St. Francis of Assisi
Animal-blessing friar
St.
Francis of Assisi was a 13th-century Italian friar who founded the Franciscan order and became one of Christianity's most beloved saints.
He renounced wealth to embrace radical poverty and is famous for his love of animals and nature—legend has him preaching to birds and taming a wolf.
He is the patron saint of animals and ecology.
A statue of St. Francis stood in the garden.
Official declaration of sainthood
- feast daySaint's commemorative holiday
- patron saintHoly figure guarding devotees
- hagiographyIdealized biographical writing
- miraclesSupernatural extraordinary events
stigmata · veneration · relics · beatification · holiness · sanctity · intercession · devotion
Address to deity
- contemplationSustained reflective attention
- mysticismPursuit of divine union
- stigmataWounds echoing crucifixion
- visionAbility to see
ecstasy · devotion · meditation · union with God · divine love · praise · worship · thanksgiving
Lack of complexity
- mendicantOne who begs
- beggingEarnest desperate requesting
- almsgivingGiving to the needy
- renunciationFormal surrender of claim
austerity · humility · friar · vow · self-denial · frugality · minimalism · detachment
Boot-shaped European nation
- UmbriaLandlocked Italian region
- basilicaColonnaded church with apse
- pilgrimageReligious journey to shrine
- birthplaceLocation of one's birth
medieval · hilltop town · tomb · shrine · UNESCO · sacred site
Egg-laying flying vertebrates
- creaturesAnimate beings, especially animals
- wildlifeUndomesticated natural organisms
- compassionConcern for others' distress
- ecologyStudy of environmental relations
stewardship · conservation · sanctuary · protection · taming · gentleness · kinship · harmony with nature
Catholic mendicant religious order
- brotherhoodKinship among men
- friarsMendicant religious order members
- habitSettled regular tendency
- cordFlexible twisted strand
Antiwar moral stance
- nonviolencePrincipled rejection of force
- reconciliationRestoration of friendly relations
- peacemakerConflict resolution agent
- gentlenessSoft, kind demeanor
tolerance · interfaith dialogue · harmony · meekness · peacebuilding · conflict resolution · brotherhood · peace prayer
canonization
Official declaration of sainthood
- feast daySaint's commemorative holiday
- patron saintHoly figure guarding devotees
- hagiographyIdealized biographical writing
miracles · stigmata · veneration · relics · beatification · holiness · sanctity · intercession · devotion · shrine
prayer
Address to deity
- contemplationSustained reflective attention
- mysticismPursuit of divine union
- stigmataWounds echoing crucifixion
vision · ecstasy · devotion · meditation · union with God · divine love · praise · worship · thanksgiving · religious life
simplicity
Lack of complexity
- mendicantOne who begs
- beggingEarnest desperate requesting
- almsgivingGiving to the needy
renunciation · austerity · humility · friar · vow · self-denial · frugality · minimalism · detachment · barefoot
Italy
Boot-shaped European nation
- UmbriaLandlocked Italian region
- basilicaColonnaded church with apse
- pilgrimageReligious journey to shrine
birthplace · medieval · hilltop town · tomb · shrine · UNESCO · sacred site
birds
Egg-laying flying vertebrates
- creaturesAnimate beings, especially animals
- wildlifeUndomesticated natural organisms
- compassionConcern for others' distress
ecology · stewardship · conservation · sanctuary · protection · taming · gentleness · kinship · harmony with nature · fauna
Franciscans
Catholic mendicant religious order
- brotherhoodKinship among men
- friarsMendicant religious order members
- habitSettled regular tendency
cord · tonsure · community · charism · founder · novitiate · vows
pacifism
Antiwar moral stance
- nonviolencePrincipled rejection of force
- reconciliationRestoration of friendly relations
- peacemakerConflict resolution agent
gentleness · tolerance · interfaith dialogue · harmony · meekness · peacebuilding · conflict resolution · brotherhood · peace prayer · disarmament
- ChestertonFather Brown, St. Thomas Aquinas, paradox, Catholic convert
- Franciscansfriars, friar, brotherhood, friaries, Franciscans
- nunsnun, nuns, sister, sisters, convent
St. Francis of AssisiMidas
Mythical transmuting monarch
Croesus · robber baron · plutocrat · materialist · oligarch
St. Francis of AssisiAntichrist
Prophesied opponent of Christ
Satan · blasphemer · desecrator · Marquis de Sade · atheist
St. Francis of Assisityrant
Cruel, absolute ruler
Caligula · Nero · Vlad the Impaler · Genghis Khan · Marquis de Sade