Description
Book SynopsisMedieval Franciscans prayed in hermitages and churches, on the road and in the piazza, with song and silence. The unique stories of these men and women, as their engaging texts, stunning architecture and breath-taking artwork suggest, are narratives of souls, enfleshed in their respective worlds of the leprosarium, university, or itinerant preaching. The essays in this book foster a nuanced perspective on Franciscan beliefs and spiritual practices by resisting the temptation to reduce their myriad accounts of prayer to an exclusive, univocal spirituality. By displaying the breadth and depth of these medieval Franciscans at prayer, these essays challenge contemporary readers to look anew at this “cloud of witnesses” from the past, who, both lay and religious, promoted a diversity of spiritual expression that found a familial focus in their mutual passion for the divine and the world they shared.
Trade Review"For those wanting a scholarly read taking them to the roots of the Franciscan spiritual tradition....takes the reader further at every stage and will be an invaluable reference work for years to come." Nicholas Alan OSF, Franciscan, 21/3 (2009), 15. “Franciscans at Prayer is a most welcome contribution to those interested in medieval spirituality in general. It is of special interest to scholars of things Franciscan, who will find a wealth of material illuminating the lesser-known inner world of the Franciscan pious” Neslihan Senocak, Columbia University in Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture 77/4, December 2009, pp 1041-1043
Table of ContentsContributors include: Michael W.Blastic, Louisa A. Burnham, Ilia Delio, Edward Foley, Jean François Godet-Calogeras, Jay M. Hammond, J. A. Wayne Hellmann, Mary Beth Ingham, Timothy J. Johnson, Steven J. McMichael, Amy Neff, Amanda D. Quantz, Bert Roest, William J. Short, Diane V. Tomkinson, and Alessandro Vettori.
