz Liszt:
- Cantico del sol di Francesco d'Assisi, S.4 (sacred
choral work, 1862, 1880–81; versions of the Prelude for piano,
S. 498c, 499, 499a; version of the Prelude for organ, S. 665,
760; version of the Hosannah for organ and bass trombone, S.677)
- St. François d'Assise: La Prédication aux oiseaux,
No. 1 of Deux Légendes, S.175 (piano, 1862–63)
-
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Fioretti (voice and orchestra,
1920)
-
Gian Francesco Malipiero: San Francesco d'Assisi
(soloists, chorus and orchestra, 1920–1921)
-
Amy Beach: Canticle of the Sun (soloists, chorus and
orchestra, 1928)
-
Leo Sowerby: Canticle of the Sun (cantata for mixed
voices with accompaniment for piano or orchestra, 1944)
-
Francis Poulenc: Quatre petites prières de Saint François
d'Assise (men's chorus, 1948)
-
Seth Bingham: The Canticle of the Sun (cantata for chorus
of mixed voices with soli ad lib. and accompaniment for organ or
orchestra, 1949)
- Juiusz Łuciuk: Święty Franciszek z Asyżu (oratorio for
soprano, tenor, baritone, mixed chorus and orchestra, 1976)
-
Olivier Messiaen: opera
Saint François d'Assise (1975–83)
-
William Walton: Cantico del sol (chorus, 1973–74)
-
Sofia Gubaidulina: Sonnengesang (solo cello, chamber
choir and percussion, 1997)
- Balada de Francisco [Ballad of Francis] voices accompanied by
guitar – Juventude Franciscana and O.F.S – "Semeadores da Paz –
JUFRA (1999)
Books
- Saint Francis of Assisi, written and illustrated by
Demi,
Wisdom Tales, 2012,
ISBN 978-1-937786-04-5
- Francis of Assisi: A New Biography, by Augustine
Thompson, O.P., Cornell University Press, 2012,
ISBN 978-080145-070-9
- Francis of Assisi in the Sources and Writings, by Robert
Rusconi and translated by Nancy Celaschi, Franciscan Institute
Publications, 2008.
ISBN 978-1-57659-152-9
- The Stigmata of Francis of Assisi, Franciscan Institute
Publications, 2006.
ISBN 978-1-57659-140-6
- Francis of Assisi – The Message in His Writings, by
Thaddee Matura, Franciscan Institute Publications, 1997.
ISBN 978-1-57659-127-7
- Saint Francis of Assisi, by John R. H. Moorman,
Franciscan Institute Publications, 1987.
ISBN 978-0-8199-0904-6
- First Encounter with Francis of Assisi, by Damien Vorreux
and translated by Paul LaChance, Franciscan Institute Publications,
1979.
ISBN 978-0-8199-0698-4
- St. Francis of Assisi, by
Raoul Manselli, Franciscan Institute Publications, 1985.
ISBN 978-0-8199-0880-3
- Saint Francis of Assisi, by Thomas of Celano and
translated by Placid Hermann, Franciscan Institute Publications,
1988.
ISBN 978-0-8199-0554-3
- Francis the Incomparable Saint, by Joseph Lortz,
Franciscan Institute Publications, 1986,
ISBN 978-1-57659-067-6
- Respectfully Yours: Signed and Sealed, Francis of Assisi,
by Edith van den Goorbergh and Theodore Zweerman, Franciscan
Institute Publications, 2001.
ISBN 978-1-57659-178-9
- The Admonitions of St Francis: Sources and Meanings, by
Robert J. Karris, Franciscan Institute Publications, 1999.
ISBN 978-1-57659-166-6
- We Saw Brother Francis, by Francis de Beer, Franciscan
Institute Publications, 1983.
ISBN 978-0-8199-0803-2
- Sant Francesco (Saint Francis, 1895), a book of
forty-three Saint Francis poems by Catalan poet-priest
Jacint Verdaguer, three of which are included in English
translation in Selected Poems of Jacint Verdaguer: A Bilingual
Edition, edited and translated by Ronald Puppo, with an
introduction by Ramon Pinyol i Torrents (University of Chicago,
2007). The three poems are "The Turtledoves", "Preaching to Birds"
and "The Pilgrim".
- Saint Francis of Assisi (1923), a book by
G. K. Chesterton
- "Blessed Are The Meek(1944 ). a book by
Zofia Kossak
- "Saint Francis of Assisi" a Doubleday Image Book translated by
T. O'Conor Sloane, Ph.D., LL.D. in 1955 from the Danish original
researched and written by Johannes Jorgensen and published in 1912
by Longmans, Green and Company, Inc.
- Saint Francis (1962), a book by
Nikos Kazantzakis
- Scripta Leonis, Rufini Et Angeli Sociorum S. Francisci: The
Writings of Leo, Rufino and Angelo Companions of St. Francis
(1970), edited by Rosalind B. Brooke, in Latin and English,
containing testimony recorded by intimate, long-time companions of
St. Francis
- Saint Francis and His Four Ladies (1970), a book by Joan
Mowat Erikson
- The Life and Words of St. Francis of Assisi (1973), by
Ira Peck
- The Life of Saint Francis of Assisi (1996), a book by
Patricia Stewart
- Reluctant Saint: The Life of Francis of Assisi (2002), a
book by
Donald Spoto
- Flowers for St Francis (2005), a book by Raj Arumugam
- Chasing Francis, 2006, a book by Ian Cron
-
John Tolan, St. Francis and the Sultan: The Curious History
of a Christian-Muslim Encounter. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2009.
- "Vita di un uomo: Francesco d'Assisi" (1995) a book by Chiara
Frugoni, preface by Jacques Le Goff, Torino: Einaudi.
Other
- In
Rubén Darío's poem Los Motivos Del Lobo (The Reasons Of
The Wolf) St. Francis tames a terrible wolf only to discover that
the human heart harbors darker desires than those of the beast.
- In
Fyodor Dostoyevsky's
The Brothers Karamazov, Ivan Karamazov invokes the name of
'Pater Seraphicus,' an epithet applied to St. Francis, to describe
Alyshosha's spiritual guide Zosima. The reference is found in
Goethe's "Faust," Part 2, Act 5, lines 11918–25.
- St. Francis Preaches to the Birds (2005), chamber
concerto for violin by composer Lewis Nielson
- Rich Mullins co-wrote Canticle of the Plains, a musical,
with Mitch McVicker. Released in 1997, it was based on the life of
St Francis of Assisi, but told as a western story.
-
Bernard Malamud's novel
The Assistant (1957) features a protagonist, Frank Alpine, who
exemplifies the life of St. Francis in mid-twentieth-century
Brooklyn, New York City.
- Michele Paulicelli's musical
Forza Venite Gente is completely dedicated to the entire
life of St. Francis, with several songs about the main events of his
life.
See also
|
|
1)
scrivi
le parole inglesi dentro la
striscia gialla 2)
seleziona il testo 3)
clicca "Ascolta il testo"
DA INGLESE A ITALIANO
Inserire
nella casella Traduci la parola
INGLESE e cliccare
Go.
DA ITALIANO A INGLESE
Impostare INGLESE anziché italiano e
ripetere la procedura descritta.
|
|