Inner Healing the Franciscan Way

"Wendy Murray is well qualified to contextualize the “way” of St. Francis for Christians today. Her earlier volumes on St. Francis and St. Claire are insightful and engaging. With this volume she expresses the heart and mind of the great saint to aid us in our Christian living today. The volume is in three parts beginning with the life of Francis himself, then his vows and finally virtues. I was led smoothly from life to vows but was grabbed by the insights of “simplicity” as a virtue to cultivate. This is going to be my new “special gift” to give to relatives and new friends.” -- Scott W. Sunquist, President, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and author of several books, including, The Shape of Christian History: Continuity and Diversity in the Global Church.

 "Even centuries after they were first instituted, Franciscan vows and virtues still have a healing and empowering force in the hearts and minds of people today. In Inner Healing the Franciscan Way, Wendy Murray blends together a lucid understanding of history, theology, and scripture and threads within that a compelling personal narrative to form a book that is as captivating as it is enriching. I've long been tutored by Murray's journalistic work, but in the pages of this book I was challenged to walk in the way of St. Francis in our time." -- Jeff Crosby, author of The Language of the Soul and World of Wonders
 
"Wendy Murray, in this insightful book, demonstrates how St. Francis conquered his own struggles, and in doing so influenced her own journey towards inner peace.
Wendy shares a concise portrait of St. Francis, a historical figure, and demonstrates how Inner Healing the Franciscan Way can infuse into our souls a clear and holy path during our own personal sorrows and victories of the spirit. This is a book that matches the wisdom of St. Francis with a contemporary writer’s personal revelations, and how such a combination can add to any reader’s search for solace.  Wendy writes “Yours is the destiny of the seed.” Her book is a seed easily planted in the rich soil in all of our lives." -- Christopher DeVinck, author of Things That Matter Most: Essays on Home, Friendship, and Love and The Power of the Powerless: A Brother's Legacy of Love.
 
"In Inner Healing the Franciscan Way, Wendy Murray insightfully notes the masculine (Francis of Assisi) and feminine dimensions (Clare of Assisi) of the Franciscan vision of life and how they found her after a painful period in her life. Along the way, she notes how the three traditional vows and some specific virtues orient a person to a life worth living. This wonderful book highlights the perennial, practical wisdom of thirteenth century Franciscan spirituality that helps re-order the soul in the twenty-first century." -- Albert Haase, OFM, author of The Persistent God: A Guide to Deepening Prayer
 
"In Inner Healingthe Franciscan Way, Wendy Murray shares a life-changing discovery: you don’t have to be a vowed religious—or even Catholic—to appreciate the sheltering constraints of poverty, chastity, and obedience, or to recognize the uplifting power of humility, charity, simplicity, and wisdom. As she explores each Franciscan vow and virtue, Murray unpacks the thirteenth-century wisdom that met her in a place of despair and set her on a path of healing. Contemporary seekers battered by life and bereft of consolation may draw hope and guidance from this inspiring witness to the transformative practice of Franciscan spirituality." -- Christine Marie Eberle, author of Finding God Along the Way: Wisdom from the Ignatian Camino for Life at Home.
 
"This is a wonderful book of insights for all of us seeking to walk the Franciscan Way. Murray offers us guidelines drawn from the vows and virtues professed by Francis and Clare that will start us down healthy spiritual paths. An accessibly written guide for all followers of Christ, this book connects ancient and modern thinkers, clarifying Franciscan theology and practice. I especially loved the thought of wisdom as ballast in our lives, and the way the author leads us through the Canticle of the Creatures in ways that help us understand how simplicity and profundity go hand in hand. A valuable addition to any collection on Franciscan life, this book will speak especially to the broken and the lost, which is just as it should be." -- Keren Dibbens-Wyatt, Christian contemplative and creative, author of Recital of Love and All That is Made.
 
"That Wendy Murray wrote Inner Healing the Franciscan Way “as one whose life and belief system were shipwrecked and who found an improbable rescue through an endearing saint" will not only resonate with those of us who have experienced the same, but it speaks to how the faith, the wisdom, the practices of St. Francis and St. Clare have continued to shape and save pilgrims through the centuries. Murray's book is a worthy read for the lost, the found, the curious, the know-it-alls, and anyone looking to grow closer to Christ." --Caryn Rivadeneira, author of Saints of Feather and Fang
 
"Wendy Murray’s life was in many ways rescued by Saint Francis of Assisi when she was inadvertently introduced to the 12th Century saint and his story more than two decades ago. The way she wrote about Saint Francis in her book On Broken Legs (2004) still touches me all these years later. As I read Inner Healing the Franciscan Way, I found myself longing to be free from the myriad distractions and ambitions that cloud my vision and keep me from being close to the God I profess to love. And though my circumstances would not allow me to drop everything and go live in a monastery, I found in this book practical and meaningful ways to apply Franciscan vows and virtues to my very modern life. I highly recommend Inner Healing the Franciscan Way." —Fernando Ortega, acclaimed singer-songwriter of Christian music
 
"With lyrical prose and deep transparency, Wendy Murray intertwines the lives of St. Francis and St. Clare with her own journey of recovery from searing heartbreak.  The result is an engaging read, with much to ponder." —Gwenfair Walters Adams, Ph.D. Professor of Church History and Spiritual Formation at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary