St Francis of Assisi

Francis was born to a very rich and important family in Assisi, Italy.  His father wanted Francis to be as rich and important as he was when he grew up, he wasn’t concerned with Francis knowing and loving God.  Francis had a very good life growing up, he had everything he ever wanted and everyone around him loved him so much and took care of every need he had.  He was very popular with the other young people in town and he was always at the wild parties that were held.  He was not living a very good life, but he was good at business and he loved France, which is exactly what his father wanted for him.  Francis decided he was going to be a knight, to go to battle for France and to get lots of attention for the battles that he fought and won.  In his first battle he was captured and held in a dungeon for a whole year until his father paid to release him. On the way to his second battle he had a dream where God told him that he was not living for the right things and he should go back home.  Francis began to pray and looking for God, and one day while praying in a ruined Church, he heard God’s voice tell him to rebuild His Church.  Francis thought this meant to rebuild the ruined Church and so he sold some of his father’s fabric to get money for the Church.  This made his father very angry and he disowned Francis, saying he was no longer his son.  Instead of being sad, Francis was finally happy because he could now live his whole life God his Father. He began to preach and tell people to come back to God.  Many men began to follow him and they formed a brotherhood, which is now called the Franciscans.  They lived a simple life, working hard for everything they needed, living together with all the animals and people surrounding them.  Francis received the wounds that Jesus had when he died on the cross, because Francis had prayed that he would be able to share in the suffering that Jesus had suffered.  Francis lived a difficult life and this caused him to get sick and loose his sight, but this did not make Francis sad he praised God through all his sufferings and died happy because he was going to be with Jesus.