Product Description

With a new Preface by the noted writer Madeleine L'Engle, author of nearly fifty books of fiction and non-fiction, including A Wrinkle in Time. St. Francis of Assisi's ecstatic embrace of a life of poverty revolutionized Christianity even as it transformed the ethics of the West. In this luminous and lively book, St. Francis's followers preserved his legend and those of his first disciples, combining stories of miracles with convincing portraits of men who were no less human for having been touched by God.

"God is our home but many of us have strayed from our native land.  The venerable authors of these Spiritual Classics are expert guides--may we follow their directions home."
--Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #119887 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 292 pages

Amazon.com
St. Francis of Assisi--the saint who preached to birds and wolves, the saint whose vow of poverty changed Christian ethics forever, the saint who repented of his fleshly sins by loving the material world--was also a pretty great writer. His Little Flowers, a series of 53 short chapters ranging in form from wild stories to serene meditations, is perfect bedtime or devotional reading. Before you know it, you'll be reading this one aloud to your cat. And Francis will be very pleased to hear it. --Michael Joseph Gross

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Italian

From the Inside Flap
With a new Preface by the noted writer Madeleine L'Engle, author of nearly fifty books of fiction and non-fiction, including A Wrinkle in Time. St. Francis of Assisi's ecstatic embrace of a life of poverty revolutionized Christianity even as it transformed the ethics of the West. In this luminous and lively book, St. Francis's followers preserved his legend and those of his first disciples, combining stories of miracles with convincing portraits of men who were no less human for having been touched by God.

"God is our home but many of us have strayed from our native land. The venerable authors of these Spiritual Classics are expert guides--may we follow their directions home."
--Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Customer Reviews

ABOUT ST. FRANCIS, NOT BY HIM!
Even though I am an industrial-strength animal-lover who has been running a sanctuary for unwanted (ugly, old, unhealthy) cats for over 10 years, this is a tough book to review. While I am not "religious" person, St. Francis has certainly been my favorite saint because of his love for animals. Unfortunately, contrary to what has been stated, this book is NOT by St. Francis but, rather, ABOUT him and was written by "Brother Ugolino" many years after Francis' death. Plus, it contains stories about several of Francis' original group of monks...none of which, frankly, interested me all that much. On top of this, the Heywood translation dates back to the early 20th Century and is as stilted to read as an old English translation of the bible: lots of "thee" and "thou" and other outdated, outmoded words and stilted forms of speech.

Too bad someone couldn't retranslate this work and bring it into the 21st Century where it belongs!

The stories and legends about St. Francis are, generally, interesting...although, if I were to accept all of these as literally true, I would have to say that he comes off sounding something like a devout fanatic with some seriously masochistic undertones. Then again, considering the era he lived in, I suppose he was no worse than any of the other "Masochists for Christ".

So, I find myself disagreeing with some of his teachings (at least, as described by Brother Ugolino!) although I will continue to admire St. Francis for his charity toward animals and others.

If one is interested in the life of St. Francis, I suppose that this book is as good as any. However, I would prefer to read a GOOD, modern translation of the man's own words than the unreliable myths and legends that Brother Ugolino presents.

A Man After God's Own Heart
One could easily fill a bookshelf with the number of volumes that have been written about the "Little Poor Man of Assisi" over the past seven hundred years, but none has been more widely read or more influential than the Fioretti, better known to English readers as The Little Flowers of St. Francis. This spiritual classic was not written by Francis himself, but by Brother Ugolino, an Italian Franciscan who lived a full century after the death of St. Francis in 1226. It is not so much a biography, but a collection of stories and sayings passed on by the first and second generations of Francis' early followers, in a manner similar to The Sayings of the Desert Fathers. As such, the author is not concerned so much with providing an historical record of the birth of Franciscan spirituality, but with painting a personal profile of this fascinating friar and the most formative experiences that helped to shape the lives of those who followed in his footsteps. This may help to explain why much of the material found in The Little Flowers has become "legendary," and it is left to the reader to decide how many of the events described are fact and how many are fiction.

But it is not the spectacular and/or legendary aspects of St. Francis' life that grab the headlines in this spiritual classic. It is the genuinely humble, Christ-like character of this "little poor man" that stands out most of all. More than anything, and more than most, Francis loved Jesus. So much so, according to those who knew him best, that he was given a special mark of his intimate identification with Christ - the "stigmata" (five wounds of Christ on the cross). Regardless of how closely his outward appearance resembled that of Christ, it is clear that his heart was one with the Savior, as illustrated in the following message which Francis delivered at St. Mary of the Angels in 1215 in the presence of five thousand friars, including St. Dominic and Cardinal Hugolin, who would later become better known as Pope Gregory IX:

"My little sons, we have promised great things, but far greater things have been promised to us by God. Let us keep those promises which we have made, and let us aspire with confidence to those things which have been promised to us. Brief is the world's pleasure, but the punishment that follows it lasts forever. Small is the suffering of this life, but the glory of the next life is infinite."

May the life and testimony of this "Little Poor Man" of Assisi inspire each of us to follow his imperfect yet faithful example, even as he has sought to follow the perfect example of Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:1).

Great Book
I really liked this book, I have waited for years to read this book
again.And I was very pleased.
Thanks Monica C coleman