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The Prayer of Saint Francis: A Message of Peace for the World Today

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Boff's The Prayer of St Francis is truly, as its subtitle suggests, A Message of Peace for the World Today. He enthusiastically sounds the message, line by line, as a call to action. Each sentence bursts with energy and presents a challenge for us to live not only for ourselves but in communion, in solidarity with one another. Boff has reformulated Franciscan ideals into a twenty-first century context. He challenges world order, global economics, consumerism, and wasteful productivity. If I didn't know who wrote this book, I would suspect a consortum that would include Gandhi, Dorothy Day, Peter Mathiessen, Thomas Merton, Mother Teresa, and Ralph Nader.

Two additional lines appear in this Prayer for Peace: "where there is discord, union" and "where there is error, truth". They do not appear in the traditional prayer, but belong there along with Boff's good counsel. This ecumenical message should be read by every political and religious leader and even those of us who lack the motivation to make a difference in our world. Boff's commentary enlightens and inspires us to be instruments of peace.

The author holds the payer in the most radient light possible. This message, while written long ago, still holds true today. And the author gives us that message in today's terms. Very well written, have read it twice.

Boff's little meditation on peace, inspired by the so-called Francis prayer, is exquisite in places. But it's also rather breathless, running from one line to the next in the prayer without taking time to chew well on any of them. The opening chapters, to Boff's credit, try to explore the meaning and causes of peace a bit more thoroughly, but the rest of the book travels way too quickly. To give Boff his due, the book is intended as a devotional rather than a theological treatise, so one expects a certain amount of sketchiness. But still, the book raises too many questions that cry out for discussion. One quick example: on pp. 25-29, Boff writes about Girard on mimetic violence, intending this as one explanation for why peace is so tenuous. But the transition in his account from literal scapegoating to legal scapegoating is so abrupt that no one who hasn't read Girard could possibly follow it.

Having said this, it's also the case that Boff's book shows real insight in places. His claim that peace begins with a re-connection with God is both Franciscan and on target, and his reformulation of peace as an "order-action" is also a creative and fascinating contribution. He briefly mentions the "diabolic"/"symbolic" distinction he's made in other works, and it's helpful here as well (although, again, a reader unfamiliar with it may not quite follow what Boff's up to).

When I read this I felt the need to buy copies of this book for my friends. This is a message that really needs to be shared and is ultimately relevant to modern events. The author has a beautiful grasp of what religion is and should always remain at it's core. On top of this, he enlightens aspects of this prayer I've been saying since I was a child.

Father Boff in his usual clear and scholarly manner opens for us the history and import of the Peace prayer traditionally ascribed to Saint Francis of Assissi although, as Father Boff reveals, with only slim lineage of heritage despite its full conveyance of the Spirit.

Father Boff in his usual careful and clear academic way reveals the actual little known origins of this powerful and universally respected and repeated prayer, in a French Catholic journal about ninety years ago while all the world prayed for an end to the Great War in Europe: "the war to end all wars." The Vatican at that time requested from the French Catholic Church a collection of prayers for peace then in circulation, which collection included this now well-known prayer, which was then reprinted in the pages of the Osservatore Romano, the official Papal newspaper. Thus it received its universal debut and was immediately embraced and fervently prayed and followed throughout the world.

We need it now more than ever, to dedicate and commit ourselves to living its well known verses. Whenever our liturgists have the fruits of the Holy Spirit including wisdom and courage to include its singing as a Communion Meditation, let us sing it lustily and fully with resolve to live the Eucharist we have received through the living of the Words of this accurate and important prayer for peace and compassion, forbearance and Love. This is no mere campfire song, but a prayer whose validity has been confirmed again and again within our Holy Mother Church as a true expression of the Holy Spirit we are called as Catholics to realize in this world.

Thus may one become carried away by this prayer. Fortunately FAther Boff, a great intellect, a great soul, a great heart, has the knowledge and wisdom and discipline to restrain his enthusiasm and to write with his usual detached though devoted clarity, in a concise style which makes these one hundred and eighteen pages very full and informative and inspiring.

Father Boff once again here leads us to understand the true and profound significance of one of our most popular prayers and its valid place in our canon of prayer, as he has revealed to us the mystery of other central prayers in his excellent studies Praying With Jesus And Mary: Our Father, Hail Mary and in Lord's Prayer: The Prayer of Integral Liberation. All truly devote and practicing Catholics have much to gain from praying with Father Boff in these monumental devotional, form his wisdom, and knowledge and his compassionate and patient kindness which truly reveals the real and Holy Spirit of Saint Francis.

Highly recommended for all Catholics, and for all who desire the Peace which Jesus generously leaves to us: "My Peace I give to you." as a sign and sacrament and the being of his Real Presence.