Born at Paula in Calabria, St. Francis, after living as a hermit for five years (from the age of fourteen to nineteen) gathered around him some companions with whom he led the religious life. This was the origin of a new order, to which he gave the name of Minims, that is, “the least” in the house of God. Pope Sixtus IV sent him to France to help Louis XI on his deathbed. He remained there and founded at Tours a house of his Minims. He died at Plessis-les-Tours on April 2, 1507. In him the Church exalts the great love of God and the profound humility of which he gave an example.