Peace Prayer

Saint Francis of Assisi/ baptised as Giovanni di Bernadone/ b. 1182 -- d. 1226 A. D./ The Peace Prayer of Saint Francis/ "O Lord, make me an instrument of Thy Peace!/ Where there is hatred, let me sow love./ Where there is injury, pardon./ Where there is discord, harmony./ Where there is doubt, faith./ Where there is despair, hope./ Where there is darkness, light./ Where there is sorrow, joy./ Oh 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." / ________________________________________ This beautiful prayer, although often mistakenly attributed to St Francis, does not appear in any known writings of St Francis. / The prayer was apparently written in France during World War I, perhaps by a Catholic Priest, Father Bouquerel. / It is commonly known as the Peace Prayer of Saint Francis because it was often seen printed on a small card that had a picture of Saint Francis on one side and this prayer on the other side. /However, the card did not make any claim that the prayer was written by Saint Francis./ So, ironically, this beautiful prayer, which is so highly revered around the world, actually has nothing to do with St Francis. / The first known appearance of this inspiring prayer was in 1912 AD when it was published in the French magazine La Clochette. / It matters not who wrote these words./Divinely Inspired our world needs this prayer more than ever before to avert nuclear tragedies./ ‘Ignorance is the loneliness of isolation./The pain of discontent./The misery of being other./Misery is the pain of not realizing our true nature.’/Buddhist Saying.