By Pierre Ratte
San Francisco, the “City by the Bay,” was named after St. Francis, a wealthy, gregarious Italian. The son of a wealthy silk merchant, he was known for his love of earthly pleasures and spendthrift ways. Kind of appropriate for a big-city lifestyle. That is until a series of interventions changed St. Francis’ life and he eschewed wealth, living simply in harmony with nature in order to be more like Jesus.
It’s something Christians endeavor to emulate during Lent, the three pillars of Lent being: prayer, fasting and giving.
Fun facts: Lent began this year on March 5; the date is always six and a half weeks before Easter. The season of Lent is 40 days, but Lenten observances do not include Sundays. So the 40 days of Lent span 45 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter.
St. Francis of Assisi’s name was Gionvanni di Pietro Bernardone. He was born in 1181 and died in 1226, at 45 years of age. His mother was French and his father was in France at the time of his birth, hence he was called Francesco—Italian for Francis. He is the patron saint of Italy, founder of the Franciscan Order, and the Catholic Church’s patron saint of animals and the environment. The Franciscan Order wears a brown tunic, closed by a sash with three knots below the cincture (closing knot) symbolizing vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.
Easter changes days each year. It is timed by the full moon, as the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. This year the spring equinox is March 20. The spring equinox can change days depending on the year. Easter can vary as much as 35 days depending on the moon’s cycle. Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter later than Western Christians because they use the Gregorian calendar instead of the Julian calendar.
Tony Bennett sang “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” for the first time in 1961 in the Venetian Room at the Fairmont Hotel. The song was written by George Cory and Douglass Cross in 1953; they were in Brooklyn longing for San Francisco. Bennett released the song in 1962, winning two Grammys, for Best Record and Male Recording Artist of the year. One block of Mason Street alongside the Fairmont is now named Tony Bennett Way.
