The Our Father and Francis of Assisi

This Sunday"s Gospel reading was about how Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, and gave us the "Our Father." Francis of Assisi paraphrased the "Our Father":



"OUR FATHER MOST HOLY, our creator and redeemer,our Savior and Consoler.
WHO ARE IN HEAVEN, in the angels and saints enlightening them that they may know you, for you, Lord, are love, dwelling in them and filling them with your divinity, that bliss may be theirs, for you, Lord, are the highest Good, the eternal Good, from whom all goodness flows,without whom nothing is good.
YOUR NAME BE HELD HOLY: may our knowledge of you shine ever more clearly within us,that we may perceive the breadth of your blessings, the extent of your promises, the height of your majesty, the depth of your judgements.
YOUR KINGDOM COME: rule us now, through grace,and bring us at last to your kingdom of light where we shall see you as you are,and our love for you will be made perfect,our union blissful, our joy unending, in you.
YOUR WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IN HEAVEN: may we love you with all our heart,ever thinking of you;with all our soul,ever longing for you;with all our mind,directing all our aims to you and seeking nothing but your glory;with all our strength,spending all our energies and all our senses of soul and body to serve only your love and nothing else.
May we love our neighbors as ourselves;drawing them all to your love in so far as we can,sharing their good fortune as if it were our own,helping them to bear their trials and doing them no wrong.
GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD: your beloved Son our Lord Jesus Christ,that we may remember,understand and revere the love he showed for us,and all he said and did and suffered for our sake.
FORGIVE US OUR SINS: through your mercy beyond words,through the power of the passion of your beloved Son,through the merits and intercession of the Virgin Mary and of all your chosen ones.
AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO SIN AGAINST US: and that we ourselves cannot fully forgive,make us fully forgive;make us love our enemies,truly, for your sake;teach us how to pray sincerely to you on their behalf;and not to render harm for harm to anyone, but rather try to do good to all, in you!
AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION: whether veiled or visible,sudden or searing and prolonged.
BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL: past, present and to come. Amen "