About the book: 2018 / Among the saints, Francis of Assisi stands out as particularly popular. Dante Alighieri dedicated an entire chapter to him in The Divine Comedy, Franz Liszt devoted pages of beautiful music, one of the largest American cities, San Francisco, was named in his honor, poets of the Russian Silver Age wrote about him. Francis was not ignored by rock musicians, even a representative of the modern subculture, the famous rapper Oksimiron, mentioned him in one of his songs. Hollywood star Mickey Rourke played him in the movies. Francis became a hero of myths and legends. Their collection - the famous "Flowers" - has been read by people of different cultures for several centuries. But the Assisi saint penetrated into belles lettres not only as a character. He managed to obtain the title of the founder of Italian literature by creating the brilliant “Hymn to Brother Sun” - the first literary monument in history in the Italian language. He is considered the patron saint of homeless animals. He has been called the first environmentalist, the first hippie, even the “saint of non-believers.” At the same time, his spiritual brainchild - the Franciscan Order - has been flourishing for the ninth century and currently numbers about 30 thousand people. And the 266th pope, elected in 2014, for the first time in the history of the papacy took his name in honor of the saint of Assisi. What is the secret of such widespread influence? How have attitudes towards Francis changed over time? How relevant are his ideas today? These and other similar questions are discussed in this book. [Adapted for AlReader]