Prayers of St. Francis of Assisi in His Own Words
St. Francis of Assisi (1181/82-1226) left wealth behind to follow Christ in poverty, joy, and love for every creature, and bore in his body the wounds of Christ. He died on the evening of October 3, 1226, and the Church keeps his feast on October 4. Many prayers are credited to him, but some are not his: the well-loved Peace Prayer ("Make me an instrument of your peace") first appeared in France in 1912. The prayers below come from his own authenticated writings.
They are taken from the 1906 English translation by Fr. Paschal Robinson: the short prayer for divine love that Ubertino da Casale and St. Bernardine of Siena attributed to him, the closing prayer of his Praises of God, and his Salutation of the Blessed Virgin, a lovely October companion to the Rosary. For his great hymn of creation, see our Canticle of the Sun.
The Prayer
Prayer to obtain divine love: I beseech Thee, O Lord, that the fiery and sweet strength of Thy love may absorb my soul from all things that are under heaven, that I may die for love of Thy love as Thou didst deign to die for love of my love. From the Praises of God: Almighty, most holy, most high, and supreme God, highest good, all good, wholly good, who alone art good. To Thee we render all praise, all glory, all thanks, all honor, all blessing, and we shall always refer all good to Thee. Amen. Salutation of the Blessed Virgin: Hail, holy Lady, most holy Queen, Mother of God, Mary who art ever Virgin, chosen from Heaven by the most Holy Father, whom He has consecrated with the most holy beloved Son and the Ghostly Paraclete, in whom was and is all the fulness of grace and all good. Hail thou His palace! Hail thou His tabernacle! Hail thou His house! Hail thou His garment! Hail thou His handmaid! Hail thou His Mother, and all ye holy virtues which by the grace and illumination of the Holy Ghost thou infusest in the heart of the faithful, that from infidels ye mayest make them faithful to God.
St. Francis of Assisi, pray for us.
Sources: The Writings of Saint Francis of Assisi, newly translated into English by Fr. Paschal Robinson, O.F.M. (Philadelphia: Dolphin Press, 1906), Part III, Prayers I-III. Public domain.
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