Bonaventure’s Legenda maior, only fifteen or twenty years later, Francis was no longer a man who wandered about the streets preaching and asking for food in exchange for work. In the second part of the book, the author tells how, almost immediately after his death, Francis was transformed into a mystic and an ascetic. This part of the book deftly relates how Francis’ younger traits such as his generosity with friends and his singing carried over into his later mindset. There were many groups at the time with the same sensibilities as Francis. They instead dwell on the experience of the crucifix at San Damiano. Rather, the sight of the leper had the effect on Francis as "a mirror of his own condition of sin." Most later biographers do not emphasize this very important incident. This was a later interpretation of the hagiographer in an effort to portray Francis as a mystic. There is no mention in Francis’ Testament of an embrace of the leper. It seems that this meeting was the turning point in his life, and something that led up to his "turnabout," as the author terms his conversion. One example of the author’s effort to reveal the actual happenings is his account of Francis’ meeting with the leper. Not everything is known about Francis, but the author combs every source he can find to discern the actual story.
These were joyful reunions and occasions to experience the companionship of Francis. There were one thousand at a chapter in 1218, and three thousand in 1222 at the Chapter of Mats.
They were a group of twelve when Francis received approval from Innocent III in 1210, but by 1215, there were three hundred. Rather than meeting a "saintly" super-human mystic and miracle worker, the book draws a picture of what life was like for the Poor Man of Assisi, what he actually did, why he did it, and what the reactions were from the people who knew him. The first part of the book explores the life of the real human Francis of the middle ages, a man caught up in the history and politics of his time. Bonaventure University emerita, St Bonaventure NY 14778 New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2012.
Saint Francis of Assisi: The Life and Afterlife of a Medieval Saint.
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