Born at Paola in Calabria in 1416, St Francis joined the Franciscans as a lay brother, but he soon left them to live as a hermit. He later founded the Order of Minims, a very strict order, especially as regards fasting and abstinence, which was confirmed by Pope Sixtus IV - a Conventual Franciscan in 1474.
St Francis died at Tours on April 2, 1507, aged 91. Pope Leo X canonised him in 1519. His remains are enshrined in the sanctuary dedicated to him at Paola. There is a fine church dedicated to him at Qormi, besides altars at the Gozo Cathedral, the parish churches of Senglea, Kirkop, Tarxien, Gharghur in Malta and Nadur in Gozo, as well as at the church of St Lucy in Valletta.