The Franciscan Tradition


Book Description

Saint Francis of Assisi is one of the most beloved saints. His commitment to God's will, his yearning to embrace poverty, and his attentiveness to the Spirit's presence in his life continue to inspire Christians and non-Christians alike. The Franciscan Tradition highlights some of the most influential people in Franciscan history. Using the writings of men and women from the First, Second, and Third Orders, this volume shows the breadth and depth of the Franciscan way of life. Presented here are saints and martyrs, contemplatives and preachers, theologians and reformers. They heeded God's call, found hope in Francis' mission, and now provide wisdom for those who seek to follow God. Regis J. Armstrong, OFM Cap, is a world-renowned expert on Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Clare of Assisi. In addition to translating and editing Francis and Clare: The Complete Works and three editions of Clare of Assisi: Early Documents, he was editor-in-chief of the four-volumeFrancis of Assisi: Early Documents and has written St. Francis of Assisi: Writings for a Gospel Life, True Joy. Armstrong is The John C. and Gertrude P. Hubbard Professor of Religious Studies at the Catholic University of America. Ingrid J. Peterson, OSF, is an adjunct faculty member of the Franciscan Institute, Saint Bonaventure University, and has been an English professor at the College of Saint Teresa and Quincy University. She is a Sister of Saint Francis from Rochester, Minnesota. Peterson is the author of Clare of Assisi: A Biographical Study and coauthor of Praying With Clare of Assisi. In 2000 the Franciscan Institute awarded her the Franciscan medal for Outstanding Contribution to Scholarship in Franciscan Studies. She is the first woman to receive this honor.




The Spiritual Franciscans


Book Description

Winner of the 2002 John Gilmary Shea Prize and the 2002 Howard R. Marraro Prize of the American Catholic Historical Association. When Saint Francis of Assisi died in 1226, he left behind an order already struggling to maintain its identity. As the Church called upon Franciscans to be bishops, professors, and inquisitors, their style of life began to change. Some in the order lamented this change and insisted on observing the strict poverty practiced by Francis himself. Others were more open to compromise. Over time, this division evolved into a genuine rift, as those who argued for strict poverty were marginalized within the order. In this book, David Burr offers the first comprehensive history of the so-called Spiritual Franciscans, a protest movement within the Franciscan order. Burr shows that the movement existed more or less as a loyal opposition in the late thirteenth century, but by 1318 Pope John XXII and leaders of the order had combined to force it beyond the boundaries of legitimacy. At that point the loyal opposition turned into a heretical movement and recalcitrant friars were sent to the stake. Although much has been written about individual Spiritual Franciscan leaders, there has been no general history of the movement since 1932. Few people are equipped to tackle the voluminous documentary record and digest the sheer mass of research generated by Franciscan scholars in the last century. Burr, one of the world's leading authorities on the Franciscans, has given us a book that will define the field for years to come.







Franciscan Spirituality and Mission in New Spain, 1524-1599


Book Description

Franciscans in sixteenth-century New Spain were deeply ambivalent about their mission work. Fray Juan de Zumárraga, the first archbishop of Mexico, begged the king to find someone else to do his job so that he could go home. Fray Juan de Ribas, one of the original twelve 'apostles of Mexico' and a founding pillar of the church in New Spain, later fled with eleven other friars into the wilderness to escape the demands of building that church. Fray Jerónimo de Mendieta, having returned from an important preaching tour in New Spain, wrote to his superior that he did not want to enlist again, and that the only way he would return to the mission field was if God dragged him by the hair. This discontent was widespread, grew stronger with time, and carried important consequences for the friars' interactions with indigenous peoples, their Catholic co-laborers, and colonial society at large. This book examines that discontent and seeks to explain why the exhilaration of joining such a 'glorious' enterprise so often gave way to grinding discontent. The core argument is that, despite St. Francis's own longing to do mission work, his followers in New Spain found that effective evangelization in a frontier context was fundamentally incompatible with their core spirituality. Bringing together two streams of historiography that have rarely overlapped - spirituality and missions - this book marks a strong contribution to the history of spirituality in both Latin America and Europe, as well as to the growing fields of transatlantic and world history.




Franciscan Virtue


Book Description

Providing an in-depth analysis of the virtues of evangelical life according to three major Franciscan authors, this book is a valuable contribution to our understanding of how the virtues functioned as central, organizing elements in early Franciscan literature and instruction.




The Franciscan Heart of Thomas Merton


Book Description

Daniel Horan, O.F.M., popular author of Dating God and other books on Franciscan themes—and expert on the spirituality of Thomas Merton—masterfully presents the untold story of how the most popular saint in Christian history inspired the most popular spiritual writer of the twentieth century, and how together they can inspire a new generation of Christians. Millions of Christians and non-Christians look to Thomas Merton for spiritual wisdom and guidance, but to whom did Merton look? In The Franciscan Heart of Thomas Merton, Franciscan friar and author Daniel Horan shows how, both before and after he became a Trappist monk, Merton’s life was shaped by his love for St. Francis and for the Franciscan spiritual and intellectual tradition. Given recent renewed interest in St. Francis, this timely resource is both informative and practical, revealing a previously hidden side of Merton that will inspire a new generation of Christians to live richer, deeper, and more justice-minded lives of faith.




A History of the Church in England


Book Description

This authoritative account of the Church in England covers its history from earliest times to the late twentieth century. Includes chapters on the Roman, Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, Norman, and Medieval periods before a description of the Reformation and its effects, the Stuart period, and the Industrial Age, with a final chapter on the modern church through 1972.