A pocket token for the patron saint of animals

(Drawing of St Francis of Assisi, dressed in robes, with bare feet, talking to birds. From Catholic.org)

St Francis

Pietro Bernardone was a successful cloth merchant in Assisi, a town in Italy. In 1182, Pietro was on a trip to France when his wife gave birth to their son. She had him baptised Giovanni after John the Baptist. Pietro wanted his son to be a businessman, to follow in his trade, not a man of God. Pietro was infatuated with France, so renamed his son Francesco, essentially meaning “Frenchman”.

Born to a wealthy family, Francis was a born leader, always happy, and loved by everyone. An easy-going dreamer, he became the leader of a crowd of young people who spent their nights in parties. Francis himself acknowledged that he lived in sin during this time.

Francis became everything his father wanted: he was good at business, and even fell in love with France. But Francis dreamed of being a noble, a knight. When his town, Assisi declared war on neighbouring Perugia, Francis joined. Most of the Assisi troops were killed, with only those rich enough to be ransomed taken prisoner. Even after a year in a dungeon, he was still happy. When he was released, he went straight back to partying, and to seeking glory. When the call came for knights for the Fourth Crusade, Francis was eager to sign up. He bought an ornate suit of armour, decorated with gold and a magnificent cloak, as well as a horse to ride.

Only a day’s ride from Assisi, Francis had a dream in which God told him he had it all wrong, and to return home. Francis did, he returned home to humiliation, being called a coward, and to the rage of his father for the money wasted on armour.

Thus started Francis’ conversion. Francis spent more time in prayer. Praying in the crumbling San Damiano church, Francis heard God ask him to repair His church. Thinking he meant that physical building, Francis sold cloth from his father to fund repairs. His father disowned him, and Francis left with nothing, to rebuild the church by hand. Soon he started to preach. Francis was never a priest, but was ordained a deacon under his protest. Soon, companions came to Francis, to follow his life of living the Gospel: Owning nothing, and taking up the cross daily.

Notably, Francis’ brotherhood included all of God’s creation. In one famous story, he preached to hundreds of birds about being thankful for their wonderful clothes. They only flew off when he said they may leave. In another, he intervened in a town where a wolf had been eating humans. He talked the wolf into never killing again and it became a pet of the townsfolk.

Francis received blessing from Pope Innocent III to preach. His order grew to over 5,000 with pressure to conform to the standards of society. Finally, he grew ill and went blind, but still maintained his positive attitude. During this period, he wrote The Canticle of the Sun. Francis died in 1226, at 45 years old. His feast day is October 4th.

Obverse

The obverse of the medallion contains an image of Francis, wearing robes and holding his hand out to a bird. Surrounding the image is yellow sparkly enamel. I have several with this style of silhouette / coloured enamel on a silver-coloured (pewter?) medallion, although I’m not sure who minted them.

Reverse

The reverse contains the text “Patron saint of animals” around the top / bottom, with “St Francis bless all creatures great and small. Keep your world safe for all” in the centre, with a cross either side.

One of my favourite hymns linked to St Francis has always been “Make me a channel of your peace” (also called “The Peace Prayer of St Francis”). Looking it up now, it turns out that the first mention of this piece was in French in a Catholic magazine in 1912. So, it’s likely not something Francis wrote at all, but that certainly does not take away from it still being a beautiful piece.

When a pope is elected, they traditionally take a new name. Our current pope (Francis – as at March 2025) was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio. During the conclave voting, he was sitting next to his great friend, Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes “who comforted me.” When the decision was made, Frances said Cardinal Hummes “hugged me, kissed me and said, ‘Don’t forget the poor’”. He took to heart the words of his friend and chose to be called after St. Francis of Assisi, “the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation,” the same created world “with which we don’t have such a good relationship. How I would like a church that is poor and that is for the poor!” 

Francis is a popular saint, both for his deeds, and with those who love animals. Here are three other medallions featuring Saint Francis. Another thing I find particularly inspiring about St Francis is that, he wasn’t a saint from the outset, he was a sinner. he was interested in material things, and so on. But he found the way. There was hope for Francis and there is hope for all of us. Who do you find most inspiring to you? Is it someone you can get (or have) a medallion of? Share in the comments below or on social media.