Grace Remembered and Relived; Entry 18 (see first Entry here.)
5 October:
Psalm 105:4:
"Search for the Lord and his strength; * continually seek his face."
The Psalmist's counsel is so fitting for dealing with conflict, whether in the world or in the soul, that further commentary is unnecessary.
After blogging yesterday's piece on St. Francis, I discovered something he wrote that immediately reminded me of this portion of the prayer attributed to him:
Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.
After St. Francis' death, several of his writings were compiled and published as The Admonitions. They include this discourse on "Virtue and Vice," which the prayer attributed to him echoes:
Where there is love and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance; where there is patience and humility, there is neither anger nor annotance; where there is poverty and joy, there is neither cupidity nor avarice; where there is peace and contemplation, there is neither care nor restlessness; where there is the fear of God to guard the dwelling, there no enemy can enter; where there is mercy and prudence, there is neither excess nor harshness.
Today's and yesterday's excerpts from the writings of St. Francis are adapted from St. Francis of Assisi, Writings and Early Biographies, English Omnibus of the Sources for the Life of St. Francis, Marion A. Habig, ed., (c) 1973 Franciscan Herald Press, Chicago.
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