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“This will always hold that special place in my heart as my first book about Francis of Assisi. It will ever be my ‘first love.’ I hope you enjoy and love it as much as I do, and that it aids you on your spiritual journey in Christ as much as it has aided mine.” —John Michael Talbot, from his Foreword
In 1972, a young Franciscan friar named Murray Bodo wrote a unique book about the life of St. Francis of Assisi, one of the world’s most popular saints. Francis: The Journey and the Dream conveyed the essential story of Francis through a combination of lyrical prose and brief, absorbing vignettes that inspired hundreds of thousands of people all over the world to contemplate the life of the famous saint and see him in a new way. Over fifty years later, this book still captivates readers everywhere. This edition includes a preface in which Fr. Bodo reflects on a half-century spent immersed in the Franciscan way.
Murray Bodo, OFM, a Franciscan priest, has spent his Franciscan priestly life teaching writing and English and American literature, as well as writing prose and poetry, offering spiritual direction, leading Franciscan pilgrimages, and giving retreats. He resides in Cincinnati. He is the author of more than twenty books and a dozen volumes of poetry.
“I have reread this book more than any other and still continue to be changed by its perceptions and compelling insights.”—Companion of St. Francis
“Father Bodo has done what only a poet and a man of insight could do for Francis: He has presented Francis’ interior life in a lyrical, moving, yet down-to-earth and believable way. He has written one of the best books on St. Francis there is.” —Twin Circle
“In its poetic and reflective wisdom the book achieves a compelling montage of lessons and spiritual truths for contemporary Christians.” —Cross and Crown
“Francis: The Journey and the Dream depicted a Francis who ‘sang’ to me. I felt that I had found a teacher to lead me home. I had no idea where this was going to lead, but I was ready to follow.” —John Michael Talbot
“Francis’s life was his message, and in this book it is beautifully represented, in all its strange beauty, simplicity, and faith.”—Valerie Martin, author, Salvation: Scenes from the Life of St. Francis
“Here is a St. Francis who knew doubt, fear, loneliness, pain, discouragement as well as enthusiasm for life and his brothers, wonder, joy, and gratitude for people and all creation. I return to the book many times to reflect and pray.” —Jeremy Harringon, O.F.M., Guardian and Commissary of the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land
“Words, images, intuitions about Francesco so artfully assembled that thousands have breathed the pine-scented Umbrian air and glimpsed—however fleetingly—the sun-drenched horizons of the soul’s longing.”—Margaret Carney, OSF
