The most complete book ever published for praying with St. Francis and St. Clare
We do not immediately associate Francis and Clare with prayer and praying. That is not how we typically imagine them in the world. It is easier to see them giving away their possessions, setting doves free, counseling wolves, bandaging lepers’ wounds, mediating between people, begging for their bread, preaching to birds, or singing religious poetry accompanied by lute and lyre.
St. Francis, according to the most common legends, rarely sat still. St. Clare did more so, but that was probably mostly because of the convent and the grille and the conventions of the time: she couldn’t be a walkabout friar.
However, they did sit still. And they stood. And they danced. And they fasted. And they sang. In all these ways, Francis and Clare prayed for hours each day, as did the brothers and sisters who came after them on the Franciscan way.
This prayer book gathers the stories and words of the prayer life and prayers of these remarkable Christians. Their charism was unique in its time, and it remains a reservoir and a river flowing through the centuries, reviving the life and spirit of the church and its people. May it be so for you wherever you are, wherever it finds you, and in however you incorporate these ways and words into your life for God.
Francis said to his friars, “Listen to what I say,” (Acts 2:14 nrsv). “Whoever is from God hears the words of God” (John 8:47 nrsv).
