St. Francis of Paola, founder of the Order of the Minims, was born in Paola, a small town in Calabria in 1416. His parents named him in honour of St. Francis of Assisi.
Newsroom (15/03/2025 21:04, Gaudium Press) The parents of St. Francis of Paola, small landowners in Paola, Calabria, in Southern Italy, had no children for fifteen years after their marriage, and prayed to St. Francis of Assisi to grant them this grace.
One day, a tongue of fire, accompanied by angelic melodies, hovered over their house, attracting many people from the neighbourhood. Soon after, the future Saint came into the world in the year 1416.
At the age of fourteen, his parents made a pilgrimage to various cities, including Rome and Assisi, and took him with them.
Whilst travelling, he noticed the immense moral and religious decadence that prevailed throughout society. Returning to Paola, he decided to live in a nearby cave, leading a life of prayer and rigorous penance.
His example attracted several men who began to live in huts nearby. After five years, they formed a community following a rule established by Francis. Similar ones were established in many places, and the hermit’s name became known throughout Europe.
He drew up the rule of the congregation that had been formed and gave it the title ‘Order of the Minims’, because they considered themselves to be the least in the house of the Lord. Their lifestyle, characterized by constant prayer and great penance, came to be called ‘perpetual Lent’.
In this way, the members of this new Order, who practiced humility and a spirit of sacrifice, were radically opposed to the Revolution, which promoted pride and sensuality.
God gave him the gift of performing miracles: he healed paralyzed people, lepers, the blind, the deaf and the dumb, and even performed resurrections.
Instructed the King of Naples
At the request of the King of Naples, Ferrante I, who was cruel and lived a life of luxury, he travelled to the city and presented himself to the monarch.
After several conversations with St. Francis, Ferrante offered him a silver tray filled with gold coins so that he could build a convent.
The man of God told him:
‘Remember, Your Majesty, that God put the sceptre in your hands to seek the happiness and well-being of the vassals and not to satisfy your inordinate cravings for pride and vanity. Do you believe that there is no hell for those who are in charge?’
He added: ‘I urge you to immediately amend your behaviour and improve your government. If you do not restore order, peace and justice to the people, your throne will collapse and your lineage will be extinguished in no time!’
To confirm his words, the Saint took a coin, pressed it and blood flowed from it. And he said: ‘This is the blood of your subjects that cries out for vengeance before God!’
But the king continued his life of sin, and his line died out while St. Francis was still alive.
Elevated Reception in France
Louis XI, King of France, was nicknamed the ‘Spider’ because of his politics full of trickery and intrigue.
Stricken with a serious illness, he wrote to Francis, asking him to come and visit him at Plessis-les-Tours Castle in the west of France, but the hermit replied that he was unable to do so due to his busy schedule and the distance. The monarch then turned to Pope Sixtus IV, who ordered Francis to make the journey.
St. Francis made his way there and was received as one elevated and ideal at the castle. Louis XI knelt at his feet and begged him to prolong his life. The man of God recommended that he put his conscience in order.
A miracle greater than the resurrection of a body took place. The monarch, who had lived in sin for years, was reconciled with his Creator and gave Him his soul on 30 August 1483, praying: ‘Our Lady, my good Mother, help me!’
Counsellor to kings
At the request of the royal family, the hermit of Paola remained in France as a counsellor during the regency of Anne of Beaujeu and the reign of Charles VIII, son of Louis XI. Charles VIII even asked him for advice on matters of government, and had a convent built for the Minims.
Francis gave spiritual support to St. Joan of Valois, daughter of Louis XI and wife of Louis XII, who had been persecuted by both of them. He guided her to found the contemplative Order of the Annunciates, in honour of the Annunciation of Our Lady, in the city of Bourges in central France.
Francis also guided the King of Spain, Ferdinand the Catholic, especially in matters relating to the wars of the Reconquista and the expansion of the Faith in the New World, i.e. the American continent discovered by Columbus.
Order of the Holy Crucifers
Francis possessed the gift of prophecy to an eminent degree. The most important of his predictions refers to the Congregation of the Holy Crucifers of Jesus Christ which, as Divine Providence revealed to him, would emerge in future times.
This religious order, says St. Francis, will do more good for the world than all the others put together. Its Founder will be called the victor, for he will conquer the world, the devil and the flesh.
St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716), in his famous ‘Fiery Prayer’, asks God:
‘Attend to the designs of your mercy, raise up men of your right hand, such as you have shown to some of your greatest servants, to whom you have given prophetic lights, to a St. Francis of Paola…”[1].
Incorrupt body burnt by Protestants
In the twenty-fourth year of his stay in France, Divine Providence warned him that death was approaching.
In order to prepare himself, he locked himself in his cell, did not want to be visited by anyone and remained there for three months. On Palm Sunday 1507, he came down with a severe fever.
On Holy Thursday, he enjoined his spiritual sons, who were around him, to be extremely faithful to the Rule and he washed their feet. He went to confession and received the Holy Eucharist with a rope round his neck, as the Rule stipulated for that day.
On Passion Friday, 2 April 1507, at the age of 91, he gave his soul to the Creator. His body, exposed to the faithful for eleven days, exuded a soft perfume.
He had founded 33 convents in four European countries. In 1562, the Huguenots – Calvinist Protestants – out of hatred for the Catholic Church, invaded the Plessis Convent and burnt his incorrupt body. Only a few bones were recovered[2].
By Paulo Francisco Martos
Compiled by Sandra Chisholm
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