Who was St. Francis of Assisi?
“The guy was what he professed’ ‘Preach the gospel at all times; if necessary, use words.’ – St. Francis of Assisi He was ‘Donald Trump’s son’ – the person who had everything – but he gave it all up to live a Christian life of radical poverty, simplicity and obedience. Today, St. Francis of Assisi is venerated the world over by Christians and non-Christians alike as one who followed most closely in the footsteps of Christ. ‘The guy was what he professed,’ said the Rev. Murray Bodo, a Cincinnati-based Franciscan friar and author of several popular works on St. Francis. St. Francis was born in 1182, the son of a cloth trader, the richest man of Umbria in central Italy. He served for a time in the military and wanted to be a knight but was waylaid by a dramatic conversion to Christianity. St. Francis renounced his family’s riches and went on to found a new order of mendicant, wandering, begging friars. ‘Everything he did was done with a lot of bravado and grandiosity,’ Rev. Bodo said. ‘Ev
