St. Francis of Assisi – October 4

St. Francis of Assisi taught his followers to reverence Christ andhis cross wherever they might find themselves. The prayer attributedto St. Francis that begins, “Lord, make me a channel of yourpeace,” was in fact not composed by St. Francis; it was misappliedto him in a prayer book. The true prayer of St. Francis was onehe taught his friars to pray whenever they would pass a Churchor the sign of the cross made by two branches in a tree. They wereto prostrate themselves toward the church or the cross and pray,“We adore you Christ and we praise you present here and in allthe Churches throughout the world, because by your holy crossyou have redeemed the world.”The cross reminds us of the true Christ, the one in theGospels who was constantly misjudged by the religious figuresof his day. If we are not careful, he will be misjudged by us as well.We need to worship him alone.From The Power of the Cross , by Michael Dubruiel available as a free download by clicking the cover below: