Many of us know this prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi:
Lord make me
an instrument of your peaceWhere 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.
Although the words may be familiar, there is a great deal of enlightenment to be gained from truly stepping inside the wisdom offered in these words. It is so deeply human to want and need to be consoled, understood, and loved. God lavishes these gifts on us. As we reach out to those around us and extend these same gifts, we move into a space of greater light…enlightening our spirits by experiencing just a fraction of God’s love for all God’s people.
As we walk this Lenten journey, consider ways that this light of peace can enlighten our own spirits even amid what feel like the darkest times in our lives. Consider what this prayer of peace may have meant to a world ravaged by war, which was the time in which this prayer was first widely circulated. Consider what it might mean to the world today.
The following is a brief summary of the origins of this prayer:(source: http://www.franciscanfriarstor.com/archive/stfrancis/stf_st_francis’_peace_prayer.htm)
Origin of this Prayer
The first appearance of the Peace Prayer occurred in France in 1912 in a small spiritual magazine called La Clochette (The Little Bell). It was published in Paris by a Catholic association known as La Ligue de la Sainte-Messe (The Holy Mass League), founded in 1901 by a French priest, Father Esther Bouquerel (1855-1923). The prayer bore the title of ‘Belle prière à faire pendant la messe‘ (A Beautiful Prayer to Say During the Mass), and was published anonymously. The author could possibly have been Father Bouquerel himself, but the identity of the author remains a mystery.
The prayer was sent in French to Pope Benedict XV in 1915 by the French Marquis Stanislas de La Rochethulon. This was soon followed by its 1916 appearance, in Italian, in L’Osservatore Romano [the Vatican’s daily newspaper]. Around 1920, the prayer was printed by a French Franciscan priest on the back of an image of St. Francis with the title ‘Prière pour la paix‘ (Prayer for Peace) but without being attributed to the saint. Between the two world wars, the prayer circulated in Europe and was translated into English. Its has been attributed the first time to saint Francis in 1927 by a French Protestant Movement, Les Chevaliers du Prince de la Paix (The Knights of the Prince of Peace), founded by Étienne Bach (1892-1986).
The first translation in English that we know of appeared in 1936 in Living Courageously, a book by Kirby Page (1890-1957), a Disciple of Christ minister, pacifist, social evangelist, writer and editor of The World Tomorrow (New York City). Page clearly attributed the text to St. Francis of Assisi. During World War II and immediately after, this prayer for peace began circulating widely as the Prayer of St. Francis, specially through Francis cardinal Spellman’s books, and over the years has gained a worldwide popularity with people of all faiths.
Statue of St. Francis, Grace Cathedral (San Francisco, CA)
Sacred Space 