The Flowers of St. Francis

The Flowers of St. Francis (in Italian, Francesco, giullare di Dio, or "Francis, God's Jester") is a 1950 film directed by Roberto Rossellini and co-written by Federico Fellini. 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. I Fioretti is composed of 78 small chapters. The novel as a whole is less biographical and is instead more focused on relating tales of the life of St. Francis and his followers. The movie follows the same premise, though rather than relating all 78 chapters, it focuses instead on nine of them. Each chapter is composed in the style of a parable, and, like parables, contains a moral theme. Every new scene transitions with a chapter marker, a device that directly relates the film to the novel. When the movie initially debuted in America, where the novel was much less known, on October 6, 1952, the chapter markers were removed.

St. Francis

St. Francis may refer to numerous Roman Catholic saints:

St. Francis or Saint Francis may also refer to:

Places

United States

St. Francis, Wisconsin

St. Francis is an American city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. The population was 9,365 at the 2010 census.

History

The city took its name from St. Francis Seminary, founded by Archbishop John Henni, the first Archbishop of Milwaukee, who placed it under the patronage of Francis de Sales, the first Catholic bishop of Switzerland after the Swiss Reformation.

Geography

St. Francis is located at 42°58′11″N 87°52′36″W / 42.96972°N 87.87667°W / 42.96972; -87.87667 (42.969615, -87.876745).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.55 square miles (6.60 km²), all of it land. It is located directly south and east of the City of Milwaukee, directly west of Lake Michigan, and directly north of Cudahy, Wisconsin. Milwaukee's primary airport, General Mitchell International Airport, is bordered on one side by St. Francis.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 9,365 people, 4,494 households, and 2,210 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,672.5 inhabitants per square mile (1,418.0/km²). There were 4,828 housing units at an average density of 1,893.3 per square mile (731.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 88.8% White, 2.7% African American, 1.0% Native American, 2.1% Asian, 2.8% from other races, and 2.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.4% of the population.

University of St. Francis

The University of St. Francis is a Catholic, Franciscan university, serving more than 3,300 students at locations throughout the United States. USF's main campus is located at 500 Wilcox Street in Joliet, Illinois. It is located about 35 miles (56 km) southwest of Chicago in a residential neighborhood and serves 1,300 students.

Campus

The Main Campus of the University of St. Francis is in the Cathedral Areas Preservation District, amidst some of the city’s most elegant and historic homes, and within easy walking distance of the Cathedral of St. Raymond.

The campus is 35 miles southwest from Chicago. Downtown Joliet and its Metra station are just minutes away, along with the university’s City Center Campus, which houses the Arts and Design Department at the historic Rialto Square Theatre building.

Tower Hall, the main academic building built in 1922, is the iconic image of the university. At the front of Tower Hall is a statue of Mother Alfred Moes, founder of the Sisters of St. Francis. The statue welcomes guests to campus and reminds all of the sisters' many contributions to the Joliet community. Tower Hall's main entrance at Circle Drive is marked by a statue of St. Francis, the institution's patron saint. Just inside the Circle Drive entrance is the Welcome Center.

Little Flowers of St. Francis

The Little Flowers of St. Francis (Italian Fioretti di San Francesco) is a florilegium (excerpts of his body of work), divided into 53 short chapters, on the life of Saint Francis of Assisi which was composed at the end of the 14th century. The anonymous Italian text, almost certainly by a Tuscan author, is a version of the Latin Actus beati Francisci et sociorum eius, of which the earliest extant manuscript is one of 1390 AD. Luke Wadding ascribes the text to Fra. Ugolino da Santa Maria, whose name occurs three times in the Actus. Most scholars are now agreed that the author was Ugolino Brunforte (c. 1262 – c. 1348).

Written a century and a half after the death of Francis of Assisi, the text is not regarded as an important primary source for the saint’s biography. However, it has been the most popular account of his life and relates many colourful anecdotes, miracles and pious examples from the lives of Francis and his followers (such as Brother Juniper). These poetic stories shed much light upon the genesis and development of the following of Saint Francis. Indeed, some stories contained in the Fioretti can be found in much earlier works; for example, Saint Francis preaching to the birds was described by Fra. Masseo, and written of by the Englishman Roger of Wendover, in 1236.