The Prayer of St. Francis

The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

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.
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.

Background:  St. Francis of Assisi lived from 1181-October 3, 1226 and is the founder of the Franciscan Order of Friars.  A more complete factual biography can be found at this link.

My purpose here is not to analyze St. Francis' life, but to analyze this prayer.  The first thing we must note is that St. Francis did not write this prayer.  Evidence points to French origin of this prayer and that it is approximately 100 years old.  The inspiration, however, for this prayer definitely is the life led by St. Francis.

The purpose of this blog is to promote "Shalom," that is Peace - not merely the absence of war, but God's peace in all of it's forms.  This peace is not surface level peace, it is not freedom from all of our troubles, but it is knowing that God has our troubles in hand.  It is knowing that God has all of us in hand, knows our needs, and walks along with us.  It is knowing that we walk in partnership with the Divine.

Let us take a look, line by line at the prayer that St. Francis did not write, but the prayer that he lived, and how we can live this prayer each day - The prayer will be in black, my comments will be in red.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

     A cry to the Lord to be a true instrument of peace in a world of war - not merely wars of shooting, but wars of words, misunderstandings, failure to communicate - Let us bridge that gap.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

     Hatred seems so prevalent in the world.  Killing happens without mercy.  Genocides still go on.  We refer to those different from us as "those people." We dehumanize, we avoid.  Instead, let us teach the world how to love...Not a superficial surface level love, but a true respect for the fact that others are created in the Imagio Dei (Image of God) just as we are.  Only love - God's Love - will conquer evil.
Where there is injury, pardon.

    Injury deserves reparation, but when someone injures another, the one who injures is also injured.  That person's humanity is also hurt. We don't like to look at it that way.  Yes, some injuries are tough to forgive.  Some may be impossible.  But forgiveness does not mean that what the other person did is "ok."  It means that the offended person can go on with his or her life despite the injury that he or she endured.  It is even better if we can look at the person who hurt us and say, I don't condone what you did, but you are still my brother or sister, and I love you.
Where there is doubt, faith.

     Our world runs by fear - "I don't have enough," "I need more," "They will hurt me," "I am vulnerable," but Christ has abolished fear.  In Christ we have no fear.  He conquered the ultimate fear - Death.  The forces of death hold no power over us.  Let us sow seeds of faith where there is doubt.  Let us seek faith when we are in doubt.
Where there is despair, hope.

     People feel hopeless.  Truth is that they are.  They are without God's hope.  Without God, there is no hope.  Our strength and initiative can only get us so far before our strength wears out.  God's hope never dies.  Let us plant these seeds always.Where there is darkness, light.

     When people are in the dark, it is interesting to know that they often do not know it.  They don't know another way.  Let us show them the light of another path.Where there is sadness, joy.

     People hurt to the point of despair, but there is always joy around us.  Tragic stories about, but so does joy.  We can't, and shouldn't, minimize grief, but we need to always point out that life is joy if it is lived in the assurance of God.

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.

     This second stanza of the prayer shows the self sacrificial love of God and neighbor lived by St. Francis and that which we can live.  While this seems like suffering, it is exactly the opposite.  This is true joy.  Because in God, that which we sacrifice God will replace in us in some way (See the Beatitudes in Matthew 5).

Amen.