October 4, 2006
Feast of Saint Francis
Dear Friends,
May the Lord give you His peace!
As we celebrate the feast of our Holy Father Saint Francis, we wanted to share with you a novena prayer which our community prays for the nine days leading up to the feast.
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Novena Prayer to Saint Francis
O, St. Francis, stigmatized on La Verna,
the world longs for you
that icon of the crucified Jesus.
It has need of your heart,
open to God and others;
of your bare, wounded feet,
of your pierced hands raised in supplication.
It longs for your voice so frail
yet forceful with the power of the Gospel.
Francis, help the people of this age
to recognize the evil of sin
and to seek purification from it in penance.
Help them to become free from the very structures of sin
that oppress today's society.
Rekindle in the consciousness of those in government
an urgent need for peace between nations and peoples.
Instill in young people your freshness of life
that is capable of withstanding the snares
of the many cultures of death.
To those injured by every type of evil
teach, O Francis, the joy of being able to forgive.
To all those crucified by suffering, hunger and war,
reopen the doors of hope.
Help us!
You who brought Christ so close to your age,
Help us to bring Christ close to our age,
to our difficult and critical times.
- Pope John Paul II
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