Storytime: St Francis the Umbrian Rock Star!

Umbria is full of delightful Medieval hill towns that have changed little in hundreds of years.  The often remote mountainside settings of Umbria's villages makes one believe that they have stepped back in time as they wander the streets.  While I was standing on a terrace in one of these quiet towns overlooking the verdant countryside, monastery bells began to softly chime and echo through the mist.  Something stirred inside my soul.  It is easy to see how Umbria's mysterious beauty is the starting point of a Spiritual journey for so many.

Umbrian Countryside in Winter

Ireland is often referred to as the land of "Saints and Scholars" for keeping an intellectual light on during the Dark Ages.  Yet Umbria is a unique region of Italy that is also known as "The Land of Saints."  Umbria has produced so many saints: Saint Benedict founder of the Benedictine Order, Saint Rita, Saint Valentine (yes, like Valentine's Day) St. Claire of Montefalco, the other Saint Claire of Assisi, a few Saint Fortunatus', and so many others.  The MOST famous and beloved Saint of Umbria (and probably all of Italy) is Saint Francis.   On our recent trip to Umbria, we discovered how this Saint is so enmeshed with the day to day life of the Umbrian people; it is impossible to talk about Umbria without mentioning Saint Francis.

Saint Francis was a real rebel and was hugely popular in his own lifetime; as a rock star for his day.  Here's a quick breakdown of St. Francis's life story.  He was born around 1182, and his name was actually Giovanni, not Francis, but his Dad nicknamed him Francesco meaning "little Frenchman."   Francis's Mom was a Noble from Provence, France, and his father was a very wealthy cloth merchant.  Francis enjoyed the easy life of a rich kid; fancy clothes, lots of parties, lots of girls, and he loved hanging out with Troubadours.  That all changed when Francis was 20 years old and joined a military expedition against Perugia, where he was captured and spent a year as a prisoner.  He got very ill during his imprisonment, and Francis re-evaluated his life completely.  Long story short: he ended up rebelling against his wealthy father in front of the Bishop of Assisi and the whole town, stripping naked and throwing his fancy clothes in his father's face. Francis renounced his father (and his hefty inheritance) and went to go live in a nearby cave in the forest above Assisi. Francis preached to the birds and animals for a while; he especially loved the birds and is often pictured with a bird in his hand.

Camino di Francesco 

Saint Francis was a devout nature lover and called animals his brothers and sisters; he is the Catholic patron Saint of animals, ecology and the environment.  He built many hermitages up in the mountains from Assisi to Spoleto.  Today these mountain pathways offer people excellent hiking trails through the Umbrian forests; some tracks being part of the Camino di Francesco, part of a 550 km walking route from Florence to Rome.  The rugged Umbrians are very into hiking, biking, nature, bird-watching and truffle hunting; these are year-round activities in most areas of Umbria.  TIP: If you are interested in walking the Camino di San Francesco, I suggest you start HERE. This website is an excellent resource for the trail. Buon Camino!

I Agree Completely!

Saint Francis was as clever with people as he was with animals and was very devoted to helping the poor.  Taking a vow of poverty, St. Francis started to have a considerable following, especially amongst the very sick and poor Umbrian villagers.  Francis also had retained many wealthy former friends and influential contacts, so he was very well connected.  Francis and some of his disciples went to Rome and were given permission by Pope Innocent III to start a new religious order-even though Francis had never even been ordained as a priest at the time.  Whoa...wait, what?  That never happens!  The Pope could see that Francis was a Rock Star, and the Catholic church needed someone to help turn the church around-the The Church was in serious trouble in the popularity polls at the time.  So the Pope sent Saint Francis and his gang to Egypt and to the Holy Lands to convert some Muslim Sultans to Christianity.  It was basically a martyrdom mission, and even though Francis failed to convert the Sultan al-Kamil, he lived to come home again.  In fact, Francis made such a good impression on the Sultan that when all the other Christians were booted out of the Holy Lands, the Franciscan Monks were allowed to stay behind in Jerusalem and become "Custodians of the Holy Lands" on behalf of the Catholic Church.  This is the time when it was rumoured that the Franciscan monks had brought back Umbria's greatest viticultural treasure: Sagrantino grape vines!  This wine grows in the Montefalco region of Umbria just south of Assisi and has now become a world-renowned Italian wine.  Perhaps a toast is in order to St. Francis and his brothers who wanted decent wine for the Eucharist.  Salute!  To learn more about Sagrantino wine, check out the post from January 2018.

Checking Out The Presepe in San Marino

Assisi is the centre of St. Francis's world and is a charming town, and you can check out our trip to Assisi (back in 2013) in the link.   But it is in the tiny mountainside village of Greccio that lies between Terni, Umbria and Rieti, Lazio that Saint Francis's teachings have touched us all, and you are probably not even aware of it.  In 1220 Francis was passing through this area, teaching, preaching and converting folks like he did.  Christmas was coming, and the village asked Francis to preside over Christmas Mass.  Now, St. Francis was: 1) a fantastic teacher, 2) a Troubadour at heart, and 3) a lover of animals.  He came up with a brilliant teaching tool:  The "Presepio" or nativity scene.  St. Francis asked a wealthy Nobleman (a friend of his from "back in the old Assisi days") to agree to let him use his grotto to set up a live nativity scene.  Saint Francis placed a baby in a simple feed trough (a manger) in between a real ox and donkey and preached his Christmas Mass using the manger as the altar.  This "show, not tell" teaching style of Saint Francis' was wildly popular, and the "Presepe" was born.  TIP: To visit the "Franciscan Bethlehem" in the village of  Greccio and see the nativity play the town puts on every Christmas Eve; click HERE.  Now every city, village or hamlet in Italy has a presepe or sometimes a "Presepe Vivante," which is a live nativity scene with actors, usually on Christmas Eve.  Many of us have a miniature nativity scene that we set up at home every year for Christmas; think of Saint Francis next time you are unwrapping your 3 Wise Men to set up around the little manger.

The Wolf Of Gubbio?

Stories can stretch eons of time.  When travelling through Gubbio on New Year's Eve, we stopped in for lunch in this little trattoria called "Saint Francesco and The Wolf."  The name was odd, so we thought: heck ya, let's go in.  We were seated at a table next to a fresco of Saint Francis and a bunch of concerned monks talking to a wolf, and it looked like something big was going down between them all.  Then I noticed that several tables in the restaurant had guests that brought their dogs in with them!  This was SO COOL!  I asked our server about the fresco, and she told us to go around the corner to the tiny little church of San Francesco della Pace, and it would explain everything to us.  Ooooo, I love a good mystery.  After lunch, we went to the little chapel and there, above the door, was a Latin inscription carved into the stone; it said: "Dedicated to God and Francis, the peace bestower."  There was also a picture of a wolf carved into the rock on the doorway...but what does it all mean?

YOU go talk to that wolf...

Every Rock Star goes on tour, and so did Saint Francis, it seems.  He went all over Umbria into Tuscany and Lazio preaching from 1220 to 1226.  When St. Francis lived in Gubbio for a while, the town was terrorized by a ferocious wolf. This wolf began by eating livestock, then it attacked (and ate) humans in the forest and finally, it was bold enough to enter through the city walls to hunt and kill.  The townsfolk of Gubbio were absolutely freaking out and would not leave the city for any reason.  Francis took pity on them and decided to take matters into his own hands.  He found the wolf advancing on the city gates looking for his next victim/meal.  Francis approached the big wolf and basically said:  "Look, here's the deal.  You can not keep eating all these animals and people anymore.  I know you are starving, so let us strike a deal.  The townspeople will give you food as long as you leave everyone unharmed."  The wolf put his paw in Saint Francis's hand, and a peace deal was achieved.  The wolf followed Francis back up to the piazza, where the Saint announced his pact with the wolf to the public that gathered.  Quite a crowd had congregated by now.  Saint Francis gave an incredible sermon about the dangers of evil lurking about, etc. and ended the speech with everyone agreeing to let the wolf live in the town amongst them.  Many people were converted to Christianity right there on the spot after seeing this miracle, and it makes me wonder: was Francis in Gubbio to tame the wolf or the townspeople?  Was this all a set up by Francis to convert Pagans?  Was this the "Fake News" of the 1200s?  Anyhow, the Wolf of Gubbio went from door to door in town getting fed by the people, and it left everyone unmolested, as promised.


Two years later, when the wolf died (probably from excessive weight gain), the people of Gubbio were so sad they buried the wolf where his cave was supposed to have been.  They then built a church dedicated to "Saint Francis and Peace" over their beloved wolf.
This is a beautiful story; a fairytale, right?  Here's the crazy part:  In 1873, while renovating the church, a large wolf skeleton was unearthed right outside the church wall!  The giant skeleton was reported as looking like it had been there for centuries, and the remains were brought inside the church and buried in the crypt.  I could not believe it! We talked for days about this story and came up with our own conspiracy theories on what happened.  What do you think happened?

When Saint Francis died in 1226, he was put on the expedited list for Sainthood (by his former friend) Pope Gregory the IX and only two years after his death, Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone became Saint Francis of Assisi. The day after Francis was pronounced a Saint, the cornerstone was laid on the beautiful Basilica dedicated to him in the Spiritual capital of Umbria: Assisi.  This gorgeous white Basilica is where Saint Francis's final resting place is now; after the Church lost his bones for a few centuries (but that's a whole other story).


In Umbria, you can walk through the same forests as Saint Francis did, be inspired by listening to the same birdsong as Saint Francis had and fill your heart with the same wonder and beauty as St Francis felt 800 years ago.  The connection with nature and with tradition is ingrained in the Umbrian people as a result of Saint Francis. His teachings and many words of wisdom still ring true over the centuries.  May a visit to this green and mystical corner of Italy inspire you on your own spiritual path!

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