Ep. 1 - Introducing St. Francis Through St. Bonaventure– St. Francis of Assisi /w Dr. Anthony Lilles

Episode 1 – Introducing St. Francis Through St. Bonaventure – St. Francis of Assisi: His Life and Spirituality with Dr. Anthony Lilles The first episode of St. Francis of Assisi: His Life and Spirituality begins by introducing the remarkable guide who will accompany this journey: St. Bonaventure, the Franciscan theologian, Doctor of the Church, and Minister General of the Franciscan Order. Drawing from his classic work, The Life of St. Francis, Dr. Anthony Lilles explains why Bonaventure's account is far more than a historical biography. Written by one entrusted with preserving the Franciscan charism, Bonaventure presents St. Francis as God's gift to the Church, a saint whose life reveals the light of Christ and continues to inspire believers to holiness centuries later. Rather than beginning with the familiar events of Francis' life, Bonaventure first prepares readers to encounter the saint with humility and a love for holy poverty. Dr. Lilles explores how Francis offers a prophetic witness for every generation, especially in a culture tempted by materialism, self-reliance, and worldly ambition. Through his joyful conformity to Christ, St. Francis becomes a beacon of hope, leading others toward deeper trust in God's providence and the peace found in the Gospel. This opening conversation lays the spiritual foundation for the entire series, inviting listeners to discover not only who St. Francis was, but why his life remains a powerful guide for Christians today. 𝘈𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘺 𝘓𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘚.𝘛.𝘋., 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝟣𝟫𝟫𝟦. 𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘵. 𝘗𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬’𝘴, 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘰𝘴 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘳, 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯, 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘴 𝘢 𝘉.𝘈. 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘶𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘤𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘴 𝘈𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘦 (𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘮). 𝘈𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘵. 𝘌𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘋𝘰𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩, 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰-𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘢 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘏𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯 𝘗𝘢𝘶𝘭 𝘐𝘐 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘺𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘶𝘮𝘴, 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘐𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘸𝘸.𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺.𝘤𝘰𝘮 . 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲, 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁: Discerninghearts.com 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱: VisualRevival.com