FRANCIS OF PAOLA

or PAULA, ST., was born in 1416 in the city of Paula, in Calabria, died in France 1507. He was brought up in a Francise an convent, and in 1436 founded a new order, which, when the statutes were confirmed by Alexander VI, received the name of the Minims (Lat. minim i, the least). To the three usual vows Francis added a fourth, that of keeping the Lenten fast during the whole year. The fame of his miraculous cures reached Louis XI of France, who invited him to France in the hope that Francis would be able to prolong his life. After the death of Louis, Charles VIII built him a monastery in the park of Ple is-les Tours and also at Amboise, and loaded him with honour and tokens of veneration. Twelve years after his death he was canonized by Leo X, and his festival is on the 2nd of April. See MINIMS. FRANCIS OF SALES. See SALES.