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Why did St. Francis of Assisi sell cloth and his horse in Foligno?
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St. Francis of Assisi
St. Francis and Scenes from His Life, tempera on panel by Bonaventura Berlinghieri, 1235; in the Church of San Francesco, Pescia, Italy.
St. Francis of Assisi sold cloth from his fatherās shop and his horse in Foligno because he interpreted a command from a crucifix at the chapel of San Damiano literally.1
After hearing the instruction to "repair my house which, as you see, is well-nigh in ruins," Francis sought to raise funds to restore the dilapidated structure. He took the goods and his horse to the nearby town to sell them, intending to give the proceeds to the priest at San Damiano for the repairs. When the priest refused the money, Francis threw it out a window, an act that ultimately led to a public confrontation with his father and his formal renunciation of worldly goods to embrace a life of poverty.1