Saint Francis Of Assisi Essays - Franciscan Spirituality, Ascetics

Saint Francis Of Assisi This biography had a lot of information on St. Francis of Assisi. He was a very generous man who founded the Friars. Along the way he accomplished many good deeds. He gave all that he had to the poor so that they could live a better life. The only things he needed were food, shelter, and companionship. St. Francis of Assisi was born in September of the year 1182. He was born to a rich merchant named Pietro di Bernardone. In 1202 he was held prisoner for several months over a dispute between Assisi and Perugia. This was followed by a period of illness. He didn't like the way his life was going so he turned to prayer and service for the poor. In 1206 he officially turned down his fathers fortune. To help bring his life to good he decided to become a hermit. This attracted many followers. He preached about the idea of having a simple life of following the Gospels. When Pope Innocent III found out about his good works Francis was ordained a deacon. His followers increased in population and were called friars, which is a lower form of Francis' name. In 1212 he got help from Saint Clare and established a branch for women called the Poor Clares. In 1221 Francis made a new edition for the lay people called the Third order. After a long life of hard work he finally retired from leading the friars. At this time he was given the stigmata or imprint of the wounds of Christ on his own body. He also wrote the Canticle of Brother Sun. He died October 3,1226. He was canonized a Saint in 1228 and his Feast day is October 4. This book taught me that Francis was a rich man before he converted his life. I thought that he was always poor and he was showing appreciation for the things around him. This act of kindness makes me think of him as even a better person. This book also taught me that he didn't have that many followers at first. When he started it was just him. In 1221 he had eleven. Over more than ten years he hadn't made many followers. This book taught me that Francis not only gave up his fortune but he firmly believed in being poor. Not for one second would he have thought that being rich would have helped him more. From his point of view he had all he needed with him. This book taught me that people made fun of him for what he did. How could you make fun of someone that is doing such a great deed? He wasn't hurting anyone. He was just helping people. This book taught me that he made more than a Franciscan order. He also made an order for women and for lay people. His teachings were for all people, and not only religious people. I liked this book because it got deep down into St. Francis' life and showed all of the good points. It sends out a good message to all people that read the book. I didn't like the book because it had a lot of stories that made the book kind of boring. They talked too much about rules instead of talking about what he did. The book was also to my liking because they used more action than normal biographies do. Normal biographies are usually all facts. This one had some stories and some neat quotes. St. Francis was a great man that teaches us a great lesson in courage. He gave up all that he had to just to help other people. These days that is very rare. People just don't want to follow in his example anymore. All Catholics should imitate his teachings.

The Pain of Transformation essay

The Pain of Transformation essay The Pain of Transformation essay The Pain of Transformation essayBlack Swan is a psychological thriller with the twisted plot and the bright performance.   Directed by Darren Aronofsky   Ã‚  in 2010, this movie has provoked a lot of discussions among critics. Natalie Portman, who plays a young and talented ballerina dancing in a prestigious New York City company, creates an illusory and frightening reality and invites the audience to share this reality with her. The plot is complex and  twisted. Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) gets the lead role in Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet Swan Lake. This role becomes a hard ordeal for her. Her perfect dancing technique turns to be not sufficient for ideal performance and Nina has to pass the long way discovering her dark side. The plot of the movie is an interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s ballet and the main character of the movie has to pass her way from White Swan which symbolizes innocence and purity to Black Swan which reveals her black side and hidden passion s.  The name of the movie is very symbolic, because â€Å"the black swan† becomes the symbol for everything hidden and suppressed, which Nina has to explore while preparing for the performance.   Step by step Nina’s old personality has been ruined and changed by her new self. The process is painful and we can see the collapse of Nina’s personality accompanied by phobias, hysteria   and hallucinations. Nina has to leave her innocent world of purity guarded by her suppressive mother and enter the world of passion,   love   and betray. On her way she meets all possible fears and doubts. She has to leave her old personality in order to gain her new self. This nearly costs her a life, but she succeeds and her last words I felt it. Perfect. It was perfect   prove this.The movie is shot with hand-held camera which adds it realism.   Aronofsky uses this method on purpose in order to create extra tension and make the audience enter his characters’ re ality.   This reality is twisted and sometimes horrifying but if we make all the way together with the characters we may feel that liberation and perfection felt by Nina in her final dance.