Vita beati Francisci

The Vita prima is the first biography of Saint Francis, written by Thomas of Celano at the command of Pope Gregory IX in the months surrounding the canonization of 1228. Composed barely two years after the saint's death by a friar who had known him, it is the closest in time of all the biographies of Saint Francis.

Many of the events concerning the saint are already crystallized in this writing: the meeting with the leper, his father's persecution, the renunciation before the bishop, the crib of Greccio, and the stigmata of La Verna; the tone is deeply affectionate and celebratory.

Compared with the later sources, one should note the harsh judgement passed on Francis's origins, which this Celano recounts as truly dissolute. Already in the Vita secunda this aspect would be softened, as indeed they are presented more gently in the Legend of the Three Companions — ascribed by tradition to the original companions.

It is possible that Thomas, less familiar with Assisi than the first companions, exaggerated these origins in order to heighten the role of grace, thus drawing a parallel between the conversion of Francis and that of Saint Paul. Indeed the whole structure of the book is theological: Francis's ministry is narrated as a parallel to the ministry of Christ, with the saint who «travels through the villages proclaiming the kingdom of God,» his death recalling the Passion, and the miracles after his death and through the canonization being an image of the triumph of the Resurrection.

Celano's work is therefore guided in part by an intent that transcends historical accuracy, yet for this very reason it offers a spiritual value unique and distinct from the Legend of the Three Companions, more sober and personal, or from the more rigorous and organic Major Legend of Bonaventure.