Icon of Saint Francis of Assisi – Large

Hand painted icon of Saint Francis of Assisi who was an Italian Catholic friar, deacon, mystic, and preacher.  Francis is one of the most venerated religious figures in Christianity.

Francis set out to imitate Christ and literally carry out his work. This is important in understanding Francis’ character, his affinity for the Eucharist and respect for the priests who carried out the sacrament.  He preached: “Your God is of your flesh, He lives in your nearest neighbor, in every man.”

He and his followers celebrated and even venerated poverty, which was so central to his character that in his last written work, the Testament, he said that absolute personal and corporate poverty was the essential lifestyle for the members of his order.

He believed that nature itself was the mirror of God. He called all creatures his “brothers” and “sisters”, and even preached to the birds and supposedly persuaded a wolf in Gubbio to stop attacking some locals if they agreed to feed the wolf. His deep sense of brotherhood under God embraced others, and he declared that “he considered himself no friend of Christ if he did not cherish those for whom Christ died”.

Written with traditional icon methodology by parishioner Bonnie Fairbanks.