The Saint and the Sultan

The Saint and the Sultan
Author: Paul Moses
Publisher: Image
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2009-09-29
Genre: History
ISBN: 030758951X

An intriguing examination of the extraordinary–and little known meeting between St. Francis of Assisi and Islamic leader Sultan Malik Al-Kamil that has strong resonance in today's divided world. For many of us, St. Francis of Assisi is known as a poor monk and a lover of animals. However, these images are sadly incomplete, because they ignore an equally important and more challenging aspect of his life -- his unwavering commitment to seeking peace. In The Saint and the Sultan, Paul Moses recovers Francis' s message of peace through the largely forgotten story of his daring mission to end the crusades. In 1219, as the Fifth Crusade was being fought, Francis crossed enemy lines to gain an audience with Malik al-Kamil, the Sultan of Egypt. The two talked of war and peace and faith and when Francis returned home, he proposed that his Order of the Friars Minor live peaceably among the followers of Islam–a revolutionary call at a moment when Christendom pinned its hopes for converting Muslims on the battlefield. The Saint and the Sultan captures the lives of St. Francis and Sultan al-Kamil and illuminates the political intrigue and religious fervor of their time. In the process, it reveals a startlingly timely story of interfaith conflict, war, and the search for peace. More than simply a dramatic adventure, though it does not lack for colorful saints and sinners, loyalty and betrayal, and thrilling Crusade narrative, The Saint and the Sultan brings to life an episode of deep relevance for all who seek to find peace between the West and the Islamic world. Winner of the 2010 Catholic Press Association Book Award for History

In the Spirit of St. Francis & the Sultan

In the Spirit of St. Francis & the Sultan
Author: George Dardess
Publisher: Orbis Books
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2011
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1570759073

Here, two practitioners of interfaith dialogue provide readers with a guide for Catholics and Muslims to reach greater mutual understanding and work for social justice.

St. Francis of Assisi and the Conversion of the Muslims

St. Francis of Assisi and the Conversion of the Muslims
Author: Frank M. Rega
Publisher: TAN Books
Total Pages: 174
Release: 2008-12
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 161890910X

Describes in gripping detail St. Francis’ historic efforts to convert the Sultan of Egypt to the Catholic faith. Discusses St. Francis’ approach to ecumenism and the conversion of other religions to Catholicism. Also includes a comprehensive biography of St. Francis and his dynamic reform of the Church.

Francis and the Sultan

Francis and the Sultan
Author: Jan Hoeberichts
Publisher: Media House
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2018-11-14
Genre: Christianity and other religions
ISBN: 9789387298330

Full of new impressions, Francis returned to Italy from his visit to the Sultan. For the first time in his life, he had come into contact with a very different religion and culture. It had touched him profoundly. That would never have been possible if he had gone to the Middle East with the mentality of a crusader and had allowed his judgement to be clouded by all the prejudices that the Christian world harboured regarding Muslims. However, he had gone with a very different mind-set. His intention was to go and live among the Muslims in service, solidarity and peace -in the spirit of Jesus. This enabled him to look at Muslims from a different point of view, entirely new to him - with new eyes and from a fresh, more open perspective. Christian-Muslim prayer-ecumenism for peace A reading of the texts Francis wrote after his sojourn in the Middle East makes it clear that this sojourn had made a profound impression on him. Especially characteristic of this is how greatly Francis, as he approached the Muslims with his positive and peaceful attitude, had come to admire their religious practice. This stands out particularly in the first letters he sent out shortly after his return to Italy. He had noticed the respect that Muslims have for their holy book, the Koran, and their devotion to the 99 Beautiful Names for God. This gave him the idea to call on the clergy to respect not only the Eucharist - in keeping with the decisions of the Fourth Lateran Council and papal directives - but also to have an equal reverence and devotion for 'the written most holy names and words of the Lord'

Francis of Assisi

Francis of Assisi
Author: Andre Vauchez
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 625
Release: 2012-10-23
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0300184921

A biography of the saint as both mystic and man: “The single best book about Francis now available in English” (Commonweal). In this towering work, Andre Vauchez draws on the vast body of scholarship on Francis of Assisi, particularly the important research of recent decades, to create a complete and engaging portrait of the saint. He also explores how the memory of Francis was shaped by contemporaries who recollected him in their writings, and completes the book by setting “il Poverello” in the context of his time, bringing to light what was new, surprising, and even astonishing in the life and vision of this man. The first part of the book is a fascinating reconstruction of Francis’s life and work. The second and third parts deal with the texts—hagiographies, chronicles, sermons, personal testimonies, etc.—of writers who recorded aspects of Francis’s life and movement as they remembered them, and used those remembrances to construct a portrait of Francis relevant to their concerns. Finally, Vauchez explores those aspects of Francis’s life, personality, and spiritual vision that were unique to him, including his experience of God, his approach to nature, his understanding and use of Scripture, and his impact on culture as well as culture’s impact on him. “Considered one of the great spiritual leaders of humankind, Francis of Assisi was also a man of many faces and personas: ascetic, the founder of a religious order, a romantic hero, a mystic, a defender of the poor, a promoter of peace. But as Vauchez emphasizes—and this biography constantly reminds us—Francis was also a flesh-and-blood human being . . . A bracing, erudite account of a mystic’s life.” —Booklist

An Unlikely Union

An Unlikely Union
Author: Paul Moses
Publisher: NYU Press
Total Pages: 395
Release: 2015-07-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 1479871303

They came from the poorest parts of Ireland and Italy, and met as rivals on the sidewalks of New York. In the nineteenth century and for long after, the Irish and Italians fought in the Catholic Church, on the waterfront, at construction sites, and in the streets. Then they made peace through romance, marrying each other on a large scale in the years after World War II. An Unlikely Union unfolds the dramatic story of how two of America's largest ethnic groups learned to love and laugh with each other in the wake of decades of animosity. The vibrant cast of characters features saints such as

Daring to Cross the Threshold

Daring to Cross the Threshold
Author: Kathy Warren OSF
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 152
Release: 2012-08-21
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1725231905

September 11, 2001, highlighted the urgent need for greater understanding among religious traditions. Specifically, the lack of acceptance and appreciation between Muslims and Christians was suddenly catapulted into headlines around the world. Now, in the aftermath of war in Iraq, the need for understanding and respect among religious traditions and various cultures becomes ever more important. It is my hope that this book might nurture that mutual respect that fosters peace and justice, for they are God's desire for us, and gifts that all races and religions seek.

Life of St. Francis of Assisi

Life of St. Francis of Assisi
Author: Paul Sabatier
Publisher: Binker North
Total Pages: 494
Release: 1894
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:

Francis of Assisi is pre-eminently the saint of the Middle Ages. Owing nothing to church or school he was truly theodidact, and if he perhaps did not perceive the revolutionary bearing of his preaching, he at least always refused to be ordained priest. He divined the superiority of the spiritual priesthood. Saint Francis of Assisi (Italian: San Francesco d'Assisi), born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, informally named as Francesco (1181/1182 - 3 October 1226), was an Italian Catholic friar, deacon and preacher. He founded the men's Order of Friars Minor, the women's Order of Saint Clare, the Third Order of Saint Francis and the Custody of the Holy Land. Francis is one of the most venerated religious figures in history. Pope Gregory IX canonized Francis on 16 July 1228. Along with Saint Catherine of Siena, he was designated Patron saint of Italy. He later became associated with patronage of animals and the natural environment, and it became customary for Catholic and Anglican churches to hold ceremonies blessing animals on his feast day of 4 October. He is often remembered as the patron saint of animals. In 1219, he went to Egypt in an attempt to convert the Sultan to put an end to the conflict of the Crusades.[6] By this point, the Franciscan Order had grown to such an extent that its primitive organizational structure was no longer sufficient. He returned to Italy to organize the Order. Once his community was authorized by the Pope, he withdrew increasingly from external affairs. Francis is also known for his love of the Eucharist.[7] In 1223, Francis arranged for the first Christmas live nativity scene.[8][9][2] According to Christian tradition, in 1224 he received the stigmata during the apparition of Seraphic angels in a religious ecstasy [10] making him the first recorded person in Christian history to bear the wounds of Christ's Passion.[11] He died during the evening hours of 3 October 1226, while listening to a reading he had requested of Psalm 142.

Fratelli Tutti

Fratelli Tutti
Author: Pope Francis
Publisher: Orbis Books
Total Pages: 123
Release: 2020-11-05
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1608338886

Francis of Assisi

Francis of Assisi
Author: Augustine Thompson
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 311
Release: 2012-03-21
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0801464269

Among the most beloved saints in the Catholic tradition, Francis of Assisi (c. 1181-1226) is popularly remembered for his dedication to poverty, his love of animals and nature, and his desire to follow perfectly the teachings and example of Christ. During his lifetime and after his death, followers collected, for their own purposes, numerous stories, anecdotes, and reports about Francis. As a result, the man himself and his own concerns became lost in legend. In this authoritative and engaging new biography, Augustine Thompson, O.P., sifts through the surviving evidence for the life of Francis using modern historical methods. The result is a complex yet sympathetic portrait of the man and the saint. Francis emerges from this account as very much a typical thirteenth-century Italian layman, but one who, when faced with unexpected crises in his personal life, made decisions so radical that they challenge his own society-and ours. Unlike the saint of legend, this Francis never had a unique divine inspiration to provide him with rules for following the teachings of Jesus. Rather, he spent his life reacting to unexpected challenges, before which he often found himself unprepared and uncertain. The Francis who emerges here is both more complex and more conflicted than that of older biographies. His famed devotion to poverty is found to be more nuanced than expected, perhaps not even his principal spiritual concern. Thompson revisits events small and large in Francis's life, including his troubled relations with his father, his contacts with Clare of Assisi, his encounter with the Muslim sultan, and his receiving the Stigmata, to uncover the man behind the legends and popular images. A tour de force of historical research and biographical writing, Francis of Assisi: A New Biography is divided into two complementary parts-a stand alone biographical narrative and a close, annotated examination of the historical sources about Francis. Taken together, the narrative and the survey of the sources provide a much-needed fresh perspective on this iconic figure. "As I have worked on this biography," Thompson writes, "my respect for Francis and his vision has increased, and I hope that this book will speak to modern people, believers and unbelievers alike, and that the Francis I have come to know will have something to say to them today."