TY  - BOOK
AU  - Spoto,Donald
TI  - Reluctant saint: the life of Francis of Assisi 
SN  - 0670031283 (alk. paper)
AV  - BX4700.F6 S6555 2002
U1  - 271/.302B 21
PY  - 2002///
CY  - New York
PB  - Viking Compass
KW  - Francis,
KW  - Christian saints
KW  - Italy
KW  - Assisi
KW  - Biography
N1  - Includes bibliographical references (p. [243]-247) and index
N2  - 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 Spoto's unprecedented access to unexplored archives and the saint's own unpublished letters help reveal how Francis pioneered an entirely new historical movement, one that eventually slipped from his grasp.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
ER  -