Italy is preparing for their St. Francis celebrations.

St. Francis of Assisi, one of Italy’s two patron saints (the other is Catherine of Siena), is revered on October 3rd and 4th in his home town of Assisi (festa di San Francesco), which lies high above the Vale of Spoleto on Monte Subasio.  St. Francis was born 1182 and lived to 1226 and was pronounced a saint by Pope Gregory IX.  He is known as the patron saint of animals and the enviroment.