Prayer of Saint 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;
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
‘The Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi’, is a well-known prayer that uses
symbols and ideas to create a prayer that teaches us how to be people of
God.
Symbolism is used greatly throughout the prayer.
“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.”
Being an instrument of peace is saying to be a maker of peace and show peace and love in
our lives and in the lives of others. If we show love and peace to others we can
not only improve our life and self-confidence but also theirs.
There is also a contrast between good and bad, love and hate.”...hatred,
let me sow love; ... injury,pardon; ... doubt, faith; ...despair, hope; ...darkness, light; ...sadness, joy.”
When there is hatred in the world we need to show love and overcome hate.
The prayer goes on the state that when there is anything bad we need to be strong
and overcome it with love and kindness. If we do this we can overcome the hard
things in life and bring love to the world and walk more in the footsteps of
Jesus and Saint Francis.
The last paragraph of the prayer has a strong meaning because it
teaches us to be more of a person of God.”...consoled as to
console;... to be understood as to understand;...to be loved as to
love...giving that we receive;...pardoning that we are pardoned;.. in dying that
we are born to eternal life...” In the very end of this paragraph it
says that in dying we are going to be reborn into enteral life. Even though on
Earth we must die and there is no way of escaping that fate, we don’t die
spiritual. Our bodies die and are left on Earth but as Catholics we believe that
our spirit goes to Heaven where we will live forever with
God.
This prayer is a teaching that teaches us to walk in the
footsteps of Saint Francis and became more of a person of God. We can look up
to St Francis as a role model and teacher and can follow his teachings to lead
a better life style for ourself’s and
others.