To Learn More about the Franciscan Movement
by Susan Pitchford
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On Francis of Assisi
There are hundreds of books about Francis; here are a few:
Augustine Thompson, OP: Francis of Assisi: The Life (an excellent, nuanced biography of Francis and the Franciscan movement)
Murray Bodo Francis: The Journey and the Dream; also Tales of St. Francis: Ancient Stories for Contemporary Times (information & meditations on the life of Francis)
G.K. Chesterton: Saint Francis of Assisi (charming and classic biography)
Donald Spoto: Reluctant Saint: The Life of Francis of Assisi (if you like your biographies without halos)
Little Flowers of Francis of Assisi (if you like the halos left in – a collection of legends of Francis & his followers, compiled in the century after Francis’ death)
On Clare of Assisi
Carol Lee Flinders: Enduring Grace: Living Portraits of Seven Women Mystics (Only one chapter on Clare, but it’s worth the price of the book. An excellent bio, and the other six are well worth reading about anyway.)
Claire Marie Ledoux: Clare of Assisi: Her Spirituality Revealed in Her Letters (a bio plus analysis of Clare’s thought based on the four extant letters to Agnes of Prague)
Franciscan Spirituality for the Rest of Us
Ilia Delio, OSF: Clare of Assisi: A Heart Full of Love (a beautiful introduction to the spirituality of Clare)
Marie Dennis, Joseph Nangle, Cynthia Moe-Lobeda & Stuart Taylor (eds.): St. Francis and the Foolishness of God
William Short: Poverty and Joy: The Franciscan Tradition
John Michael Talbot (with Steve Rabey): The Lessons of St. Francis: How to Bring Simplicity and Spirituality into Your Daily Life
Ilia Delio, OSF: Franciscan Prayer (an excellent look at important Franciscan themes)
Susan Pitchford: Following Francis: The Franciscan Way for Everyone
Video Resources
There are some truly terrible films about Francis (Zeffirelli’s Brother Sun, Sister Moon comes to mind). But two good ones are Reluctant Saint, based on the Spoto bio (above), and The Sultan and the Saint, which looks at Francis’ journey to Egypt during the Fifth Crusade.
“Life of St. Clare” is a nice introduction to Clare, made by St. Clare’s Episcopal Church.
On Developing a Rule of Life
Margaret Guenther: At Home in the World (an excellent introduction to having a personal rule)
The Society of St. John the Evangelist has a lot of resources, both text and video, for creating a rule of life. Start here or here:
Franciscan Community
The Third Order, Society of St. Francis is an Anglican/Episcopalian order for those in any state of life (married, single, lay, ordained) who wish to follow the way of St. Francis while remaining in their families, jobs, etc. Lutherans, being in communion with The Episcopal Church, are also welcome! Find information here.
There is also an Order of Lutheran Franciscans
And there’s an Order of Ecumenical Franciscans.
Peace and all good!