St. Francis

Guide Rating -

Novelist Valerie Martin describes the life of St. Francis of Assisi by using short, vivid scenes rather than traditional narration. Martin, who is not Catholic, not particularly religious, and not a believer in miracles tells an interesting story with real ramifications for Christianity - just as did the life of St. Francis himself.

Why is this book interesting, especially for nonbelievers and skeptics? In the first place, the vividness of the descriptions provides an engaging and fascinating look at medieval existence: Martin is deliberately imitating the style of medieval frescos of St. Francis's life, using short, colorful accounts to tell the story. Anyone interested in history, medieval history, and medieval Christianity will at times feel almost as if they are right there, in the picture.

In the second place, the stories in the book keep returning to one concept which receives little attention today: the power, spirituality and value of poverty. St. Francis abandoned a prosperous family to become poor, literally ripping off his clothing in the town square, giving it all to his father, and then giving himself over to the church and the charity of his neighbors.

Nevertheless, he by no means created the medieval "poverty movement," but merely participated in an already developing tradition. Throughout the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, groups like the Cathars, the Waldensians and others dedicated themselves to the value of poverty. They also dedicated themselves to a variety of heretical ideas, which resulted in them being destroyed by the Catholic Church.

St. Francis, however, placed as much emphasis on respecting church authority as on being poor; this created contradictions, but also kept him out of trouble. He mandated that all who followed his lead were to own nothing but their habit, breeches, and a single cord. His austerity, and that of similar movements, was probably a reaction to the growing wealth and flamboyance of the medieval Church.

There was, however, another factor which most people - even those in the Church - have lost sight of: the belief that there is a fundamental connection between the spiritual and material worlds. In the medieval world, it was obvious that a person could not focus on both equally; thus the more rooted in one a person became, the more they lost in the other.

The conclusion, for people like St. Francis, was to deny themselves as much as possible in this material life in order to gain more in their spiritual lives. By embracing poverty and deprivation, they hoped to achieve supernatural favor and spiritual contentment. St. Francis even had to be argued into taking basic care of his body when sick or injured, so focused was he on rejecting what this life had to offer.

This has been replaced slowly over the years with the contrary idea that material progress and spiritual progress can go hand-in-hand. Calvinism, for example, declared that material success was a direct sign of spiritual success. Whereas Francis made a deliberate attempt to imitate the poverty of Jesus and his disciples, few Christians today practice an even remotely similar austerity in their lives. His philosophy might be summarized with this quote:

"If we owned anything, we should have to have weapons to protect ourselves. That is what gives rise to contentions and lawsuits, and so often causes the love of God and neighbor to be interfered with. For ourselves, we are resolved to possess nothing temporal in this world." St. Francis of Assisi, Legend of the Three Companions

How many Christians follow this philosophy? Almost none, today - and very few throughout the history of Christianity. It is worth wondering why, and whether or not Christianity and Christians would be better off if they did so. It is certainly more consistent with the teachings attributed to Jesus and with the life he would have lived. People who emulate Jesus cannot live in large houses and drive expensive automobiles.

Nietzsche said that the last Christian died on the Cross; but the life of St. Francis shows that that may not have been entirely correct. Anyone wishing to read about how living Christian ideals contrasts with how Christians today really live will find Martin's book very illuminating.