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Saint Francis of was born in 1181, in Assisi, Umbria. He was born into a wealthy family, and was popular. His original name was Giovanni, but his father later named him Francesco.

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Francis loved to party! At age 14 he quit school, drank, and broke city curfew. Francis wanted to be a war hero, but was expected to follow in his fathers footsteps and run the business. In 1202, Francis entered war.

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Francis was quickly captured by enemy soldiers because of lack of experience. His life was spared because of his wealth and was taken to an underground cell waiting for his father to get him out He later claimed to see visions of God.

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After the war, Francis came back to Assisi, and was a completely different person. In his early 20's, Francis began to preach and was soon joined by 12 loyal followers. Many people thought he was crazy, but some people thought he was a great influence.

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St. Francis wanted to rebuild the Christian Church and he needed money. He sold some of his father's things and afterward, the bishop made him return the money to his father. It was at this point that Francis made his final conversion. He embraced a Christ-like poverty. He got thousands of people to follow him and they became known as the Franciscan Friars. Francis taught in a way that people could understand and he even preached to animals. In 1224, Francis got stigmata of Christ and he was the first person to ever receive this kind of stigmata.

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On October, 3 1226, Francis died in Assisi, Italy. He was canonized on July 16, 1228. He is the patron saint for ecologists because of his love for animals and nature. Our current Pope honored Francis by taking his name.