Overview

Returning from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, St. Francis finds the order of humble friars, which he had founded, has grown so tremendously that now over 6,000 monks consider themselves Franciscans. But St. Francis is appalled to find that with this apparent success came a total rejection of his original vision which this thriving community of friars regarded as outmoded and unsuited for their current needs. When he remonstrates, they suggest that if Francis cannot adapt to the new rules and regulations, perhaps he should go elsewhere. Rejected by the order which he founded and despondent that the vision he felt God gave him is being scorned, Francis withdraws to a mountain hermitage with his beloved Brother Leo. There in a Spartan cave during a long winter of the soul Francis arrives at new insights into what God requires of those who would follow Christ. This heartening story brings comfort to all who have faced loss or failure and feel that God is no longer smiling with favor on them. Trudging the paths with St. Francis, one comes to a flowering spring filled with new insights on what is required of those who would call themselves Christians.

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Toward the end of his life, Francis of Assisi endured what can only be described as a time of great desolation and despair. His physical health was failing; the Order he had founded was moving away from his original ideals of simplicity and poverty; his mission to the Muslims had fizzled out; and several of his oldest and dearest companions had deserted him. It's not unreasonable to suppose that Francis also felt himself deserted by God. This sense of utter abandonment may not fit the hagiographies, but it sure makes psychological sense. Franciscan Eloi Leclerc takes this time of abandonment as his starting place for this elegant and insightful meditation. The book is an imaginative reconstruction but one that's based on contemporary texts, of the struggles that Francis went through during his years of doubt and despair. Leclerc doesn't offer ready-made solutions or sweetly pious recipes. One of the great merits of this book is that he takes Francis' despair seriously. Ultimately, however, he also takes Francis' breakthrough moment seriously: the moment when Francis has the revelatory realization that, bad as life can get, Deus est. I've thought about this simple claim-- God is --many times since reading this little book. On the surface, it may seem anti-climactic. But as Leclerc presents it, there's a great deal of wisdom in being able to make and live the assertion. It may be that there's more theology embedded in the simple affirmation Deus est than in all the world's books.

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