St. Francis of Paola

Q: Who was St. Francis of Paola?

St. Francis of Paola was a renowned 15th-century hermit and founder of the Minim friars, a Roman Catholic religious order known for its severe asceticism and charitable work. He was canonized by Pope Leo X in 1519.

Q: What is St. Francis of Paola the patron saint of?

St. Francis of Paola was named the patron saint of Italian sailors in 1943 by Pope Pius XII because many of the miracles attributed to him were related to the sea.

Q: What was the miracle of St. Francis of Paola?

One of the most famous miracles credited to St. Francis of Paola is his sailing across the Strait of Messina from Calabria , Italy, to Sicily with two of his disciples on his cloak . The friar and his disciples were so poor, they could not pay the boatman to ferry them,and he had refused to take them. This incident led to Francis’s being named a patron saint of sailors. According to legend , St. Francis of Paola also resurrected his pet lamb after it had been slaughtered and roasted and had revived a cooked fish that he subsequently released into a pond. Other miraculous events credited to Francis include raising at least six people from the dead, including a man who had been crushed by a tree; healing numerous people with the use of herbs or simply by the laying of hands; and multiplying a loaf of bread to feed a crowd.

Q: What happened to St. Francis of Paola’s relics?

St. Francis of Paola’s relics were disinterred from his tomb at the monastery church in Plessis-les-Tours, France , and burned by French Huguenots ( Calvinists ) in 1562 during the Wars of Religion . According to historical accounts, when the Huguenots opened his tomb, Francis’s body was found to be incorrupt , even some 55 years after his death.

Italian friar

Also known as: San Francesco de Paola

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History

Who was St. Francis of Paola?

What is St. Francis of Paola the patron saint of?

What was the miracle of St. Francis of Paola?

What happened to St. Francis of Paola’s relics?

St. Francis of Paola (born March 27, 1416, Paola, Kingdom of Naples [Italy]—died April 2, 1507, Plessis-les-Tours, France; canonized 1519; feast day April 2) was the founder of the Minim friars, a severely ascetic Roman Catholic order that does charitable work and refrains from eating meat, eggs, or dairy products. Francis was named patron of Italian sailors in 1943 by Pope Pius XII because many of the miracles attributed to him were related to the sea.

After spending a year at the Franciscan friary in San Marco, Italy, he became a hermit at age 14 in a cave on the seacoast near Paola. Others joined him (c. 1435) to form his first friary of Hermits of St. Francis of Assisi, which he named (1492) Fratres Minimi (“Least Brothers”) to signify its humility. The rules of the order were similar to those of the Franciscans, only more arduous. After papal approval in 1474, the order spread through Italy to France, Spain, Germany, and Bohemia.

The ailing King Louis XI of France induced Pope Sixtus IV to send Francis to him in his final days (1483). Successive monarchs built monasteries for Francis, keeping him in France until his death. By 1506, when Pope Julius II approved the definitive Minim rule, Francis had established a second order for nuns and a third for laymen. His relics were disinterred and burned by Huguenots in 1562. There were some 9,000 Minim friars at the order’s peak of influence in the 17th century.