There are three experiences that profoundly shaped St. Francis of Assis’s life. Two were early: one year spent as a prisoner-of-war (from 1202-1203), and subsequent homelessness living among lepers outside Assisi’s walls (likely 1205). The third, Francis’ journey to Egypt (in 1219), occurred seven years before his death in 1226. Each unfolded differently than Francis anticipated.
Seeking fame, Francis joined Assisi’s ongoing fight with its neighbor Perugia. The son of a wealthy cloth merchant went off to war well equipped with horse and armor. When the battle turned against Assisi, Francis’s life was spared because his equipment revealed he came from a family capable of paying a ransom. His poorer, fellow soldiers who survived the battle were likely executed or if wounded “dispatched” on the battlefield.
Strangely, Francis wrote nothing about his year-long imprisonment. Released from captivity, he was shell of his former self. Having witnessed men killed in battle, others executed as worthless wounded, and enduring near-starvation conditions in captivity, Francis likely suffered what today we would recognize as PTSD. Francis abandoned his second attempt to go to war and returned to Assisi forever changed. Unable to find solace inside walled Assisi, Francis wandered outside the city. The similarities to 21st century homeless veterans are striking.
The second transformative experience occurred during Francis’ homeless wandering. Writing years later from his deathbed, Francis described how he showed mercy to lepers. The early friars’ care for lepers was likely a consequence of Francis having received de facto protection living among those so despised and feared that they were forced to live outside the city. It is reasonable to speculate the Francis’ mercy toward lepers was an attempt to repay mercy received from lepers.
Contrary to what Francis likely wanted, his way of life attracted followers. In 1219, ten years after he and his first followers received verbal approval from the pope for their way of life, five Franciscan missionaries travelled first to Seville and later to Morocco in hopes of converting Muslims. First, they were beaten. Later, failing to observe a prohibition on preaching, they were executed.
Later in 1209, Francis and another friar traveled to Egypt hoping to convert Muslims. Historians posit that Francis anticipated martyrdom. Instead of being put to the sword the two friars were received by a sophisticated, courtly gentleman, al-Malek al-Kamil, the Sultan of Egypt. Prior to their departure, the sultan offered the friars lavish gifts. Francis refused. The sultan insisted they take at least one gift, an ivory horn currently on display at the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi. The sultan’s insistence disguised another motive: his gift demonstrated the sultan’s favor, thereby assuring safe passage through hostile territory.
Collectively, these three events shaped Francis’ belief that all human beings possess dignity and reveal the goodness their Creator. In his Canticle of Creation, Francis writing just two years before his death, profoundly ill, and almost completely blind, had come to understand that all living and non-living things reveal goodness of God. Francis’ vision described universal fraternity in which all creation is knit together in layers of inter-relation. Francis’ spiritual insight was the consequence of transformative experiences that unfolded in unanticipated ways.
Perhaps
we would do well to examine how events in our lives have unfolded in
unanticipated ways. Perhaps we too have had transformative experiences (perhaps
not as dramatic as St. Francis’) that have shaped our lives. Our task is to
reflect prayerfully on events in our lives and how they have shaped who we are
and reveal what God is calling us to do.
Father Stephen D. Mimnaugh, OFM
Vice President of Mission Integration
St. Bonaventure University
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