The Francis Prayer
With the death of Pope Francis recently we were all reminded that he took his inspiration from the saint of Assisi. It could be argued that no one in the past 2000 years has so embodied the lifestyle that Jesus taught as Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known to the world as Francis of Assisi.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_of_Assisi
There have been many books written about this extraordinary young man, who left a life of secure riches to live with poor lepers, and inspire the founding of an order which exists to this day, The Franciscans.
The Francis Prayer is not found anywhere in the extent writings of Francis, though the spirit of every word is clearly Franciscan. It is one that millions of Christians pray every day in a desire to live more like Christ.
Some great literary figures have written about Francis of Assisi: Nikos Kazantzakis wrote a lovely little biography in which Francis appears like an Italian Zorba the Greek. G.K. Chesterton penned a concise and very readable biography, Saint Francis of Assisi (1923). Julien Green's God's Fool: The Life and Times of Francis of Assisi (1983) is superb. The Latin American Franciscan theologian, Leonardo Boff has written a book directly inspired by the Francis prayer: The Prayer of St Francis (2001). And a little gem of a book is Lawrence S. Cunningham's, Francis of Assisi: Performing the Gospel Life (2004), in which he argues that Francis was a literalist who attempted to live the Jesus gospel in full.
In any case, who can argue against the power of these prayerful words? As the late Swiss theologian Hans Küng (1928-2021) argued, there is no other way to world peace. And it is a positive sign that Pope Leo XIV has begun his papacy with peace as his central theme.
Lord, make ME an instrument of your peace. We must take personal responsibility for peace in OUR world.
Observation:
Just looking at the smaller number of views The Francis Prayer has received, it is a sad reflection of our modern secular society. Anyone who cannot see the universal relevance of these words (even if not religious) is unfortunately a culturally - and certainly spiritually - deprived person. I'll just leave it at that in a world gone mad. When our superheroes are cartoon figures and our political leaders utterly bankrupt of genuine human empathy, isn't it time we mined the rich traditions of faith for the true gems of humanity?
For St Francis of Assisi, following Jesus was too important to be merely religious.
The Francis Prayer
With the death of Pope Francis recently we were all reminded that he took his inspiration from the saint of Assisi. It could be argued that no one in the past 2000 years has so embodied the lifestyle that Jesus taught as Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known to the world as Francis of Assisi.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_of_Assisi
There have been many books written about this extraordinary young man, who left a life of secure riches to live with poor lepers, and inspire the founding of an order which exists to this day, The Franciscans.
The Francis Prayer is not found anywhere in the extent writings of Francis, though the spirit of every word is clearly Franciscan. It is one that millions of Christians pray every day in a desire to live more like Christ.
Some great literary figures have written about Francis of Assisi: Nikos Kazantzakis wrote a lovely little biography in which Francis appears like an Italian Zorba the Greek. G.K. Chesterton penned a concise and very readable biography, Saint Francis of Assisi (1923). Julien Green's God's Fool: The Life and Times of Francis of Assisi (1983) is superb. The Latin American Franciscan theologian, Leonardo Boff has written a book directly inspired by the Francis prayer: The Prayer of St Francis (2001). And a little gem of a book is Lawrence S. Cunningham's, Francis of Assisi: Performing the Gospel Life (2004), in which he argues that Francis was a literalist who attempted to live the Jesus gospel in full.
In any case, who can argue against the power of these prayerful words? As the late Swiss theologian Hans Küng (1928-2021) argued, there is no other way to world peace. And it is a positive sign that Pope Leo XIV has begun his papacy with peace as his central theme.
Lord, make ME an instrument of your peace. We must take personal responsibility for peace in OUR world.
Observation:
Just looking at the smaller number of views The Francis Prayer has received, it is a sad reflection of our modern secular society. Anyone who cannot see the universal relevance of these words (even if not religious) is unfortunately a culturally - and certainly spiritually - deprived person. I'll just leave it at that in a world gone mad. When our superheroes are cartoon figures and our political leaders utterly bankrupt of genuine human empathy, isn't it time we mined the rich traditions of faith for the true gems of humanity?
For St Francis of Assisi, following Jesus was too important to be merely religious.