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Virtues of Saint Francis as Displayed Through Works of Fiction

Sydni Kreitzburg
Catholic and Franciscan Heritage
Saint Bonaventure University
12/1/15

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Saint Francis of Assisi was a kind, gentle man. He wished only the best on his brothers
and sisters, whether they were human, animal, or nature itself. Francis, through the same burning
love as the savior Jesus Christ, spread the word of God. He willfully accepted the lonely, the
outcast, the injured, and the ill. He accepted all of Gods children, their physical or spiritual
condition no matter, and transformed them. He would never simply tell a person to change,
rather he would go to them, and help them become something more than what they were.
Francis, following a certain set of beliefs and virtues, showed his brothers and sisters that they
didnt have to follow the crowd. He showed them a life of goodness, a life of charity, which
would bring them a greater feeling of spiritual fulfillment. Through forgiveness, courage,
patience, charity, and fear, Francis sheds light on the will of God.
One of the most well-known and hugely shared stories of Francis is the Wolf of Gubbio.
In the story of the wolf, the town of Gubbio is terrorized by a beast who kills their cattle, and
sometimes even their own citizens. The wolf is angry, starving, and wild, all traits the
townspeople cannot relate to, and therefore fear. When Francis comes to their town on his
journey, he finds that the people are terrified and some wish to go kill the wolf for what its done.
Francis, fearing the worse, steps in. He tells the people that he will go out and speak to the wolf.
They think him crazy, but can only watch as he goes out to speak with the beast. He shows the
wolf a kindness that no one else had, and promises that the townspeople will feed it as long as it
stops its reign of terror. It agrees, and with their newfound protector, the people grow to love the
wolf, a token in memory of when Francis visited them.
In the story, The Wolf of Gubbio, Francis displays courage in going out to find the wolf.
The wolf is known to kill men, not just livestock, but he goes anyways, his faith in God strong.
He displays forgiveness, when he gives the wolf a chance to redeem itself of its sins and live a

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more peaceful life. Finally, he is charitable in his forgiveness, promising the wolf a home to
protect, and people to feed it. This is not the only story in which Francis shows traits of living a
fuller life. There are many others, and they all contribute their own virtues to the kind of life
Francis wished his brothers and sisters to live.
The second story I will mention is one titled, The Three Murderous Robbers. A story of
how a band of robbers were terrorizing a town, murdering people for their money and food, and
just being over-all awful people. Brother Angelo turns them away sharply when they come to the
Brothers home demanding food. When he tells Francis of the encounter, he hands the young
brother a jug of wine and a load of bread and tells him to go find the robbers, beg them for
forgiveness, and tell them that if they should discontinue their terrible ways, Francis would
always have food and shelter for them. Brother Angelo fearfully goes out, coming across terrible
things that the robbers had done along the way. He gets more and more fearful as he grows closer
to their location, and considers turning back, but instead he prays to God to keep him safe and
continues. When he comes upon the robbers, he begs them for their forgiveness, handing them
the gifts of food and drink. The robbers take them, and consider killing Brother Angelo, but the
Brother begins to pray, and tells them Saint Franciss message. They begin to fear that God will
not be so forgiving, but Brother Angelo convinces them that God is love and always willing to
forgive. The robbers thus give up their violent, ruthless lives, and go to live with the Brothers
and Francis.
This story is about how Francis, through the way he lives, inspires others to be charitable,
forgiving, and god fearing. He pushes his young brother to be courageous and forgiving through
God and go transform the robbers lives. The young Brother, through his faith in Francis and
God, is able to go and be charitable towards the ruthless killers. Once his message is passed on,

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the killers realize that they do not enjoy the life they are living, and fear Gods harsh judgement,
and being condemned to Hell. But Angelo explains that if they fear God, they must also respect
him, and through respect comes love, repent, and forgiveness. He explains that no matter what
theyve done, if they are willing to repent and quit their evil ways, then God will always forgive
them.
The third story I bring up has a clear emphasis on faith and patience. It is the Miracle of
the Grapes. In this tale, Francis visits the small Italian town of La Foresta. The place makes
nearly all of its wealth in the selling of wine from their numerous vineyards. It is nearing the end
of Francis life, he is weary and nearly blind, but many people travel to the town to hear what
Francis will tell them. On the way in and out of the place where Francis was staying, the
travelers would pick the grapes off the grapevines. After so many people came and went, picking
the vineyard almost completely bare, one of the vineyard keepers went to Francis himself. He
told Francis that they all wanted to be charitable and allow him to stay, but the people keep
eating their grapes, and wine production was their major form of wealth. When Francis heard
this, he asked the man if he could have faith in God. When the man said of course, Francis
asked how many barrels of wine they normally produced. The man answered, eight to ten.
Francis then promised that they would produce twenty barrels of wine that year. The man then
went back to his business, and on the day that he was to pick the grapes, he saw that there were
bunches enough for twenty barrels of wine, even with all the people whod taken them. He ran
back to Francis and apologized for ever doubting him.
In this story, Francis demonstrates how faith, patience, and charity can be rewarding. He
told the keeper of the vineyard to allow the visitors to eat the grapes from his vines and at the end
of the season they will have twice as many grapes as the average year. The man allowed for the

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visitors to eat the grapes, as they had traveled far and wide, and when the grapes were gone, the
man remained faithful and charitable. He patiently waited until it was time to harvest the grapes,
and when he did, what Francis said was true. The grapes had restored themselves twice-fold for
all of his kindness and charity. They had enough grapes to make 20 barrels of wine. Their faith
had been rewarded.
As Saint Francis shared insight in all his encounters, he also made sure there was peace
where he went, and happiness where there wasnt before. One story of Franciss travels is
brought to mind, and that is the Miracle of the Manger in which Francis creates the very first
manger scene. It goes like this: it was en evening not long before Christmas, when Francis and
one of his Brothers were on their way to the town of Greccio, and they stumbled upon a flock of
sheep, their shepherds laying asleep among them. The sight reminded Francis of the men who
travelled to Bethlehem on Christmas Eve to witness the baby Jesus. He figured that many people
would want to be there for Christmas, but he would not make it there now. He came up with an
idea, though, and hurried to make it come true. The people of Greccio where all called up to his
modest cave on Christmas Eve, where they witnessed a magical sight. Francis had brought up an
ox and a donkey to the cave, as well as laid out a scene similar to that in Bethlehem. A baby even
rested in the manger, and they were hushed in awe. Then Francis came out and picked up the
child, handing it back to its mother; and even then, the townspeople saw that mother as Mary,
and her child the baby Jesus. When the townspeople returned down the hill, they were singing
joyously.
Francis brought joy, values, and renewed faith to Gods children. He was a wondrous
man who never ceased to amaze people with his seemingly infinite hope, love, forgiveness, and
charity. Some say there were not any man like him since Jesus, and that Francis forever changed

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the church and Christianity itself. He surely knew that there needed to be something done about
the church, and about how far it had strayed from Gods true will. He inspired others to live a life
dedicated to love, forgiveness, and helping those who cannot help themselves. He will always be
an inspiration to those who wish to change something that seems unchangeable.

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Work Cited
Gray, Tricia. The Wondrous Adventures of St Francis of Assisi. Cincinnati, Ohio: St. Anthony
Messenger Press. 2003. Print.
De Paola, Tomie. Francis, The Poor Man of Assisi. New York, New York: Holiday House. 1982.
Print.
Politi, Leo. Saint Francis and the Animals. New York, New York: Charles Scribners Sons. 1959.
Print.
Mowbray, A. R., Co. Limited. The Chronicles of Brother Wolf. New York, New York: London
and Oxford MoreHouse-Gorham Co. 1939. Print.
The Message of St Francis. New York, New York: Penguin Studio. 1999. Print.