To Live as Francis Lived

To Live as Francis Lived
Author: Leonard Foley
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2000
Genre: Spiritual formation
ISBN: 9780867163964

Whether you are a professed Franciscan of many years or someone just beginning to seek a spiritual understanding of Francis and Clare of Assisi, To Live as Francis Lived will lead you to a closer life with Jesus Christ. Through a process of prayer, reflection, study texts, questions and connections to Scripture, you will be formed in the Franciscan way of life as Francis lived it in his own time.

Franciscan Virtues Through the Year

Franciscan Virtues Through the Year
Author: Confraternity of Penitents
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2016-04-02
Genre: Theological virtues
ISBN: 9781530146970

Conform your life to the teachings of Jesus by living the virtues taught by Christ and especially embraced by Saint Francis of Assisi. Franciscan Virtues Through the Year: 52 Steps to Conversion from Saint Francis of Assisi explores each virtue with a quote from Scripture, a quote from the writings of Saint Francis, and an incident from the life of Saint Francis. There follows a reflection on the virtue, then meditation and prayer on the virtue, and some delving back into Scripture regarding it. Each virtue calls for reflection on the virtue and practice of it for an entire week. If the reflections and practice are done weekly as suggested, the reader will be spiritually more in tune with God's ways at the end of reading the book than at the beginning. The book is designed to make one aware of the virtues which St. Francis especially loved and to help the reader implement those virtues in his or her life. The virtues discussed are: 1. Attentiveness 2. Confession 3. Courage 4. Courtesy 5. Detachment 6. Discernment 7. Eagerness 8. Empathy 9. Encouragement 10. Eucharistic Reverence 11. Evangelization 12. Example 13. Faith 14. Fraternity 15. Generosity 16. Gratitude 17. Honesty 18. Hope 19. Humility 20. Imitation of Jesus 21. Joy 22. Justice 23. Love of Enemy 24. Love of God 25. Love of Neighbor 26. Love of Self 27. Loyalty to Church 28. Marian Devotion 29. Minority 30. Obedience 31. Pardon 32. Patience 33. Peace 34. Perseverance 35. Poverty 36. Praise 37. Prayer 38. Presence 39. Purity 40. Respect for Creation 41. Sacrifice 42. Self- knowledge 43. Service 44. Silence 45. Simplicity 46. Surrender 47. Trust 48. Vigilance 49. Vulnerability 50. Wisdom 51. Witness 52. Work This book is an excellent formation book for Franciscan friars, nuns, sisters, and laity. The 52 week format can be adapted as the Order wishes. Few books are guaranteed to change a person's spiritual life if the pattern of study in the book is followed. This book will definitely make the reader into a stronger follower of Christ, through the example and teachings of Saint Francis. May God bless you through Saint Francis as you read through, meditate on, and put into practice the Franciscan Virtues!

A Companion to Medieval Rules and Customaries

A Companion to Medieval Rules and Customaries
Author: Krijn Pansters
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 450
Release: 2020-06-08
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004431543

A Companion to Medieval Rules and Customaries offers an introduction to the rules and customaries of the main religious orders in medieval Europe: Benedictine, Cistercian, Carthusian, Augustinian, Premonstratensian, Templar, Hospitaller, Teutonic, Dominican, Franciscan, and Carmelite. As well as introducing the early history and spirituality of the orders, scholars survey the central topics – organization, doctrine, morality, liturgy, and culture, as documented by these primary sources. Contributors are: James Clark, Tom Gaens, Jean-François Godet-Calogeras, Holly Grieco, Emilia Jamroziak, Gert Melville, Stephen Molvarec, Carol Neel, Krijn Pansters, Matthew Ponesse, Bert Roest, Kristjan Toomaspoeg, Paul van Geest, Ursula Vones-Liebenstein, and Coralie Zermatten.

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 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

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.

Praying the Secular Franciscan Rule

Praying the Secular Franciscan Rule
Author: Luke Amato
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 94
Release: 2017-11-27
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781387034284

This book is for all those attracted to the way St. Francis & St. Clare of Assisi followed Jesus. All of us are called to make the Gospel an integral part of our lives, going from Gospel to Life and from Life to Gospel. Our Rule incorporates the very essence of the Gospel itself. We were taught to EVERY DAY READ the Bible, especially the Gospel, plus one paragraph from our Holy Rule. But deep commitment does not occur by a mere cursory reading of the Gospels or Rule. But here is a 2,000 year old way to truly pray Scripture and our Holy Rule; it's called "Lectio Divina,." aptly described as "Prayerful Reading." The four steps are simply: Read, Reflect, Respond, and Receive/Resolve. Our St. Bonaventure, O.F.M., has taken the second step much deeper by asking us to REFLECT first on the literal meaning and then the 3 spiritual meanings as they affect our faith, morals, & eternal destiny.

Journey Into God

Journey Into God
Author: Saint Bonaventure (Cardinal)
Publisher: Tau Publishing
Total Pages: 128
Release: 2012-07-01
Genre: Mysticism
ISBN: 9781619561533

Journey into God by St. Bonaventure, Itinerarium Mentis in Deum,Translated by Josef Raischl OFS & André Cirino OFMFinally, a translation of Bonaventure's most popular work that is conducive for personal prayer and for actually embarking on the journey into God! While remaining faithful to the original work, the translators allow the Seraphic Doctor's spirit to come alive for the modern reader in a way that has not been done before in the English-speaking world.Richard Martignetti OFM, STD Immaculate Conception Province, New York Josef Raischl and André Cirino's translation of the Journey into God is a gift. It puts St. Bonaventure's Itinerarium Mentis in Deum in the hands of lay people who might otherwise find the text complicated and difficult to comprehend. It reads like poetry, yet does not dilute the meaning; rather, it enhances it. This is a valuable tool for ongoing formation for Secular Franciscans everywhere.Toni Maconi OFS, Little Portion Secular Franciscan Fraternity, New York