Francis Desires Greatness

The Church has dedicated this year, through January 10th, 2027, to St. Francis. So, I gathered the earliest sources: the writings of Francis himself, the biographies by Thomas of Celano and St. Bonaventure, and other original texts. You probably won’t have time to do this so I read them, prayed over them, and wrote this series so that I could share Francis with you.

Francis was born in Assisi in 1182. He dreamed of becoming great, not as a saint, but as a famous knight. At twenty, he went to war against Perugia, was captured, and spent a year in prison. After his release, he became seriously ill. Yet as soon as he recovered, he began preparing to go to war again.

Then Francis had a dream. His home became a magnificent palace filled with shields, armor, swords, and banners marked with the Cross. A beautiful but poorly dressed young woman took him by the hand and said, “Francis, my beloved, all this is for you and your companions. Take up your arms.”

Francis misinterpreted the dream. The woman was Lady Poverty. His companions would be the Franciscans. And his weapons well…God had other weapons in mind: prayer, penance, and preaching.

Christ Redirects His Life

Francis set out to fight for the Count of Apulia. But while traveling through the Valley of Spoleto, Jesus spoke to him, “Francis, who can do more for you, the Lord or the servant?”

Francis answered, “The Lord.”

“Why, then, are you abandoning the Lord for the servant?”

Until then, the great question of Francis’s life had been, “How can I become great?” Now he asked a completely different question. “Lord, what do you want me to do?”

Jesus told him, “Return to Assisi.” and Francis obeyed, but he still did not know what God wanted. But he began his search.

Francis Begins to Pray

Francis returned to his old life and his old friends, but something within him had changed. St. Bonaventure writes, “From that time on he withdrew from the bustle of public business and begged God in his goodness to show him what he should do. The flame of heavenly desire was fanned in him by his frequent prayer. And it was shown to him that to be a knight of Christ one must begin with victory over oneself.”

His friends noticed his strange behavior and thought he must have fallen in love with some beautiful woman. They were partly right. Francis was falling in love, with God and with Lady Poverty, although he did not yet understand where this love would lead him.

God had taken the initiative. Now Francis responded by giving God his time and attention in prayer.

The Leper

One day, Francis was riding through the valley below Assisi when he encountered a leper. Everything in him wanted to flee. Leprosy meant disfigurement, disease, rejection, death and fear. Francis could have ridden past. Instead, he stopped. He dismounted, approached the man, gave him alms, and kissed him.

Francis says this was the turning point in his conversion. After this, he says, “I left the world.” Bonaventure says, “After that Francis began to seek out solitary places to pray…” even more!

Let God’s Love Transform You

Francis did not transform himself. It was the love of God that transformed him. Christ sought him, spoke to him, redirected him, and awakened within him the desire for something greater. Francis responded by giving God his time and attention in prayer. There he received the love that gave him the strength to get off his horse and embrace the leper.

This is the pattern of every conversion: God takes the initiative by loving us first. The question is, will you stop running and let yourself be loved by God in prayer? If we will spend time with him in prayer, His love will transform us.

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