Saint Francis Solanus

Francis Solanus, born as Francisco Solano y Jiménez, 10 March 1549 – 14 July 1610) was a Spanish Franciscan friar and missionary in South America. He is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. Solanus was born 10 March 1549 in Montilla, Spain, the third child of Mateo Sánchez Solano and Ana Jiménez. He was educated by the Jesuits, but felt drawn to the poverty and penitential life of the Franciscan friars. At the age of twenty, he joined the Order of Friars Minor at Montilla, entering the novitiate at St. Lawrence Friary. The community there belonged to the reformed observance within the order, following a strict routine of prayer, silence and fasting. Francis followed the rule rigorously, always going barefoot, abstaining from meat, and wearing a hairshirt throughout that entire year. As a result, however, his health was permanently affected, leaving him sick and fatigued. Solano made his solemn vows in 1569. He was then sent to the friary of Our Lady of Loreto in Seville for his seminary studies. There he learned not only philosophy and theology but developed his musical talents. He was ordained in 1576, a ceremony his mother was unable to attend due to her poor health. He was then named master of ceremonies for the community. Still a lover of simplicity, Francis made a small cell for himself by the chapel of the friary, made of clay and reeds. After completing his final theological studies, Solano was assigned as an itinerant preacher to the surrounding villages of the region. He was eventually given a license as a confessor. During this time and with the hope of achieving martyrdom for preaching the Catholic faith, he requested that he might be allowed to go to North Africa. He was denied this request. At that point, Solano shifted his vision to the American missions. After the death of his father, Solano returned to his hometown of Montilla to care for his mother.