Francis of Assisi: Writer and Spiritual Master

By Thaddée Matura

Book Overview

"Francis has left us a written message, one addressed to his contemporaries, to be sure, but also and very explicitly one addressed to men and women of every era. This message does not set forward his personal example Francis is not its center but its servant; what he does is simply to lay out a path for us, one sustained by the Gospel and available to all believers." From Part One

Francis of Assisi: Writer and Spiritual Master contains several literary genres (poetry, prayers and legislative texts) all of which were written by Saint Francis himself and an exploration and discussion of these texts by internationally renowned Franciscan scholar Thadd e Matura. Often overlooked, Francis writings bespeak a theology of tremendous spiritual vision.

So many study Francis life, legends and devotions, yet not until fairly recently have theologians begun to take seriously Francis simple, yet powerful words about God, the Trinity and the Christian journey. Unlike any other book on the saint from Assisi, this book brings Saint Francis writings to the forefront and shows how this simple and uneducated man, who possessed only a basic alphabetical knowledge, left behind a body of writing, including two brief handwritten texts on parchment.

As Thadd e Matura writes, Saint Francis was so convinced of the power of the word of God which he had received in faith and which had oriented his life. The necessity of transmitting this in writing for everyone and for all times was a mission for him. This book at hand wants to be at the service and as a prolongation of this mission.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0867166606
• ISBN13: 9780867166606
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Franciscan Media
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 0.29 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.1" x 7.2"

Customer Reviews

Brilliant clarity along with engaging warmth!

I am so deeply grateful to Thaddee Matura for the gift of his deeply insightful and yet accessible teachings in this treasure of a book. It seems just short of a miracle that he could summarizes the profound richest of the Franciscan spirituality in so few pages! I sure wish it had been written when I was writing my Masters thesis!

Original Writings of a Well Known Saint

The author, an eminent Franciscan scholar, bases this work on the 30 written pieces produced by Francis of Assisi, laying out a spiritual path developed for his contemporaries but equally valuable for present day Christians. Matura introduces Francis as a "true spiritual master of a special genre since he is a layperson without any school learning." We learn that the path Francis proposed is one of love and adoration of God, communion with the church, love and service to all, and radical poverty. Francis's writings feature both positive and negative views of the human condition. On one hand men and women called to divine communion are made up of beautiful bodies, intellectual capabilities, perceptiveness, power, and knowledge. On the darker side, Francis writes, "We can claim as our own only our vices and our sins." This book, while written in a clear style, is filled with complex ideas that an individual or group could explore in great depth. Reflection questions are included.