Little Poor Man

St. Francis comes alive as a wise man and mystic whose life has inspired both men and women on all continents for eight centuries.A spiritual troubadour, independent minded and following his own inner calling, Francis finds himself often in the right place and at the right time.As a wounded and battle-scarred soldier, he confronts an inner emptiness by rejecting his father's wealth in search of something greater."I want to see the divine in all things," he decides. "I want to say to everyone and everything I meet, speak to me of God!"Francis vows himself to Lady Poverty, repairs chapels and serves the poor and lepers. He attracts followers who journey with him to Rome.After a vivid dream by Pope Innocent III, where the pope sees someone saving the Church from collapsing, he bestows upon Francis privileges unlike any given before or since to a twenty-eight year old layman.Francis is proclaimed a saint, a holy man and a divine messenger by the pope, and all the bishops are ordered to cooperate with him and the members of his Order.We meet St. Clare, young and audacious, ready to forsake her father's wealth and titles to take up a life of service to the needy. She becomes a co-worker with Francis by establishing a female contingent of laywomen to his Order.Francis directs his companions to serve the poor and dispossessed, whom Jesus calls blessed, the overlooked and forgotten by society. They are the lost sheep of the Good Shepherd.Devoted to poverty and living among the poor, chastity and obeying the Spirit that speaks within, members of the Order of Little Brothers and Little Sisters establish clinics, orphanages, soup kitchens and hospices.Francis meets with the Sultan of Egypt in a futile effort to end the crusade and to negotiate a peace treaty, coming to a new understanding of Islam and another awakening.The reader follows Francis as he evolves spiritually, revered by the common people who see him as their advocate, and feared by the Roman hierarchy. As he follows his inner calling, Francis oversteps boundaries and angers churchmen and nobles alike.When Pope Innocent dies, Francis refuses to bring his Order into closer alignment with the Church. He is removed as its leader but still remains popular with the masses, who are angered at the upper clergy for leading Europe to a catastrophic crusade.LITTLE POOR MAN chronicles the political and social climate of 13th century Europe. It recounts the crusades launched by the Church against the Muslims, the Eastern Orthodox and the Cathar heretics of southern France.It also covers the Fourth Lateran Council which Francis attended that proclaimed the pope "less than God but more than man." The medieval papacy was at the zenith of its prestige and power.St. Francis' is exactly the voice we need in hard economic times and in an ecological crisis. LITTLE POOR MAN takes him from the altars and sets him among ordinary people with his universal spirit and his extraordinary way of seeing things.No longer a plaster saint or a statue in the garden, St. Francis lives once more as an inspiring example to follow.