St. Francis of Assisi

He lived for 44 years, from the winter of 1181 or 1182 until he was laid to rest on Saturday, October 3, 1226..

Chronology of the Life of Saint Francis and His Cult

1181 (opp. 1182)
While his father was away, Francis was born in Assisi, to Peter Bernardone and the Lady Pica. When the child was baptized, he was given the name of John. Upon returning from his business trip, his father change the name to Francis.

1193 (opp. 1194)
Clare of Assisi was born to Favarone (or Favorino) Offreducci and Ortolana Fiumi. Her sister, Agnes, was born in 1197.

1202
There was an open skirmish between Perugia and Assisi. The opposing groups clashed at Collestrada. Perugia won the battle, and Francis was among those who were taken prisoner, and held captive in Perugia for about a year.

1203
Toward the end of the year, being severely ill, and perhaps also upon the payment of a ransom, Francis was set free.

1204
Once his health was restored, following a long illness, Francis was overcome with a deep inner unrest and anxiety concerning his future.

1205
His twenty-fourth year also marked the beginning of his conversion: he was abandoned by the friends of his merry and happy-go-lucky youth; he engaged in a life of intense prayer; he encountered and embraced a leper; he heard a voice from the crucifix in the church of St. Damian; he journeyed to Rome and had his first experience of poverty.

1206
He renounced his father’s wealth. He rebuilt the three churches of St. Damian, St. Peter of the Thorn, and the Porziuncola. After a brief stay at the Monastery of St. Verecondo of Vallingegno, he went to Gubbio where he cared for the lepers.

1208
Francis was again back in Assisi, where, in the Spring, at the Porziuncola, he listened to the Gospel of the votive Mass of the Apostles, which brought to light his evangelical and apostolic vocation. That same year, the first companions joined him, thus constituting the embryonic core of the First Franciscan Order.

1209
Francis drew up a written Rule, and, with his companions, went to Rome to receive approval from the Pope, who gave only a verbal approval. They stopped for a short stay in Orte, on their way home, then settled in a simple hut in Rivotorto.

1210
Compelled to leave the hut in Rivotorto, the growing group moved to the Porziuncola.

1212
Clare, fourteen years old, fled to the Porziuncola, where Francis consecrated her to God by cutting her hair and clothing her in a simple habit. After a short time, her sister Agnes, followed in her footsteps. This marked the beginning of the Second Franciscan Order. At the end of this year, Francis attempted a missionary journey to Syria, but having been shipwrecked on the Dalmatian coast, he returned to Ancona.

1213
On May 8, Francis was at St. Leo in Montefeltro, where Count Orlando of Chiusi donated Mount Verna to him. That same year, he attempted another missionary journey to Morocco, but was overwhelmed by such a severe illness that he was compelled to return to Italy.

1216
While in Perugia during July, the new Pope Honorius III, granted the request of Francis for a plenary indulgence called “the pardon of Assisi” to all those who visited the Porziuncola on August 2, the anniversary of its consecration.

1217
The first General Chapter was held at the Porziuncola on Pentecost, and 12 Franciscan Provinces were established.

1219
At the Pentecost Chapter at the Porziuncola, it was decided to send Franciscans to Germany, France, Hungary, Spain, and Morocco. The five Franciscans that went to Morocco underwent martyrdom and became the first Franciscan Martyrs. Francis himself went by sea from Ancona, and reached the crusader camp in Damiata.

1220
Honorius III, with the Bull Cum Secundum Consilium, decreed that all aspiring members of the Order must go through a novitiate of one year. The Bull is preserved in the Basilica of St. Francis.

1221
Francis wrote the rule labeled “non bollata” (not confirmed by a Papal Bull) which was presented at the Pentecost Chapter. That same year, the Order of the Brothers and Sisters of Penance was officially established, becoming the Third Franciscan Order. Honorius III gave verbal approval of “Memoriale Propositi”, the first “Rule” written for them.

1223
At Fontecolombo, Francis drew up the final Rule that was approved by the Bull Solet Annuere, issued by Honorius III on November 29. The original copy of the Rule is preserved in the Basilica of St. Francis. That Christmas, with the consent of the Pope, Francis re-enacted the nativity story at Greccio.

1224
On September 17, on Mount Verna, the Saint received the stigmata.

1225
At the church of St. Damian, Francis composed the Canticle of Brother Sun, also known as the Canticle of the Creatures.

1226 
On the evening of October 3, at the age of 44, the Saint died at the Porziuncola. The next day, his body was taken to Assisi and temporarily placed in the church of St. George.

Brief History of the Order

Order of Friars Minor Conventual
The Order of Friars Minor Conventual (in Latin: Ordo Fratrum Minorum Conventualium, initials: OFM Conv.), is one of three male mendicant Orders of Pontifical Right, which make up the Franciscan Family today.
The Religious of this Order are also called Minoriten in the German speaking countries, Greyfriars in the British areas, or Cordelier in France.
From the founding of his Order, it was the desire of Father Francis, that it would be a true fraternity; its members would come together as brothers of one family, joining in the life and work of the community according to one’s ability. Everyone had equal rights and responsibilities. St. Francis desired that his brothers be called Friars Minor, because “from their very name” they would “enter into the school of the humble Christ, in order to learn humility”. They came together in a common fraternity, with the goal of achieving greater devotion, a more ordered life, a more solemn Divine Office, a greater formation of candidates, the study of theology, and other works at the service of the Church, and thus extend the reign of Christ to all the earth under the guidance of the Immaculate.
(cfr. Constitutions of the Order: Chapter I, 1-4)

History
St. Francis of Assisi, with his first companions, presented themselves to Pope Innocent III in 1209, seeking oral approval of their evangelical form of life. As a result of this permission, which permitted the penitents of Assisi to also preach penance, the Fraternity saw itself notably expand to become a religion of the Friars Minor of which St. Francis speaks in the final part of the Rule. Shortly after, following the Lateran Council IV, November 29, 1223, Pope Honorius III approved the definitive Rule, which is now followed.
In 1274, at the death of the Minister General, St. Bonaventure, the Order grew ever more divided between the approach of the “Friars of the Community”, also called “Conventuals”, who had been given permission to have their communities in the cities in order to preach the Gospel and be of service to the poor, and that of the “Zealots” or “Spirituals”, at first, and later as “Observants” who professed ideals of absolute poverty and stressed the eremitical and ascetical dimensions of Franciscanism.
At the beginning of the XVI century, Pope Leo X, seeing the impossibility of the Observants and the Conventuals living under the same Rule and government, brought together all of the reformed groups under the Rule of the Friars Minor of the Regular Observance, with the Bull, Ita Vos of May 29, 1517: the others being brought together to form the Order of the Friars Minor Conventual, under the guidance of a Minister General. The separation of the two groups was also confirmed by Pope Leo XIII, who, with the Bull Felicitate Quadam of October 4, 1897, reorganized the Franciscan Orders into four Orders, each with its own Minister General: the Order of Friars Minor; the Order of Friars Minor Conventual; the Order of Friars Minor Capuchins; and the Third Order Regular.

The Order Today
Today the Friars Minor Conventual wear a black habit, in those countries which had undergone a suppression, while, in the mission lands, and beyond, they have begun to return to the original color of the Franciscan habit: ashen grey.
They continue to care for, among other things, the Basilica of St. Francis and the Sacred Convent of Assisi, and their principal center of study is the Theological Faculty of St. Bonaventure in Rome. Among the centers of formation and culture, one also finds the Theological Institute of St. Anthony the Doctor, in Padua.
The General Curia of the Order is centered in Rome at the Friary of the Twelve Holy Apostles.
As of January 1, 2011, the Order had 4,197 Friars (of whom 17 are Bishops, 2,907 are Priests, and 13 are Permanent Deacons), and 35 Provinces comprising 664 houses: they are present in 66 countries (7 African, 17 in the Americas, 10 Asian, 31 European, and Australia).

Witness of the Order
The family of the Friars Minor Conventual considers itself in historic and spiritual continuity with the original Order of Minors founded by St. Francis: it is inspired and feels particularly linked to all the saintly figures that the Order, even before the division, has experienced. The greatest among these is the Founder, the Saint of Assisi. Along with him, we cannot forget those who launched the Second and Third Orders: St. Clare of Assisi for the Poor Clares, and Saints Elizabeth of Hungary and Louis IX of France for the lay people, who today are called the Secular Franciscan Order (OFS).
Among the more significant Saints of Franciscan origin, and particularly linked to the Conventual tradition, one must not forget to mention: St. Anthony of Padua, the First Martyrs of the Order, Berard and Companions, St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio, the Blesseds Egidio of Assisi, Thomas of Celano, Luke Belludi of Padua, John Duns Scotus, Andrew Conti of Anagni, Oderic of Pordenone, James of Strepa, and Angelo of Monteleone of Orvieto. Following the Division of 1517, we continued to be blessed with Saints recognized and revered by the Church, as well as witnesses who have remained silent and anonymous.
The Church canonized St. Joseph of Cupertino in the XVIII century. In more recent times, Pope John Paul II elevated St. Maximilian Kolbe and St. Francis Anthony Fasani to the honors of the altar.
Among the Blesseds we recall: Bonaventure of Potenza, Raffaele Chylinski, Anthony Lucci, the Martyrs of the French Revolution, Jean-François Burté, Jean-Baptiste Triquerie, Nicola Savouret and Louis A. J. Adam, seven Polish Martyrs, and five Martyrs of the Spanish Revolution.