For St. Francis of Assisi, prayer was the breath of life and the sunrise of his soul. Prayer was the simplest most direct way for the saint to acknowledge his dependency on God for everything. Prayer enabled St. Francis to become more aware of God's presence, a presence that was at once far beyond him and deep within him. Through prayer Francis entered communion with God. Prayer was the saint's safest haven, and he devoted himself to long periods of intense prayer, sometimes lasting throughout the night. He peppered his life with periods of solitude. He sought out solitary places where he could enter communion with God. For Francis, silence was the language of God; and he knew the importance of being still and resting in God. Fully half his converted life was spent in contemplation and prayer. Prayer was part of the fabric of his life, and everything he did began with and grew out of prayer. Francis spent hours on his knees before the crucifix; adoration was the oxygen of his spiritual life. He breathed deeply the pure divine glory of Life itself. Francis sacrificed everything to enter deeply into a life of prayer. For Francis, prayer was Reality, and it became the center of his life. Holy Silence explores the contemplative dimension of the life of the saint, for it was in stillness and silence that St. Francis entered deeply into unity with God-and as a result into unity with all of creation. Holy Silence is a mix of short poetic and prose meditations on the invisible spiritual world of the saint and how his sacred discoveries can help us as we move toward God in our own way, in our own day.