St. Bonaventure recalls St. Francis's conversion and falling away from his earthly father Pietro di Bernardone, in *Life of St. Francis* ch. 2: >And now his father according to the flesh, having despoiled him of his money, brought this son (no longer his, but the child of divine grace) before the Bishop of Assisi, to compel him to renounce in his hands all his inheritance, and whatsoever he had received from him, which this true lover of poverty was most ready and willing to do. As soon, therefore, as he came into the Bishop’s presence, without a moment’s delay, neither waiting for his father’s demand nor uttering a word himself, he laid aside all his clothes, and gave them back to his father. Then it was seen, that under his fair and costly garments the holy man wore a hard and rough hair-shirt. With marvellous fervor he then turned to his father, and spoke thus to him in the presence of all: “Until this hour I have called thee my father on earth; from henceforth, I may say confidently, *my Father Who art in Heaven*, in Whose hands I have laid up all my treasures, all my trust, and all my hope.” A Capuchin told me that later in St. Francis's life, his father Pietro di Bernardone tried to approach St. Francis while he was begging, but one of St. Francis's Franciscan confreres spoke to Pietro di Bernardone, guarding St. Francis. Who was that brother, and is there any basis to this story?

The famous "serenity prayer" reads something like this: > God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Many Catholics seem to attribute the above to St. Francis of Assisi; however, it seems to me that the Protestant theologian Reinhold Niebuhr may have indeed authored it. See, for example, [*Original Serenity Prayer*](https://proactive12steps.com/serenity-prayer/) QUESTION: Can anyone provide any evidence that the "serenity prayer" was known by anyone prior to Reinhold Niebuhr (1892--1971)? Can anyone suggest why it seems to have been long attributed to St. Francis of Assisi? Is there any evidence that St. Francis ever uttered or wrote it? Thank you.

Was St. Francis of Assisi calumniated for his relationship with St. Clare? Were lies spread about him, for example, having a secret affair with her?

St. Francis wrote a “Way of the Cross” and several centuries later St. Alphonsus also wrote one. I have been reading both in parallel, and (in my personal opinion) they are both lovely. What would be the distinguishing features that would lead a church to observe one vs. the other during Lent?

There are tons of movies about St. Francis and St. Clare, is there a complete list of movies that, I don't know, rank by historicity and orthodoxy? I've seen a few movies about them but can't remember which, I know _The Flowers of St. Francis_ is good, but it's not necessarily based on anything particularly historical. So, what I'd like to see is a complete list, with a relative rating (maybe on a scale of 1-10) for historicity and orthodoxy. I'm trying to find some movies for a curriculum I'm putting together for my daughter's homeschool.

My wife is dressing my son Francis up as... St. Francis for an All Saints party. I think the timeline is thus that St. Francis could have prayed the Rosary, but it was more of a Dominican thing to do. Would he have prayed the Rosary or would he have avoided it as being something the distinguished his order from St. Dominic's?