AFTERLIFE

After they raised Francis from the earth again, the friars washed his body and anointed him with spices. All who were present were then witnesses to the stigmata, although many there already knew of it. Witnesses reported as well that his body was restored to youth and suppleness. Elias made the stigmata known then to all of those keeping vigil outside, as well; during the night that followed he allowed the friars sometimes to kiss them and sometimes merely to see them.

Messengers were sent to bring word of Francis’s passing to Clare, the church authorities, and secular leaders. Clare could not come, owing to her own illness, but others came to pay respects and to witness the stigmata.

Francis’s body was finally placed in a coffin and carried in a procession toward Assisi and the church of San Giorgio, Francis’s childhood church and school. Singing, on the way there, they stopped by San Damiano, where Clare and the nuns could mourn and then rejoice over his life. They kissed his wounded hands and sent him again on his way home to Assisi. His requiem Mass was then held in San Giorgio; many attendees waited in the piazza outside because the church could not accommodate them all. San Giorgio would be his first resting place.

In 1227, Ugolino succeeded Pope Honorius as Pope Gregory IX. By then, so many miracles had occurred since Francis’s death and through his intervention that Pope Gregory had no hesitation in beginning the process of his canonization; besides, Gregory knew the living Francis so well and, despite their differences, revered him so highly that he bore personal witness to Francis’s sanctity. On July 16, 1228, Francis was proclaimed a saint in the Piazza del Comune in Assisi; the pope’s procession included John of Brienne king of Jerusalem among other dignitaries. Bishop Guido, Francis’s lifelong patron, was able to be present as well, although he would die the same year.

On the day following the canonization, the cornerstone of his basilica was laid by Pope Gregory himself. Elias, who had been passed over initially as the new minister general of the order, was put in charge of the building. Francis would be interred here for good, although his body was moved once within it, in 1978.

The Franciscan Order continued to be vexed by the question of poverty after Francis’s death. His most faithful adherents, including Clare, continued to petition for Francis’s ideal, whereby brothers and sisters would own nothing, not even the buildings they lived in, while Pope Gregory and brothers like Elias insisted that money could be held in common for their needs, that they could have large and permanent dwellings for their housing, and that they could own books and become educated. There are still streams in the First Franciscan order—Friars Minor Conventual, Friars Minor, and Friars Minor Capuchin— some more strict, like Francis, and others more relaxed, but they all abide by the governance of the Papal See, in the end. After being elected Minister General in 1232 and supervising the construction of the basilica, Elias became so devoted to his possessions that they became his downfall; his opulent lifestyle and arrogant behavior were a subject of disgrace throughout the Order, and he was replaced and ultimately excommunicated; a sad ending for a man who seemed truly to have loved Francis while living and who had great ability. Today there are some 30,000 members of the three branches of the First Order.

Clare died in 1253. She was attended in her last illness by Giles, Leo, Angelo, Rufino, and Juniper, Francis’s own favorite companions. Pope Innocent IV, Gregory’s successor, was her great admirer, and before her death, he finally approved the rule that she desired for her order—poverty as Francis had understood it. Innocent wanted to proclaim her a saint immediately but was prevailed upon to begin a formal process instead. She was canonized in 1255, and her body lies in her own basilica in Assisi. Thomas of Celano wrote of her life, as well. The Poor Clares, as the Second Order was officially renamed around 1263, now number around 18,000 members.

And finally, there are hundreds of thousands of members of the Third Order, some living in community, some in the world, all inspired by the life of history’s humblest man.