The movement founded by St. Francis of Assisi in the early 13th century was something unique compared to the then existing forms of “religious life.” The models of such life, spirituality, and the ways to be in the world were: monastic life, the life of the hermit, or a priest assigned to one place to serve out his days. And then came the Franciscans.

Europe had already experienced the Irish monks wandering on pilgrimage as a penitential practice, but not a way of life. From the beginning, Francis and the small band of friars practiced a type of ascetic homelessness. Francis himself spent a good portion of the early years (1209-1215) wandering, especially in central and eastern Italy. Francis and the early friars practiced peregrination pro Christo (“wandering for the sake of Christ”). Continue reading →