The Feast of St. Francis of Assisi: October 4th
On October 4th, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi - one of the most beloved and recognizable saints in all of Christian history. Known as the founder of the Franciscan Order, Francis embraced a radical way of life shaped by the poverty, humility, and self-giving love of Christ. His devotion to God overflowed into love for the poor, care for those whom society rejected, and delight in the goodness of creation.
St. Francis is often remembered today primarily as a gentle lover of animals and nature. While that is certainly part of his story, it can obscure the costly faithfulness at the center of his life. Francis did not simply admire creation or choose a simpler lifestyle. He gave up wealth, status, comfort, and his family’s approval because he wanted his entire life to be conformed to Christ.
This year’s feast is especially significant because 2026 marks eight hundred years since the death of St. Francis in 1226, a fitting occasion to look again at the life of a man who took the words of Jesus seriously and allowed them to reshape everything.
The Early Life of St. Francis
Francis was born in Assisi around 1181 or 1182 into a wealthy merchant family. His father, Pietro di Bernardone, was a prosperous cloth merchant, while his mother, Pica, is traditionally believed to have been of French origin.
As a young man, Francis enjoyed all the privileges his family’s wealth could provide. He was charming, generous, fond of fine clothing, and captivated by the songs of the troubadours and the chivalric ideals of knighthood. He spent his youth pursuing pleasure, popularity, and adventure, dreaming of earning glory as a soldier.
Even during these years, however, there were signs of the compassion that would later define his life. Francis once encountered a beggar while working among his father’s goods. After initially allowing the man to leave empty-handed, he was overcome with remorse, ran after him, and gave him generously from his own money. His companions mocked him, and his father was furious, but the encounter began to reveal the growing conflict between the life Francis was living and the life to which God was calling him.
In 1202, Francis joined Assisi’s war against the nearby city of Perugia, was captured, and spent about a year as a prisoner. During his captivity, he became seriously ill and began to question the ambitions that had once seemed so important to him. After his release, he attempted to return to his former life, but he remained restless and spiritually unsatisfied. Around 1205, after experiencing a dream or vision at Spoleto, he abandoned plans for another military campaign and returned to Assisi. His conversion did not happen all at once. It unfolded gradually through illness, prayer, disappointment, and a series of encounters that loosened his attachment to the life he had once wanted.
The Leper Who Changed Everything
One of the most important moments in Francis’s conversion came through an encounter with a leper.
Francis had always been deeply repulsed by leprosy. Those suffering from the disease were feared, isolated, and forced to live outside the ordinary life of the community. One day, while riding near Assisi, Francis encountered a leper on the road. Rather than turning away, he dismounted, gave the man money, and kissed him.
Francis later wrote that what had once seemed bitter to him was changed into sweetness. His encounter with the leper helped him understand that following Christ would require more than generosity from a safe distance. It would mean drawing near to those he feared, touching those society considered untouchable, and discovering Christ among them. Francis began spending time in the leper colonies outside Assisi, caring for the sick, washing their wounds, and sharing meals with them. This was not an additional charitable interest alongside his spiritual life. It became one of the places where his life with Christ took its most concrete form.
“Francis, Repair My Church”
Another decisive moment came when Francis entered the neglected chapel of San Damiano, just outside Assisi. While praying before an ancient crucifix, he heard Christ speak to him:
“Francis, go and repair My house, which, as you can see, is falling into ruin.”
Francis initially understood the command literally. He sold cloth and other goods belonging to his father and offered the money to the priest at San Damiano so the chapel could be repaired. The priest, aware of Francis’s father and the questionable source of the money, refused to accept it.
The incident intensified the conflict between Francis and his father, who expected his son to continue the family business. The dispute eventually came before the bishop of Assisi. In a dramatic public act, Francis returned not only his father’s money but also the fine clothing he had received from him. The bishop covered Francis with his own cloak as Francis renounced his inheritance and placed himself completely under the care of God.
Francis then began living as a beggar, praying, serving lepers, and rebuilding ruined chapels around Assisi with his own hands. Over time, he came to understand that Christ’s command to repair His Church meant something larger than restoring stone buildings. Francis’s entire life would become part of God’s work of renewing a Church that had grown wealthy, divided, and too often distant from the poor.
Francis’s Call to Holy Poverty
Francis embraced poverty not because he believed material things were evil, but because he wanted nothing to stand between him and complete dependence upon God.
He was especially moved by Christ’s instructions to His disciples to take nothing for their journey and to go out preaching the Kingdom of God. Francis adopted a rough tunic, tied it with a simple cord, and began traveling through the countryside to preach repentance, peace, and the love of God. He called poverty “Lady Poverty” because he saw it as a path to freedom - by possessing nothing, he hoped to become free to receive everything as a gift from God and to give himself without reservation in return.
His poverty was not simply an exercise in self-denial. It was an attempt to imitate Jesus, who was born in poverty, lived without earthly power, associated with the rejected, and gave Himself completely for the life of the world.
Founding the Franciscan Order and the Poor Clares
As Francis’s reputation for holiness spread, other men began asking to join him. In 1209, Francis and his small group of companions traveled to Rome to seek the approval of Pope Innocent III for their form of life, drawing their rule primarily from the words of Jesus in the Gospels. The pope eventually gave them verbal approval, and they became the Order of Friars Minor - commonly known as the Franciscans. The name, meaning “lesser brothers,” expressed Francis’s desire that they take the lowest place rather than seek status or authority.
The brothers traveled from town to town, preaching the Gospel, serving the poor, caring for lepers, and depending upon the generosity of others for their daily needs.
In 1212, a young noblewoman named Clare of Assisi left her wealthy family to follow the same Gospel way of life. With Francis’s guidance, she established a community of women devoted to prayer, poverty, and service - originally called the Poor Ladies and later known as the Poor Clares.
Francis and the Sultan
In 1219, during the Fifth Crusade, Francis traveled to Egypt and crossed the battle lines to meet Sultan al-Kamil, the Muslim ruler of Egypt.
Francis went with the desire to preach the Gospel, knowing that the journey might cost him his life. The Sultan received him, listened to him, and allowed him to remain for a period of time before Francis returned safely to the Christian camp.
Francis’s Love for Creation
Francis’s willingness to cross enemy lines to speak with the Sultan was of a piece with his broader vision - that every human being, and indeed every creature, bears the mark of its Creator and deserves to be met with reverence and love.
This vision found its most beautiful expression in the Canticle of the Sun, also known as the Canticle of the Creatures, which Francis composed near the end of his life while suffering from illness and failing eyesight. Written in the Umbrian language rather than scholarly Latin, the hymn praises God through Brother Sun, Sister Moon, the stars, wind, water, fire, and Mother Earth. Francis addresses the elements of creation as brothers and sisters because they share with us the same Creator and depend upon His goodness for their existence.
The Canticle is not ultimately addressed to nature. It is a song of praise to God:
“Most High, all-powerful, good Lord,Yours are the praises, the glory, the honor, and all blessing.”
Francis’s love for creation flowed from his love for the Creator. He understood that the world belongs to God and that human beings are not its absolute owners but fellow creatures called to receive it gratefully and care for it faithfully. The Anglican priest William Henry Draper later adapted the Canticle into the beloved hymn “All Creatures of Our God and King.”
Francis’s love for animals also inspired many legends. One tradition tells of a wolf that was terrorizing the town of Gubbio - Francis confronted the wolf, made peace between the animal and the townspeople, and persuaded the people to feed it. Another describes Francis preaching to a flock of birds, urging them to praise God for the feathers, wings, food, and freedom their Creator had given them. Whether speaking to people or animals, his message remained the same: the goodness of God and the praise owed to Him by everything He had made.
The Christmas Celebration at Greccio
Another enduring part of St. Francis’s legacy is the tradition of the nativity scene.
In 1223, Francis wanted the people near Greccio, Italy, to experience the humility and poverty of Christ’s birth more tangibly. He arranged for a manger filled with hay to be placed in a cave, with a living ox and donkey nearby. There were no statues or costumed figures. Instead, the people gathered on Christmas Eve carrying candles and torches, and Mass was celebrated over the manger. Francis, who was a deacon, proclaimed the Gospel and preached about the birth of Christ.
The celebration allowed the people to see with their own eyes something of the poverty into which the Son of God had entered, and it connected the mystery of the Incarnation with the Eucharist - the Christ who was laid in the manger at Bethlehem continues to give Himself to His people as the Bread of Life. The Christmas celebration at Greccio inspired the nativity scenes that now appear in Christian homes and churches throughout the world, making it one of Francis’s most quietly enduring gifts to the Church.
The Death of St. Francis
By 1226, Francis’s health had deteriorated severely. He was nearly blind and suffered from several painful illnesses, yet he continued to praise God and called even death “Sister Death” in the final verses of the Canticle of the Creatures.
As Francis approached death, his friend Lady Jacoba came to visit him, bringing a burial cloth, candles, incense, and Francis’s favorite almond cookies. Francis asked to be laid on the bare earth, and the account of Christ washing His disciples’ feet was read aloud. Surrounded by his brothers, he died on the evening of October 3, 1226, at the Portiuncula - the small chapel that had become the heart of the Franciscan movement.
Franciscans continue to commemorate his passing on October 3 with a service called the Transitus, meaning “passage,” before celebrating his feast on the following day. Francis was canonized in 1228, less than two years after his death.
Ways to Celebrate the Feast of St. Francis at Home
Attend a Blessing of the Animals. Many churches invite people to bring their pets to receive a blessing in remembrance of Francis’s love for God’s creatures. It is also a beautiful opportunity to thank God for the animals entrusted to our care.
Read the Canticle of the Creatures. Read Francis’s great hymn of praise together, noticing that every part of creation directs our attention toward its Creator. You might also sing “All Creatures of Our God and King,” which was drawn directly from the Canticle.
Here’s a sweet digital download I created for you to print out and read -
Serve Someone in Need. Francis’s life was shaped most deeply not by his affection for animals but by his sharing of Christ among the poor, sick, and rejected. Volunteer at a local shelter or food pantry, make a donation, visit someone lonely, or find another simple way to serve a person in need.
Care for Creation. Spend time outdoors, take a nature walk, work in the garden, pick up litter, refill a bird feeder, or care for an animal. Use the time to thank God for what He has made and consider how your family can exercise better stewardship of His creation.
Read books about St. Francis. There are so many great children’s books about St. Francis. HERE are my favorites.
Set Up or Plan Your Nativity Scene. Francis’s Christmas celebration at Greccio gives us a wonderful reason to begin thinking about the family nativity before Advent arrives. You might choose a new figure, repair an old set, or tell your children the story of how this beloved tradition began.
Eat Almond Cookies. According to Franciscan tradition, Lady Jacoba brought Francis his favorite almond cookies as he lay dying.
the recipe -
St. Francis’ Almond Cookies
1 3/4 cups whole almonds
1 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 large egg whites
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 cup sliced almonds
Toast whole almonds in a 300° oven for five minutes. Cool. Place in a food processor with sugar, flour, and salt. Process until finely ground. In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites to loosen them up. Add everything except the sliced almonds, and stir thoroughly until it forms a dough. Use a teaspoon to scoop the dough onto the baking sheet, leaving at least an inch between the cookies. Drop by teaspoonfuls on parchment-covered baking sheet 1″ apart. Sprinkle with sliced almonds. Bake at 300° for 20 to 25 minutes.
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