Background
ST. Francis of Paola was born on 1416.
ST. Francis of Paola was born on 1416.
After spending a year in a Franciscan convent, which he entered at the age of 13, he retired to a solitary life. Two companions joined him in 1436; others followed. The new order that thus developed was approved by Alexander VI (Pope 1492-1503) as the Order of Minims (Latin minimi, "the least"). Francis prophesied the capture of Otranto (1480) and its recapture. Summoned to the deathbed of Louis XI in 1483, he was detained in France by Charles VIII and by Louis XII as their counsellor. St. Francis was canonized in 1519. His feast is celebrated on April 2.