Francis of Assisi

“Preach the gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.” — attributed to Francis (apocryphal in this exact form, but consistent with his teaching)

The medieval saint who reads as if he had been beamed in from somewhere else entirely. Francesco di Bernardone, son of a wealthy cloth merchant in Assisi, gave away everything, embraced lepers, preached to birds, and effectively reinvented apostolic poverty as a viable medieval vocation. Within a generation his order had thousands of friars; within his own lifetime he had to retreat from its administration because the institution was already departing from his ideal. Stigmata, the Canticle of the Sun, the live nativity scene at Greccio (~1223 — he invented it), and a deep, joyful theology of creation. Pope Francis took his name in 2013, making explicit the program: a poor church for the poor.