St. Francis of Paola
Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Francis, St. Francis was very young when he founded a religious order and he wanted to bring back the old practices from the older monks during a time of corruption that was occurring in the church.
St. Francis was a man who enjoyed solitude and he would wish to only be “the least in the household of God.” St. Francis felt the calling to serve the Church in the world. When St. Francis started to serve God he became a miracle- worker and he influenced many different people in the world.
St. Francis was born in the Southern Italian region named Calabria in the year of 1416. His parents decided to name their son Francis because they had a large love and devotion to St. Francis of Assisi. St. Francis’ parents decided to name their son Francis hoping that he would follow in the footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi and live a deep and rich life of spiritual devotion to Christ.
St. Francis Paola would show many signs of a strong and beautiful spiritual life ever since a young age. After his family had become poor, he accepted the poverty as a sign of a path to a life filled with holiness.
St. Francis’ father placed St. Francis in the care of a group of Franciscan friars where he was educated at the young age of 13 years old. St. Francis made the decision on his own to live strictly according to the rule that the religious order had. After St. Francis spent a year with the Franciscan friars, St. Francis rejoined his parents parents on a pilgrimage to Assisi, Italy, Rome, Italy and to the historic Franciscan church. When the family returned to Paola, Italy, St. Francis was only 15 years old and he decided to ask his parents for permission to live as a hermit.
St. Francis who was a very young monk would sleep in a cave and St. Francis would only eat what we could gather in the wild and he would eat the occasional food offerings that people would give him. During the first four years of his journey, two companions joined him and the townspeople helped him build three individual cells for the hermits and they also built a chapel where they would celebrate Mass.
St. Francis was able to get the approval he needed from a local bishop to be able to grow his religious order larger without losing any of St. Francis’ beliefs or primitive living conditions. St. Francis’ group was known as the Hermits of St. Francis of Assisi until it was later renamed the Minimi or Minims which meant “the least” this name showed how humble they were. St. Francis and the other monks were known not only from their strict lifestyle but they were also known for their severe diet which did not only eliminated meat and fish but it also excluded eggs, dairy products and a bunch of other food that were from animals.
Abstinence from meat and many other animal products became a fourth vow of St. Francis’ religious order, along with the other vows that included a vow of poverty, a vow of chastity, and a vow of obedience.
St. Francis Wanted to add the tradition of fasting during Lent which had been removed during the 15th century.
St. Francis’ attraction to God and to strengthen his devotion to him through any way he could, attracted the attention of many important figures such as European kings, Popes, Bishops and many other people. Many men regarded St. Francis as a spiritual leader during a very corrupt time period and St. Francis performed many miracles such as healing people.
St. Francis travelled all the way to France due to the request of Pope Sixtus lV and he took with him his nephew Nicholas who he rose from the dead. When King Louis Xl was about to die, he requested that St. Francis would perform a miracle and restore his health.
St. Francis told the King that he should never fear the end of his earthly life because he would be able to be united with God. During that time St. Francis became a close spiritual adviser for the King.
St. Francis would discuss the realty death with the King openly and St. Francis would urge him to surrender his heart and soul to God so that he could spend eternity with him. During the year 1483 the King died in the arms of St. Francis.
King Louis Xl’s son kept the monk as a close adviser, in spiritual and also in political affairs. St. Francis would continue to follow the monastic rules he had developed when he lived in his hermitage that was located outside of Paola, Italy. St. Francis continued to serve as the superior general of the Minim order and eventually founded new monasteries in France.
St. Francis sensed that his life was coming to an end, around the age of 91 and he decided to live in solitude for about three months to prepare himself for his passing. When St. Francis left he gathered some Minim brothers and gave them the final instructions for the future of the order. St. Francis received the Eucharist for the last time on April 2 which was Good Friday during the year 1507.
During the year 1519, Pope Leo X canonized St. Francis which was 12 years after his passing. During the French Revolution which occurred during the 18th century many Minim monasteries had been destroyed, however the order still exists today primarily in Italy. St. Francis' feast day is celebrated on April 2.
Prayer to St. Francis Paola:
St. Francis of Paola intercede that we may be able to have the wisdom we need to preach the word of God to other people and help others to find Christ regardless
of all the obstacles or dangers we may encounter. St. Francis help us to be able to be more loving and kind to everyone that we meet and help us to offer up all of the suffering and trials that we may encounter for all of those who are suffering or are ill. St. Francis help us to be more humble so that we may live a life where we help others and not tell anyone what we have done to help them or expect anything in return for our service because when we serve others we are serving Christ, who put the poor and vulnerable in this world so that through our service and love to them we are serving and loving Christ.
We ask this through Christ Our Lord and Mary Our Mother Heaven
Amen
St. Francis pray for us
St. Joseph pray for us
May we continue to strengthen our journey to sainthood and keep others in our prayers.
Works Cited:
Information (read from, not taken):
Catholic Online. “St. Francis of Paola.” St. Francis of Paola - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online. Accessed 2 April 2021.
Images:
St.Francis of Paola. April 2, 2021.
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