Prayer
In addition to everything else about St. Francis, he was certainly
a man of prayer.
Listed below are some examples of prayers that are attributed to him
along with some historical background material.
Prayer
of Thanksgiving
Prayer for the Entire Order
Virtues
Antiphon of the Blessed Virgin
The Salutation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Prayer Inspired by the Our Father
The Praises of God
A Blessing For Brother Leo
The Canticle of Brother Sun
The Prayer Before the Crucifix
The biographies of Saint Francis written by Thomas of Celano
and Saint Bonaventure characterize the early years of the saint's
conversion as a struggle to discern God's will. Both of these
authors, as well as the author of the Legend of the Three Companions,
describe the scene in the deserted church of San Damiano in Assisi during
which the young Francis heard a command of the Crucified Lord
while
he was absorbed in prayer. "Francis", the voice told him, "go
and repair my house, which as you see, is falling completely
into ruin." The remainder of his life was spent consciously
responding to that command.
It
clearly reflects the struggle of the early years of the saint's life
as well as his ever present desire to fulfill the
will of God. Thus it is a prayer that can be seen as characterizing
the
Poverello's entire life. As it became
more popular, the prayer was embellished and lost some of its
simplicity.
"Most high, glorious God, enlighten
the darkness of my heart and give me, Lord a correct faith, a certain
hope, a perfect charity,
sense and knowledge, so that I may carry out Your holy and true command." BACK
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Prayer
and Thanksgiving
Chapter XXIII of the Earlier Rule
"All powerful, most holy, most high
and supreme God Holy and just Father, Lord, King of heaven
and earth we thank You for Yourself
For through Your holy will and through Your only Son with the Holy spirit
You have created all things spiritual and corporal and, having
made us in Your own image and likeness, You placed us in paradise. And through
our own fault we have fallen. And we thank you for as through
Your
Son You created us so also, through Your holy love, with which
You loved us You brought about His birth."
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Prayer From a Letter to The Entire Order
Of all the letters of Saint Francis, the Letter to the
Entire Order is perhaps the most liturgical in its orientation. "I
implore all of you brothers to show all possible reverence and
honor to the
most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ," he writes
in this work and then proceeds to encourage the friars to manifest
devotions and respect for the celebration of the Eucharist and
the Liturgy of the Hours. It was written "at the end of the
days" of the Saint's life.
The themes of this work reflect many of the concerns
of the Testament,
which was written as the saint was dying.
"Almighty, eternal, just and merciful
God, grant us in our misery [the grace] to do for You alone What
we know You want us to do,
and always to desire what pleases You. Thus, inwardly cleansed, interiorly
enlightened, and inflamed by the fire of the Holy Spirit, may
we be able to follow in the footprints of Your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus
Christ. And, by Your grace alone, may we make our way to You,
Most High Who live and rule in perfect Trinity and simple Unity, all are
glorified God all-powerful forever and ever. Amen." BACK
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The Salutation of the Virtues
The more one ponders this simple text, the more Saint
Francis is revealed as a theologian of the workings of the Spirit
and
of divine grace in the soul of one has surrendered himself entirely
to God by "dying" to
self to live totally for God.
Although the titles of this work differ in many early manuscripts,
the authenticity of the text has been solidly established. Thomas
of Celano witnesses to its existence when he quotes a section of
it in
the Second Life of Saint Francis.
The work can be divided into three major sections: the salutations
addressed to the virtues, the dispositions necessary for their
reception, and the description of each one's activity. The consideration
of each
of the virtues in a feminine sense is an expression of the medieval
milieu form which this writing comes. What is curious, though,
is the manner of linking certain virtues to one another. The combination
established
between wisdom and simplicity, poverty and humility, and love
and obedience speak eloquently of the unique vision of Saint Francis.
"Hail, Queen Wisdom, may the Lord
protect you with your sister, holy pure Simplicity. Lady, holy
Poverty, may the Lord protect
you with your sister, holy Humility. Lady, holy Charity, may the Lord protect
you with your sister, holy Obedience. O most holy Virtues, may
the
Lord protect all of you from Whom you come and proceed. there
is surely no on in the entire world who can posses any one of you unless he dies
first. Whoever possesses one [of you] and does not offend the
others,
possesses all. And whoever offends one [of you] does not posses
any and offends all. And each one destroys vices and sins. Holy Wisdom
destroys Satan and all his subtlety. Pure holy simplicity destroys
all the wisdom of this world and all the wisdom of this world
and all the wisdom of the body. Holy Poverty destroys the desire of riches
and avarice and the cares of this world. Holy Humility destroys
pride and all the people who are in the world and all things that belong
to the world. Holy Charity destroys every temptation of the devil
and of the flesh and every carnal fear. Holy Obedience destroys every wish
of the body and of the flesh and binds its mortified body to
obedience of the Spirit and to obedience of one's brother and the person who
possess her] is subject and submissive to all persons in the
world and not to man only but even to all beasts and wild animals so that
they may do whatever they want with him inasmuch as it has been
given to them from above by the Lord" BACK
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Antiphon of the Blessed Virgin
"Holy Virgin Mary, among women, there
is no one like you born into the world: you are the daughter and
the servant of the most
high and supreme King and Father of heaven you are the mother of our most
holy Lord Jesus Christ, you are the spouse of the Holy Spirit.
Pray for us with Saint Michael and the Archangel and all the powers of the
heavens and all the saints to your most holy beloved Son, the
Lord and Master. Glory to the Father...As it was in the beginning...
Prayer: Let us bless the Lord, the living and true God; to Him
let us always praise, glory, honor, blessing and every good.
Amen. Amen. So be it. So be it."
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The Salutation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
In his Second Life of Saint Francis, 198, Thomas
of Celano describes the love of Saint Francis for the Mother of
Jesus as "inexpressible," for "it
was she who made the Lord of majesty our brother. This simple
litany describes Mary's role in the plan of salvation and uses
many titles
that were familiar to the medieval Christian to praise her unique
position. Although the manuscript tradition suggests a close
tie between this
pieces and the Salutation of the Virtues, it is more accurate
to consider them as separate works. Nonetheless, Saint Francis
clearly perceives
and presents the Virgin Mary as the model for every Christian
who responds to the virtuous presence of God in his life.
"Hail, O Lady, holy Queen, Mary, holy
Mother of God: you are the virgin made church and the one chosen
by the most holy Father
in heaven whom He consecrated with His most holy beloved Son and with the Holy
Spirit the Paraclete, in whom there was and is all the fullness
of
grace and every good. Hail, His Palace! Hail, His Tabernacle!
Hail, His Home! Hail, His Robe! Hail, His Servant! Hail, His Mother! and,
[hail] all you holy virtues which through the grace and light
of the Holy Spirit are poured into the hearts of the faithful so that all
from their faithless state you may make them faithful to God." BACK
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The Prayer Inspired by the Our Father
"OUR most holy Father, Our Creator, Redeemer,
Consoler, and Savior who are in heaven; In the angels and in the
saints, Enlightening
them to love, because You, Lord, are light Inflaming them to
love, because You, Lord are love Dwelling [in them] and filling them with
happiness, Because You, Lord, are the Supreme Good, the Eternal
Good from Whom comes all good without Whom there is no good hallowed be your
name: May our knowledge of You become ever clearer That
we may know the breadth of Your blessings the length of Your promises the
height of Your majesty the depth of Your judgments Yyour kindgom
come:
So
that You may rule in us through Your grace and enable us to come to Your kingdom
where
there is an unclouded vision of You a perfect
love of You a blessed companionship with You an eternal enjoyment
of You your will be done on earth is it is in heaven: That we may love
You with our whole heart by always thinking of You with our whole
soul by always directing all our intentions to You and by seeking Your glory
in everything and with our whole strength by spending all energies
and affections of sold and body in the service of Your love and
of nothing else and may we love our neighbors as ourselves by drawing
them all with our whole strength to Your love by rejoicing in
the good fortunes of others as well as our own and by sympathizing with the
misfortunes of others and by giving offense to no one give us
this day:
in memory and understanding and reverence for the love which [our Lord Jesus
Christ]
had
for us and of those things which He said
and did and suffered for us our daily bread: Your own beloved Son, our
Lord Jesus Christ and forgive us our trespasses: Through Your
ineffable mercy through the power of the Passion of Your beloved Son together
with the merits and intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and
all
Your chosen ones AS we forigve those who tresspass against us:
And whatever we do not forgive perfectly, do you, Lord, enable us to forgive
to
the full so that we may truly love [our] enemies and fervently
intercede for them before You returning no one evil for evil and striving to
help everyone in You and lead us not into temptation : Hidden or obvious
Sudden or persistent but deliver us from evil
past,
present
and to
come Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit
As it
was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen."
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The Praises of God
"You are holy, Lord, the only God,
You do wonders. (Ps. 76:15) You are strong, You are great, You
are the most high, You are
the almighty King. You, Holy Father, the King of heaven and earth. (Jn 17:11;
Mt
11:25)
You are Three and One, Lord God of gods; (Ps 135:2) You are good,
all good, the highest good, Lord God, living and true. (1 These
1:9) You are love, charity. You are wisdom; You are humility;
You are patience;
(Ps 70:5) You are beauty; You are meekness; You are security;
You are inner peace; You are joy; You are our hope and joy; You
are justice;
You are moderation, You are all our riches [You are enough for
us]. You are beauty, You are meekness; You are the protector,
(Ps 30:5) You are our guardian and defender; You are strength;
You are
refreshment.
(Ps 42:2) You are our hope, You are our faith, You are our charity,
You are all our sweetness, You are our eternal life: Great and
wonderful Lord, God almighty, Merciful Savior."
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A Blessing Given To Brother Leo
"
May the Lord Bless you and keep you: May He show His face to
you and be merciful to you. May He turn His countenance to you
and give you peace. Mat the Lord bless you, Brother Leo." (Num
6:24-26) BACK TO TOP
The Canticle of Brother Sun
"Most High, all-powerful, good Lord,
Yours are the praises, the glory, the honor, and all blessing.
To You alone, Most High,
do they belong, and no man is worthy to mention Your name. Praised be You,
my Lord, with all Your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun,
who is the day and through whom You give us light. And he is beautiful and
radiant with great splendor; And bears a likeness of You, Most
High One. Praised by You, my Lord, through Brother Wind, and through the
air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather through which
You give sustenance to Your creatures. Praised be You, my Lord, through
Brother Fire through whom You light the night and he is beautiful
and playful and robust and strong. Praised be You, my Lord, through our
Sister Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces
varied fruits with colored flowers and herbs. Praised be You,
my Lord, through who give pardon for Your love and bear infirmity and tribulation.
Blessed are those who endure in peace for by You, Most High,
they shall
be crowned. Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily
Death, from whom no living man can escape. woe to those who die in mortal
sin. Blessed are those whom death shall find in Your most holy
will, for the second death shall do them no harm. Praise and bless my Lord
and give Him thanks and serve Him with great humility." BACK
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