Yet this holiness is blinding for those who cannot comprehend that someone would go to such unspeakable lengths for God. Take, for example, the “Prayer of St. Francis,” which was not composed by Francis, but by an anonymous French writer in the early 20th century. What Francis wanted was for his men’s actions to live up to the Gospel they were preaching. In the 13th century, God called Francis to rebuild His Church. If we are to rebuild our own tattered Church in the 21st century, the only way forward is in the footsteps of the real Francis of Assisi.