Prayers and Devotion

“Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water, who is very useful and humble and previous and chaste.”

St. Francis of Assisi and his early followers used various prayer forms, focusing on praise, adoration, petition, thanksgiving, and intercession, often expressed through personal meditations (like the Canticle of Creatures), formal prayers (like the Prayer before the Crucifix), and communal devotions, emphasizing simplicity, peace, creation, and serving the poor, with distinct Franciscan expressions like the Franciscan Rosary developing later, also known as the Franciscan Crown or Seraphic Rosary; a devotion focused on the Seven Joys of Mary.

Types & Examples of Prayers by St. Francis:

Adoration & Praise: Praising God’s holiness, goodness, and power (e.g., Praises of God, Canticle of Creatures).
Petition & Intercession: Asking for guidance, strength, and peace (e.g., Prayer before the Crucifix, Prayer for Peace – “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace”).
Thanksgiving: Expressing gratitude for God’s blessings (e.g., Prayer of Thanksgiving).
Meditation: Contemplating Scripture and the life of Christ (e.g., “My God and My All,” focusing on Christ’s sacrifice).
Blessing: Offering blessings to God and others (e.g., Blessing of St. Francis).

Franciscan Prayer Styles & Devotions:

Liturgical Prayer: Participating in the Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours).
Contemplative Prayer: “Prayer without words or images,” applying Scripture to one’s life.
Devotion to Mary: Honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary (e.g., Salutation of the Blessed Virgin Mary).
Franciscan Rosary: Developed by Franciscans, focusing on joyful events in Mary’s life.

Key Themes in Franciscan Prayer:

Simplicity & Poverty: Finding God in humble living.
Peace: Being instruments of peace in the world.
Creation: Seeing God’s presence in all of creation.
Service: Serving the poor and suffering.

Prayer Before the Crucifix

Most High, glorious God, enlighten the darkness of my heart. Give me right faith, certain hope, and perfect charity, sense and knowledge, that I may carry out Your holy and true command. Amen.

St. Francis of Assisi, pray for us.

Praises of God

You are holy. Lord, the only God, You do wonders. 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. You are Three and One. Lord God of gods: You are 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 inner peace: You are joy: You are our hope and joy: You are justice: You are moderation, You are all our riches.

You are beauty. You are meekness: You are the protector. You are the guardian 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. God almighty, Merciful Savior.

Prayer for Peace (Inspired by St. Francis)

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

You are holy, Lord, the only God, and
Your deeds are wonderful. You are strong.
You are great. You are the Most High.
You are Almighty. You, Holy Father are
King of heaven and earth. You are Three and One,
Lord God, all Good. You are Good, all Good,
supreme Good, Lord God, living and true.
You are love. You are wisdom. You are humility.
You are endurance. You are rest.
You are peace. You are joy and gladness.
You are justice and moderation.
You are all our riches, and You suffice for us.
You are beauty. You are gentleness.
You are our protector.
You are our guardian and defender.
You are our courage. You are our haven and our hope.
You are our faith, our great consolation.
You are our eternal life, Great and Wonderful Lord,
God Almighty, Merciful Saviour.

Prayer of Gratitude

Wherever we are, in every place, at every hour,
at every time,every day and continually,
let all of us truly and humbly believe, hold in our heart,
love, honor, adore, serve, praisebless, glorify, exalt,
magnify and give thanks to the Most High, and
Supreme Eternal God, Trinity and Unity, Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit: to Him who is Creator of all,
Savior of all, without beginning or end,
unchangeable, invisible, indescribable, ineffable,
incomprehensible, unfathomable, blessed,
praiseworthy, glorious, exalted, sublime,
most high, gentle, lovable, delightful and,
above all else, desirable, for ever and ever.

Blessing of St. Francis

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!

Salutation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Hail, O Lady, Holy Queen,
Mary, holy Mother of God:
you are the virgin made church
and the one chosen by the most holy Father in heaven
whom He consecrated with His most holy beloved Son
and with the Holy Spirit the Paraclete,
in whom there was and is
all the fullness of grace and every good.
Hail, His Palace!
Hail, His Tabernacle!
Hail, His Home!
Hail, His Robe!
Hail, His Servant!
Hail, His Mother!
And, hail all you holy virtues
which through the grace and light of the Holy Spirit
are poured into the hearts of the faithful
so that from their faithless state
you may make them faithful to God.

Franciscan Crown

A devotion focused on the Seven Joys of Mary, using seven decades (sets of 10 Hail Marys) with an Our Father before each decade and a Glory Be after, plus two extra Hail Marys to honor Mary’s 72 years of life, all meditating on specific joyful events in Mary’s life like the Annunciation, Visitation, and Resurrection.

Praying the Franciscan Crown

Begin: Start with the Sign of the Cross and an opening prayer (like “O God, come to my assistance”).
Announce the Joy: State the first mystery/joy (e.g., The Annunciation).
Pray: Say one Our Father, followed by ten Hail Marys, and end with a Glory Be.
Repeat: Do this for the remaining six Joys: The Visitation, Nativity, Adoration of the Magi, Finding Jesus in the Temple, Resurrection, and Assumption.
Final Beads: After the seven decades, pray two extra Hail Marys to reach 72, honoring Mary’s traditional lifespan.
Conclusion: Conclude with a final prayer (often the “Hail Holy Queen”) and the Sign of the Cross, sometimes adding prayers for the Pope’s intentions.

The Seven Joys (Mysteries)

The Annunciation (Angel Gabriel visits Mary)
The Visitation (Mary visits Elizabeth)
The Nativity (Birth of Jesus)
Adoration of the Magi (Wise Men visit)
Finding Jesus in the Temple (At age 12)
The Resurrection (Jesus rises from the dead)
The Assumption (Mary taken to Heaven)

Fraternity Opening Prayer

Minister: In the name of the Father, and o f the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
All: Amen.
Minister: Most high, all powerful, good God, praise, glory and honor and all blessing are yours.
All: Praise and bless my Lord, and give him thanks, and serve him with great humility.
Minister: Let us pray. (Pause) All-powerful, most holy, most high and supreme God, all good, supreme good, total good, you who alone are good: we give you all praise, all glory, all thanks, all honor, all blessing and every good. So be it. So be it.
All: Amen.

Fraternity Closing Prayer

Let us pray.
Almighty, eternal, just and merciful God: grant us in our misery that we may do for your sake alone what we know you want us to do, and always want what pleases you; so that, cleansed and enlightened interiorly and fired with the flame of the Holy Spirit, we may be able to follow in the footsteps of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and so make our way to you, Most High, by your grace alone, you who live and rule in perfect Trinity and simple Unity, and are glorified, God all-powerful, forever and ever.
Amen.

The Story of Sister Water

Science informs us that 60% of the adult body is Sister Water. The most important organs in the body, the brain and the heart, are composed of 73% Sister Water, while the lungs are about 83%. Just with these facts, we know it is impossible to live without her.

Not only in the composition, but Sister Water is also crucial to ensure our body functions properly. She caries the nutrients, oxygen, and wastes to and from your cells and organs as she travels throughout our body. In many ways, she nourishes and cleanses our body. She regulates our body by keeping the balance of our body temperature.

This is how much our body needs Sister Water. If this is our need for our physical life, how about our spiritual life?

While the majority of our physical body is made up of Sister Water, our spiritual body is made up of God’s own image and likeness.

“I thirst…”

One of the last few words in Jesus’ earthly life reveals and summarizes for us our constant thirst. We thirst for water for our body, we thirst for God for our spirit. Towards the end of his life, St. Francis had a lot of diseases, ranging from skin, eye, lung, etc.

One of the very few things St. Francis could still enjoy was Sister Water. She gives the joy and comfort that he needs in his life. “God is always in abundance.” “God is always present and ever ready to give joy and comfort that we need.”

Reflection

What/ who are you thirsting for? What/ who nourishes you?

What/who regulates you to always have balance in your life?

Sister Water