"The most perfect image of Christ that ever was."

This magnificent description of Francis of Assisi by Pope Benedict XV explains the tremendous appeal that this most beloved of all saints has exerted on countless persons of every age and belief. His burning love of God and fellow man, which led him to renounce a life of ease and luxury for one of perfect simplicity and superb holiness provides a message of hope and inspiration that is more timely and appropriate today than ever before.

In this classic, Felix Timmermans reveals a deep understanding and penetrating interpretation of the man Francis and the ideals that enabled him to move and to shake the whole world. Filled with humor, pathos and a strange kind of beauty, it is a combination of artistry, poetry and simplicity that plumbs the soul of Saint Francis.

Here is the whole Francis, the poet, the ascetic, the stigmatist, the servant of the poor and the lepers, the miracle worker. But above all, here is the spirit of St. Francis "told as lyrically and simply as the hymns and words of Francis himself in a book that communicates the joy of St. Francis."

"One of the classic lives of St. Francis. I recall being deeply moved and encouraged in my own vocation by reading this book decades ago. Congratulations to Ignatius Press for making it available to readers today."
- Fr. Benedict Groeschel, C. F. R.
Author, Arise from Darkness