He may have been the original Earth Day advocate and serves as the patron saint for animals, the environment and ecology in the Catholic faith.

St. Francis of Assisi adored all of God's creations. and now, due to the generosity and devotion of a local couple, the likeness of St. Francis of Assisi, an Italian Catholic friar, deacon and mystic, is featured prominently in the Holy Rosary Shrine in Lawrence.