Audiobook

Flowers from the Garden of Saint Francis for Every Day of the Year

Saint Francis of Assisi

This is a collection of 365 moral admonitions of Saint Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) and other notable Franciscans. The compiler of this anthology suggests that Francis "was inspired by God, six hundred years ago, to rekindle in His Church the spirit of humility, simplicity, poverty, detachment from the world, and ardent love of our crucified Redeemer." Indeed, these admonitions manifest a great concern for the cultivation of personal humility, meekness, chastity, and sorrow for sin. The admonitions you find here are directed primarily to Franciscan friars and cloistered nuns, as seen, for example, in the exhortations to friars and nuns to obey the religious superiors who oversee their friaries and convents. Yet, this lofty spiritual wisdom and rigorous discipline has been adapted in numerous ways over the centuries to meet the spiritual needs of secular clergy and laypersons, to guide them safely through this life to the next, to enable them to enjoy a deeper personal relationship with our Creator, and to cultivate in them a greater respect for His beloved creatures. Consequently, Franciscanism has found a home not only within the cloister but without its towering walls, and not only among Christians of all denominations but also among non-Christians and even non-believers. Its universal appeal is epitomized, perhaps, in that benevolent old Franciscan greeting "Pax et bonum!"—"Peace and all good be with you!"—which is still used in our time in a world broadly diverse in creed and culture. (Summary by dave7)