The Prayer of Saint Francis

A Modern Interpretation

Recently I’ve been listening to Russell Brand’s brilliant book, Revolution. In one of the opening chapters he makes a reference to the prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi. Because I enjoy poetry, I made a note to look up the prayer and write it down. Here’s the prayer as it reads from Wiki (other versions exist):

“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;
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;
It is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life.”

As beautiful as this prayer is, we don’t really speak this way anymore. Words like “O” and “Thy” and phrases like “sow love” aren’t used in 21st century English. So, just for fun, I decided to give it an update. Here’s my interpretation of this beautiful prayer. Hope you enjoy!

Please let all of me be an instrument of peace in the world. So that wherever I go, if I encounter hate, allow me to be a source of love. If I am wronged by others, then let me forgive those who have wronged me. Where I encounter doubt, let me inspire faith in others with my bravery. Where I find sadness and despair, let me be a source of joy and hope, like a single light radiantly illuminating a dark room.

I ask for the strength to console others, more than I want to be consoled myself; to understand more than I desire to be understood; and to love, more than I desire to be loved. For it’s in giving that we receive and in forgiving that we’re forgiven. Only by overcoming the ego, the “big me”, “the self”, are we born to eternal life.