St. Francis of Assisi The purpose of this resear

The impetus toward a florilegium of St. Francis (1182-1226 A.D.), plainly a medieval Christian with an insular world view, if the appellation The Age of Belief is to be taken as an appropriate description of the period not only before the Reformation but also just before the reduction and codification of orthodox Catholic theology by Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), derives from the apparent philosophical anomaly between the persistent attractiveness of Francis to the popular mind amid the programmatic skepticism of the modern period that informs much of that mind. The simplicity of Francis's scheme of faith, both mystical and orthodox, and the survival of the Franciscan approach to Catholicism as a spiritual adumbration available despite the triumph of the orthodox canon in the institutional Church makes an exploration of Francis all the more a compelling subject for study. The resilience of Francis's peculiar brand of mysticism in a Church that by the end of the thirteenth century had become increasingly and militantly institutional has been noted in the past:

Two other great figures of the thirteenth ce

. . .
cessfully begged for a meal. His fellow friar, Masseo, is unimpressed with the meager rations and the absence of eating implements; Francis calls the meal a treasure of which they are unworthy. He explains, And this is that which I esteem great treasure, where there is nothing prepared by human industry; but that which there is, is prepared by the Divine Providence, as may be manifestly seen in the bread which we have begged, in this beautiful table of rock and in this clear spring. Wherefore I will that we pray God that He make us to love with our whole heart the so noble treasure of holy Poverty, which hath God to servitor. . . . Companion mine, let us go to St. Peter and St. Paul and pray them that they will teach us and aid us to possess the immeasurable treasure of most holy Poverty; for she is a treasure so surpassing and so Divine that we are not worthy to possess it in our most vile vessels; for this is the celestial virtue whereby all earthly things and transitory are trodden under foot and every barrier is removed which might hinder the soul from freely uniting itself to the eternal God (Flowers 39-41). Whereupon Francis levitates his traveling companion and has the gift of a visitation from Saints Peter and Paul, who
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Innocent III, St Francis, Jesus Christ, III East, Pietro Bernardoni, Prayer Peace, Amen O'Brien, Thomas Aquinas, Thee Englebert, Flowers God, st francis, thou art, francis assisi, prayer peace, st francis assisi, innocent iii, lord jesus, lord jesus christ, human experience, pope innocent, jesus christ, little flowers, pope innocent iii, exhort brothers lord, warn exhort brothers,
Approximate Word count = 3933
Approximate Pages = 16 (250 words per page)