Love! Love! Love!

The Poor Man of God is the fictional biography of Saint Francis of Assisi. The narrator is Brother Leone, a humble beggar wandering the world seeking God. When he arrives in Assisi, he meets Francis, a wealthy young noble tormented by similar quests. Francis believes that through Leone, God speaks to him. Therefore, he abandons his wealthy life, clashes with his father, and, following divine commands, goes out into the world to preach love, the ideal of poverty, and the renunciation of material goods.

Leone follows him and supports him until his death. In The Poor Man of God, Kazantzakis brings God to the level of man and traces the uphill path from heaven to earth, which ultimately leads to freedom, thus fulfilling the highest duty of man, higher even than morality, truth, and beauty: to transmute the matter entrusted to him by God into spirit.

“Do not seek God; if you wish to find Him, close your eyes; if you wish to see Him, block your ears to hear Him. This is what I do,” he said, and he closed his eyes, blocked his ears, crossed his arms, and began to weep. And a woman, who was meditating in the forest, ran naked beneath the pines and shouted: “Love! Love! Love!” and struck her chest and could give me no other response.