Little Flowers of Francis of Assisi A New Translation

by Hopcke, Robert H.; Schwartz, Paul

• ISBN13: 9781590303757
• ISBN10: 159030375X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-12-12
• Publisher: New Seeds

Summary

This collection of folk tales, legends, and narratives about the life of Francis of Assisi and his followers appeared about seventy-five years after the saint's death, in the early fourteenth century. The writings have remained popular ever since due to their beauty and charm, and because they are the nearest thing to a biography of Francis that exists. They are the source of many of the most famous stories about Francisincluding the accounts of his preaching to the birds and of his receiving of the stigmataand they are based on stories that circulated about him in the years after his death. Robert Hopcke and Paul Schwartz provide the first truly new translation of the Fioretti in forty years, and in doing so they bring the spiritual classic up to date, using contemporary language to show Francis to be a living, breathing human being who walked the streets of Assisi in a state of spiritual, physical, and social enlightenment, through his own existence making Christ real in the world. The translators have also edited the work to present the stories that most powerfully present Francis's spirit and teaching.

Author Biography

Robert H. Hopcke is a licensed marriage and family therapist with degrees in both pastoral and clinical counseling. He is the author of numerous books, including There Are No Accidents and Living the Mysteries: The Spiritual Power of the Rosary in the Lives of Contemporary People.

Paul A. Schwartz holds a doctorate in theology from the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California, where he was Project Director of the Center for the Study of New Religious Movements. He has served on the faculty of San Francisco State University and of the California Institute of Integral Studies.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xi
Introduction	xiii
In the name of our crucified Lord Jesus Christ and his virgin mother Mary. This book is a collection of little flowers, that is, miracles and examples of devotion given to us by Saint Francis, glorious in his poverty, and by certain of his holy companions. May Jesus Christ be praised. Amen	1	(2)
Of Brother Bernardo of Quintavalle, Saint Francis's first companion	3	(5)
How Saint Francis, having had evil thoughts against Brother Bernardo, ordered Bernardo to place his foot against his throat and mouth three times	8	(4)
How an angel of the Lord put a question to Brother Elias, guardian of a community house in the valley of Spoleto, who responded with arrogance and pride; and how Brother Bernardo encountered the same angel as he returned from San Giacomo	12	(7)
How Brother Bernardo of Assisi was sent by Saint Francis to Bologna to found a community there	19	(4)
How Saint Francis, while dying, blessed holy Brother Bernardo and named him Vicar of the Order	23	(4)
Saint Francis observes Lent on an island in the Lake of Perugia, fasting forty days and forty nights, eating nothing but a bit of bread	27	(3)
How, on the road with Brother Leo, Saint Francis taught him concerning the things that make for perfect joy	30	(4)
How Saint Francis tried to teach Brother Leo to speak to him, without success	34	(4)
How Saint Francis made Brother Masseo twirl around and then sent him to Siena	38	(4)
How Saint Francis and Brother Masseo placed the bread that they had begged on a rock near a fountain, and Saint Francis praised the virtue of poverty. Then, Saint Francis prayed to Saint Peter and Saint Paul to intercede for him with the Lord to inspire him with a deep love for poverty, and there appeared to him Saint Peter and Saint Paul	42	(5)
How God appeared to Saint Francis and his brothers while they were speaking with him in prayer	47	(2)
Saint Clare comes to dine with Saint Francis and his companions at Santa Maria degli Angeli	49	(4)
How Saint Francis was counseled by Saint Clare and Brother Silvester that he should go and preach so as to convert many people, founding the Third Order but also preaching to the birds and making the swallows fall silent in wonder	53	(6)
A small boy who entered the Order sees Saint Francis praying by night and conversing with Christ, the Virgin Mary, and many other saints	59	(3)
How the vine at the house of the priest of Rieti was trodden underfoot by the crowds of people who came to see Saint Francis while he prayed there, and yet, how miraculously it produced more wine than ever that year, just as Saint Francis had promised. And how God revealed to Saint Francis that he would enjoy paradise in his turn	62	(4)
One of Saint Francis's holiest of miracles, taming the fierce wolf of Gubbio	66	(5)
How Saint Francis tamed wild turtledoves	71	(2)
Saint Francis converted the sultan of Babylon and the prostitute who tempted him to sin	73	(4)
How Saint Francis miraculously healed a leper, body and soul, and what the leper's soul said to him on his way to heaven	77	(4)
How Saint Francis converted three murderous thieves and made them friars; and the most exalted vision given to one of them, who was a very saintly friar	81	(10)
How the Evil One, many times in the form of the Crucified Christ, appeared to Brother Ruffino, telling him that all the good he had done was for naught, since he was not among those chosen for eternal life, but how Saint Francis, by way of revelation, came to know this and showed Brother Ruffino how it was not true and that he had been mistaken in believing it	91	(5)
The beautiful sermon Saint Francis and Brother Ruffino preached in the nude	96	(3)
How Saint Clare, as commanded by the Pope, blessed the bread before her on the table, and how the sign of the Cross appeared on every loaf	99	(2)
How Saint Clare, while ailing, was miraculously brought on Christmas Eve to the church of Saint Francis, where she prayed	101	(2)
How Saint Francis explained to Brother Leo the meaning of a vision he had seen	103	(2)
Reflections on the Stigmata	105	(54)
Appendix: Chapter Numbering of the Fioretti	159