Prayer of Saint Francis
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The so-called Prayer of Saint Francis is a Christian prayer widely attributed to the 13th-century saint Francis of Assisi, although it cannot be traced back further than the 19th century.
- Lord, make me an instrument of Thy 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;
- and 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.
- Amen.
An alternate translation is found in Chapter 11 of the "Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions", a book published by AA Services (Alcholics Anonymous).
- Lord, make me a channel of thy peace;
- that where there is hatred, I may bring love;
- that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness;
- that where there is discord, I may bring harmony;
- that where there is error, I may bring truth;
- that where there is doubt, I may bring faith;
- that where there is despair, I may bring hope;
- that where there are shadows, I may bring light;
- that where there is sadness, I may bring joy.
- Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted;
- to understand, than to be understood;
- to love, than to be loved.
- For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.
- It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.
- It is by dying that one awakens to eternal life.
- Amen.
The prayer was most famously referenced by Margaret Thatcher shortly after she won the 1979 UK General Election. Having "kissed hands" with Queen Elizabeth II to become Prime Minister she paraphrased the prayer on the doorstep of 10 Downing Street, surrounded by a throng of reporters whilst setting out the aims of her Government. The prayer became notorious in British politics, as those critical of Thatcher say she ended up doing precisely the opposite of what the prayer says.