Assisi House
Patron
Assisi House was named after Saint Francis of Assisi. Known as Il Poverello (The Little Poor Man)
Saint Francis of Assisi (1181-1226)
Saint Francis of Assisi is honoured by the Catholic Church as the patron saint of animals and ecology.
Francis was born at Assisi in Umbria in 1181. He returned to Assisi and began to care for the sick.
Francis abandoned all his rights and possessions, including his clothes. In his life and preaching, Francis emphasized simplicity and poverty, relying on God’s providence rather than worldly goods. Saint Francis Assisi worked or begged for what he needed to live, and any surplus was given to the poor.
Symbol & Colour
The horizontal colours are the colours of the Flag of Assisi;
The next layer is the Tau Cross, the symbol Saint Francis chose to show his faith in Jesus Christ. The cross itself looks like a T and is taken from T in the Greek Alphabet. The Franciscans when they pray bow their heads and put their arms outstretched to God, just like a T;
The dove and the olive branch represent the message of peace. Saint Francis was often painted with a dove on his hand as if he was about to put the dove into flight signifying a messenger/instrument of peace;
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;
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.
“La Pace, L’amore, La unitas means Peace, Love and Unity”
Saint Francis often talked about people being lights of peace or instruments of peace hence the word was chosen by the students in Assisi House as the key word in our badge .
Love was taken from the bible Matthew19:19 “Love thy neighbour as yourself”
Unity was taken from the ideas of peace and love bound together which give us perfect unity which was the message of Ephesians4:2-6 “Make every effort to keep the unity with the bond of peace” and Psalm 133:1 “How good it is when brothers together live in unity”.
