An Autumn Saint for Our Time
Autumn and the Spirit of St. Francis of Assisi
Every year on October 4th, the Church celebrates the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, patron of animals, ecology, and creation. His feast falls in the heart of autumn—a season that mirrors his spiritual journey.
Autumn is a time of ripeness, beauty, and surrender. Trees blaze with color before letting go of their leaves; fields offer their harvest before resting. Francis’s life tells the same story: from a young man chasing wealth and glory, to a zealous ascetic demanding radical poverty, to finally a humble brother who discovered freedom in simplicity and mercy. Like autumn, Francis reveals the paradox of life: abundance comes through surrender, and beauty shines brightest when we let go.
Francis and Laudato si’
Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato si’ (“Praise be to you”) draws its name and spirit from Francis’ Canticle of the Creatures, a hymn of gratitude for creation. St. Francis saw the world not as a resource but as kin: Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Sister Water, Brother Fire.
In autumn, when nature displays both its abundance and its fragility, this canticle becomes a guide for prayer. As Laudato si’ reminds us, the earth is “our common home,” entrusted to our care. To pray with Francis is to cultivate ecological humility, learning to live in reverence with the rhythms of creation.
From Perfectionism to Mercy
Francis’s path was not only about nature but also about the heart. In his early zeal, he pursued holiness with harsh penance and demanded strict poverty from his followers. He strove for spiritual perfection with unrelenting rigor.
Yet over time, softened by illness and by brotherhood, Francis discovered that love mattered more than severity. He grew gentler, more merciful, more free. As Colleen Carroll Campbell notes in The Heart of Perfection, “Francis embodies the journey from perfectionism to mercy—a lesson for all of us who struggle with control, performance, or harsh self-judgment.”
Autumn embodies this same truth: the trees do not cling to their leaves; they release them. Their letting go reveals their deepest beauty. Francis’s surrender, like autumn’s, became radiant.
Why Francis Belongs to Autumn
Harvest and Gratitude: He teaches us to receive life as gift.
Simplicity and Surrender: Like autumn leaves, he shows us how to let go.
Mercy over Perfection: His story reassures us that God loves our openness more than our flawless efforts.
Ecological Kinship: His Canticle echoes the call of Laudato si’ to live as one family with all creation.
A Prayer for Autumn with St. Francis
To pray with Francis in this season is to ask for eyes open to creation, courage to let go of control, and a heart softened by mercy. His life reminds us that true freedom is not found in perfection but in surrender—just as autumn teaches us that beauty and abundance come through release. I love to go back to the beautiful basics that follow:
The Peace Prayer of St. Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
