The Death of
Saint Francis of Assisi
The Catholic Encyclopedia gives this account of Francis
death:
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On the eve of his death, the saint, in imitation
of his Divine Master, had bread brought to him and broken. This he
distributed among those present, blessing Bernard of Quintaville,
his first companion,
Elias, his vicar, and all the others in order. "I have done my
part," he said next, "may Christ teach you to do yours."
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Then wishing to give a last token of detachment and to show he
no longer had anything in common with the world, Francis removed
his poor habit and lay down on the bare ground, covered with a
borrowed cloth, rejoicing that he was able to keep faith with
his Lady Poverty to the end. After a while he asked to have read
to him the Passion according to St. John, and then in faltering
tones he himself intoned Psalm cxli. At the concluding verse,
"Bring my soul out of prison", Francis was led away from earth
by "Sister Death", in whose praise he had shortly before added a
new strophe to his "Canticle of the Sun". It was Saturday
evening, 3 October, 1226, Francis being then in the forty-fifth
year of his age, and the twentieth from his perfect conversion
to Christ.
Francis was canonized by Gregory IX less than two years later
on July 16, 1228. His feast is celebrated on October 3.
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