Thoughts on St. Francis of Assisi

I was reading recently about St. Francis of Assisi and found this information and paragraph from Brennan Manning inspiring. He sounds like a guy I would have loved spending some time with. St. Francis was born at Assisi in 1182. After a care free youth, he turned his back on inherited wealth and committed himself to God. Like many early saints, he lived a very simple life of poverty, and in so doing, gained a reputation of being the friend of animals. He established the rule of St Francis, which exists today as the Order of St. Francis, or the Franciscans. He died in 1226, aged 44. Contemporaries of Francis of Assisi called him le jon gleur de Dieu - the clown of God. At the first mass meeting of Franciscans, with three thousand brothers in attendance, Francis gently instructed the birds to stop chirping so that the friars might hear his sermon. They obeyed instantly. He tamed a wolf who was eating people in the village of Gubbio and extracted a promise from the locals to provide food each night for the carnivore. He picked up two stray pieces of wood, pretending that one was a bow and the other a fiddle, and sang love songs to God in French. He composed a canticle praising God for Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Brother Fire, Sister Water, and even Sister Death. He often stood on his head to see the world upside down, reminding his neighbors and himself that life on planet earth hangs precariously on the strings of God's loving kindness.
Ruthless Trust Pg 70 Brennan Manning

THE PRAYER OF St. FRANCIS of ASSISI

Lord, make me an

Instrument of your peace,

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

Where there is sadness, joy;
O 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.