Francis of Assisi is best known for founding the Franciscan Order, and his love of creation. He didn’t start out as a religious man. Francis was born 1181 or 1182 in Assisi, Italy during a time when the various city states of Italy were at war. His mother named him Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone. His father called him Francesco. When he was about 20, he was held as a prisoner of war for a year.
Four years later he had a vision of Christ while in the Chapel of San Damiano, near Assisi. He was told “go and repair my house”. Assuming it was the church he was in, Francis set out to do that. In the process, he gathered followers who wanted to live simply and help in the work.
In 1209, he composed the Regula primitiva or "Primitive Rule" for his followers ("friars"). They were simply "To follow the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ and to walk in his footsteps.” A year later, on April 16, 1210, Pope Innocent III approved Order. From this grew the men's Order of Friars Minor, the women's Order of Saint Clare, and the Third Order of Saint Francis.
He set up the first creche with live animals to help the people experience the nativity in 1223. Francis died on October 3, 1226 and was canonized by Pope Gregory IX on July 16, 1228. He has become associated with patronage of animals and the natural environment. Many churches have Blessing of Animals services somewhere near October 4.
One prayer attributed to Francis begins “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace”. We can use this prayer to enrich our own prayer life. The video will offer you images to sit with as you pray the words of the familiar prayer. You may want to pause the video if a certain phrase is meaningful to you. Let the words and images, and music fill your heart and soul and bring you closer to God.
If you prefer, you can download the images from the video and use them in your praying.
(Music in the video is a bit patchy-it happens when going from one older technology to a newer one. My apologies.)
What part of the prayer is most meaningful to you?
