The Mystic Saints: Francis of Assisi

One of the most revered saints in Roman Catholic history, St. Francis of Assisi was canonized in 1228, just two years after his death. Made the patron saint of animals and ecology due to his reverence for nature, this Christian leader and mystic devoted the better part of his life to helping the poor and continuing the teachings of Jesus. To this end, he established the order of the Franciscan brotherhood in 1220, whose members are called to a life of prayer, preaching and penance. Through his teachings and actions as a mystic, one may find a basis on which to build their Catholic spirituality.

Born to a wealthy cloth merchant in 1182, St. Francis of Assisi spent the majority of his boyhood playing wealthy socialite. Though the principles of the Franciscan Order and his Catholic spirituality lay far ahead of him, as a young boy he was said to possess the mystic quality of sympathy for the poor. Perhaps looking for adventure as a young man, Francis joined in a military action against a rival city at the age of twenty. After his capture and subsequent release, he planned to go back to his military career, but was stopped on his way to a battle by a voice telling him to return to Assisi. Believing this to be the voice of God, Francis complied. This can be seen as the first true mystic experience of St. Francis, and his beginning down the path that would lead him to discover his Catholic spirituality and found the Franciscan Order.

After this first of many experiences Francis would have as a mystic, he began to do the work of the lord. This included tending to the sick and the poor, which were practices that would be featured heavily in his later Franciscan teachings. It is around this time that Francis would encounter his second and perhaps most life changing experience as a mystic. While praying in a church outside of his hometown of Assisi, he heard a voice tell him to rebuild the house. Taking this to mean a literal rebuilding, Francis sold some of his father’s cloth to help in the renovation of the church he was praying in. Furious, his father demanded restitution. However, Francis refused, renouncing his wealth and giving himself to the lord. In this gesture, his Catholic spirituality was brought to bear, and it may be said that St. Francis the mystic had officially been born.

Following the renouncement of his wealth, Francis was captivated by a reading from the Gospel of Matthew, wherein Jesus told his followers to preach, heal the sick, and leave wealth behind. In what can be seen as another mystic experience, Francis decided then to devote his life to poverty. As it reflected his Catholic spirituality, this passage would come to encapsulate the primary purpose of the Franciscan Order. It is here that Francis and his brothers can be seen to follow in the mystic tradition of union with Christ, by attempting to imitate him in life.

Towards the end of his life, in what may have been his final experience as a mystic, Francis received the stigmata while praying and fasting in honor of the archangel Michael. This event can be said to have strengthened not only Francis’s own Catholic spirituality, but also the spirituality of those he came in contact with, as many who heard him speak of this event pleaded with him to let them join the Franciscan Order. Though Francis had experiences as a mystic through prayer and action, this was, perhaps, the experience that most united him with God, allowing him to imitate the passion of Jesus.

The mystic St. Francis of Assisi made it clear in his establishment of the Franciscan Order that he believed the best way to strengthen Catholic spirituality was to attempt to imitate the life and works of Jesus. Throughout his life, his experiences as a mystic allowed him to grow closer to the lord, culminating in his receiving of the stigmata. Through his chosen lifestyle of poverty and compassion for the poor, St. Francis of Assisi followed in a mystic tradition some say was first established by Jesus himself.

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