How did a thirteenth-century Italian friar become one of the
best-loved saints in America? Around the nation today, St. Francis
of Assisi is embraced as the patron saint of animals, beneficently
presiding over hundreds of Blessing of the Animals services on
October 4, St. Francis's Catholic feast day. Not only Catholics,
however, but Protestants and other Christians, Hindus, Buddhists,
Jews, and nonreligious Americans commonly name him as one of their
favorite spiritual figures. Drawing on a dazzling array of art,
music, drama, film, hymns, and prayers, Patricia Appelbaum explains
what happened to make St. Francis so familiar and meaningful to so
many Americans.
Appelbaum traces popular depictions and interpretations of St.
Francis from the time when non-Catholic Americans "discovered" him
in the nineteenth century to the present. From poet to activist,
1960s hippie to twenty-first-century messenger to Islam, St.
Francis has been envisioned in ways that might have surprised the
saint himself. Exploring how each vision of St. Francis has been
shaped by its own era, Appelbaum reveals how St. Francis has played
a sometimes countercultural but always aspirational role in
American culture. St. Francis's American story also displays the
zest with which Americans borrow, lend, and share elements of their
religious lives in everyday practice.