Saint Francis of Paola
Calabrian hermit who founded the Minims and ended his life at the French court
- Rank
- Saint
- Kind
- Founder, Religious, Mystic
- Life
- 1416 – 1507
- Era
- 16th century
- Feast
- 2 April
- Countries
- Italy, France
Life story
Francis was born on 27 March 1416 in Paola, in Calabria in southern Italy, to a modest family. As a young man he withdrew to live as a hermit near his hometown. Others gradually joined him, and the community grew into the Hermits of Saint Francis of Assisi, approved by the Holy See around 1474. It later became known as the Minims, meaning the least. In addition to the usual vows, the friars kept a perpetual abstinence from meat as a mark of the order.
His reputation reached France. King Louis XI, gravely ill, asked him to come. Francis first refused and set out only when Pope Sixtus IV ordered him to go. He reached the castle of Plessis-lès-Tours in 1482 and was with the king when Louis died in 1483. He stayed on in France, respected by Charles VIII and Louis XII, and founded further houses of the order there.
According to tradition he worked many wonders. A well-known story says he spread his cloak on the water to cross the Strait of Messina when a boatman refused to carry him. This is a popular tale, not something confirmed by contemporary documents.
He died on 2 April 1507 at Plessis-lès-Tours, aged about ninety. Pope Leo X canonised him on 1 May 1519, about twelve years after his death. The Minim order still exists today.
Works and witness
- Founded a hermit community in Calabria that became the Minim order
- Gained approval for his order from the Holy See around 1474
- Went to France on the pope's orders and attended Louis XI at his death (1483)
- Established further Minim houses in France
- Canonised in 1519, about twelve years after his death
Patron of
Calabria, Seafarers and mariners (named patron of Italian seafarers by Pius XII in 1943)
Saints from the same country
References
- Martyrologium Romanum
- Bull of canonisation of Leo X, 1519 (Acta Sanctorum, 2 April)
- Minim order histories
Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.