Wednesday, October 2, 2019

St Francis of Assisi. (1181 to 1226)


 

Francis of Assisi was the privileged son of a wealthy merchant and knew how to enjoy life, especially a good party.  As a young man he went to fight for his country, was captured and held prisoner for many months.  His father paid to bring him home but he soon became seriously ill.  Francis recovered but was left dissatisfied with himself and his life.

He started praying more and kept giving stuff away.  His father, who had seen him through all these wild parties, ransomed him from prison, and got him through his illness, started to get upset.  His Dad would give him a warm cloak, or a good pair of shoes and Francis would just pass them on to the next beggar he met.  And basically Francis spent the rest of his life doing that:  pissing everybody off by giving stuff away.  In his lifetime everybody knew, and liked, him.  He was charming and travelled everywhere.  He went west to Spain, then through Eastern Europe and south to Egypt during the Crusade being present at the capture of Dametietta.  He made friends with not just the Roman clergy that he met, but the Orthodox churchmen in the east, with Moors, and mainly with ordinary folk.  The Pope, priests, imams, and even his own monks, loved him but couldn’t cope with his complete disinterest in every material thing.

Francis’ generosity, his simple and unaffected faith, his passionate devotion to God and man, his love of nature and his deep humility have made him one of the most cherished saints of modern times.
At St. Barnabas in Warrington we like, every year, to remember St Francis and his love of animals, by bringing our pets to church on the Sunday afternoon after his saints day.  Well, maybe we just like to thank God for a world that’s made much richer and much more fun by our animal friends.

If you’d like to join us, bring you pet along at 2pm on Sunday 6th October.

Jeremy Nicoll,  St Barnabas Church Warrington