By Emma Laws, Cathedral Librarian
Towards the end of his life, Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, known as Francis of Assisi, returned to the town of his birth, Assisi in Perugia, Italy. Though only around 44 years of age, he had become seriously ill and when the people of Assisi heard the news of his declining health they became concerned that he might die elsewhere and that Assisi would be ‘deprived of his relics’. On his final return journey to Assisi, his companions carried him in a litter to the Bishop’s Palace.
This illustration is the frontispiece to Margaret Oliphant’s biography of St Francis of Assisi, published in 1871. It depicts Francis lying on the litter, supported by his companions. He holds his right hand out to bless the town of Assisi, visible in the distance; if you look closely, you can see the stigmata on the palm of his hand – the wound of Christ nailed to the Cross.
A few days before his death, Francis moved to a small hut near the chapel of St Mary of the Angels, just beyond Assisi. It was here that he had founded the Franciscans, a mendicant order with a simple rule to ‘follow the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ and to walk in his footsteps’. (Mendicant orders adopted a lifestyle of poverty and chose to live among the poor rather than in a monastery or convent.) Later, Francis also founded the Poor Clares and the Third Order of Brothers and Sisters of Penance.
Oliphant concludes her biography of St Francis, ‘Such was the end of the life of Francis of Assisi – a life filled with one great master-thought which dominated all other motives of humanity and impulses of nature – the desire to be like Christ. For this he gave up everything…’
Francis of Assisi died on this day – 3 October – in 1226 (some accounts give 4 October); two years later Pope Gregory IX canonised him as a saint. Today, St Francis of Assisi is remembered for his ‘rich and abundant poverty’ and both the Catholic Church and Anglican Communion celebrate his life and ministry on the 4 October.