Le 4 octobre, nous fêtons Saint François d’Assise, l’un des saints les plus connus et aimés à travers le monde. Né à Assise en 1181, il a choisi de renoncer à la richesse pour embrasser une vie de pauvreté, de fraternité et de service aux pauvres. Fondateur des franciscains, poète de la Création et artisan de paix, François reste une figure lumineuse de simplicité et d’amour universel. Découvrez son histoire, sa conversion bouleversante, son Cantique des créatures, sa rencontre avec le sultan d’Égypte et sa mort dans la joie du Christ. Terminons avec une prière à Saint François, patron des écologistes et des artisans de paix.
00:00Today, October 4, the church celebrates Saint Francis of Assisi, an immense figure of Christian holiness,
00:11but also patron of ecologists, animals and tireless peacemakers.
00:18Today we celebrate François, Françoise, François-Xavier and all those who bear this first name.
00:24Francis was born in 1181 or 1182 in Assisi, Umbria, into a family of wealthy cloth merchants.
00:35His father, Pietro Bernardoni, intended him for a career in commerce, but the young Francis had a fiery soul and dreamed more of chivalry and adventure.
00:45His youth was joyful, carefree, often marked by parties and excesses.
00:50However, a war experience and a painful captivity will turn his life upside down.
00:58When he returned to Assisi, Francis was transformed internally.
01:04Little by little, he felt Christ's call to live differently, in poverty and simplicity.
01:10A striking episode occurs when he hears the gospel of the day, to take no gold, no silver, no bag for the road.
01:18Her words hit him hard and he decides to take them literally.
01:25Francis then publicly renounced his inheritance, much to the scandal of his father, and chose a life of total poverty.
01:35He dresses in a simple sackcloth tunic, with a rope tied at the waist.
01:40He dedicated himself to serving lepers and the poorest, seeking to follow Christ without compromise.
01:48Soon, other companions joined him, seduced by his joyful radicalism and his burning love of God.
01:57Thus was born the Order of Friars Minor, approved by Pope Innocent III in 1209.
02:04Francis is not only a spiritual reformer, he is also a poet of creation.
02:08In his famous quantum of creatures, he sings of universal brotherhood.
02:22For him, every created being refers to the creator and man must respect and love nature like a sister.
02:29This prophetic outlook makes him today the patron saint of ecologists and defenders of creation.
02:37A man of peace, Francis did not hesitate to cross the battle lines during the Fifth Crusade.
02:43to meet the Sultan of Egypt, Malik al-Khamil.
02:48Where many sought confrontation, Francis dialogues, bears witness to his faith and manifests evangelical gentleness.
02:55This episode remains a sign of brotherhood and respect between believers of different traditions.
03:04In 1224, while praying at Mount Alvernia, Francis received the stigmata, the marks of Christ's Passion in his flesh.
03:13It is the ultimate sign of his mystical union with the truncated Lord.
03:17Tried by illness and suffering, he nevertheless retains a luminous joy.
03:22Francis died on October 3, 1226, at the age of 44, at Portion Cule, the small chapel he had restored and loved.
03:33His body now rests in Assisi, in the magnificent basilica that bears his name.
03:40Only two years after his death, in 1228, he was canonized by Pope Gregory IX.
03:45Today, Saint Francis of Assisi is recognized as a model of humility, joyful poverty and universal love.
03:55His legacy continues to shine through the Franciscan orders and through the pressing call to live as brothers, respectful of creation and the poor.
04:04Prayers to Saint Francis of Assisi
04:07O Saint Francis, you who chose poverty to better follow Christ,
04:14teach us to live simply and to detach ourselves from the superfluous.
04:20You who saw in every creature a brother or a sister,
04:24Open our eyes to the beauty of nature and grant us to respect it as a gift from God.
04:29You who were a peacemaker and a witness to dialogue,
04:34help us to sow harmony in our families,
04:37brotherhood among peoples and the joy of the Gospel in the world.
04:43Saint Francis of Assisi, pray for us,
04:46so that we may walk like you in the footsteps of the poor and crucified Christ.
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