In honor of the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, the Center for Social Concerns will host a screening of the 1950 film The Flowers of St. Francis (Francesco Guillare di Dio). The film is based on two books, the 14th-century novel Fioretti Di San Francesco (Little Flowers of St. Francis) and La Vita di Frate Ginepro (The Life of Brother Juniper), both of which relate the life and work of St. Francis and the early Franciscans. This event is a part of the 2021–22 Notre Dame Forum: Care for our Common Home.
About St. Francis of Assisi
St. Francis was the founder of the Franciscan orders of the Friars Minor (Ordo Fratrum Minorum), the women’s Order of St. Clare (the Poor Clares), and the lay Third Order. He was also a leader of the movement of evangelical poverty in the early 13th century. His evangelical zeal, consecration to poverty, charity, and personal charisma drew thousands of followers. Francis’s devotion to the human Jesus and his desire to follow Jesus’ example reflected and reinforced important developments in medieval spirituality. The Poverello (“Poor Little Man”) is one of the most venerated religious figures in Roman Catholic history, and he and St. Catherine of Siena are the patron saints of Italy. In 1979 Pope John Paul II recognized him as the patron saint of ecology.
Cosponsors
Center for Social Concerns, Campus Ministry, Catholic Social Tradition Minor, Center for Italian Studies/Devers Family Program in Dante Studies, Department of History, Nanovic Institute for European Studies, Notre Dame International, Office of Sustainability, Department of Romance Languages and Literature, Sustainability Minor, and Glynn Family Honors Program.