Before each meeting, we pray:
Prayer of Saint Francis
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.
In Giving
We Receive
Men lose all the material things they leave behind
them in this world, but they carry with them
the reward of their charity and the alms they give.
For these, they will receive from the Lord
the reward and recompense they deserve.
—St. Francis of Assisi
About St. Francis of Assisi
(c. 1181–1226)
St. Francis of Assisi abandoned a life of wealth for a life devoted to Christianity after reportedly hearing the voice of God, who commanded him to rebuild the Christian church and live in poverty. He is the patron saint of Italy, animals and the environment.
Born in Italy in 1181 as Francesco di Bernardone, St. Francis of Assisi was known for drinking and partying in his youth. During a war between Assisi and Perugia, Francis was captured and imprisoned. He spent nearly a year in prison while awaiting his father's ransom payment. According to the legend, he began receiving visions from God. After his release from prison, Francis heard the voice of Christ, who told him to repair the Christian Church and live a life of poverty. So, Francis abandoned his life of luxury and became a devotee of the faith, his reputation spreading all over the Christian world.
Francis' embrace of Christ-like poverty was a radical notion at the time. The Christian church was tremendously wealthy which concerned Francis and others who felt that the long-held apostolic ideals had eroded. Francis set out on a mission to restore the original values of Jesus to the decadent church. His incredible charisma, he drew thousands of followers to him. They listened to Francis' sermons and joined in his way of life—his followers became known as Franciscan friars.
Continuously pushing himself in the quest for spiritual perfection, Francis was soon preaching in up to five villages per day, teaching a new kind of emotional and personal Christian religion that everyday people could understand. He even went so far as to preach to animals, but Francis' message was spread far and wide, and thousands of people were captivated by what they heard. He is attributed with the first living nativity to convey the birth of Christ.
In 1224, Francis reportedly received a vision that left him with the stigmata of Christ—marks resembling the wounds Jesus Christ suffered when he was crucified, through his hands and the gaping lance wound in his side. This made Francis the first person to receive the holy wounds of the stigmata. They would remain visible for the rest of his life.