St. Francis of Assisi: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

St. Francis of Assisi, credited to G. K. Chesterton, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of St. Francis of Assisi by G. K. Chesterton. Read in English by Phil Chenevert For Chesterton, Francis of Assisi is a great paradoxical figure, a man who loved women but vowed himself to chastity; an artist who loved the pleasures of the natural world as few have loved them, but vowed himself to the most austere poverty, stripping himself naked in the public square so all could see that he had renounced his worldly goods; a clown who stood on his head in order to see the world aright. Chesterton gives us Francis in his world-the riotously colorful world of the High Middle Ages, a world with more pageantry and romance than we have seen before or since. Here is the Francis who tried to end the Crusades by talking to the Saracens, and who interceded with the emperor on behalf of the birds. Here is the Francis who inspired a revolution in art that began with Giotto and a revolution in poetry that began with Dante. Here is the Francis who prayed and danced with pagan abandon, who talked to animals, who invented the creche. I read this book as a young man and not only did it introduce me to the amazing world of Chesterton, but it was a revelation of how an entire culture could be captured in a slim volume. (summary by Phil Chenevert, Wikipedia and various other PD sources)

Recording facts

• Recording title: St. Francis of Assisi
• Author credits: G. K. Chesterton
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 10
• Listed recording duration: 4:50:34

Track guide

1. 01 - The Problem of St. Francis — 19:12
2. 02 - The World of St. Francis — 36:37
3. 03 - Francis the Fighter — 29:55
4. 04 - Francis the Builder — 25:02
5. 05 - Le Jongleur de Dieu — 32:35
6. 06 - The Little Poor Man — 31:57
7. 07 - The Three Orders — 32:53
8. 08 - The Mirror of Christ — 31:38
9. 09 - Miracles and Death — 28:39
10. 10 - The Testament of St. Francis — 22:06

Listen to this recording

Open the complete recording and player on Internet Archive. The player includes the full track list and available download formats.

Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.