“Francesco” was the middle son of an upper-middle-class merchant in 13th-century Assisi, until he undressed in front of his father and the people of the city, claiming that God himself had spoken to him. . Before this shocking scene, “Francesco,” later called Saint Francis, was in a militia and captured by the Perugians. During his captivity he suffered from a serious illness which caused him to become more religious, and one day, while praying in a church, he heard the voice of God through a crucifix. After this religious experience, Saint Francis sold all his possessions and gave his money to charity. When his father found out about this and became angry at his actions, it led to the scene shown above. After this, St. Francis led a Christ-like life, without possessions and also helping those less fortunate. During the last two years of his life, it is believed that he also bore the marks of Christ, otherwise known as stigmata. Some believe that the marks come directly from God, while others believe that the stigmata were due to the illnesses from which Saint Francis suffered or that Saint Francis gave himself the marks of Christ. However, it is most likely that the stigmata were originally a metaphor for the saint's Christ-like life which eventually evolved into the idea that he actually had the marks of Christ on his body. In Morris Bishop's Saint Francis of Assisi, he argues that there is no chance that Francis could have consciously self-inflicted the stigmata. Not only would this be extremely painful, but why would St. Francis mock his savior by placing the marks of Christ on himself? Morris answers this question by stating, "Francis was not a charlatan, and the assumption that he would make... middle of paper... House is on the right track with the metaphorical stigmata turning into reality makes the most sense." In order to properly convey the fact that St. Francis led a Christ-like life, it would make sense to metaphorically give him the marks of Christ. It is very likely that this metaphor is true that a disciple of Francis made the postmortem wounds. The mystery of the stigmata of Saint Francis will never be solved. It just happened too early to draw any conclusions about it. However, with the evidence provided, it is logical to think that the marks were metaphorical and became reality over time. Works Cited Thompson, Augustine. Francis of Assisi: a new biography. Print.Spoto, Donald. Reluctant Saint: The Life of Francis of Assisi. Print.Bishop, Morris. Saint Francis of Assisi. Print.Home, Adrian. Francis of Assisi. Print.