God's fool: the life and times of Francis of Asisi.God's Fool: The Life and Times of Francts of Assisi God's Fool: The Life and Times of Francis of Assisi, by Julien Green Julian Hartridge Green, or Julien Green (September 6 1900 – August 13 1998), was a French born American author of several novels including Léviathan and Each in His Own Darkness. He wrote primarily in French, but was not a French citizen. (Harper & Row, 273 pp., $16.95) AFTER READING one of the many insipid lives of the saints, Leon Bloy wrote in his diary: "Really, one has to have great love for the saints to swallow such mediocre books! I think . . . the ecclesiastical authorities and the superiors of the Orders should implore im·plore v. im·plored, im·plor·ing, im·plores v.tr. 1. To appeal to in supplication; beseech: implored the tribunal to have mercy. 2. on their knees the true artists to write and reveal to the world the lives of the saints.' One can safely guess that Bloy would have applauded the biography of St. Francis written by Julien Green. Since his first novel appeared in 1926, Green--born in 1900 in Paris, the son of American parents--has created a striking gallery of characters, and anyone familiar with his literary work will readily understand his fascination for St. Francis. Preferring "saints of fire to saints of ice,' Green, who converted to Roman Catholicism Roman Catholicism Largest denomination of Christianity, with more than one billion members. The Roman Catholic Church has had a profound effect on the development of Western civilization and has been responsible for introducing Christianity in many parts of the world. in 1916, wanted to be like Francis, who gave himself to God when he was only 25. In 1924 Green wrote a little book, a Pamphlet against the Catholics of France, in which he explained that he was furious at the discovery that he was not a saint. He lost his faith, returning to the Church only on the eve On the Eve (Накануне in Russian) is the third novel by famous Russian writer Ivan Turgenev, best known for his short stories and the novel Fathers and Sons. of the Second World War. Joergensen's biography of the Italian friar friar [Lat. frater=brother], member of certain Roman Catholic religious orders, notably, the Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, and Augustinians. Although a general form of address in the New Testament, since the 13th cent. impressed Green deeply, giving him "unutterable interior joy.' He must have seen in the life of Francis the spiritual vertigo vertigo (vûr`tĭgō), sensations of moving in space or of objects moving about a person and the resultant difficulty in maintaining equilibrium. that one finds in his own fiction. He wondered whether "Christ did not offer us His Gospel a second time during St. Francis's life' (Diary, July 12, 1943). Now, near the end of his own life, Julien Green offers us the biography of his favorite saint, and it is a radiant book. Indeed, it seems to cast a new light on everything Green has written, even on his most tormented characters. The world of Francesco de Bernardone was very much like ours: French fashions, license, sensuality, greed, permissiveness . . . And Francis wanted, above all, glory. "He desired,' Green observes, "exactly what he would later despise de·spise tr.v. de·spised, de·spis·ing, de·spis·es 1. To regard with contempt or scorn: despised all cowards and flatterers. 2. .' Then, unexpectedly, the call from God: "Francis, repair my house.' It was April 10, 1206. The renewed faith of Francis sent shock waves through Christendom. True faith unsettles everything. This book will be upsetting both to rationalists and to those Catholics whose faith is mere habit or custom. It is books like this one that help dissolve the foggy fog·gy adj. fog·gi·er, fog·gi·est 1. a. Full of or surrounded by fog. b. Resembling or suggestive of fog. 2. notion we have of holiness. Francis changed but he was still Francis, and we should be grateful to Green for showing the real man so well. |
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