Saint Francis: tales of birds and wolves

(Vatican Radio) As we all know Saint Francis of Assisi whose feast day falls on October 4, once expressed a great love for all creatures great and small. Among these the birds, to whom he once wrote saying they should be grateful to God for having covered them in feathers and given them wings to fly. 

But there's another story connected to Saint Francis and another far fiercer creature: a wolf whom he is said to have tamed by promising him food, recognizing that he and his pack were driven by hunger  to kill. As the story goes this pact was sealed with a paw and a hand shake. But our popular 'Latin Lover' gets unusually lost in this tale when he can't think of a word for paw, explaining how the Latin language lacks some words, toe for example!

Listen to our popular 'Latin Lover', in a programme presented and produced by Veronica Scarisbrick: