Image of Christ: Saint Francis of Assisi

The song of this small book stands in stark contrast with secular-minded evaluations [of St. Francis whose]...only desire was to follow Christ, and Christ crucified... The same Francis opens our eyes to the value and message of authentic human goods: beauty, truth, love, friendship - which reflect God and can lead us to him. Francis perfectly understood what [the author] articulates herein, that while the human heart must detach itself from whatever is merely "subjectively satisfying," it is called upon to love all of God's creatures according to their rank, seeing them as messengers modestly singing the praise of the One in whom all things should be loved, and apart from whom none deserves to be loved at all. [From the Foreword by Alice von Hildebrand]