Issue #13: Franciscan Spirituality
- 5 days ago
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Saint Francis of Assisi (1181–1226) remains one of the most influential figures in Christian spirituality. I write this from St. Francis Bay, where I live—yet I rarely hear anyone speak about the saint himself. While there is certainly poverty in this little town on the coast, it’s traditionally been a holiday destination for the affluent, which, as we will discover, is in direct contradiction to the life and teachings of Saint Francis and his followers. Sadly, there’s no religious significance to the name of the town in which I work, other than the fact that the name probably originated from the Portuguese explorers who navigated the South African coast in the 15th and 16th centuries. They usually named landmarks after saints and named the bay in honour of Saint Francis.
Background to Saint Francis of Assisi
So, who was this Saint Francis after whom my town was named? He was born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone in Assisi, Italy. As Lawrence notes,
Francis was a child of one of the turbulent urban societies of the twelfth century. His father, Pietro Bernardone, was a rich cloth merchant or draper of Assisi. As a son of a well-to-do bourgeois family, Francis took his place among the children of the chivalric class and the patriciate of the small hill town. Enchanted, like many Italian youths of his time, by the dreamworld of chivalric romance, he aspired to the accolade of knighthood; and with this in view he set out in the spring of 1205 to join the crusade led by Walter of Brienne to expel the remnants of German imperial power from southern Italy. But at Spoleto he was stopped by a dream which he believed to convey a divine message and also perhaps by misgivings about his physical and mental aptitude for mounted warfare, and so abandoned the expedition and returned home.[1]
In his book, Great Christian Thinkers, Pope Benedict XVI highlights that at twenty years of age, Francis, while participating in a military campaign, was captured and taken prisoner, but was freed after becoming ill.[2] He returned home to Assisi, and after a slow process of conversion, he eventually abandoned the worldly lifestyle that he had lived up until this point. Later, Jesus Christ appeared three times to Francis and said, “Go, Francis, and repair my church in ruins.”[3] Although St Francis was certainly called to rebuild a local small church, which was left in ruins—the Church of St. Damian—the command was also symbolic of repairing the institutional church that was suffering from superficial faith at the time, which failed to shape and transform the lives of its people. Not to mention that with only a few zealous clergy, the church was experiencing “a decomposition of unity” and the growth and influence of heretical movements.[4]
This was a time of significant religious confusion, marked by several heretical movements. One of these was Catharism, whose members were often called Albigensians. They taught a form of dualism, holding that the material world was evil and created by an evil force, while the spiritual realm was good. They rejected the sacraments of the Catholic Church, along with its hierarchy. Another heresy was the Waldensian movement, founded by Peter Waldo in the 1170s. The Waldensians questioned certain Catholic teachings and church authority, while promoting apostolic poverty, lay preaching, and the reading of Scripture in the vernacular.[5]
The Ministry and Spirituality of Saint Francis
Francis’s call was not only to manual labour, but also to a much deeper call to renew Christ’s own Church, with her radical faith and her loving enthusiasm for Christ.[6] As a part of this call, Francis lived a life of poverty and dedicated himself to preaching. When reprimanded by his father for his generosity to the poor, Francis stripped off his clothes and renounced his inheritance, declaring: “I only have the life God has given me, and I return it to Him.” From that moment, he lived as a hermit until 1208, says Pope Benedict XVI.[7]
In the following year, Francis travelled to Rome together with a small group of companions. He wished to propose to Pope Innocent III the idea of developing a new way of living out the Christian life, emphasizing poverty, humility, and preaching. The Pope gave him a warm welcome after he had dreamed that this Francis would play a pivotal role in the renewal of the Church.[8] Innocent III approved the Franciscan Order and allowed Francis to establish his Rule and mission. However, it was “with a proviso that the lay brethren should confine themselves to spiritual exhortation and avoid questions of dogmatic and sacramental theology.”[9]
Francis never intended to found a formal order; he simply sought to renew God’s people through the preached Word and obedience to Jesus. He enjoyed a profound relationship with Jesus and his Word, and he wanted to share this with others.[10] Pope Benedict XVI offers us a beautiful overview of Francis’s spirituality, he writes,
From love for Christ stems love for others and also for all God’s creatures. This is yet another characteristic trait of Francis’s spirituality: the sense of universal brotherhood and love for creation, which inspired the famous Canticle of Creatures. This too is an extremely timely message … Francis reminds us that the wisdom and benevolence of the Creator is expressed through creation. He understood nature as a language in which God speaks to us, in which reality becomes clear, and we can speak of God and with God. Francis was a great saint and a joyful man. His simplicity, his humility, his faith, his love for Christ, his goodness toward every man and every woman brought him gladness in every circumstance. Indeed, there subsists an intimate and indissoluble relationship between holiness and joy.[11]
It is not surprising, then, as Ringma points out, Franciscan spirituality is similar to Celtic spirituality in many ways by embodying a strong Trinitarian theology, seeing God in nature and beyond nature, and celebrating the earth. Yet, it also has a strong commitment to serving the poor and those in need, whilst also seeking to renew the church.[12] A wonderful example of Francis’s response to the poor and needy is his notion of “kissing the leper.” He believed “that God could be found in the most unlikely places and circumstances—and thus we can be found by God in these marginal places.”[13] Accordingly, as Ringma explains, he challenged believers to reject the “culture of violence” so prevalent in his time (as it is in ours); to rebuild the church, along with Christian institutions and other parts of our society instead of promoting or participating in its fragmentation; to become Christ-like by imitating him, not merely believing in him; to worship the Creator God by caring for his creation; and “create a faith-community that overcomes hierarchy, the misuse of power, and the spirit of possessiveness.”[14]
Despite the last point, Francis and the Franciscan tradition have always held the traditional church in high regard but sought to increase and develop its prophetic witness.[15] All of us, including evangelical Christians, can adopt the Franciscan emphases by being connected to the faith community, as Ringma proclaims, rather than continually criticising it or looking down at the Church as a sleeping giant.[16] Ringma says it beautifully when he writes, “The Franciscan relationship to the church can challenge radical evangelicals to develop a more fully orbed understanding of the ‘communion of saints,’ as specified in the Apostles Creed, and also a more sacramental understanding of what it means to be ‘the body of Christ.’”[17]
Francis and his spirituality are well known for their special connection to nature. There were stories of him preaching to the birds, taming a wild wolf, along with many other such instances. He practiced severe asceticism and mysticism, experiencing the stigmata (the first known case), visions, ecstasies, and—according to tradition—even levitation and bilocation. He was often said to be a Christ-like figure. So severe was his bodily asceticism that he called his body “Brother Ass.” He therefore lived in poor health, which likely led to an early death. His life was at times paradoxical, for example, loving creation, and yet embracing suffering.[18]
Francis’ religious lifestyle attracted many to him, including Clare of Assisi (1194–1253), who later founded the Order of the Poor Ladies, which was later called the Poor Clares. She was a woman of radical poverty, deep prayer, and strong leadership, like Francis himself. Together they shared deep spiritual kinship, perhaps even a “mystical friendship.” By 1221, there were three thousand Franciscan friars, men and women, under Francis’s and Clare’s leadership, respectively.[19] The primary teaching spread by Francis is simple: it is that it’s “possible to live the Gospel, to practise the imitation of Christ, while living in the everyday world; the disciple of Christ could renounce the world, but continue to live in it.”[20]
Franciscan Spirituality for Today
Pope Benedict XVI proclaims that Francis was “an authentic ‘giant’ of holiness, who continues to fascinate a great many people of all age groups and every religion.”[21] Ringma[22] offers us some observations on how Franciscan Spirituality may enrich radical evangelicalism (and evangelisation) in our present time:
In the “consumer-Christianity of the West” which promotes a “me-centred” theology, Francis proclaims “that a deep conversion to Jesus will call us to a complete reorientation of our values, priorities, and way of life.”
Where image and consumerism occupy our culture, and often our church ethos, Francis calls us to “vulnerable servanthood” where we repair and build God’s house by serving the poor and challenging those who abuse power.
Our culture prizes upward mobility, but Francis calls us to embrace “downward mobility for the sake of the gospel.”
Francis demonstrates another way in a world that is disfigured by fear, violence, and war. Rather than taking part in violence, he embodied peace and challenges us to become peacemakers for the sake of Christ Jesus.
Francis taught us to regard the natural environment as “brothers and sisters” rather than resources to be exploited. Instead, we are to take great care in stewarding God’s creation.
Francis was also a poet, and Ringma’s final observation on God’s creation leads us to his famous poem as a suitable conclusion to this blog.
Canticle of the Creatures
by St. Francis of Assisi
Most High, all-powerful, good Lord,
Yours are the praises, the glory, and the honor, and all blessing,
To You alone, Most High, do they belong,
and no human is worthy to mention Your name.
Praised be You, my Lord, with all Your creatures,
especially Sir Brother Sun,
Who is the day and through whom You give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor;
and bears a likeness of You, Most High One.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars,
in heaven You formed them clear and precious and beautiful.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind,
and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather,
through whom You give sustenance to Your creatures.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water,
who is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire,
through whom You light the night,
and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.
Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth,
who sustains and governs us,
and who produces various fruit with colored flowers and herbs.
Praised be You, my Lord,
through those who give pardon for Your love,
and bear infirmity and tribulation.
Blessed are those who endure in peace
for by You, Most High, shall they be crowned.
Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death,
from whom no one living can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin.
Blessed are those whom death will find in Your most holy will,
for the second death shall do them no harm.
Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks
and serve Him with great humility.
Task
Read G. K. Chesterton’s book, Saint Francis of Assisi, available for free here, and answer the following questions:
How might Francis’s radical poverty challenge you today?
Which aspect of Francis’s character do you think is most relevant to you and modern society?
What does Chesterton’s portrayal suggest about the relationship between joy and holiness?
If Francis were alive today, how do you think he might challenge you?
AI Disclaimer:
This blog has been edited for grammar, clarity, and readability using AI-assisted tools. The core content, theological insights, and personal reflections remain my original work.
[1] C. H. Lawrence, Medieval Monasticism: Forms of Religious Life in Western Europe in the Middle Ages, 4th ed., Medieval World Series (New York: Routledge, 2015), 227; Cf. Greg Peters, The Story of Monasticism: Retrieving an Ancient Tradition for Contemporary Spirituality (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2015), 179.
[2] St. Francis of Assisi: The Nature Mystic, 2023.
[3] Pope Benedict XVI, Great Christian Thinkers: From the Early Church Through the Middle Ages (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2011), 240.
[4] Pope Benedict XVI, Great Christian Thinkers, 240; Cf. Charles R. Ringma, In the Midst of Much-Doing: Cultivating a Missional Spirituality (Carlisle: Langham Global Library, 2023), 322.
[5] St. Anthony of the Desert.
[6] Pope Benedict XVI, Great Christian Thinkers, 240.
[7] Pope Benedict XVI, Great Christian Thinkers, 241; Cf. St. Anthony of the Desert.
[8] Lawrence, Medieval Monasticism: Forms of Religious Life in Western Europe in the Middle Ages, 222; Pope Benedict XVI, Great Christian Thinkers, 241; St. Anthony of the Desert.
[9] Lawrence, Medieval Monasticism: Forms of Religious Life in Western Europe in the Middle Ages, 223.
[10] Pope Benedict XVI, Great Christian Thinkers, 241.
[11] Pope Benedict XVI, Great Christian Thinkers, 244.
[12] Ringma, In the Midst of Much-Doing, 321.
[13] Ringma, In the Midst of Much-Doing, 322.
[14] Ringma, In the Midst of Much-Doing, 120.
[15] Ringma, In the Midst of Much-Doing, 321.
[16] Ringma, In the Midst of Much-Doing, 321.
[17] Ringma, In the Midst of Much-Doing, 321.
[18] St. Anthony of the Desert.
[19] Peters, The Story of Monasticism: Retrieving an Ancient Tradition for Contemporary Spirituality, 181.
[20] Lawrence, Medieval Monasticism: Forms of Religious Life in Western Europe in the Middle Ages, 230.
[21] Pope Benedict XVI, Great Christian Thinkers, 240.
[22] Ringma, In the Midst of Much-Doing, 322–23.
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