Asher Sisneros

The Little Flowers of St. Francis is a biographical book following the ministry of St. Francis. It focuses on the piety of the Friars Minors—the religious order Francis created—and the many miracles they did. They functioned as a monastic order without a monastery, traveling from town to town preaching the gospel. 

The road to salvation is centric of the Christian message. The premise—and truth—of Christianity is built on humanity’s need for a Savior. All men were born into sin because of Adam’s failure. In Jesus’ genealogy in the Gospel of Luke, it states that Adam was the son of God. However, he became a disinherited son through his sin of eating the forbidden fruit. That disinheritance meant he no longer possessed eternal life, agriculture would be difficult, and being thrown out of the Garden of Eden, he lost communion with the most Holy God. From then on, humanity could not obtain the eternal life that Adam forfeited because they were born into sin by nature. The very essence of human nature was tainted, going from being pure in the sight of God to being marred by the scars of sin and possessing an insatiable attraction to evil. The wages of sin were death, and all men were doomed to hellfire. However, a Messiah came: Jesus Christ. God the Father sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, a member of the Triune God, to Earth. Christ descended from Heaven and took on human flesh, being both fully God and fully man. Being fully man, He endured all the temptations that men endure. Yet, He followed the law perfectly and did not sin, doing what no other man could do. The Devil himself came to tempt Jesus, but it failed. He followed the law perfectly, without blame. However, members of the Sanhedrin grew envious of Jesus and accused Him of blasphemy for claiming to be God. Ignorantly, they arrested Jesus, and under the authority of Pontius Pilate, they unjustly put their Savior to death. He was entitled to eternal life, being sinless, but the wrath of man is an unjust instrument. Blinded by their zeal, the Jews hung their Messiah on a cross where He suffered the wrath of God for all the sins of men. Thus, in dying unjustly, Jesus Christ, being fully man and unholding the law perfectly, paid the price for all of humanity’s sins. By dying unjustly, He paid the price for all the sins of men. God is a God of law and order. His law could not be made void. It needed to be upheld. Yet, He is also a God of abundant mercy, exercising compassion and pity on the plight of mankind. With no other way to both uphold His law and also show mercy, He compassionately and selflessly sacrificed Himself for the salvation of humanity, granting all those who believe in Him eternal life. Such exemplary selflessness cannot be found in any other religion. The Christian message is centered around humanity’s need for a Savior and the fulfillment of that Savior in Christ. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish but have eternal life,¹ and that is the cornerstone of Christianity.

Unfortunately, Little Flowers is not a compilation of St. Francis’ sermons, making it difficult to ascertain his prescribed road to salvation. However, it should be safe to assume that his teachings were not contrary to that of the historical Church and fell in line with the Apostle’s Creed since he is venerated as a saint and even respected by Protestant denominations. Thus, while it is not explicitly stated in Little Flowers, the fundamentals of salvation that were previously expounded on were likely included in his sermons, even if that was not mentioned in the book. Though he did not plainly state that Christ is the only way to Heaven in Little Flowers, Francis believed it. 

In terms of dissecting Little Flowers itself, the book clearly acknowledges God’s sovereignty and Jesus’ divine authority. The Friars Minors did miracles in God’s name, and they acknowledged themselves as Christ’s servants. As such, they acknowledged the biblical hierarchy, understanding the nature of God—perfect and sovereign—and the nature of man—corrupted and subservient. The Friars Minors lived their modest lives as poor beggars for two reasons. On the one hand, it allowed them to focus on their ministry because they were not preoccupied with a job. Thus, they were completely dependent on God to provide for them, which would have helped them to see God’s work in every sphere of their lives. That is something modern society can forget. People can be so caught up in their work, just trying to get ahead in the “rat race,” that they attribute everything they have to their labor, ignoring God’s hand in history. By living off donations, the Friars Minors viewed every meal as a direct blessing from God. On the other hand, living off donations also advantageously gave them humility. Once again, they recognized human subservience to God. By living in poverty, they combated the temptation to grow prideful. So, living in poverty was a blessing because it kept them in a humble state where they acknowledged the hand of God in their daily lives. In this way, the reader of Little Flowers would recognize God’s sovereignty and likely assume the road to salvation was through Jesus Christ. 

Unfortunately, the emphasis on poverty might also distract the reader into thinking monastic life is the road to eternal life. That problem is only exacerbated because the Friars Minors repeatedly had supernatural encounters that would be foreign to the majority of Christians. Those supernatural encounters include conducting miracles and also talking directly to God. Most Christians would be lucky enough to have a vision, but talking face-to-face with God is almost certainly unattainable for the majority. Thus, possibly giving the reader doubt regarding their salvation. Going back to monastic life, though there are spiritual benefits for those called to monastic life, salvation is not earned through works. It is purely a blessing of God. There is nothing man does to inherit salvation. Salvation is a grace of God, and attributing salvation to the works of men is heretical. Though St. Francis and his Friars Minors never claimed poverty was the road to salvation, their emphasis on poverty might lead the reader to that horrible conclusion. However, one can only pray that medieval readers were not led to that heretical view and knew that salvation was purely a grace of God.

1. John 3:16 ↩︎