Reluctant saint : the life of Francis of Assisi / Donald Spoto.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Spoto, Donald, 1941-2023.

Contributor:

Gotham Book Mart Collection (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Francis, of Assisi, Saint, 1182-1226.

Francis.

Christian saints--Italy--Assisi--Biography.

Christian saints.

Italy--Assisi.

Genre:

Biographies.

People.

Penn Provenance:

Gotham Book Mart (former owner) (Gotham Book Mart Collection copy)

Physical Description:

xix, 256 pages ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Penguin Compass, 2003.

Summary:

In Reluctant saint, Donald Spoto shows us a Saint Francis who transcends the image of Francis familiar to even the least religious among us. Spoto's unprecedented access to unexplored archives and the saint's own unpublished letters help reveal how Francis pioneered an entirely new historical movement, one that eventually slipped from his grasp. Spoto highlights Francis's position within the ecclesiastical, political, and social forces of medieval Italy in all its violence, color, and mystery. It was a time of crisis with a craving for reform and for a deeper, simpler, more personal faith--yet concern for the common good, and for the poor and sick, was virtually unknown. A key part of the revolution Francis brought about was his insistence that such concern lay at the heart of the Gospel. Reluctant saint portrays a life that has captured the hearts and minds of millions over the centuries.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 243-247) and index.

ISBN:

0142196258

9780142196250

OCLC:

53472458