The Life of Francis of Assisi

Every year – or so it seems – very good biographies of St. Francis of Assisi are published. The ones published in the last 10 years all share some great qualities: readable and increasingly historical – introducing the “real” St Francis of Assisi to the world. You might ask why I say the “real” St Francis?

Did you know that statues of St Francis are the second most popular lawn/garden ornament sold every year – right behind pink flamingos. Rather like the popular icon shown above. That is an image many people have of St Francis, certainly one reinforced by Franco Zefferelli’s film Brother Sun, Sister Moon, another in a long line of romantic interpretations of the poor man from Assisi. Especially in the 20^th century, Francis was portrayed as “a free spirit, a wild religious genius, a kind of medieval hippie, misunderstood and then exploited by the ‘medieval Church.’ Or perhaps they know him as the man who spoke to animals, a nature mystic, an ecologist, a pacifist, a feminist, a ‘voice for our time.’ For others he is the little plaster man in the birdbath, the most charming and nonthreatening of Catholic saints…. almost everyone has his or her own Francis” (Francis of Assisi, Augustine Thompson OP).

Want to know about the “real’ St. Francis. Here are 32 posts about the life of St. Francis. Read one a day and that will take you right up to the Feast Day, October 4th. So, here they are.

Francis of Assisi – An Introduction

Francis of Assisi – The Young Man

Francis of Assisi – Military Adventures

Francis of Assisi – Period of Crisis: San Damiano

Francis of Assisi – Period of Crisis: Leaving the World

Francis of Assisi – Period of Crisis: Embracing the Leper

Francis of Assisi – “And the Lord gave me brothers…”

Francis of Assisi – The Fraternity Grows and Someone Has to Lead

Francis of Assisi – An Exhortation to the Brothers

Francis of Assisi – The Itinerant Life of the Brothers

Francis of Assisi – The Disposal of Worldly Goods

Francis of Assisi – The Conversion of Clare