The story of St. Francis of Assisi taming the Wolf of Gubbio is one of the great legends connected to his life. Whether the story is historically accurate is of very little importance to me. How it fits into the pattern of biblical themes and God’s creation plan is infinitely more important. St. Francis goes to Gubbio, an Italian town where a fierce wolf terrorized the villagers and even killed children and meets the wolf, ready to attack St. Francis as soon as he sees him.
“Come here, Brother Wolf,” St. Francis said as he made the sign of the cross over him. As soon as St. Francis gave the command, “You must not harm me or anyone.” According to The Little Flowers, the fearsome wolf stopped running as soon as he closed his mouth. It threw itself at St. Francis meekly as a lamb after the command was given.”
The Deal with the Wolf
St. Francis scolds Brother Wolf for destroying and killing the creatures of God and promises that he will have food given to him regularly by the people of this town so that he will no longer suffer hunger. In return, he asks Brother Wolf, to promise that he will never harm any human person or animal.” The wolf showed agreement by simply bowing his head.
And so Francis asks the people of the town if they will promise to provide food for wolf regularly. They all say they will. Finally, St. Francis asks the wolf to give a guarantee in front of all of the people that he will no longer inflict harm upon the people of Gubbio or its animals.
“Then the wolf, lifting his right paw, placed it in the hand of St. Francis. Because of this action…there was such rejoicing and wonder among all the people…that they all began to cry to heaven, praising and blessing God who sent Francis to them who, through his merits, had freed them from the jaws of the cruel beast.”
Gubbio lived for two more years, and he tamely entered the houses, going from door to door, without doing any harm to anyone and without any being done to him; and he was kindly fed by the people. He died of old age, at which the citizens of Gubbio grieved.
How St. Francis tamed the wild turtle-doves
ONE day, a youth had taken many turtle-doves, and as he was carrying them to sell them, St. Francis said to the youth: “Good youth, I pray thee give them to me, that birds so gentle, which in the Scriptures are likened unto chaste and humble and faithful souls, come not into the hands of cruel men who would slay them”. He received them and spoke to them sweetly: “O my sisters, simple, innocent, chaste turtle-doves, why do you let yourselves be taken? Now I desire to save you from death and to make nests for you, so that ye may bring forth fruit and multiply, according to the commandments of our Creator.” The young man, which had given them unto him was asked by St. Francis said: “Son, thou wilt yet be a friar in this Order, and thou wilt serve Jesus Christ with all thy heart”; and so it came to pass, for the said youth became a friar and lived in the Order in great sanctity.
Rabbits, and Fish
Francis freed a rabbit who had been trapped and advised the rabbit to be more alert in the future, then released tit from the trap and set it on the ground to go its way but the rabbit repeatedly hopped back up onto Francis’ lap, desiring to be close to the saint until one of his fellow friars was asked to take the rabbit far into the woods and let it go. That worked.
This type of thing happened repeatedly to Francis—which he saw as an opportunity to praise the glory of God. If the simplest creatures could be so endowed with God’s wonder, how much the more so we humans!
Fish were also known to obey Francis. Whenever a fish was caught and Francis was nearby, he would return the fish to the water, warning it not to be caught again. On several occasions the fish would linger awhile near the boat, listening to Francis preach, until he gave them permission to leave. Then they would swim off. In every work of art, as Francis called all creation, he would praise the artist, our loving Creator.
The ‘Peaceable Kingdom’
The “peaceable kingdom” is an expression of the messianic era of peace, foreseen by the prophet Isaiah in this famous passage: “Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them” (11:6).
Another passage of Isaiah reads, “The wolf and the lamb shall graze alike, and the lion shall eat hay like the ox….None shall hurt or destroy on my holy mountain, says the Lord” (65:25).
It is clear that the inspired writer of the Book of Revelation, the final book of the Bible, was referring to the “peaceable kingdom” when he wrote, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth….I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race….He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death and mourning, wailing or pain, [for] the old order has passed away” (Rev 21:1-4).
Surely the inspired writer of Revelation, whom we know as John, is pointing us back to Isaiah’s description of the rise of the messiah: “But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse [David’s father], and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and understanding….He shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land’s afflicted….Then the wolf shall be guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid” (see Isaiah 11:6-9).
Harmony – in the beginning and in the end!
What Isaiah is showing us here is a vision of a future era in which the original state of peace and harmony in the Garden of Eden, lost through disobedience and sin, is restored. In this new world, there will be no pain or sorrow or enmity or untimely death, only happiness and rejoicing.
Even animals will return to a state of innocence and bliss….Clearly the author of Revelation goes out of his way to show that, just as the first book of the Bible [Genesis] began with an ideal garden paradise where God, humans and beasts dwelt peacefully together, so now the Bible’s final book ends with the original garden of harmony and peace restored.
In part, what the story of Francis and the wolf reveals to us is that St. Francis—as a follower of Christ, the Messiah foretold by Isaiah—is helping to bring about the same peace and reconciliation in this world. This peace, harmony and reconciliation is not only meant to exist between God and humans, but also between God and the whole family of creation! We, too, can be instruments of this peace.
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/franciscan-spirit-blog/st-francis-and-the-taming-of-the-wolf/