The Encyclopedia of World Religions

Francis of Assisi and Franciscans S 157

taken. Friendliness means giving encouragement and happiness to others. Compassion and Sympa thetic Joy go together, since Compassion means the ability to share another’s suffering, while Sym pathetic Joy refers to the equally important abil ity to share in another’s joy. Equanimity or even ness of mind means freedom from self-centered worries, and so enables one to express friendli ness, compassion, and sympathetic joy without constraint or limit. In this sense, and guided by wisdom and the understanding of the true needs of others, which are also central Buddhist virtues, one could hardly be too friendly, compassionate, sympathetic, or even-minded. Francis of Assisi and Franciscans (1181/1182– 1226) an Italian SAINT of the Middle Ages, and the orders of MONKS AND NUNS that he founded Francis was the son of an Italian cloth merchant. As a young man, he was a soldier, but he was taken prisoner and spent the good part of a year as a prisoner of war. Soon after his release he had a number of religious experiences. In one famous experience he heard a command to repair a chapel near Assisi. He went to his father’s store, took the cloth, sold it and the horse he was riding, and tried to give the money to the priest to repair the chapel. The result was a break with his father. An even more fateful experience came in Feb ruary of 1208 or 1209. Francis heard words from the N EW T ESTAMENT in which J ESUS commanded his followers to travel and preach without any pos sessions whatsoever (Matthew 10.9–11). Although he was not a priest, Francis began to preach. Sev eral followers joined him, and in 1209 or 1210 the pope blessed his “order.” In 1212 Francis received a noblewoman named Clare into the monastic life. She became the head of an order of nuns. In the early 1220s Francis established a third “order” for men and women who did not wish to leave their ordinary lives behind but were nevertheless inspired by Francis’s vision and lifestyle. Francis and his followers originally gave up all their possessions. They also had no permanent homes. This lifestyle was part of Francis’s attempt

Painting from the 1400s of Saint Francis of Assisi (Réunion des Musées Nationaux/Art Resource, N.Y.)

to imitate Jesus as much as possible. Francis’s own religious attitude is perhaps summed up best by the words “brotherhood” and “sisterhood.” Francis