Customer Reviews

St. Francis of Assisi: A Biography

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Omer Englebert is one of few contemporary biographers of Francis of Assisi whose presentation is neither excessively romantic nor squeezed desperately into a late 20th century mould (of pure social justice and ecology). His treatment of Francis's life is accurate and balanced, often warm and humourous, and he presents a clear picture of the social, religious and political conditions of Francis's time and place. This is the best recent biography of Francis which I have seen - highly recommended.

Englebert's classic biography is not a fictionalized version of the little saint's life, but a good, historically accurate portrait. This is one of the outstanding Francis biographies of the past century, placing the little saint's life in historical and socio-political context as few of his biographers have done. The writing may sometimes seem a little dry, but the content is full of life.
I served as provincial formation director for the Anglican Third Order Franciscans in the American Province and this is a book I put on the reading list for all novices. Now I'm formation director for my SFO fraternity (Catholic secular Franciscans) and I use it in our initial formation classes and also highly recommend it all.
Besides, who could resist a name like Omer Englebert?
Pax et bonum!

The author not only provides a spiritual insight into St. Francis' life but also details the many historical facts of his life. The book also has an excellent index for researching facts about St. Francis. Our Secular Franciscan Fraternity distributes this book to people inquiring into the Secular Franciscan Order

This book, originally written in French, removes the many layers of dirt and varnish that have obscured this man. The author paints a very realistic view of this humble monk with humorous vignettes of his fellow disciples. The mystical aspect of Francesco's, overly romanticized life, is put into proper perspective. It is a very refreshing look at a humble servant of God.

I am a Secular Franciscan and a member of the formation team for our fraternity. St. Francis of Assisi by Omer Englebert is the book we use in our formation program . If someone were to tell me that they would only read one biography of Francis in their lifetime I would recommend this book as the one to read. This biography gives an accurate picture of the social, religious and political conditions Francis and the early friars faced. This is definitely a book that will have the Christian reader taking a spiritual inventory. The first 30 or so pages are a little slow paced in my opinion but after that it is excellent.

Because the story of the life of St. Francis of Assisi is nearly 800 years old, it is difficult to have a completely accurate story. While the omissions are objectionable to some reviewers, I believe the bulk of St. Francis's story is recorded in this biography.

The early chapters of the book nearly made me lose interest in the book. While the content of the St. Francis's early life is slight, the presentation makes it difficult to read. The author chose to cut and paste from other sources which gives the feel of reading an owner's manual to a blender. It has a very impersonal touch. Shortly after the conversion of St. Francis, the story picks up. While the content is reasonably strong, the author continues to cut and paste from other sources with little transition. To make matters worse, the author has problems with pronoun placement and agreement because of his pasting.

In reality, nobody reads this book for a grammar lesson. The content of the story gives a strong model for Christian life. St. Francis adopted a life of poverty and founded the Franciscan order which is still strong today. In spreading the Good News, he endured persecution from Muslims and others who thought he was a heretic. St. Francis received little appreciation during his time. The relationship he developed with God caused him to develop the stigmata and become one of the most noted Christian saints. His story is still a shining example to all Christians.

St. Francis of Assisi is one of those legendary characters whose life story is difficult to pin down and present to modern readers. Author Omer Englebert has mastered that task in this splendid biography.

Beginning with a background on Francis' world, Englebert tells the story of his conversion, not from one religion to another but from a life of pleasure to one of spirituality, mysticism, and self-sacrifice. On the pages of this book we read of Francis' families, first biological and later religious, and his devotions to the Holy Eucharist, his Savior and the Church. The miracles, the legends and documentable facts are all presented for what they are. The reader comes to appreciate Francis' compelling sanctity, his simplicity and his love for all creatures. His patronage of environmentalists is derived from his sermon to the birds, his conversion of the Wolf of Gubbio and the recognition that all share a brotherhood derived from our status as creatures of God. The clash between Francis' humility and the desires of his followers to study and learn that they might better serve is skillfully related in the later chapters of this book.

Some other biographies of St. Francis are almost fairy tales in their telling. Engelbert has done an excellent job of weaving the diverse sources of information into a work both biographical and inspirational. Of all my reading about St. Francis, this was the most interesting and informative. Among writings about saints in general, it ranks in the first tier.

Recently, a Vatican dignitary--speaking of the woes that currently beset the Roman Catholic Church--noted that at an even worse time, when the Church was mired in listlessness and corruption from the Papacy downward; "It was then that Francis Bernadone first kissed the lips of a leper". Indeed, it was Francis' example of courtesy, gentleness, humility, and transparent goodness that shamed others, and was the occasion for widespread reform and renewal in the Church.

In spite of all this, Saint Francis was not, at first, received with open arms. It took a great deal of pleading by him and others to finally persuade the hierarchy of his bona fides, and to gain permission to start his order. To some extent, this was due to the Vatican's inveterate suspicion of anything not already firmly under authoritarian control (a malady that has persisted into the present); but in part, it was well-founded caution towards those bearing sacral oddities.

As the Franciscan order grew far beyond Francis' original band of brothers at Portinicula, he had to contend with a seemingly endless number of disputes and practical questions--e.g., how could an order whose members embraced what Francis dubbed "Lady Poverty" own property such as schools for the instruction of the laity? It is scarcely facetious to say that these struggles, recorded by Father Englebert, would have tried the patience of a saint. Francis, however, seems never to have lost his patience with anyone, no matter how sorely tried or ill-used he was.

Anyone familiar with Father Englebert's other writings, such as "The Lives of the Saints" will understand that he is almost unique among (relatively) contemporary religious writers in his ability to engage emotions and intellect simultaneously. This biography is regarded by scholars as perhaps the only modern one to equal Paul Sabatier's "Life of St. Francis of Assisi". M. Sabatier's book is much more of a scholarly work, however. That is to say, Father Englebert's book is probably the better one for the general reader who would simply like a relatively brief introduction to the saint's life, with a minimum of analysis, comment, and apparatus. For what it is worth, this reviewer believes that the author steers a wise middle course between credulity and unduly reductive (and restrictive) skepticism. Many of the charming vignettes from "The Little Flowers of Saint Francis" that some of us first heard or read in childhood are included here, but Father Englebert does not write for children. He differentiates between well-attested incidents, and what is probably hagiography. If one does not believe in the possibility of the miraculous, then this distinction is moot. Nor does Father Englebert omit Francis' self-imposed austerities, his mysterious physical ailments and sufferings, or his mystical states; all so out of keeping with the modern temper.

Such a book as this is a necessary reminder, especially these days, that it is possible to be a deeply committed Christian without being a churl, a fanatic, or a hypocrite. Turning from this book to the present day, one can only ask (in the words of a poet): "Whence shall come another?"

I don't want to get into arguments about which (who?) is the greatest saint. Certainly there may be those who opt for Francis "the little poor man," and equally as certainly anyone interested will learn from this book that Francis was a great saint. Francis was loving, kind, tough and holy. Francis called himself (in the book) the greatest or maybe worst sinner, which he certainly was not. Englebert takes us from Francis's early fantasies about become a knight and growing -- with knightly honor -- into one of the greatest of the saints. Starting out on his own, eventually gathering a small band of followers be began perhaps best known of all religious communities, eventually sending missionary brothers to many nations. By choice he lived in poverty, but through this excellent biography, leaves us (readers) greatly enriched.

It is with fear and trembling that I attempt this review. I dearly love St. Francis. My favorite movie is of his life, Brother Sun Sister Moon. Much of what my family and people group did and lived was based on his life. But I found this, supposedly the definitive biography of Francis, a rather unhelpful work.

Englebert does give a lot of details into Francis' life- and give a much more accurate picture of him than the movie. I came to understand more for the first time how all the events and random stories I had hear fit together. I found, again, Francis to be inspiring in his example, encouraging me into Holy Sister Poverty, and pursuing humility, and serving others. I especially enjoyed his search for Joy. This was not an attempt to reach poverty out of duty, or even simply social justice- good desires in themselves. Rather, it was for perhaps the highest of motives- to know the Joy of Christ, to be in love with Him, to be served by Him. And Francis found, realized, that this could be found most fully in Poverty.

But perhaps it is Englebert's approach which somewhat spoils the reading. He writes about Francis as if Francis were a saint- which of course he is, in both the Catholic and Protestant senses. But he seems to take everything that is believed about Francis- everything that the Roman Church says is true, and simply accept it, without winnowing out the legends. Englebert *is* stating at times that some stories have less authenticity than others. But even with this caveat, much of what he shares seems to be swallowed wholesale without reservation. I don't refer to the miraculous or the stigmata of course- there is every reason to believe that such events happened through Francis. But rather, the tone of the miraculous, and other stories, is of an other-worldly man, almost docetic. This leads to acceptance of everything Francis taught and did as righteous.

But I found that, with this approach, as I read a 20th century biography of a 13th century man through 21st century eyes, I was less inclined than previously to see all that Francis did as morally upright. Certainly Francis' intentions were pure. But I found Englebert's uncompromising support of Francis encouraged me to question some of Francis' practices as actually all that helpful- such as a continual debasement of himself, without seeing more of the God in himself. Or love of fire, which compromised some of his concern for the environment. Or pursuing poverty to such an extent that he couldn't abound in some gifts that came his way- as both Paul and Jesus were willing to do, when the sat down at rich men's houses. None of this detracts from the holiness of Francis. Some of his beliefs were right for his time, and historical anachronism should not be practiced and it be expected that he know certain things back in the 13th century. He was, I still believe, the person most close to Christ since Christ. But he was also not Christ.

All this I see more clearly because of Englebert's approach, canonizing a person who was an exceedingly exceptional man, but still a man. And I really believe that Francis would have really not liked such a description of himself. He would have preferred something honest, something authentic, and something quite normal, ordinary, and humble. I'm still looking for an biography of this saint that would be something like that.