My Rating: 4.5 / 5 🌟

As a Catholic who has always looked up top St. Francis of Assisi, this book has provided great insight to who Saint Francis is during his years of preaching and spreading the Gospel.

Before reading this, I’ve only known of Saint Francis of his conversion story and a little bit of his ministry. And this book has really opened my eyes to how Saint Francis carried out his mission and established his unintentional religious order.

The most interesting parts that I find in this book are Saint Francis’s letters. Jon M. Sweeney told us multiple times in the book, how Saint Francis was a man of action more than words, which made the letters so much more meaningful.

I don’t have much to say since this is my first time reviewing a religious book, but I had a really great time reading this book and it will definitely be one of those books that I would reread again in the future.

This is a short book About St. Francis that is easy to read. Don’t let the size fool you; it is packed full of information and is definitely worth reading!

The book includes a timeline of the most important events in his life; symbols that the author discovered while learning about St. Francis and a selection of his writings.

This was a very nice introduction to St. Francis, his beliefs and his life story.

Even if he lived nearly 1 thousand years ago St. Francis' teaching can still be appreciated by XXI people.
He was a great spiritual leader and this book helped to see other side of the man and the imprint he left.
This book is thought provoking and well written, it was an interesting read.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

One could be forgiven for asking if it's necessary to write and/or publish another biography of St. Francis (0r Abraham Lincoln, or William Shakespeare, or...). It is tempting for a reader to believe the story has been told often and well, and there can't be much more to say about a much beloved spiritual figure and historical icon. Therefore, I found myself appreciating the approach that John Sweeney has chosen for presenting his entry in the genre.

Rather than an exhaustive life story of Francis, told sequentially from the subject's privileged origin to humble and revered end, he opts instead for a slightly briefer overview of the most important aspects of Francis' worldview and his most impactful teachings. In addition to pointing out the doctrinal overlap between Francis and other devout Christian teachers of his day, Sweeney helps the reader to understand how unique and transformative Francis' views were concerning his reverence for the natural world and the possibility of worshiping God equally well in the outdoors as in a physical church building.

Sweeney details the powerful manner in which Francis modeled understanding and accepting others whose religious traditions are different from one's own the foreign and frightening, even when the prevailing contemporary notion was one of antagonism. For instance, we learn in this book of Francis' journey to gain an audience with a Muslim sultan in the Nile Delta during the height of hostilities in the Fifth Crusade.

Francis taught his followers how to not be afraid of things they did not understand, and to extend compassion and love to the most vulnerable around them, including the poor, sick, and discarded by society. It's no wonder so many people flocked to Francis' side during his day and why so many find him appealing today.

One unique and enjoyable aspect of this particular biography is the nearly exhaustive presentation of Francis' writings. He didn't write much, but what he wrote was tremendously effective and continues to inspire devotees to his rule of faith. It's refreshing to read it here in it's historically sequential fashion.

I enjoyed this book quite a lot, and I think it's a worthwhile addition to the fairly sizable list of titles written for Francis. I'm also thankful to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the electronic advance reading copy.