From: Michael Straight <straight@email.unc.edu>
Subject: (urth) Silk & St. Francis
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 14:53:56 

On Fri, 1 Jan 1999, Alex David Groce wrote:

> 	Also, read Chesterton's ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI, and wondered if anyone
> else found it plausible that Silk's (brief and unsuccesssful) career as burglar
> was inspired in part by St. Francis' attempt to repair a ruined chapel with
> money stolen from his father--Chesterton concentrates quite a bit on the event
> and its meanings, and I'm certain Wolfe's read the book...  The relevant
> material is in Chapter IV of the book, especially p. 54 of the Image edition...
> If it is a source, then Silk really is a very Chesterton-influenced figure
> (given the obvious Father Brown heritage).

I think someone mentioned this a while back, but the other parallel
between Silk and St. Francis is that St. Francis had a vision from God
which he initially interpreted literally as telling him to rebuild a
particular chapel, but later came to understand as a commission to help
"rebuild" the Church through his missionary order.  Silk's theophany is
similarly a wider commission than merely saving a few buildings.

-Rostrum


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