The Little Flowers Of St Francis

This collection of folk tales, legends, and narratives about the life of Francis of Assisi and his followers appeared about seventy-five years after the saint’s death, in the early fourteenth century. The writings have remained popular ever since due to their beauty and charm, and because they are the nearest thing to a biography of Francis that exists. They are the source of many of the most famous stories about Francis—including the accounts of his preaching to the birds and of his receiving of the stigmata—and they are based on stories that circulated about him in the years after his death. Robert Hopcke and Paul Schwartz provide the first truly new translation of the Fioretti in forty years, and in doing so they bring the spiritual classic up to date, using contemporary language to show Francis to be a living, breathing human being who walked the streets of Assisi in a state of spiritual, physical, and social enlightenment, through his own existence making Christ real in the world. The translators have also edited the work to present the stories that most powerfully present Francis’s spirit and teaching.

These stories of St. Francis and his first followers have inspired millions of people over the centuries. Since they were first committed to paper, they have motivated people to become better followers of Jesus (not St. Francis). For that reason, they have endured unlike any other early Franciscan literature. Many of the stories are known to us from other biographical sources, but in some cases, here they are expanded or made more florid. This edition of The Little Flowers is unique in its physical beauty as well as its editorial arrangement. For the first time, the stories have been arranged in the most likely chronological ordering of when they happened - rather than following the traditional ordering of them handed down for centuries. As a result, today's reader is now able to read The Little Flowers as a biograpical narrative of the life of St. Francis and the world-transforming movement that he founded.

Here is a book that generation after generation has taken to its heart, for it lives and breathes the spirit of St. Francis as no other book has ever done. It is irresistible. The warmth of Franciscan love and joy radiates from every page. The best-loved stories of the Poverello and his followers are all here: Francis's sermon to the birds... the Stigmata... the wolf of Gubbio... the preaching of St. Anthony... the soaring "Canticle of Brother Sun"... the lives and sayings of Brother Juniper and Brother Giles. This edition -- the only complete version -- has been translated into modern English by Raphael Brown, the well-known Franciscan scholar whose own deep feeling for St. Francis has helped him capture the spirit and flavor that gives these writings their indescribable charm. Truly universal is the appeal of this book, extending to people of all faiths and of every intellectual level. It is wise, very funny, rich in human wisdom, inspiring. Above all, it is a love story... the story of how the Little Poor Man taught the world about the love of Christ, and how this love can be lived and enjoyed by everyone.

"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, lively book, St. Francis's followers preserved his legend and those of his first disciples, combining stories of miracles with convincing -- and often slyly humourous -- portraits of men who were no less human for having been touched by God." [Back cover].

Saint Francis is considered the first Italian poet by some literary critics. He believed commoners should be able to pray to God in their own language, and he often wrote in the dialect of Umbria instead of Latin. Francis' writing fully reflects his personality and spirituality, making them at once formidably mystic and exquisitely human. They combine great elevation of thought with much picturesqueness of expression. Through his prayers, correspondence and regulas readers will connect and unite with one of the most beloved saints of the Catholic Church.