Michael Mark M.

Villalobos
1-10

Prayer by Saint Francis of Assisi (page 366)

About the Author: St Francis of Assisi

 Born: 1181/1182 in Papal States located in Italy
 Died: October 3, 1226 in Assisi, Papal States (age 44-45)
 Feast Day: October 4
 Patronage: animals, environment, Italy, merchants, stowaways
 Birth name of Giovanni Francesco di Bernardone
 Son of a wealthy cloth merchant in Assisi that’s why he lived the high-spirited life typical of a
wealthy young man
 Served as a soldier
 In a war in 1204, he had a vision that made him lost his taste for his worldly life which made him
live a life of poverty
 Then began preaching in the streets and building groups of religious men and women namely
Franciscan Order, Order of Poor Ladies, and Third Order of Brothers and Sisters of Penance
 Went to Egypt to fulfil his martyrdom in the hands of the Muslims
 Went back to Italy later on because of his Orders
 In 1224, he received the stigmata making him the first person to bear the wounds of Christ
 Died in 1226 while singing Psalm 141
 Pronounced saint in 1228

Notable Works: St Francis of Assisi

 Canticle of the Sun
 Prayer before the Crucifix, 1205
 Regula non bullata (the Earlier Rule), 1221
 Regulla bullata, (the Later Rule), 1223
 Testament, 1226
 Admonitions

Theme - The message, point of view and idea of the poem.

 The theme of the poem was all about “peace”.
 This Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi wanted us to give peace to each other, to stop the conflicts
and wars that caused us a lot of pain (emotionally and physically), despair and sadness, and
recover from natural and man-made calamities.
 And let the these feelings change to faith, love and hope.
 To fill our heart with joy and not with sorrows, to forgive others and understand each other.
 In short, fill the world with love and faith in GOD.

Style - The way the poem is written. Includes length of meters, number of stanzas along with rhyme
techniques and rhythm.
What type was used?
 Free verse (vers libre)
Poetry written in either rhyme or unrhymed lines that have no set fixed metrical pattern
 Blank verse:
a succession of unrhymed iambic pentameter lines
What is the rhyme scheme?
 There’s no rhyme scheme.
What measure was used?
 There’s no measure.

Explanation of the line of the “Prayer”

O Lord, make me an instrument of Thy Peace!

 Peace is the first attribute St. Francis asks for, because without peace how can you come to
God? Without peace there is fear. Fear is chased away by one who is an embodiment of peace.
To be an instrument of peace is to know you are with God right now.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
 From out of peace love flows. Out of the peace of Being comes the Awareness that God is my
love and that I am Gods love and that love explodes into all creation. St. Francis warns us that
hatred is the first step that will lead a soul onto a very dark path. To hate anything is a sword
that cuts away your connection to God. If all of us will show love instead of hatred, we can
transform those who lived in hate and offer light to those darkened minds. 
Where there is injury, pardon;
 St. Francis asks of us to be like Jesus who came to remind us that whatever you do to the body it
does not ruin Gods love for His creation. No matter what happens to your body has no bearing
on who you are; whether you are nailed to a cross or thrown into the lion pit as were the
martyrs. If you we are hurt by somebody, don’t take revenge because what important to God is
that we’ll forgive and be kind to those who wronged us.
Where there is discord, harmony;
 In the prayer, St. Francis wants peace to be present in the world. Any arguments will invite the
devil and thus make things worse. Don’t go into dispute but rather try to settle it in harmonious
way.
Where there is doubt, faith;
 St. Francis wants us to know that doubt is a box of limitations imposed on your mind, suffocating
you to death, shutting out Gods infinite love and mercy. And the answer to this problem is faith.
Faith is the whispering of Truth that God can do anything through you. God can melt away all
errors of the mind, all sin in an instant.
Where there is despair, hope;
 Despair is an acute case of doubt. Whereas doubt will confuse you on life’s road, slowing you
down, sending you in wrong directions; despair cuts away your very legs, sucking out all of your
life force. But hope is the knowing that all conditions will pass. All pain will end.
Where there is darkness, light, and
 From despair darkness follows. No ray of hope to the end of suffering can penetrate this gloom.
Only by becoming enlightened, to be filled with light--a light beyond the duality of the world,
the light of the Truth of ones Being, ones Nature--then does darkness, suffering end.
Where there is sorrow, joy.
 I’ve once read an article and it says that Sad spelled backwards is das. Das is a Sanskrit word
meaning servant. When you are sad you are not serving. Sadness is the result of sinking into the
shadows of believing you are just a pathetic body, unloved in an unforgiving world with the
belief that you have nothing to give. But let us overcome it with joy. Joy is the participation in
this great dance of life.
Oh Divine Master,
  The first half of the prayer is St. Francis telling us what qualities of character we need to foster.
This latter part informs us of what right actions we need to take to come back to the Awareness
of God.
grant that I may not so much seek
 St. Francis asks for us to be balanced. St. Francis knew about extremes. His first part of his life
was living the worldly life to the hilt. Then after his conversion he swung to the spiritual life,
never compromising, pushing his body that it literally wasted away with austerities.
to be consoled as to console;
 There are times when it is beneficial to share with others on the Path our suffering, so they can
remind you about who you really are. Francis had his brothers go out two by two so they could
remind each other when the cloud of forgetfulness would block the sun of knowing.
to be understood as to understand;
 St. Francis wants us to remember that to truly understand is to see their suffering as a cry for
help and the need to connect in Awareness to God.
to be loved as to love;
 To ask for love from a source other than from God only invites suffering, for it turns your
Awareness from the real Source and focuses on the futile. 
for it is in giving that we receive;
 When we give without the thought of reward we let go of what we have been holding onto.
Those who hold less are held less by such things and are freer to give. And when we are not
clutching at what has come our way, what life needs to give can come in.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
 We return to forgiveness. Not only that we must forgive those who wronged us but is better if
we not think of harming others on the first place. Forgiveness takes place if someone had
committed mistake, but isn’t it better if our world wouldn’t forgive because there is no sin to
forgive. It’s better to live in a that kind of world of peace.
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
 St. Francis is not talking of the death of our physical body. He emphasis more on the idea that
we must be ready when we become new persons. If we had been through a tough time and be
able to survive it, that is the Eternal life. We must be ready to think what have we learned and
to think what other good things I can now do to serve others. Just like what happened in the life
of St. Francis.