Who was St Francis of Assisi?

0:00 Welcome to Philosophy is not boring by kidopoly.com. I'm Mira. And I'm Finn. If you haven't already, tap follow wherever you're listening so you never miss an episode.

0:12 Hey Mira, I was watching a bird build a nest today and it made me wonder something, a little weird. Ooh, I love weird questions. What is it? Well, humans build houses, and we charge people rent to live in them. We pave over the grass to make driveways, and if a bear walks into a backyard, we say it is trespassing.

0:33 But the bird just builds its nest wherever it wants for free. It feels like there are two totally different sets of rules on Earth. One for humans and one for literally everything else.

0:44 Oh wow, yeah. It is like we think we are the bosses of the planet, standing completely above all the other animals and plants.

0:52 Exactly. Have people always thought we were the bosses? Or are we just part of the big animal family?

1:00 That is an amazing question, Finn, because today we are talking about a philosopher and holy man from the Middle Ages who thought we were getting it completely backwards. He thought the sun, the moon, and even the wildest, scariest animals were not things to rule over, but our actual brothers and sisters.

1:19 He completely changed how people think about nature. We are talking about Saint Francis of Assisi. He was born around the year 1181 in a town called Assisi in Italy.

1:31 Was he a philosopher?

1:33 He is most famous as a Christian saint, but he definitely had a deep philosophy about how we should live in the world. And the funny thing is, he did not start out humble at all. He grew up super rich. His dad was a wealthy cloth merchant who travelled to France and brought back the finest materials.

1:54 Wait, so Francis was basically a fashionable rich kid? Exactly! Francis had the absolute best clothes: velvet, silk, the brightest colours. He loved throwing huge parties, singing through the streets at night, and just having a great time with his wealthy friends. He was kind of the popular party guy of the town.

2:18 So how did he go from being the life of the party to thinking about nature and living poorly?

2:24 Well, he wanted to be a famous knight, but during a war, he ended up getting captured and was locked in a prison for a whole year. He got really sick, and while he was recovering, he had a lot of time to think. He realised his fancy, party-filled life actually felt completely empty. What did he do? Did he just buy different clothes?

2:50 No, he did something completely shocking. He decided he wanted to live simply and poor, to preach about love. His dad was furious about this and took him to trial in front of the town bishop. So, right in the middle of the public square, Francis took off all his expensive clothes, gave them back to his father, and declared he was giving up all his wealth.

3:15 In the middle of town? He just gave away the clothes he was actually wearing.

3:20 Yep. The bishop actually had to wrap his own cloak around Francis to cover him up. He chose to walk away with nothing, wearing only a rough, simple tunic, so he could focus entirely on God and the world around him, without being distracted by owning things.

3:38 Okay, giving away all your stuff in public is pretty brave. But what does that have to do with the bird building its nest?

3:46 Well, once Francis stopped caring about owning things, he started looking at the world totally differently. When you do not own land, you don't worry about a bear trespassing on it. He did not see humans as the kings of the earth. He saw humans, animals, and nature as one big family created by God.

4:05 Like a literal family? You mean metaphorically, right?

4:09 He took it very seriously. He wrote this incredibly famous poem called The Canticle of the Sun. And in it, he did not just say the Sun was pretty, he called it Brother Sun. Brother Son? What about the Moon? Sister Moon! He also wrote praises for Brother Wind, Sister Water, Brother Fire, and Sister Mother Earth.

4:32 That is kind of beautiful. But wait, what happens if you actually think that way in real life? Like, if I look at a spider in my room, I usually just want to squish it because it is in my space, and I'm a human, so my space is more important.

4:48 Right. We're told that the house belongs to us and the spider is trespassing. But imagine if you had to look at that spider and call it Sister Spider. If you truly believed you were part of the exact same big family.

5:02 Oh, wow. I don't think I could squish Sister Spider. That feels completely wrong. It makes you want to gently scoop her into a cup and put her outside instead.

5:13 Exactly. When you name something as family, you can no longer treat it like a pest or just an object you can throw away. Francis believed that because everything was made by the same creator, everything has its own special value and is kin to us. This completely flipped the old rules. We are not the bosses standing at the top of a pyramid looking down at everything else.

5:36 We are just a tiny part of the massive web of life, sharing the world with our brothers and sisters.

5:42 Okay, that works for a sunny day or a quiet spider. But what about dangerous things? Sometimes nature is really scary and wants to hurt us, like tornadoes or bears or angry wolves. That brings us to one of the most famous stories about him: the wolf of Gubbio.

6:01 Gubbio was a real town in Italy, and the story goes that a fierce, massive wolf was terrifying the people there. And this was not just a normal wolf. Was it eating their sheep and chickens? It was eating the livestock, but the legends say it even started attacking the people. The townspeople were so terrified they locked the city gates, stood on the walls, and refused to go outside.

6:29 Gubio was basically under siege by this one animal. So Francis decided he was going to go out and meet the wolf face to face.

6:39 Did he bring a sword or at least a really big stick?

6:43 Nope, just his faith. He went out completely unarmed. According to the stories, the wolf came charging at him with its jaws wide open. But Francis stood his ground, made the sign of the cross, and told it to stop in the name of God. And then he said, Brother Wolf, you have done much harm. He called a man-eating wolf his brother.

7:08 Yes, because instead of fighting it, Francis tried to understand it. He realised the wolf was only attacking because it was desperately hungry. So he acted as a peacemaker. He told the wolf that if it stopped hurting people, the townspeople would feed it every single day. Did the wolf listen? The story says the wolf bowed its head, lifted its paw, and placed it right in Francis' hand to shake on the deal.

7:36 Wow.

7:37 Do we know if that really happened exactly like that?

7:40 Well, people look at it differently. Some Christians believe it was a literal historical miracle from God. Others think it might be an old legend that teaches a symbolic lesson about how kindness and empathy can calm even the fiercest anger. But either way, it shows his amazing philosophy. We do not conquer nature with swords, we make peace with it through understanding.

8:07 I really like the idea. It changes how you look at the woods. Like, you are not stepping into enemy territory where you have to be the boss. You are just visiting your noisy relatives in their home.

8:19 Haha, exactly! And Francis lived this out every single day. Many people believe he even preached sermons to huge flocks of birds, telling them to be thankful for their feathers and their ability to fly, and that the birds would actually sit quietly in the trees and listen to him. Because of his incredible love for all creation, years later, Pope John Paul II declared Francis the patron saint of ecology, which means the saint who protects the environment.

8:51 So do people still remember his philosophy today?

8:54 They absolutely do. Every year, churches around the world celebrate the Feast of St. Francis on October 4th, which is also World Animal Day. Wait, how do they celebrate? Do they have a party for animals? Basically, yes. Many churches hold a blessing of the animals. People actually bring their pets right into the church.

9:17 To church, like dogs and cats sitting in the pews.

9:21 Dogs, cats, hamsters, iguanas, parrots, you name it. The church gets super loud and messy. They bring them in to get a special blessing, to honour St. Francis' belief that animals are our brothers and sisters and deserve our respect.

9:37 That is actually really awesome. So next time I am outside, instead of feeling like humans are the main characters of the planet, I can remember we are just part of a really big, wild family.

9:49 That is the perfect way to look at it. We are not standing above creation looking down. We are right in the middle of it, sharing the sunshine, the rain, and the earth with our fellow creatures. Alright, Finn, it is time for the quiz. Are you ready?

10:05 I am definitely ready. Let's do this. First question.

10:10 What town in Italy was St Francis from? Next one. What was his father's job before Francis gave all his stuff away? Question three. In his famous poem, What did Francis call the son? Here's number four. What wild, fierce animal did Francis make a peace deal with? Last question. What do people bring to church on October 4th to celebrate him?

10:53 Great job! Let's see how you did. The first answer is he was from Assisi. For question two, his father was a wealthy cloth merchant. Number three, the answer is he called it brother son. Question four, he made a peace deal with the wolf of Gubio. And the final answer is, people bring their pets to be blessed.

11:18 You know, I don't think I'll ever look at a stray dog or a bird the exact same way again. They're all family.

11:25 It is a pretty great way to walk through the world, isn't it? Knowing you're never really alone, because your brothers and sisters are everywhere.

11:34 Yeah! Hey, if you are listening and you love this episode, and maybe you even have a pet of your own, give us a five-star review. Just scroll down and tap the stars.

11:44 And don't forget to tap follow so you catch our next big question. Oh, and we have sister shows too. History and science is not boring, and maths is not boring. Go give those a listen and a follow as well.

11:58 Want your name on the show, or just want to tell us about your pet? Send us an email at hello at kidopoly.com.

12:05 See you next time on Philosophy is not boring. Bye.