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What does it mean to be an imitator of Christ?

Find out by exploring the life and legacy of Saint Francis of Assisi and the movements he inspired with one of the world's leading Franciscan experts as your guide.

From the humble backyard birdbath to the splendor of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, images of this Italian cloth merchant's son can be found almost anywhere. His followers now number nearly one million in more than ninety-six countries, lay and religious, men and women.

But who was St. Francis? Why do so many of us find him such an attractive Christian and human figure? What is fact and what is fiction about his life, his teaching, and his impact on global society? Learn the remarkable story behind the Franciscan movement.

Now you can trace the amazing story of the lives of Saint Francis and Saint Clare with this exciting new 24-lecture series by renowned Franciscan scholar Brother William Short, former President of the Franciscan School of Theology in Berkeley.

Whether you have studied Francis for a lifetime or you are only casually acquainted with this amazing saint, we guarantee you will treasure this unique course.

Speaker Photo by Scott Anger

About Your Presenter

Br. William Short is a Franciscan Friar the former President and Academic Dean of the Franciscan School of Theology in Berkeley. He is currently Professor of Christian Spirituality at the Graduate Theological Union and Director of the St. Francis Retreat Center in California.

After graduating from the University of San Francisco, he completed an M.A. in Philosophical and Systematic Theology before receiving the S.T.L. and S.T.D. degrees from the Gregorian University in Rome.

Br. Short has dedicated his scholarly work to a retrieval of the Franciscan tradition of spirituality and theology. He is co-editor of the three-volume series of English translations of all the documents written by St. Francis of Assisi and his earliest biographers: Francis of Assisi: Early Documents. He has published works on the history of the Franciscan movement and its spirituality.

Speaker Photo by Scott Anger

Topic Titles

• Francis of Assisi: The Popular Image
• Growing Up in Assisi (1182-1200)
• Rich and Poor in the Early 1200s
• Dreams of Knighthood (1205-1206)
• Beginnings of a Conversion (1206-1209)
• The First Brothers Arrive (1209-1210)
• The Call of Creatures (1210-1225)
• The Poor Ladies (Poor Clares) (1212-1253)
• Preaching the Gospel (1209-1226)
• A Journey into Egypt (1219-1220)
• Trouble at Home: Explosive Growth and Problems of Adaptation (1220-1221)
• The 'Great Temptation' (1221-1223)
• Discovering Christmas
• Signed with the Marks of the Passion (1224)
• Sister Death
• The Glory of a New Saint
• 'Spirit and Life': Francis's Reading of the Gospel
• The Incarnation, the Eucharist and the Church
• Poverty as Revelation
• The Order of the Lesser Brothers: Growth and Crises (1250-1280)
• The Needs of the Church (1230-1250)
• Franciscan Theology and Mysticism: (1250-1450)
• Friars in Dissent (1280-1320)
• Friars on a Mission: From Umbria to Asia