One of the best-loved prayers is the Peace Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi. This prayer is more relevant today than it was eight hundred years ago when the lovable Italian monk first wrote it. In fact, this is the type of prayer we should be praying now, for there is so much hatred in the world today. We continue to injure others by our thoughts, words, and deeds, and we have forgotten how to love other fellow human beings with the kind of love that transcends all barriers.Let us listen to St. Francis, as he prays for God's Light to remove the darkness in our hearts , and to fill our hearts instead with Hope and Joy.
"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy."
"Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life."
Francis was born into a fairly wealthy Italian family in 1181 A.D. He founded the Franciscan Order at the age of 28, and passed away on 3rd October 1226 at the age of 45. "In many ways a mystic, Francis viewed all nature as a mirror of God, calling all creatures his brothers and sisters."
In the words of Terry Matz, "Francis' brotherhood included all of God's creation. Much has been written about Francis' love of nature but his relationship was deeper than that. We call someone a lover of nature if they spend their free time in the woods or admire its beauty. But Francis really felt that nature, all God's creations, were part of his brotherhood. The sparrow was as much his brother as the pope."
To know more about St. Francis and his missionary work, please visit the websites:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06221a.htm
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Francis/default.asp
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