Here you can find text about st. Francis, the Founder of Franciscan order:
Francis the Founder (Part 2)
Here you can find text about st. Francis, the Founder of Franciscan order:
Francis the Saint
Here you can find text about Francis the Saint:
Modern Study
Here you can find Modern Study of the sources:
Introduction
Here you can find the sources for the life of saint Francis
Chronology
Here you can download Chronology:
Dictated Writings
DICTATED WRITINGS
Noel Muscat ofm
Noel Muscat ofm
Jacques Cambell introduced the term «dictated writings». In medieval Franciscan literature we sometimes find that Francis is said to have dictated some letters or other writings, whose contents are described, but without the original written form in which they were composed. They are accepted as Writings of Saint Francis, of which we know the existence, but whose content remains lost to us.
The Prayers of St. Francis
THE PRAYERS OF SAINT FRANCIS
Noel Muscat ofm
Noel Muscat ofm
5.1 Prayer before the Crucifix (1205/06) The Prayer before the Crucifix, composed originally in the Italian dialect of Umbria, is one of the earliest prayers among the Writings of Saint Francis. It was composed at the very beginning of his conversion process, when he would go to the derelict church of San Damiano to pray.
The Letters of St. Francis
THE LETTERS OF SAINT FRANCIS
Noel Muscat ofm
Noel Muscat ofm
4.1 First Version of the Letter to the Faithful (1209-1215)
Paul Sabatier first published the First Version of the Letter to the Faithful in 1900, from the codex of Volterra. He gave it the title Verba vitae et salutis (Words of life and salvation). Franciscan scholars thought that it was a later extract of what is today known as the Second Version of the Letter to the Faithful, but when Kajetan Esser studied the manuscripts containing the letter, he found that the Volterra manuscript was truly unique, and that it merited a study on its own, just as Sabatier had insisted.
Spiritual Writings
EXHORTATIVE AND SPIRITUAL WRITINGS
Noel Muscat ofm
Noel Muscat ofm
3.1 The Way of Life given to Clare and the Poor Ladies of San Damiano (1212) Clare of Assisi (1193-1253), in her Rule, c.6, gives us the Way of Life, or Forma Vitae, which Francis wrote to her and the first Poor Ladies of San Damiano in 1212:
