St. Francis of Assisi
A rich kid who gave back everything, including the clothes he was wearing.
Francis grew up with money. His father sold cloth, the good kind, and Francis spent it on parties and nice things and generally being the most fun person in Assisi.
Then he started giving it away, and his father took him to the town square in front of everyone to make him stop. Francis handed back the money. Then he took off the clothes too, folded them up, and walked out of the square with nothing on and nothing owed.
He spent the rest of his life outdoors and broke and, by every account, happier than he had ever been. He preached to birds. He talked a wolf out of terrorizing a town. He called the sun his brother and the moon his sister and meant it literally.
St. Francis of Assisi facts for kids
- He founded the Franciscans, still one of the largest orders in the Church
- He built the first Nativity scene, in 1223, with live animals
- The wolf of Gubbio: he negotiated a truce between a town and the wolf eating it
- Patron saint of animals and of ecology. That's why pets get blessed around October 4.
Feast day: October 4 · Patron of animals and the environment
St. Francis, help me hold things loosely and love what's alive.
The longer story
We wrote a whole post about St. Francis, with more of the story than fits on one page.
St. Francis of Assisi: The Rich Kid Who Gave Everything Away