Prayer of the Church in Honor of the Sacred Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi
O Lord Jesus Christ, who when the world was growing cold, in order that the hearts of men might burn anew with the fire of Thy love, didst in the flesh of the most blessed Francis reproduce the stigmata of Thy passion: be mindful of his merits and prayers; and in Thy mercy vouchsafe to us the grace ever to carry Thy cross, and to bring forth worthy fruits of penance.
Prayer for the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi
(October 4th)
From the Roman Missal
Saint Francis of Assisi, Founder of the great Order of Friars Minor, was renowned for the strict practice of evangelical poverty, which he, both by example and by precept, inculcated on his followers. Pope Innocent III, having seen in a vision the humble Francis supporting the tottering walls of the Lateran Basilica, the Cathedral of Rome, fostered to the utmost the new Institute. Miraculously marked with the sacred stigmata (Sept. 17), Saint Francis passed away at Assisi, his birthplace, Oct. 4, 1226, being then in the 45th year of his age.
O God, who, through the merits of blessed Francis, dost magnify thy church, enriching it anew with spiritual offspring: make us, like him, to disdain the goods of earth, nor at any time to lack the comforting gifts of heaven.
Novena to St. Francis of Assisi
I. Glorious St. Francis, who didst voluntarily renounce all the comforts and riches of thy home to follow more perfectly the life of poverty and abnegation of Jesus Christ: obtain for us, we pray, a generous con-
