PRAYER FOR PEACE
The Prayer for Peace has been called the Prayer of St Francis of Assisi. The problem? It is not contained in any of his writings. Therefore most scholars suggest that it was probably not written by this beautiful Man of God. But attributed to Saint Francis, giving the Prayer For Peace document some weight. The reason why some have attributed it to St. Francis of Assisi is that someone had found a picture of St Francis with the Prayer for Peace written on the backside of the image.
It was quite popular during World War I and World War II. There have been myriads of music scores applied to it too. Historians have not been able to trace its origins much before Nineteen-Twelve. There is a possibility that it may have been penned by Father Esther Bouqueral. Father Bouqueral was the founder of a publication called La Clochette (The Little Bell). Which is where the Prayer For Peace was first printed in Nineteen-Twelve.
Those that belong to the Order of St Francis tend to agree that the Saint never wrote this document. They feel that he never would have written such a document with such self servicing words such as I, or myself. Also, That the document itself does not include God, or to Jesus Christ. Which this particular Man of God would never have done. It should also be noted that even though the members of his Order do not believe that St Francis wrote this document. They do encourage people of faith to embrace the Prayer.
The Prayer admonishes the People of God to perform physically the language of the Book of Micah Chapter Six, Verse 8. To do Justice, Have Mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. It is a perfect and holy writing in that it provokes the essence of what it truly means to be Christ like in all that we do. In other words, what it means to truly be a Christian. In these modern turbulent times. It is not ok to lack compassion and understanding for those suffering mentally or physically. We as the people of God must always endeavor to treat the stranger with kindness, even though they are not from our lands. To Love all immigrants as though we are loving ourselves. To offer refuge when they suffer and have nowhere to turn to. To hold those in such pain in that perfect and Holy Light of God.
There is also a unique prayer by Giles of Assisi. In the following works, I have combined both as a prayer for an upcoming morning virtual prayer room and the following Sunday's 8:30 Prayer & Meditation Service. The first part is a Modern interpretation of what I believe that St. Francis would have penned had he actually written the prayer, as well as followed by a Modern version of the Prayer by Giles of Assisi.
The following is my paraphrased version of these wonderful works:
Divine Love, make all of us around the world an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let all beings bring love.
Where there is offense, let everyone around the world bring pardon.
Where there is discord, let all that live and breathe, bring union.
Where there is error, let the Light Bearers bring truth.
Where there is doubt, let us all increase and bring our faith.
Where there is despair, let all the people be there for each other and bring hope.
Where there is darkness activity of God, Shine your light over all the Earth.
Where there is sadness, let the sweet Spirit bring today much joy.
O Master, let the people not seek as much, or demand things of others
God, bless the people of this Earth with the ability to be consoled as to console,
Holy Spirit allow us the Gift of Discernment to be understood as to obtain understanding,
We ask that the Christ show us the way to be loved, and to love,
Let us obtain the wisdom of knowing that it is in giving that one receives,
Release us from our heavy burdens wonderful divinity, that we might find that it is in self-forgetting that one finds,
The redemption of the saints comes through forgiveness; it is in pardoning that one is pardoned,
it is in dying that one is raised to eternal life, may all of us become lights for others during the journey. Amen
Blessed are we who love and do not need to be loved;
Blessed are those who are careful, and does not desire to be feared;
Blessed are individuals who serve as a servant and does not require to be served with servitude;
Blessed are the people of God who behave well toward one another and does not project that others behave well toward them;
And because these are great things, we can all aspire to be wonderful and to do our part to repair the world.
Be well beloved, be someone's rainbow today. Love in Christ - AJ White-Wolf
Further Reading And Media:
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Document created on April 23, 2020 by AJ White-Wolf