Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi, 1181-1226; a poor little man who astounded and inspired the Church by taking the gospel literally—not in a narrow fundamentalist sense, but by actually following all that Jesus said and did, joyfully, without limit, and without a sense of self-importance; he had no intention of founding an order, but once it began he protected it and accepted all the legal structures needed to support it; his devotion and loyalty to the Church were absolute; two years before his death he received the stigmata, the real and painful wounds of Christ in his hands, feet and side