Sunday, April 21, 2013

Francis Of Assisi's "Our Father" Prayer

"[T]his writing is perhaps the only instance in which we find an example of how Francis responded to his brothers' request to teach them how to pray." [1]  The prayer is quoted below (italics original) [2]:

O Our Father most holy:
Our Creator, Redeemer, Consoler, and Savior:

Who are in heaven:
In the angels and the saints,
enlightening them to know, for You, Lord, are light;
inflaming them to love, for You, Lord, are love;
dwelling in them and filling them with happiness,
for You, Lord, are Supreme Good, the Eternal Good,
from Whom all good comes
without Whom there is no good.

Holy be Your Name:
May knowledge of You become clearer in us
that we may know
the breath of Your blessings,
the length of Your promises,
the height of Your majesty,
the depth of Your judgments.

Your kingdom come:
That You may rule in us through Your grace
and enable us to come  to Your kingdom
where there is clear vision of You,
perfect love of You,
blessed companionship of You,
eternal enjoyment of You.

Your will be done on earth as in heaven:
That we may love You
with our whole heart by always thinking of You,
with our whole soul by always desiring You,
with our whole mind by always directing all our intentions to You,
and by seeking Your glory in everything,
 with all our whole strength by exerting
all our energies and affections of body and soul
in the service of Your love and of nothing else;
and we may love our neighbor as ourselves
by drawing them all to Your love with our whole strength,
by rejoicing in the good of others as in our own,
by suffering with others at their misfortunes,
and by giving offense to no one.

Give us this day:
in remembrance, understanding, and reverence
of that love which [Your son] had for us [3]
and of those things that He said and did and suffered for us.

our daily Bread:
You own beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Forgive us our trespasses:
through Your ineffable mercy
through the power of the passion of Your beloved Son
and through the merits and intercession
of the ever blessed Virgin and all Your elect.

As we forgive those who trespass against us:
And what we do not completely forgive,
make us, Lord, forgive completely
that we may truly love our enemies because of You
and we may fervently intercede for them before You,
returning no one evil for evil
and we may strive to help everyone in You.

And lead us not into temptation:
hidden or obvious,
sudden or persistent.

But deliver us from evil:
past,
present,
and to come

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. 



[1] Armstrong, Regis J. O.F.M. Cap. et.al. Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, Volume I, The Saint. Page 158. New York: New York City Press, 2000.
[2] Ibid., 158-160.
[3] In the book, the words within the bracket are: "our Lord Jesus Christ."  I do not think that is correct and therefore I chose the words "Your Son" because throughout the prayer, before and after this missing part Francis of Assisi was directing his prayer to God.  The words "our Lord Jesus Christ" sounds detached, not personable like the rest of the prayer.  The words "Your Son" is more personable.  Furthermore, "our Lord Jesus Christ appears in the next paragraph.  From the context of the prayer, it ought to be the first time, not the second, because the stress is on "our daily Bread" which is "Your own beloved Son" Who is being introduced as "our Lord Jesus Christ."  By having a paragraph unto itself and by the strategic placement of a comma, the introduction of "our Lord Jesus Christ" to the Lord's Prayer was intended to be a momentous occasion.  Mentioning "our Lord Jesus Christ" ahead of time would have been anticlimactic; it would have deflated the importance and diminished the moment of transubstantiation when "our Lord Jesus Christ" became "our daily Bread."

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