St. Francis - Bel Air, MD - Statues of Religious Figures on Waymarking.com

The statue is about 3 feet high. It appears to be made out of ceramic and is painted, although when I visited it was chipping. Photos taken on 12 December 2021. The dove is in the hand of Jospeh, and there's another one at the base of the statue. Taken from Wikipedia, "Francis of Assisi (born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone; Italian: Francesco d'Assisi; Latin: Franciscus Assisiensis; 1181 or 1182 – 3 October 1226), was an Italian Catholic friar, deacon, and mystic. He founded the men's Order of Friars Minor, the women's Order of St. Clare, the Third Order of St. Francis and the Custody of the Holy Land. Francis is one of the most venerated religious figures in Christianity.

Pope Gregory IX canonized Francis on 16 July 1228. Along with Catherine of Siena, he was designated patron saint of Italy. He later became associated with patronage of animals and the natural environment, and it became customary for churches to hold ceremonies blessing animals on his feast day of 4 October. In 1219, he went to Egypt in an attempt to convert the sultan al-Kamil and put an end to the conflict of the Fifth Crusade. Once his community was authorized by the Pope, he withdrew increasingly from external affairs.

Francis is known for his love of the Eucharist. In 1223, Francis arranged for the first Christmas live nativity scene. According to Christian tradition, in 1224 he received the stigmata during the apparition of a Seraphic angel in a religious ecstasy."

Associated Religion(s): Christianity Statue Location: St. Margaret Catholic Church Entrance Fee: Free Artist: Unknown Website: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Take a picture of the statue. A waymarker and/or GPSr is not required to be in the image but it doesn't hurt.

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