St. Francis of Assisi

The son of a wealthy cloth merchant in Assisi, Francis grew up dreaming of knighthood and chivalric glory. After capture in war and a long illness, he heard Christ speak to him from the crucifix at San Damiano: "Rebuild my church." He stripped himself of his inheritance in the town square and embraced poverty as his bride.

His "little brothers" — the Franciscans — wandered Italy preaching peace and tending lepers. Francis composed the Canticle of the Creatures, the first great poem in the Italian vernacular, praising "Brother Sun" and "Sister Moon." Two years before his death he received the stigmata on Mount La Verna — the first recorded case in Christian history.

Pope Francis took his name in 2013, the first pope to do so, signaling a Church close to the poor and to creation. His simple prayer remains universal: "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace."