Prayer of Saint Francis

Prayer of Saint Francis: 

the overall prayer, these compassionate words for Saint Francis, become a transformative experience when taken to heart. They are meant to be mediated upon, absorbed slowly through the mind and all the way to spirit. My own first exposure to this prayer was offered by the scholar and meditation teacher Eknath Easwaran whose book Passage Meditation helped cement my love of these words as well as the spiritual direction my life would take. It's drawing close to 40 years now, and although my meditation path has taken different turns, I always return to this prayer and the heart-felt message from both Saint Francis as well as the contemplative path as outlined by Easwaran. 

it's been a beautiful way of life.

what's important is to take these words to heart, literally so, practicing the selfless service that's offered here. And indeed, it truly is a practice, not meant to be perfected with a few readings, but made into a lifestyle of serving God through the guise of others. It's the most important work we do, most especially in these times where God and compassion might seem so far from where we are. But this is a prayer of the heart, always and truly present within us all. 

trust it.

meditate.

we're planting seeds of compassion with every read.

our lives then become a fertile ground.

we are made...

an instrument of peace.

~

Love, Eric 

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List Line

Last line: 

the last line, summary of the entire prayer, that it is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life - and this is the crux of why we prayed earnestly for each previous aspect of the prayer. We have asked for ways to live past the point of ego so that we may be born, reborn really, into a life of spirit, beyond our smaller concerns, and fully engaged in the care of others. 

it's a beautiful way to end the prayer.

asking for our transformation.

so the truth is, we are not ego, it's an illusions of beliefs that has overly gained our attention. So the Prayer of Saint Francis is simply a reminder to return our focus to what we truly are and to live our life from there. This is a prayer that we continuously return to, a practice, and not one that we abandoned in our most difficult times. That's why it's framed in this way, listing the places we might find ourselves, feeling injured by our life's journey, alone in despair, without hope, and lost sadness. The divine Master that we're asked to turn to is our own highest order, God, synonymous with all abiding love. That's our healing source and it's how we heal the world.

past the ego that can be injured...

spirit's unharmed.

and it's there we continuously turn to.

an instrument of love.

~

Peace, Eric 

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That We Are Pardoned

That we are pardoned; 

perhaps it's no accident that forgiveness has been referenced twice in this prayer. The second to last line sets clear that it is in pardoning that we ourselves are pardoned. Only love is also mentioned twice and I believe that this because forgiveness is the key to fully understanding who we truly are, that to know ourselves as the reality of love we most remember to see others through forgiving eyes, heart-seen, recognizing their original innocence. 

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned. 

so it's here that Saint Francis declares our true nature...

 and we claim it through forgiveness. 

this is such a gift to give to others, to ourselves as well, as if unlocking a prison door and inviting the entire world to join us in a sense of freedom. Yet as it in in every self-created prison we are entrapped by our own beliefs that some our worthy and others not - keeping us closed within the illusory walls of our perceptions. For us to be free, truly so, we have to pray as Saint Francis, asking for just a moment of clear seeing so that our own innocence is returned. The key to this freedom is in recognizing that perceptions have clouded our vision, that we are lost in a haze of guilt, fear, and judgment that we have projected upon others. To be free, we rely on others as our guide. 

we forgive, clear-seeing, and find our way home.

together. 

as no one stays behind.

~

Love, Eric 

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A Circular Prayer

A circular prayer: 

so it's here, the beginning of the end, first of the last three lines, and we're given the secret to the entire prayer - we haven't just been praying for the concerns of others, no, we ourselves have been included all along. This line reveals that it is in giving that we receive, everything we've previously asked for has really been a self-request. 

we are praying for our own salvation.

we're asking for grace.

maybe it was here that I began to fall in love with this prayer, it's transformative power is shown. If I truly wish to be at pace, to know love deeply for myself, then I only have to offer it to others. To be, as Gandhi said, the change I wish to see. This is such a circular prayer, how much I can offer others is my exact return, and the more I'm able to give selflessly the greater I receive - even as my own needs are reduced through through selfless service. 

truly, this prayer is spiritual technology.

an alchemical process.

I have been transformed by the practice of this prayer, heart-touched by the living energy of Saint Francis that now work their way through me several generations from his passing. But surely his presence is alive in me, a whisper through my actions as I seek to offer only love within the world. My prayer deepens now with a wish to always do these words justice.

that I may truly give so that I may receive...

and then only give some more.

my life now being, 

a circular prayer.

~

Love, Eric 

To read more from Headless Now, please visit: As To Love

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As To Love

As to love: 

this is the last that we ask for, the key-line for me as everything the proceeded and follows stems from the realization that we are truly made to offer love. Here, right before the end, our prayer turns to a request that we not so much seek to be loved as to love. With this one realization everything else false easily into place - love is indeed what we are, and it is the explanation of how the Prayer of Saint Francis becomes our daily guide. What's asked for in the entirety of the prayer is simply the removal of all that block our awareness of the presence of love.

with these obstacles gone...

only love is remains.

now, everything becomes easier, our every request of being able to forgive. console, and able to better understand others falls naturally into place. Love shows us the way, it extends as the answer to every problem of communication, comforting, healing heart-deep injury, bringing light and faith. With love, there is no despair. The eleventh line is pivotal, tying the entire prayer together before closing with three lines of explanation. But it's love that provides the energy, the life-essence, for the transformative power of this prayer. 

nothing prayed for, no understanding is possible without it's realization. 

grant that I not so much seek to be loved,

as to love.

and once granted,

we see...

that it's the very same thing.

~

Love, Eric

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To Be Consoled

To be consoled: 

it's at this point in the prayer that an profound realization seeps in, asking that we seek not to be consoled but only to have the depth of heart to console others - by now we come to the understanding that our own best interest arrives through the light of service, we wish to offer comfort to those who suffer while knowing that this very act of care provides for our every need as well.

as the sage Ramana Maharshi stated...

there are no others.

and that's the path of service, a heart-path, not leading home, but only revealing that heaven is already present through every act of care. Tending to those who suffer is enlightenment itself, no need for ashram or temples, our own presence, open and spacious, is given as a place worship. This is where love is found, in the willingness to listen, truly so, with full body attendance, accepting the grief, the sorrow and despair of others...knowing too that they our our own.

grant that I not so much seek to be consoled, 

as to realize that there are no others,

only love.

and this is what is shared. 

~

Love, Eric

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O Divine Master

O divine Master: 

the second half of the Prayer of Saint Francis begins with invoking the divine Master, it's a plea for something deep within us, intimate, yet somehow forgotten. This isn't a prayer to some far off entity begging for our life to change, it's really a call to our own true essence, our God-connection, asking for our divine nature to be shown. 

o, divine Master, grant...

and what follows is a request for selflessness, for qualities of our innate nature be revealed and then offered to the world. This is the answer to every seeker, those seeking enlightenment, or answers to their deepest longings - what's been searched for is already present within and in using this prayer, calling upon the divine Master, we are answered through by an interior silence, a selfless presence that fills us with an urge to serve others. 

o, divine Master, grant that I...

and this I, our self-identity crying out in prayer, 

all but disappears. 

while only love remains.

~

Love, Eric 

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Wherever There is Sadness

Wherever there is sadness: 

the last line of the first half of Saint Francis's Prayer seems to be asking for a complete transformation, maybe even bypassing the current emotion of sadness and putting on a false from of joy. Where there is sadness, joy, is a lot to ask for, and most especially when we find ourselves immersed in the heaviness of our sadness. Yet what's prayed for here isn't bypassing at all, nor even a request to transform the presence of sadness into something other than it is right now -

what we prayer for is recognition.

where there is sadness...

joy.

it's more truly known that both my coexist at the same moment, not one replacing the other, but that there's an ever present joy in simply being alive and able to experience the fullness of all that life offers, and that this sense of joy only awaits our recognition to be known. 

wherever there is sadness...

joy

even in the very moment of our deepest sorrow.  

and this is what we prayer for,

~

Love, Eric 

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As Light

As light: 

we are beckoned to the light, perhaps at first just briefly, being barely flickering and dim in its initial illumination - yet still a soft glow that's offered to the darkness of the world. Our reality is light, synonymous to a greater love, and as Saint Francis pleas in his heart-felt prayer... where there is darkness, may we be as a light that's extended to the care of others. 

always,

where there is darkness...

may we be as light.

personally, I'm curious about this illumination, about how much love can I truly offer to another. What I've discovered is that, so far, is that it's infinite in its source, indefatigable in extension, and every shadow vanishes quickly in its gleam. This is my favorite line in Saint Francis' prayer as it shows me my reality as a beam connected to the very source of light, and that my only role here is to shine brightly, my reach unlimited in the love it offers. 

where there is darkness...

may all that blocks the reality of light be removed.

and may we all shine brightly.

it's what we're meant to do.

~

Love, Eric 

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A Greater Hope Prevails

A greater hope prevails: 

admittedly, addressing hope is a tough one for me, it can seem a faint promise, a hollow wish for something better than whatever's occurring right now. The Buddha taught the hope can often lead to suffering, that we can become attached to a specif outcome or desire and refuse to accept what the present moment offers. This has often been my experience as well, hoping for many things, yet always left disappointed in their failure to appear. 

but Saint offers us a different course of hope.

praying, from despair...

and asking for a transformation. 

hope, from this perspective, is more a belief in our ability to transcend, it's not a faint promise at all, but more of a powerful tool to accept this moment of despair, while knowing that even now it's in the process of shifting to something other. To hope is a prayer of strength, it's asking for the courage to remain true to my spiritual heart in the face of all that shows me despair. 

so I see things differently now.

from despair, 

I ask for hope. 

not for things to be other than they are, but only that I accept this moment, 

whatever might be present, 

knowing that a greater hope prevails.

~

Love, Eric

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Where There is Doubt

Where there is doubt: 

here, where there is doubt, faith, we're not asked the impossible but to only recognize the changing nature of our lives. Our faith is placed on acceptance of the present moment, things being as the are, yet with a conviction that a greater presence guides us, lovingly, along the way. This present might be different for many, for Saint Francis it was Jesus, for others it might be their commitment to a particular practice that brings them a sense of peace and understanding. 

our faith is in the transformation of the moment.

by whatever means this happens. 

but always there's a surrender, as faith ultimately calls for a letting go, and through this the transformation happens. If we cling to anything as it changes we add suffering to the challenge, causing a difficult situation to worsen to despair. The prayer of Saint Francis asks only for the courage to have faith in our innate capacity to love, that we have a quality deeply hidden in our heart that arises to the suffering of ourselves and others and carries us through these times.

I have faith in a loving heart.

it belongs to me, a gift...

I give to you.

shared.

~

I love you, Eric

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Where There is Injury

Where there is injury: 

the third line of the Prayer of Saint Francis will be difficult, not just for some, but for all of us at some point in our lives. It's here that we are asked to pardon others in the light of injury to ourselves, to offer forgiveness without a sense of justice to prevail. Of course this seems impossible, that it should be left to realm of saints who are better suited to such tasks. 

yet this prayer is for all of us.

where there is injury, 

pardon.

this is spiritual technology, it's transformative prayer, and will it seem to demand the most difficult assignments for us to perform. Forgiveness doesn't belong to the ego, it's simply impossible for it to comprehend the deeper sight involved here. So yes, to pardon in the light of injury, even the slightest insult, will cause the ego to rebel. What's needed then is a forgiveness beyond the ego, something far greater, 

a more loving presence than the thoughts of who we are. 

and to reach this,

we simply ask for a miracle.

it's here where the transformation begins, relinquishing our smaller role of bargaining and negotiating terms of forgiveness, letting go of our endless demands of always being right and certain...and surrendering our every perceived injury and injustice to the heart of God. 

forgiveness belongs to the realm of love.

it's not our task to perform.

and so the Prayer of Saint Francis doesn't ask us to perform the impossible, but to only recognize our limited role here, to open our heart and allow the presence of love to shine ever brighter now. Our practice to to prayer, asking for a greater wisdom than our own to light our world. Forgiveness is the beginning of our transformation...or more truly, our revaluation.

it shows us who we are.

we're love.

~

Love, Eric 

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An Instrument of Thy Peace

An instrument of thy peace: 

it's spiritual technology, transformative, a prayer that shifts the heart towards an ever present light. This is the prayer of Saint Francis, each line offered as a possibility to live a more loved filled life. Early on in my meditation journey I encountered the power of this prayer in the form of Passage Meditation as presented by Eknath Easwaran, a very important teacher to me. Passage meditation is a profound, yet simple, practice of centering the mind upon words that have stood the test of time for their power to invoke a change of heart and mind, it calls for concentration and faith the our minds will absorb these words and then act on them through the challenging times of life. The prayer of Saint Francis is where Easwaran asks us to start -

it begins, 

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.

and if we went no further then this, sincere in our request...

perhaps these words alone would be enough.  

but the prayer unfolds beautifully from here, giving us a vision of our truest potential as spiritual beings living happily in the world. The prayer doesn't ask for anything we're not capable of, there's no demands, nothing called for that isn't already present within our hearts. 

we're only asked to be who we truly are.

really, it's only a reminder.

and to use this prayer in meditation is just the practice of remembering, an intent, planting the seeds of our potential blossom to the reality of love.

it begins,

an instrument of thy peace.

and so it shall be.

~

Love, Eric 

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