The Prayer of St. Francis*

Lord,

make me an instrument of your health:

where there is sickness,

let me bring cure;

where there is injury,

aid;

where there is sadness,

comfort;

where there is despair,

hope;

where there is death,

acceptance and peace.

Grant that I may not:

so much seek to be justified,

as to console;

to be obeyed,

as to understand;

to be honored,

as to love...

for it is in giving ourselves

that we heal,

it is in listening

that we comfort,

and in dying

that we are born to eternal life.

*modified by Charles C. Wise