ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI Patron of Animals and the Environment

St. Francis was born to a very wealthy merchant of Assissi in Italy in the year 1812. But unlike his rich companions, he had a soft-heart for the poor. His father disowned him for giving away all his possessions to the needy. Having become poor himself, he lived in a cave in the mountains of Assissi and would live a life of fasting and prayer. Francis preached the gospel and invited others to follow him. His crusade to spread God's love spread all over Europe. He founded the Order of Mendicant Friars or Franciscans. Its members have taken a vow of poverty, chastity, love and obedience.

NOVENA

Prayer of Peace

"O Lord, make me an instrument of Thy Peace!

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is discord, harmony;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light,

and Where there is sorrow, joy.

Oh Divine Master, grant that I may not

so much seek to be consoled as to console;

to be understood as to understand;

to be loved as to love;

for it is in giving that we receive;

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

and it is in dying that

we are born to Eternal Life."

FIRST DAY

O God, come to my assistance.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, you know all things and nothing is hidden from you. In your mercy and kindness, and through the intercession of Saint Francis, come to my aid in my present distress and grant my humble petition (mention the request). Amen.

Your offering today: Show your humility by doing a good deed for someone today.

Conclude with the Prayer of Peace

SECOND DAY

Hear me O Lord, and have pity on me.

Prayer: Father in heaven, your love for us never falters in spite of our transgressions and failures. Please show your mercy for me in my difficulty (mention the request). Through the intercession of St. Francis and for the sake of Christ, our Savior, have pity on me. Amen.

Your offering today: See the suffering Christ in someone around you.

Conclude with the Prayer of Peace

THIRD DAY

Lord, be not far from me.

Prayer: Loving Father, you are not far from any of us since in you we live, move and have our being. Increase my awareness of your presence and through the interces­sion of Saint Francis, take care of my press­ing need (mention the request). Amen.

Your offering today: Throughout the day, give your cares to the Lord.

Conclude with the Prayer of Peace

FOURTH DAY

Make your ways known to me, O Lord.Prayer: Father Almighty, your ways and purpose are often hidden from us. Guide me now and through the intercession of Saint Francis of Assisi, I beg you, in my sorrow, and by your power, to let me know your will regarding my special need (mention your request). Amen.

Your offering today: Consider today how you can do God's will.

Conclude with the Prayer of Peace

FIFTH DAY

O Lord grant safety to those who long for it.

Prayer: In you Heavenly Father, I confidently place my trust. In your hands, I leave all my anxieties with faith in your care for me. From you, and through the intercession of Saint Francis of Assisi, I await relief from my present distress (mention the request). Amen.

Your offering today: For God's sake, help some person whom you may not like.

Conclude with the Prayer for Peace

SIXTH DAY

O Lord, do not chastise me with your anger.Prayer: Merciful Father, you know my weakness and disobedience. Yet, you are ever ready to forgive and be gracious to me in my trouble. In Christ's name and through the intercession of Saint Francis of Assisi, quickly come to help me (mention the request). Amen.

Your offering today: Banish from your mind and tongue unkind words and thoughts today.

Conclude with the Prayer for Peace

SEVENTH DAY

The Lord is a stronghold in times of distress.Prayer: Father in Heaven, you never reject those who seek your help and are ever ready to comfort the sorrowful. Through the intercession of Saint Francis and in Christ's name, I implore you to have pity on me in my needs (mention the request), and to rescue me from all afflictions. Amen.

Your offering today: In imitation of Christ and St. Francis, do good to those who may dislike you.

Conclude with the Prayer for Peace

EIGHTH DAY

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.Prayer: Your goodness, Heavenly Father, responds speedily to my sorrow. In my distress I call upon you to hear and answer my prayers (mention the request). In you, O God, I will continue to trust despite everything. I ask this request in Christ's name and through the intercession of Saint Francis of Assisi. Amen.

Your offering today: Help someone you know who is in need of your friendship and support.

Conclude with the Prayer for Peace

NINTH DAY

The Lord will set me freeand rescue me because he loves me.Prayer: Gracious Father, I will thank you each day for your merciful goodness to me. With your help I will ever praise your kindness in my trouble. Please assist me now as I faithfully follow Christ, my Savior, and call upon the friendship and intercession of Saint Francis of Assisi, by granting my petition (mention the request). Amen.

Your offering today: In gratitude, be good to others today.

Conclude with the Prayer for Peace


SHORT NOVENA 

Glorious Saint Francis, who voluntarily renounced all the comforts and riches of your home to follow more perfectly the life of poverty and abnegation of Jesus Christ: obtain for us, we pray, a generous contempt of all things in this world, that we may secure the true and eternal things of heaven.

Glory be

O glorious Saint Francis, who during the whole course of your life continually wept over the passion of the Redeemer, and labour most zealously for the salvation of souls: obtain for us, we pray, the grace of weeping continually over those sins by which we have crucified afresh Our Lord Jesus Christ, that we may attain to be of the number of those who shall eternally bless His supreme mercy.

Glory be

O glorious Saint Francis, who, loving above all things suffering and the cross, merited to bear in your body the miraculous stigmata, by which you became a living image of Jesus Christ crucified: obtain for us, we pray, the grace to bear in our bodies the mortifications of Christ, that we may merit one day to receive the consolations which are infallibly promised to all those who now weep.

"If we be dead with Christ Jesus, we shall live also with Him," says the Apostle;"if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him." (2nd Timothy 2.11-12)

Pray for us, Saint Francis, that we may obtain the graces and favours we ask for in this novena; pray for us, especially, that we may obtain the grace of perseverance; of a holy death and a happy eternity.