St. Francis: an Instrument of Mercy
A Reflection by Fred Schaeffer, OFS
When St. Francis “was left alone and at peace, he would fill the groves with sighs, sprinkle the ground with tears, strike his breast with his fist and having found there a kind of secret hiding place, would converse with his Lord. There he would answer his Judge, there he would entreat his Father, there he would entertain his Friend, and there on several occasions the friars who were devoutly observing him heard his groan aloud, imploring the divine mercy for sinners and weeping for the Lord’s passion as if it were there before his eyes.” St. Bonaventure: the Life of St. Francis.” Chapter 10, section 4. 1978. Paulist Press, Classics of Western Spirituality.
We have learned that St. Francis frequently hid in caves or in the woods to pray, to be alone with the Lord. A great way to pray, in a hidden place away from the distractions of life. We don’t always have that luxury, but we must seek a place where we are comfortable and won’t be bothered by interruptions. Then look for solutions with His help.
A spare bedroom with no bed is my work room. It is quiet, unless I have the stereo on, and has no television (intentionally). The only problem is that it’s too messy and that in itself is a distraction. I try to put these Reflections together in that room with lots of thought and prayer and reading. It doesn’t always go smoothly: sometimes, actually often, I get stuck and stop in the middle. The thought that St. Francis is “an instrument of Mercy” intrigues me and thus I want to develop this further. What I hope to accomplish is to share knowledge and to provide advice to those who need it.
When I first began writing these Reflections in the late 1990’s, I still had spiritual interaction with people, mostly strangers, but as time wore on, those messages disappeared. It may have been my own fault, because I allowed, in fact encouraged people to send prayer requests, but over time that became a burden as I received huge amounts of prayer requests, long messages with voluminous bible quotations, and I asked people to send smaller messages and finally there were none. I do not have the messages anymore but I remembered one set of messages that spanned several months asking forgiveness for a life of sin. I remember the messages because I could have done so much more. I could have shown more mercy, a side of my character that is not well developed.
A Prayer of Repentance
(Attributed to St. Francis of Assisi)
Very nice prayer. Unfortunately it is in 'old English' but when prayers are modernized they often lose their original flavor and intent. I have all (?) the prayers of St. Francis in a text file and plan to make it available on this website.
Fred Schaeffer, OFS
September 19, 2023
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