48/50.- Umbria, Assisi, Saint Francis

Eight hundred years ago, Saint Francis was converted after seeing several apparitions of Christ and the Virgin Mary. A mystic who wrote in the Umbrian dialect, he was sensitive to nature and allegedly conversed with animals. In 1210 he founded the Franciscan order, advocating a humble life lived in simplicity and free of material possessions. He encouraged Saint Clara to found the Clarissan order, mainly devoted to nursing.

[Next »]