Prayer
Oh
Lord let your light shine
And glorify your servant Father Gregorio
Your will was his daily bread Your Cross his support,
Your sweet Mother, his guide.
Make me capable of being like him,
witness of the Gospel
and grant me, through his intercession
the grace that I ask of your mercy.
Amen.
Birthday
of Saint Clare PRAYER
Holy
Mother Clare, Daughter of Holy Poverty, you chose to know every need. We
live in a plentiful time. Remind us, grateful in such
Providence
, that we may still join the Poor Christ and all Poor People in the
Powerlessness of Poverty by accepting graciously those things we cannot
control or influence.
Holy Mother Clare, Daughter of Holy Chastity, for Love Himself, you gave
up singular human love. We live in a liberal time. Call us to better
witness the
personal fulfillment experienced in God's mysterious hundred-fold return
by our harmonious expression of our voluntary consecration to
Christ and the service of His Church.
Holy Mother Clare, Daughter of Holy Obedience, you led well because you
first followed well. We live in an individualistic time. Encourage us to
be humble-mannered and mild-tongued until we are humble and mild
hearted.
Holy Mother Clare, Daughter of Holy Simplicity, we live in a complicated
time. Teach us to remain simple so Wisdom may guide.
(In honor of the 800th Birthday of Saint Clare
by a Sister of Saint Francis, Hankinson, ND, Jan. 17,1994)
Marian
Antiphon of Saint Francis of
Assisi
Holy Virgin Mary, among women, there is no one like you born into the
world: you are the daughter and the servant of the Most High and Supreme
King and Father of heaven, you are the mother of our Most Holy Lord
Jesus Christ, you are the spouse of the Holy Spirit.
Pray for us with Saint Michael the
Archangel
and all the powers of the heavens and all the saints to your most holy
beloved Son, the Lord and Master.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
Blessing
of Brother Leo
By Saint
Frances
May
the Lord bless you and keep you.
May He show His face to you and have mercy.
May He turn His countenance to you and give you peace.
The Lord bless you!
Amen.
The
Franciscan Magnificat
With
Mary my soul proclaims the love of the Lord,
my Franciscan spirit exults in God, my Savior.
For He has looked with favor on His lowly servant, Francis.
Behold, all generations will call him blessed.
The Almighty has raised up a family of Franciscans
- Blessed be His Name! -
Who spread peace, love and joy to all in every generation.
Through Francis He has lavished His love on the poor;
And showed us how to love God in His creatures;
He has scattered the wicked in their ways;
He has confused the worldly in their pride;
He has given us a world-wide mission.
To fill the hungry heart with our preaching.
And with Lady Poverty to confound the rich.
Through us He has lifted up the humble;
For He has remembered His promise of peace and joy,
The promise He made to our Father Francis,
and to his followers forever.
Canticle of the Creatures
Altissimu, omnipotente, bonsignore,
tue sono le laude la gloria
et l'honore et omne
benedictione.Ad te solo, Altissimo, se Konfanoet nullu homo enne dign
te mentovare.
Laudato
sie, mi signore, cum tucte le tue creature,
spetialmente messer lo frate sole, loquale iorni et allumini noi
per lui.Et ellu e bellu eradiante cum grande splendore:de te, Altissimo,
porta significatione.
Laudato si, mi signore, per sora luna ele stelle:
in celu lai formate clarite et pretiose et belle.Laudate si, mi signore,
per frate vento, et per aere et nubilo et sereno et omne tempo per
loquale a le tue creature dai sustentamento.
Laudato si, mi signore, per sor aqua,
laquale e multo utile et humile et pretiosa et casta. Laudato si,
mi signore, per frate focu, per loquale ennalumini la nocte: et ellu
ebello et iocundo et robustoso et forte.
Laudato si, mi signore, per sora nostra matre
terra, laquale ne sustenta
et governa, et produce diverse fructi
con coloriti flori et herba.
Laudato
si, mi signore, per quelli ke perdonano per lo tuo amore et sostengo
infirmitate et tribulatione.Beate quelli kel susterranno in pace, ka da
te, Altissimo, sirano incoronati.
Laudato si, mi signore, per sora nostra morte
corporale, da laquale nullu
homo vivente po skappare.
Guai acqueli ke morrano
ne le peccata mortali! Beati quelli ke trovarane le tue
santissime voluntati, ka la morte secunda nol
fara' male.
Laudate
et benedicite, mi signore, et rengratiate et servite lo cum grande
humilitate.
Most High, all-powerful, all good, Lord! All
praise is yours, all glory,
all honor and all blessing. To you, alone, Most High, do they
belong.
No mortal lips are worthy to pronounce you name.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through all that you have made,
and first,
my Lord, Brother Sun, who brings the day; and light you give to
us through him. How beautiful is he, how radiant in all his splendor!
Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Moon and Stars;
In the heavens you have made them, bright and precious and fair.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air,
and fair and stormy, all the weather's moods,
by which you cherish all that you have made.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Water,
so useful, lowly, precious and pure.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through Brother Fire,
through whom you brighten up the night. How beautiful is he, how
gay!
Full of power and strength.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Earth, our mother,
who feeds us in her sovereignty and produces various fruits
with colored flowers and herbs.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through those who grant pardon
for love of you; through those who endure sickness and trial.
Happy those who endure in peace. By you, Most High, they will be
crowned.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Death, from whose
embrace
no mortal can escape. Woe to those who die in mortal sin!
Happy those She finds doing your will.
The second death can do no harm to them.
Praise and bless my Lord, and give him thanks,
and serve him with great humility.
Prayer that Saint Francis and his Brothers
prayed whenever they saw a church,
and that Franciscans everywhere still pray every day.
We
adore you,
O Lord Jesus Christ,
here
and in all the Churches of the world,
and we praise You
because by Your Holy Cross
You have redeemed the world.
Prayer
For Guidance
for help with your
discernment
"Most
high, glorious God
enlighten the darkness of my heart
and grant me, Lord,
a correct faith,
a certain hope,
a perfect charity,
sense of knowledge,
so that I may carry out,
your holy and true command."
- St Francis of
Assisi
St. Clare of
Assisi
's Second Letter to Blessed Agnes of
Prague
What you hold, may you
[always] hold.
What you do may you [always] do and never abandon.
But with swift pace, light step, and unswerving feet, so that even your
steps stir up no dust,
may you go forward securely, joyfully, and swiftly,
on the path of prudent happiness,
not believing anything,
not agreeing with anything
that would dissuade you from this resolution
or that would place a stumbling block
for you on the way,
so that you may offer your vows to the Most High
in the pursuit of that perfection to which
the Spirit of the Lord has called you.
one (cf. 2 Cor 6:3).
A
Salutation to the Blessed Virgin Mary
by St. Francis of
Assisi
Hail
Lady, Holy Queen, Holy Mary Theotokos,1 who art the Virgin made church
and the One elect by the Most Holy Father of Heaven, whom He consecrated
with His Most Holy beloved Son and with the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete;
Thou in whom was and is all fullness of grace and every good.
Hail
His Palace;
Hail His Tabernacle;
Hail His Home.
Hail His Vestment;
Hail His Handmaid;
Hail His Mother
And
hail all you holy virtues, which through the grace and illumination of
the Holy Spirit are infused into the hearts of the faithful, so that
from those unfaithful you make them faithful to God.
While
St.
Francis uses the phrase "Dei genitrix" here, which is usually
translated as "Mother of God" in English, "Theotokos"
has been chosen instead since this is an exact and familiar equivalent
of the latin phrase, and in fact is the term of which the latin is
itself the translation
A
Salutation to the virtues
by
St. Francis of
Assisi
Hail
Queen Wisdom, the Lord salute thee with thy sister Holy-Pure Simplicity.
Lady Holy Poverty, the Lord salute thee with thy sister Holy Humility.
Lady Holy Charity, the Lord salute thee with thy sister Holy Obedience.
Most
holy virtues, the Lord salute all of you, He from whom you come and
proceed.
There is scarcely a man in all the world, who can have one of you,
before he dies.
He
who has one and offends not the others, has all.
And he who offends one, has none and offends all. (cf. Jm 2:10)
And any whatsoever confounds vices and sins.
Holy
Wisdom confounds Satan and all his wickednesses.
Pure Holy Simplicity confounds all the wisdom of this world (cf. 1 Cor.
2:6) and the wisdom of the body.
Holy
Poverty confounds cupidity and avarice and the cares of this world.
Holy Humility confounds pride and all the men, who are in the world, and
likewise all the things, which are in the world.
Holy Charity confounds all the diabolic and carnal temptations and all
carnal fears.
Holy
Obedience confounds all things corporal both carnal and one's own
willings and holds the body mortified in obedience to the spirit and in
obedience to one's brother and is subject and submissive to all the men,
who are in the world and not only to men, but even to all the beasts and
wildlife, so that they might do with him, whatever they will, as much as
it will have been given them from above by the Lord (cf. Jn 19:11).
Prayer
for Final Perseverance
by St. Francis of
Assisi
Omnipotent,
Eternal, just and merciful God,
grant
to us wretches that doing for Thy sake,
what we know Thou wants,
and always wanting,
what pleases Thee,
as ones interiorly cleansed,
interiorly illumined and inflamed with the fire of the Holy Spirit,
we might follow the footsteps of Thy Beloved Son,
Our Lord Jesus Christ,
and attain to Thee, Most High, by Thy grace alone,
who in perfect Trinity and simple Unity lives and reigns
and is glorified as the Omnipotent God,
for all the ages of ages.
Amen.
Praises
to be said at every hour
by St. Francis of
Assisi
Here begin
the praises which our most blessed Father Francis ordained and himself
said at every hour of the day and night and before the Office of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, beginning thus: Most
Holy, Our Father who art in heaven, etc.. with the Glory
be. Then the praises are to be said:
Holy, holy,
holy, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was and who is to come (cf Apoc 4:8) : And let us praise and exalt Him above all throughout the ages.
Worthy are Thee, Our Lord God, to accept praise,
glory and honor, and blessing
(cf Apoc 4:11) : And let
us praise and exalt Him above all throughout the ages.
Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain to accept virtue and riches1
and wisdom and fortitude and honor and glory and blessing (Apoc 5:12) : And
let us praise and exalt Him above all throughout the ages.
Let us bless the Father and the Son with the Holy Spirit : And
let us praise and exalt Him above all throughout the ages.
All you works of the Lord bless the Lord (Dan 3:57) : And let us praise and exalt Him above all throughout the ages.
Recite praise to Our God all you His servants and you who fear God,
tiny and great (cf Apoc 19:5) : And
let us praise and exalt Him above all throughout the ages.
Praise Him the Glorious One you heavens and earth (cf Ps 68:35; Ps Rom)
: And let us praise and
exalt Him above all throughout the ages.
And every creature,
which is in Heaven and on the earth and which
is beneath the earth and the sea and those which are in it (cf Apoc 5:13) : And
let us praise and exalt Him above all throughout the ages.
Glory be to
the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit : And
let us praise and exalt Him above all throughout the ages.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be always and unto the ages
of ages. Amen
And let us praise and
exalt Him above all throughout the ages.
Prayer
Omnipotent,
Most Holy, Most High, and Highest God, all good, highest Good, wholely
good, who alone is good (cf Lk 18:19), to Thee do we render all praise,
all glory, all thanks, all honor, all blessing and all goods. So be it.
So be it. Amen.
1
“Divinity" is the litteral rendering of the Vulgate here, which however differs from
the Greek text, which has "riches." [pluton] In
fact in classical usage, "riches"
[divitia] and "divinity"
[divinitas] were often exhanged in Latin (and similarly in Greek) on
account of the close association of the God of wealth [Dives / Pluto]
with the nature of Divinity in itself; perhaps the most literal
translation would be "the riches of divinity," that
is the divine glory which the Son of God forsook, for a time, in
becoming the Son of Mary, and with which the Father again glorified Him
in His Resurrection.
The
Praises of God By St. Francis,
with
editions by
Duane Lapsanski and Kaietan Esser
You
are the holy Lord God Who does wonderful things.
You are strong. You are great. You are the most high.
You are the almighty king. You holy Father, King of heaven and
earth.
You, are three and one, the Lord God of gods; You are the good,
all good, the highest good, Lord God living and true.
You
are love, charity; You are wisdom, You are humility;
You are patience, You are beauty, You are meekness;
You are security, You are rest; You are gladness and joy, You are our
hope, You are justice;
You are moderation, You are all our riches to sufficiency.
You
are beauty, You are meekness;
You are the protector, You are our custodian and defender;
You are strength, You are refreshment. You are our hope;
You are our faith, You are our charity; You are all our sweetness,
You are our eternal life, Great and wonderful. Lord, Almighty God,
Merciful Savior.
From the book "Francis The Saint" (page 109)
Prayer
for imitating St. Francis
Collect from St.
Francis' Feast Day, October 4th
O God, who increase Thy
Church with the merits of blessed Francis by the heavenly birth of this
Thy newborn: grant unto us, that through imitating him we may dispise
earthly goods and always rejoice in the participation in Thy heavenly
gifts. We ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father
and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns God forever and ever.
Amen.
Prayer asking God for St.
Francis' Intercession
Collect for the Feast of St. Francis' Stigmata, September 17th
O Lord Jesus Christ, who, when the
world was growing cold, did renew in the flesh of the most blessed
Francis the sacred stigmata of Thy Passion, in order to inflame our
hearts with the fire of Thy love, graciously grant unto us, that yoked
to his merits and prayers we may bear the Cross, and bring forth fruits
worthy of penance: You who live and reign with the Father and the Holy
Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.
Prayer
asking for Mary's Intercession
by St. Francis of
Assisi
Holy
Virgin Mary, there is no one like Thee born in the world among women,
Daughter and Handmaid of the Most Highest King, the Heavenly Father,
Mother of Our Most Holy Lord Jesus Christ,
Spouse of the Holy Spirit:
Pray for us with St. Michael the Archangel
and all the powers of Heaven and all the Saints
before Thy Most Holy and Beloved Son, the Lord and Master.
Glory
to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit...
Praises
of God
The
Praises of God illustrates
the mystical heights to which Francis had attained in and after the
stigmatization
You are holy, Lord,
the only God,
You do wonders. (Ps 76:15)
You are strong,
You are great,
You are the most high,
You are the almighty King.
You, Holy Father,
the king of heaven and earth.
(Jn 17:11; Mt 11:25)
You are Three and One,
Lord God of gods; (Ps 135:2)
You are good, all good,
the highest good,
Lord, God, living and true. (I
Thes 1:9)
You are love, charity.
You are wisdom;
You are humility;
You are patience (Ps 75:5)
You are beauty;
You are meekness;
You are security;
You are inner peace;
You are joy;
You are our hope and joy;
You are justice;
You are moderation,
You all all our riches
[You are enough for us].
You are beauty, You are meekness;
You are the protector, (Ps 30:50)
You are our guardian
and defender;
You are strength;
You are refreshment. (Ps 42:2)
You are our hope,
You are our faith,
You are our charity,
You are all our sweetness,
You are our eternal life:
Great and wonderful
Lord,
God almighty, Merciful Savior.
You
are holy, Lord, the only God,
