We live in
an age of the 24-hour news cycle, and most of that news always seems to be bad.
Earthquakes, hurricanes, shootings, crime, terrorist attacks – it’s all bad
news. Even on a more personal level – a relationship gone bad or ended,
frustration with a job, unhappiness with one’s church or form of church worship
– our lives seemed filled with the negative.
It’s not
surprising that we look to different times, different eras, for understanding
and encouragement. Returning to the example of the early church and often the
medieval church is a recurrent theme in Christian history. And one figure in
church history who offers radical simplicity, encouragement, and understanding
is St. Francis of Assisi (1181 or 1182 – 1226). Two recent
books demonstrate the enduring appeal of St. Francis and how his life, works,
and words still apply today.
Just like
St. Francis, you can be a fool, too, suggests Jon
Sweeney in The
St. Francis Holy Fool Prayer Book.
And what he means by “fool” isn’t necessarily the contemporary definition. The
“holy fool” is the one who tries to live our his or her life according to the
Beatitudes, Sweeney says. Jesus was such a fool; so was St. Paul. And so was
St. Francis.
Sweeney,
an independent scholar and writer of some 25 books (many of them about St.
Francis), offers a prayerful approach to the saint in this latest work. He
provides an overview of how fools might pray, and then a guide for prayer – “at
least for a week.” The prayers are organized into the same sequence for each
day: preparation, the Word of God, silence, song of my soul, a reading from the
prophets, a New Testament reading, silence, an early Franciscan saying, and
finally a spiritual practice. The sequence stands as a spiritual practice
itself, and Sweeney provides a theme for each day as well.
It’s a
simple approach, but it’s backed by extensive St. Francis and Biblical
scholarship. Sweeney knows his saint, and that knowledge permeates the book. I
love the simplicity and the routine he provides in this guide, and what I mean
by routine isn’t “routine” – trying preaching to the birds as a spiritual
practice.
A second
recent book on St. Francis is actually a reprinting with wonderful new
illustrations of The
Canticle of the Creatures for Saint Francis of Assisi by Luigi Santucci (1918-1999).
Santucci, an Italian writer, poet, novelist, and comedian, first published this
small book in 1981. In fact, he was one of the most important Italian writers
of the 20th century, and had been an active participant in the
Resistance against the Fascists during World War II. His list of writings –
poetry, fiction, scripts, and works of faith – is extensive.
The
Canticle of the Creatures allows the birds and animals known to St. Francis to
speak for themselves – about their lives, the saint, and what they learned from
him. In short, mostly one- or two-page entries, we hear from the nightingale,
the swallows, the falcon, the doves, another birds; and from the fish, the
rabbit, the lamb, the cicada, the bees, and the wolf (among others). All of the
creatures are drawn from what is known and what’s been written about St.
Francis, primarily by himself and his contemporaries.
It’s a
poignant, beautiful little volume (the illustrator is Brother Martin Espramer,
OSB, and the translator is Demetrio Yocum, who works at Notre Dame in research
and translation). Some of the entries are like short sermons, a reversal of
sorts of St. Francis preaching to the animals.
Both books
are useful for contemplation, prayer, and spiritual practice – and the idea of
carrying a spiritual practice into the world. With the saturation of bad news
on a daily and hourly basis, perhaps there’s never been a better time to be a
holy fool.
Top Illustration: the oldest
surviving picture of St. Francis, painted between 1228 and 1229 at the
Benedictine Abbey of Subiaco.
