St. Francis of Paola

Their story

Francis was born in 1416 in the town of Paola, in Calabria in southern Italy. His parents had long prayed to St. Francis of Assisi for a child, and they named their son after him. As a teenager Francis spent a year with the Franciscan friars, then went on pilgrimage to Assisi and Rome. When he returned home, he went to live alone in a cave near Paola to pray and do penance. Others soon came to join him, and Francis founded a new religious community called the Minims, from the Latin word for "the least." He wanted his followers to be the humblest of all, living in prayer, poverty and charity. Besides the usual vows, they promised to keep a lifelong Lenten fast, eating no meat, eggs or dairy. Their motto was a single word: Charity. Francis became famous for his holiness and for many miracles. One story tells that when a boatman refused to carry him across the strait to Sicily, Francis spread his cloak on the water and sailed across on it. In 1482 King Louis XI of France, who was dying, begged the pope to send Francis to him, hoping for a miraculous cure. Francis went in obedience, and instead of a cure he helped the king prepare for a holy death. He stayed in France for the rest of his life, advising the next two kings and founding more houses of his order. He died on Good Friday, April 2, 1507, at the age of 91, and was canonized in 1519. He is a patron of sailors and of his native Calabria.