St. Francis Research Paper

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1. DEFINE: 2. The Franciscan Friars are members of a religious order of men that was founded by St. Francis of Assisi, a town in northern Italy, in 1209. They are the First Order of Franciscans also known as the Order of Friars Minor, and they became known as the people’s preachers. St Francis was dedicated to devoting himself to a life of poverty and ‘to follow the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ and to walk in his footsteps.’ St Francis gave his order the name of “Friars Minor” because he wanted his brothers to be the servants to all. St Francis’ ideas were very popular and a year later in 1210, thousands of men had joined his order of Franciscan monks. In 1210, the Pope in Rome officially welcomed the Franciscan monks to the Catholic…show more content…
IDENTIFY: It is thought that St. Francis was born in the year 1182 AD and that his father was a very wealthy cloth merchant. St Francis received an excellent education and went on to fight in Italian wars. He became very sick when he was 23 years old and had a vision from God who told him to rebuild the house of god and form a new group of monks who could live a simple life and help the poor. In 1209, he became a monk and lived among the poor people, living and preaching the teachings of Jesus. He abandoned a life of luxury and devoted his life to Christianity. In St. Francis’ time, the Catholic Church and the church leaders were all extremely rich and he felt a need to completely dedicate himself to God to show fellow Christians how to live simply and care for the poor and those in need. He died at the age of 44 years old as a result of an eye disease. He was canonized as a saint two years after his death in 1228. Many men and women identify with his vision and his legacy is that the Franciscans are the largest religious order in the Catholic…show more content…
The Benedictine Order are contemplative and don’t have direct contact with people, instead assigning more time in their daily schedule to prayer and penance within the walls of a monastery. On the other hand, the Franciscan Order is more active and has more direct contact with people to serve the community in some way. They were not bound by the walls of a monastery. The Franciscan Friars followed a life of poverty and never accepted money, they lived, day to day, by working and begging. They lived a life of simplicity, penance, poverty and love for the poor. All brothers within the Franciscan order wore inexpensive clothes. They wore habits or tunics, some with a hood, a belt and trousers. If they needed to wear shoes, they could do so. The colour of the religious habit that Franciscan monks originally wore would have been made from unbleached, undyed wool and the sun would have gradually altered its colour. Over time, the Franciscan Friars started wearing robes that were grey or brown with a white cord tied at the waist, small hats and slipper like

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