Prayer Of Saint Francis
2007 September 19
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy 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.
O Divine Master,
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.
Amen.
7 Responses
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Brian,
I love this prayer. I have it hanging in my office. Thanks for the reminder. You’ve helped aim me in the right direction today.
JimT
@JimT – I’d never heard of it before I read it in the 10 Things book yesterday. I immediately loved it.
I love this prayer so much. I was talking to Tom about it just the other day. It runs through my mind often. Thanks for posting it.
I love this. A family member gave me a bookmark with it on it several years ago. He also wrote on it that it was my great-grandmother’s (who I didn’t get the opportunity to meet) favorite prayer.
@MBMQ – It’s simply beautiful. I want to memorize it.
@Alyson – I printed a copy and give it to Mrs. J last night. She loved it, too.
Hello Brian!
I love this prayer too. Simple, yet complex. Accepting, yet powerful.
On St. Francis’ Day when I was teaching Sunday School, we would spend time talking with kids about all the opposites in this prayer. The first verse has opposite actions. The second verse has opposite directions for the flow of love and hopes between two people (or even a person and an animal, since St. Francis’ life is intimately connected with his love of animals).
Thanks for posting!
Hi, Inel!!
It is wonderful. I’ve printed it out and am going to try to repeat it every night before going to bed. Hopefully it won’t take long for me to memorize it and then I won’t need the paper in front of me.
Good to hear from you and hope you’re doing well!