St. Francis of Assisi

Saint Francis of Assisi (1181-1226, age 45). Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, known as Francis of Assisi, was an Italian mystic, poet, and Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans. Living in Assisi, Italy, he was inspired to lead a Christian life of poverty, he became a beggar and itinerant preacher. He was canonized as a saint by Pope Gregory IX in 1228.