St. Francis of Assisi: Feast Day, Patronage & Prayers

Feast day: October 4 (Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi)

Patron of: Italy, animals, and ecology.

About St. Francis of Assisi

St. Francis was born in Assisi, Italy, around 1181, the son of a wealthy cloth merchant. A carefree young man who dreamed of knightly glory, he was changed by imprisonment, illness, and a growing hunger for God. He embraced a leper he once would have avoided, and in the ruined chapel of San Damiano he heard Christ on the crucifix say, "Francis, go and repair my house, which is falling into ruin." Renouncing his inheritance before the bishop of Assisi, he began a life of radical poverty.

Companions soon joined him, and in 1209 Pope Innocent III approved their simple way of life, the beginning of the Franciscan order. With St. Clare he also founded the Poor Clares. Francis preached peace and penance, visited the Sultan of Egypt during the Crusades, and created the first Christmas crib at Greccio in 1223. In 1224 he received the stigmata, the wounds of Christ, on Mount La Verna. He praised God through all creatures in his Canticle of the Sun. Francis died in 1226 and was canonized two years later. He shows the freedom and joy of belonging wholly to Christ.

Prayers to St. Francis of Assisi on Daily Catholic Prayers

• Canticle of the Sun (St. Francis of Assisi)

• Christmas Prayer (Traditional)

• Litany of the Saints

• Prayer for Peace

• Prayer of St. Francis (Traditional Peace Prayer)

• Prayer to St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Friend of the Poor

• Prayer to St. Francis of Assisi

• Prayers of St. Francis of Assisi in His Own Words

• St. Michael the Archangel Prayers for Michaelmas (September 29)

Learn more: “St. Francis of Assisi” in the Catholic Encyclopedia (New Advent)

Browse every saint in our Catalog of Saints A–Z.

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