The Catholic Church is celebrating a special Jubilee Year of Saint Francis which runs from January 10, 2026, to January 10, 2027, marking the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi on Oct 4th, 1226.
Is St. Francis of Assisi is the patron of nature because he preached the Word of God to birds, who listened to him. St. Francis literally took the words of Jesus to heart, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature”. (Mark 15:9) The birds, which landed on his shoulder would leave only after he made the sign of the Cross. God wants us to respect creation, and show us the power of God’s Word over creation.
There was a large wolf that killed livestock and villagers in a town called Gubbio. St. Francis confronted the wolf and made a pact with it, telling it, that if it stopped harming people and animals they would provide regular food for it and miraculously obeyed St. Francis.
Can the Church say there is or isn’t climate change? The short answer is, the Church has no authority to determine matters relating to science. Church has authority over faith and morals. Some Globalists believe climate change is caused by an excessive number of people on earth, and to prevent it, they believe the world’s population must be reduced. Some have hijacked St. Francis Assisi’s love of nature, to make him the patron of the global movement, climate change and protecting “mother earth”, but this is really sacrilegious. An article in the National Catholic Register said, “The Earth is, as St. Francis of Assisi explained, our Sister, not our Mother. That is, the earth is yet another part of God’s creation with no authority over us. It’s we who reign over the earth.”
St. Francis of Assisi was known at “the little beggar”. Born in 1182 in Assisi, Italy he received the baptismal name John, but due to his father’s love for France, he was called Francesco. The son of a wealthy merchant, Francis had time and money to host lavish banquets for young nobles. Parties and selling cloth left Francis little time for God. A charming and educated young man, he spent his early life leading young nobles to parties. He dreamed of knighthood and longed for the adventurous life of chivalry. In pursuit of that dream, he joined in the war between Assisi and Perugia at the age of 20. He was wounded and taken prisoner.
During his day, there was widespread confusion, scandals among the clergy and a decline in attendance threatened the Church.
One day, he walked inside San Damiano church falling down from old age. He knelt to pray, before a Crucifix, now known as the San Damiano Crucifix, and asked God, what he wanted him to do, with his life. Jesus spoke to St. Francis from the cross, and said, “Build my Church, as you can see it is falling into ruin.” Francis thought the Lord wanted him to build the church that was falling down, and so, he began to collect stones to repair it. About this time, the pope had a vision of St. Francis holding up St. Mary Mary Major.
On the feast of St. Matthias, in 1209, he was revealed the way of life he was to follow. The Gospel of the Mass was Matthew 10: And going, preach, saying The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.... Freely have you received, freely give. Take neither gold nor silver nor brass in your purses . . . nor two coats nor shoes nor a staff.... Behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves.... These words suddenly became Christ's command to him. His doubts over, he cast off shoes, staff, and leather girdle, but kept his rough woolen coat, which he tied about him with a rope. Francis begged for food, wore old clothes, and preached peace. He began to speak to the people he met on the shortness of life, the need of repentance, and the love of God. His salutation to those he passed on the road was, "Our Lord give you peace." He came to discover God wanted him to start a religious order of men to spiritually build and repair Holy Mother Church.
He began to attract followers, and in 1209 with the papal blessing he founded the Friars Minor (Franciscans). Then in 1212 with St. Clare of Assisi he founded the foundation of the cloistered nuns called the “Poor Ladies," now known as the "Poor Clares." He also founded the "Third Order of Penance" (the Third Order) which included lay people. Thousands of people throughout the world began to follow his way of life, which renewed the Church.
St. Francis and his followers would take care of the poor, especially lepers and would often kiss their contagious wounds.
St. Francis had a tremendous devotion to the Passion of Christ. One day, while praying, and after fasting for 40 days, on or about the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross, he asked Jesus to allow himself to experience in a small way, what Our Lord experienced on the Cross.
He then had a vision of a winged seraph, nailed to a cross, flying towards him; he also felt keen stabs of pain in hands, feet, and sides. When the vision vanished, he discovered on his body the stigmata of the crucified Christ. In 1224, he became known as the first person to receive the stigmata (the five wounds of Christ). He believed his wounds were a sign of God’s love for him. The wounds given by God to St. Francis were an outward indication that St. Francis embraced his life of pain and suffering which he united to the Cross of Jesus for the salvation of souls.
One Christmas night, Francis created the first live Nativity scene, with an altar in which had real animals, a manger, and people dressed up like St. Joseph and the Virgin Mary. However, they didn’t have a child to play the baby Jesus. During the outdoor Mass, after the consecration, when the bread changed into the body of Christ, and when the priest raised the Eucharist, all present witnessed, the baby Jesus suddenly appear in the arms of St. Francis. Since then, nativity sets began to be created and placed in churches and homes.
Followers of St. Francis are also responsible for putting Stations of the Cross in churches. If it wasn’t for St. Francis, most likely churches wouldn’t have them today on their walls, nor have nativity sets at churches and in homes.
St. Francis and his followers lived a very poor life, not owning anything. He felt if he had any material objects, they would take his heart and mind away from Jesus. He had a nickname for poverty, he called it, Lady Poverty because he respected poverty as though it were a lady, who deserved respect. St. Francis saw his new way of life as rejecting riches, worldliness, and pride by living a life of poverty, penance and humility, preaching peace, conversion and repentance.
He had a great devotion to Mary and the Holy Eucharist. St. Francis wanted churches to be clean, in good repair, and beautiful to honor Jesus. He spent much of his time in prayer in the Church of San Damiano, and one of his early works of charity was to repair churches. Although he greatly valued poverty and did not spend money on himself, he wanted the best, most beautiful sacred vessels to be used in churches. He wrote, “Above everything else, I want this most Holy Sacrament to be honored and venerated and reserved in places which are richly ornamented.”
Highlighting his respect for priests, the Mass, and the Eucharist, he said, “Let the whole of mankind tremble, the whole world shake, and the heavens exalt, when Christ, the Son of the living God, is present on the altar, in the hands of the priest. O admirable heights, and sublime lowliness! O sublime humility! O humble sublimity!”
St. Francis is known for a prophecy. He said, “The time is fast approaching in which there will be great trials and afflictions; perplexities and dissensions, both spiritual and temporal, will abound; the charity of many will grow cold, and the malice of the wicked will increase. At the time of this tribulation a man, not canonically elected, will be raised to the Pontificate, who, by his cunning, will endeavor to draw many into error and death. Some preachers will keep silence about the truth, and others will trample it under foot and deny it. The sanctity of life will be held in derision even by those who outwardly profess it, for in those days Jesus Christ will send them not a true pastor, but a destroyer."
Francis died at the age of 44 on October 3rd, 1226 at Assisi in church of Our Lady of the Angels called the Portiuncula. He was canonized by Pope Gregory IX less than two years later.
Today, let us grow in our devotion and love of St. Francis of Assisi. Don’t think of him as merely a nature lover, but think of him as one who repaired the Church, by living and preaching the Gospel, accepting suffering, meditating on the Passion of Christ, his devotion Mary and Jesus in the Eucharist and his life of penance, humility, conversion and peace, rejecting the world with its riches and pride.
St. Francis of Assisi, pray for us, and please help us repair the Church today, who as you can see is falling into ruin today.
I have a relic of St. Francis, with me today. If you are interested in venerating it, you can do so after the final hymn. Remember to pray for a specific intention when touching the relic.
