The Franciscan Prayer...Francis of Assisi

Francis’ path to God was an inversion of monastic values. Rather than fleeing the world to find God, God is to be found in the world – the ‘cloister’ of the Franciscans.

Francis of Assisi, attained the heights of contemplation through a penetrating vision of creation. With a basic education in reading and writing, Francis came to prayer from a popular and lay experience.

His family belonged to the rising merchant class in Assisi. His father, a cloth merchant, owned a shop in Assisi where Francis apparently worked. He was not only familiar with the daily business of buying and trading cloth, but also came into contact with many different types of people—farmers, craftsmen, artists, bakers—people who worked with their hands and valued the material things of the earth.

The idea of transcending this world to contemplate true reality would have been foreign to Francis’ thinking. Rather, he regarded earthly life as possessing ideal, positive potential as God’s creation. Some regard him as ‘the first materialist’ in the best sense of the word because of the way Francis looked on the material world—not for what it is but for how it is: God’s creation. Next... The Journey of Francis

Prayer for the Intercession of Saint Francis of Assisi (Br. JNMatias, ofs)

In line with the feast of our Seraphic Father, Francis this October, let me share with you a prayer composed by a Secular Franciscan brother, Br. Jesus Matias, OFS



Prayer for the Intercession of Saint Francis of Assisi


Seraphic Saint Francis
you, who found true heavenly happiness

in the perfect understanding of the Incarnation of our Lord
through your childlike trust in the providence of the Father;

in the perfect imitation of the life and ministry of our Divine Master,
through your patient endurance of daily hardships;

in the perfect reflection of the redeeming Passion of our Savior
through your painful burden of bearing the wounds of the stigmata;

may you intercede for us that we may, with purity of heart
be given the steadfast faith of our Blessed Mother Mary
to persevere in the practice of the holy virtues;

be given the strong love and courage of the saints
to persevere in the mission of the Church to the poor;

and be given the joyful hope of Saint Joseph
to persevere in the lifelong witnessing of the Gospels
which leads to everlasting peace.

Amen.