“In the beginning I call upon the First Beginning, from whom all illuminations descend as from the Father of Lights from whom comes every good and every perfect gift.
I call upon the Eternal Father through his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, that through the intercession of the most holy Virgin Mary, the mother of the same God and Lord Jesus Christ, and through the intercession of blessed Francis, our leader and father, he may enlighten the eyes of our soul to guide our feet on the way of that peace which surpasses all understanding.
This is the peace proclaimed and given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ and preached again and again by our Father Francis.
At the beginning and end of every sermon he announced peace; in every greeting he wished for peace; in every contemplation he sighed for ecstatic peace like a citizen of that Jerusalem of which that Man of Peace says, who was peaceable with those who hated peace: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.” (Prologue, The Soul’s Journey into God, St. Bonaventure)
