Be praised, my Lord, through those who forgive one another for love of You,
and bear sickness and tribulation. - The Canticle of Brother Sun

ChristStory Brother Wolf Page

St. Francis &The Very Fierce Wolf of Gubbio

Once a very ferocious wolf, maddened by hunger, began attacking people and animals in the area of Gubbio. He came at them with such ferocity that they armed themselves as if for war whenever they went into the countryside. But the wolf was more powerful than their weapons and devoured whomever he pleased.

Then St. Francis, armed only with the sign of the cross, walked out of the town to deal with the wolf himself. He made a peace pact between the wolf and the people of Gubbio, saying, "Brother Wolf, I know you have done these evil things out of hunger. Therefore, the townspeople will feed you every day if you promise never to attack living creatures again."

St. Francis Trivia

As a young man, he devoted himself to repairing a ruined church after an image of Jesus complained to him that one of the houses of God had been neglected and allowed to fall into ruins.
He was able to make a spring of water appear in the desert to save one who was ill with thirst. On two occasions he also turned water into healing wine. Bread blessed by him restored the sick to health.
While living, he told a companion that famine would not come to the land as long as an anonymous follower of Christ lived. After his death, he announced to his companion that the famine would now come.
He said that Lady Poverty was more honored by those who were poor by nature than by those who gave up their riches to live humbly.
Demons bothered him at prayer by running noisily on the roof.
He received the stigmata from a Seraph but hid the painful marks. After his death, St. Francis appeared to a murder victim and healed him by touching his stigmata to the sword wounds.
He preached to all creatures, exhorting them to praise God with whatever natural skill they had. They listened to his preaching silently and praised God with their singing as he instructed them.
He rescued worms from the roads lest they be stepped on.
He regarded all creatures as his brothers and sisters.
Miracles of healing and the restoration of the dead were attributed to the invocation of his name after his death.

All trivia is taken from The Golden Legend - a book popular in the Middle Ages.

Read a review of The Golden Legend.

To find out more about wolves or St. Francis see:

The Wolf of Gubbio
St. Francis Brings Peace at Gubbio Wolf of Gubbio
The Little Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi - TOC
Wolf Source
ISM Midwest 16,000 years ago -- Dire Wolf Myths About the Wolf Land of the Wolves

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To cite this page:
Tucker, Suzetta. "ChristStory Brother Wolf Page." ChristStory Christian Bestiary. 1997. http://ww2.netnitco.net/users/legend01/wolfie.htm ().