Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; 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 are pardoned; It is in pardoning that we are pardoned; It is in dying that we are born again to eternal life
Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace－St. Francis of Assisi
Lord, make me an instrument of Your Peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
And where there is doubting, let me bring Your Faith.
And Lord, make me an instrument of Your Peace,
Where there is despairing, let me bring Your hope.
Where there is darkness, Your Light.
And where there is sadness, let me bring Your Joy.
O, Divine Master,
Grant that I might seek not so much be consoled, as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
not so much to be loved, as to love one another ,
For it is in giving that we now receive,
It is in pardoning, that we are now pardoned.
And it is in dying that we are now born again.
9/26/1182 – 10/3/1226
Francis was the son of a wealthy cloth merchant in Assisi, and he lived the high-spirited life typical of a wealthy young man, even fighting as a soldier for Assisi. While going off to war in 1204, Francis had a vision that directed him back to Assisi, where he lost his taste for his worldly life. On a pilgrimage to Rome, he begged with the beggars at St. Peter’s. The experience moved him to live in poverty. Francis returned home, began preaching on the streets, and soon amassed a following. His order was endorsed by Pope Innocent III in 1210. He then founded the Order of Poor Clares, which was an enclosed order for women, as well as the Third Order of Brothers and Sisters of Penance. In 1219, he went to Egypt in an attempt to convert the Sultan. By this point, the Franciscan Order had grown to such an extent that its primitive organizational structure was no longer sufficient. He returned to Italy to organize the order. Once his organization was endorsed by the Pope, he withdrew increasingly from external affairs. In 1223, Francis arranged for the first Christmas manger scene. In 1224, he received the stigmata, making him the first person to bear the wounds of Christ’s Passion. He died in 1226 while preaching Psalm 141.
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