St. Francis of Assisi (Giovanni Francesco Bernardone) was born in 1182 in Assisi; his parents were Pietro and Pica. He loved company, parties, and luxury, which he would renounce after returning from war captivity.
In the small church of St. Damian, in the autumn of 1205, he heard the call of the Crucified three times: "Francis, go and repair my house which, as you see, is falling into ruin!". After restoring the church, he spent his time in prayer and publicly renounced his father's inheritance before the bishop of Assisi. He then also repaired the churches of St. Peter and St. Mary of the Angels, called Porziuncola. He composed the Rule of Life "according to the manner of the Holy Gospel" which was orally approved by Pope Innocent III in 1209.
The order founded by Francis spread very quickly across Europe, and then the world. On the territory of Croatia, a Franciscan province was established even during Francis's lifetime. The monastery of St. Francis in Zadar is the oldest Franciscan monastery outside Italy. Dubrovnik is not much younger – the Friars Minor preserve the oldest seal of the Franciscan order. The coastal region is the cradle of Franciscanism from where it spread towards the continental part of Croatia, Herzegovina, and Bosnia. In the year 1216, Pope Honorius was elected and he confirmed the Rule of the Friars Minor. At the chapter in Assisi, on 26 May 1217, provincials were elected and sent with their assigned brothers "to all corners of the world".
Embraced by his brothers, Francis welcomed Sister Death in the Porziuncola, who returned him to the Father's home on 3 October 1226. Just two years after his passing (16 July 1228), Pope Gregory IX celebrated Francis's canonization.
(Friar Andrija Nikić)
