On This Day in History, October 3, 1226, St. Francis of Assisi died in Umbria (central Italy). Saint Francis’ feast day is observed on October 4. You can read an exhaustively complete account of his life here. Or, read on for something shorter and more contemporary.
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One of my favorite places in the American Southwest is the Cathedral of St. Francis in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
St. Francis often is represented with animals. Indeed he is known as the patron saint of animals. He’s also known as the patron saint of birds (a subset of animals), and of ecology (a super-set of animals). Also he’s patron saint of merchants (?), and of lace and needle-workers (a curiously narrow subset of merchants). Last but not least, he’s patron saint of both Denver, Colorado and Santa Fe, New Mexico. One thing’s for sure about saints, they definitely know how to multi-task.
St. Francis with his pet wolf standing outside the cathedral in Santa Fe.
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Although born rich, St. Francis voluntarily lived a life of poverty. The Franciscan Order which he founded early in the 13th century survives to this day. I’m proud to say it includes my dear friend Br. Stephen Andrew… AKA Steve Starr.
Steve Starr on retreat in the Colorado mountains. A retrospective of Steve’s Pulitzer Prize winning photographs can be seen here.
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Perhaps my favorite St. Francis story involves this guy below.
This statue of St. Francis stands outside Grace Episcopal church in Colorado Springs. It is surrounded by a fountain in a lovely garden that is home to a summer music series called Jazz in the Garden – but that’s another story for another day. The statue is hollow, thus not as heavy as if it were made of solid bronze. That fact allowed some enterprising thieves one night to put one end of a heavy chain around St. Francis’ neck, the other end around a pickup truck bumper, and pull him off his pedestal, spiriting him away to parts unknown. If he’d been made of solid bronze, a crane would have been necessary to lift him.
For the better part of two years St. Francis’ pedestal stood empty. Those who loved his gentle presence in the garden grieved. The offer of a reward for his safe return produced no leads. Then one day a lady who lives a few miles north of the church called and said she saw St. Francis standing under a pine tree in the forest. It was no ethereal vision, but the actual statue. He’d been stashed in an out-of-the-way corner by thieves who found out – much to their chagrin – that a hollow statue brought far less on the black market than a solid bronze one might have. Live and learn, I guess.
In any case, St. Francis returned to the garden. The lady who found him refused to accept any reward. She said she was just happy he was in his proper place. And this time, St. Francis was anchored by heavy steel rebar sunk deep into fresh concrete poured beneath a rebuilt fountain.
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As GWB once famously tried to say, “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” Or, as the old Arab adage goes, “Trust Allah…. but tie your camel.”