Above is the complete original text of the Prayer of Saint Francis. It is a line-by-line English translation of the earliest known French publication of the prayer in 1912.
No one really knows who wrote the prayer. It may or may not have actually been Saint Francis. It doesn’t matter who the real author was.
Spirit has talked about Saint Francis and his prayer before. But today we’d like to review it again. It seems particularly timely now with all the turmoil and chaos engulfing our world.
Spirit
We agree with Johnny—it doesn’t matter who wrote the Prayer of Saint Francis. What matters is the message it carries.
This is a message your troubled world could greatly benefit from if the words were deeply felt and lived among all humans.
Here we’d like to share with you some of our thoughts:
- You will never make peace with weapons of war.
- If you carry any hatred, anger, resentment, or bitterness in your heart, you are making war, not peace.
- True peace begins within your heart and the hearts of all your sisters and brothers.
- Let all your words, spoken or unspoken, be filled with peace.
- When you meet others face-to-face look them in the eye and send them thoughts of peace and love.
- Carry only love and peace in your heart, and you will increase their flow throughout the planet. You, standing alone, are that powerful.
- Be peaceful. Be peace.
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Here’s an audiovisual version of the Saint Francis prayer, sung by Sarah McLachlan.
Pat
Thank you John, so perfect and needed, especially in these times we’re living right now. God bless, my friend.
John Cali
Thanks very much, Pat. We hope you’re doing well in these interesting times. God bless you too.
Pat
We are doing well, thank you, John and the same to you and your family. It’s been a while and glad to see you got my comment. I haven’t been on the internet much lately and had trouble with my comment going through. It’s good to see you continue to put your light out there. God bless.
John Cali
Thank you for letting us know, Pat. We haven’t been as active as usual these past few months due to family concerns, including a death. But we’re keeping up as well as we can. God bless you too, dear.
Gretchen Vogel Morin
One of the most beautiful prayers for sure
John Cali
Thank you very much, Gretchen. It certainly is a beautiful prayer.