Bret Thoman - Saint Francis of Assisi: Passion, Poverty & the Man Who Transformed the Catholic Church

Bishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, O.F.M. Conv.

A T first blush, St. Francis of Assisi: Passion, Poverty, and the Man Who Transformed the Catholic Church may appear to be just another book about St. Francis. However, it soon becomes apparent that this is no ordinary biography about the poor man of Assisi.

The author takes you on a spiritual odyssey in the footsteps of Francis back in time to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, leading to a deeper understanding of the saint. You will experience the sights and sounds of Assisi as it was in Francis day: the cathedral, the bishops palace, the fortress, San Damiano, the Portiuncula, Rivotorto, and the leper hospitals. You will then accompany Francis throughout Italy to Greccio, Laverna, and the other mountain hermitages, as well as Rome. You will even journey with him to the Holy Land, where Francis was threatened by the Saracens with decapitation, yet still met face-to-face with the sultan.

The more profound journey, however, is the spiritual one, as Francis struggles with the conflicting voices of his dreams and his parents prophecies that he would one day be something great. In Francis search for meaning and greatness, he mistakenly sought out the glories of knighthood and war. However, in Spoleto, he experienced a deep and significant change of heart and correctly followed the call to return to Assisi.

The rest of the book narrates Francis search for meaning and how he eventually understood that the greatness he was called to was spiritual, not worldly. The author invites you to accompany Francis along this journey of his, which was from war to peace. Along the way, you do more than merely observe Francis conversion from a distanceyou participate in it as well.

Without realizing it, you will find yourself reviewing the discernment of your own commitment as a missionary disciple. You will reflect upon those times when you, too, heard the voice(s) that caused you to wrestle with your own decisions as to which road to travel down. In the course of your reading, you, too, will ask, Lord, what do you want me to do?

The author reminds us that following the humble Christ on the road to peace is not an easy road to find or travel. We meet the melancholy Francis who, during his discernment, experienced debilitating depression, discouragement, and a lack of interest and enthusiasm. Yet in his loneliness and brokenness, Francis experienced a connection to the Man on the cross and felt drawn to the crucified for the gift of absolution and a clarity of mission. His heart became alive with a burning love of Jesus and a desire to follow Him. Francis brings us with him.

Francis experienced a transformational joy that overwhelmed him as he discovered the incarnational God whom he began to see in all creation. Throughout his work, the author masterfully makes subtle use of the thirteenth-century Franciscan Sources in retelling many of the familiar stories of Francis of Assisi and the playful, yet challenging, relationship he developed with God.

We see how Francis experienced his metanoia (conversion) perhaps most dramatically when he encountered the leper. We are reminded that Francis saw not only himself in the repulsive leper but also the vivid image of the brokenness of the rejected Jesus on the cross. The embrace with the leper filled Francis (and, I hope, the reader as well) with a compassion that allowed Francis to look beyond his obvious physical decay and see into the mans heart and soul.

This was a pivotal moment in the life and sanctification of Francis of Assisi. The author keenly underscores a reference in one of Francis own writings recalling that the encounter with the leper marked the beginning of his penitential conversion.

Pieces of Francis broken life began to mend and were fortified by the epiphany with the cross in the little broken-down Church of San Damiano. The relationship between Francis and the Triune God continued to evolve as the author describes, in detail, Francis rejection of his fathers way of life. Then, with the blessing of the bishop, Francis literally left his past behind as he donned a farmers tunic and set out toward Gubbio.

Francis then began to live his life one day at a time as he ascended to the mountain caves for prayer and solitude. He began to see creation as he had never seen it before. He saw the goodness of God in Mother Earth and Brother Sun and Sister Moon.

As the familiar stories of Francis are told, the author appropriately references the Scriptures in pointing out the similarities between the virtuous life of Jesus and the poverty of life that Francis embraced. In fact, the Rule of Life that Francis would present to Pope Innocent III for his approval was mostly composed of Scripture verses.

Obtaining papal approval of the Rule was not easy. For Francis followers, living the Rule would not be easy, either. The approved Order grew quickly, and more and more men sought to join this band of humble and simple brothers. The friars soon became missionaries to various parts of the world, as the friars were to be pilgrims in this world.

It was in the cave in Greccio where Francis declared Christmas to be the feast of feasts. For Francis, Christmas was real and tangible. Francis simple Rule of Life was modeled after the birth of the Christ child in a simple stable in Bethlehem. The author clearly notes that Francis spirituality was truly incarnational, and it was through Jesus humanity that he finally came to know who God was. The events of the humanity of Jesus drew Francis to live the gospel more closely, and he required his friars to strive to do the same.