Soul Training with the Peace Prayer of Saint Francis

by Albert Haase O.F.M.

Overview

“In an age of body workouts and exercise regimens, training the soul for peace may be one of the most important routines we take up on a committed basis. For there can be no peace in the world unless there is peace in the heart.”—Sr. Ilia Delio, OSF, Josephine Connelly Endowed Chair in Theology, Villanova University

After reading Soul Training with the Peace Prayer of Saint Francis, you’ll know why pontiffs, presidents, politicians, paralegals, plumbers, and proofreaders keep turning to the Peace Prayer. This simple prayer can train the soul and keep you in shape until you cross the finish line into eternal life. Think of this book as your workout manual that offers encouragement to condition all the muscles of the virtues to help you stay spiritually fit: faith, hope, love, forgiveness, joy, consolation, understanding, and selflessness.

“The Peace Prayer gets you in the zone where God’s grace shapes and stretches your soul, transforming you into a saint who shimmers and shines.”—from the introduction

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781632533494
Publisher:	Franciscan Media
Publication date:	12/01/2020
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	747,709
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.45(d)

About the Author

Albert Haase, OFM, is a popular preacher, teacher, and spiritual director. A former missionary to mainland China for over eleven years, he is the award-winning author of twelve books on popular spirituality and the presenter on five bestselling DVDs. He has trained spiritual directors for ten years. He is currently chaplain at Cedarbrake Catholic Retreat Center in the diocese of Austin, Texas. Visit his website at www.AlbertOFM.org
 

Table of Contents

Foreword Murray Bodo, OFM xi

Introduction xv

Chapter 1 Lord and Divine Master 1

Chapter 2 Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace 13

Chapter 3 Where There Is Hatred, Let Me Sow Love 33

Chapter 4 Where There Is Injury, Pardon; It Is in Pardoning that We Are Pardoned 51

Chapter 5 Where There Is Doubt, Faith 69

Chapter 6 Where There Is Despair, Hope 83

Chapter 7 Where There Is Darkness, Light 95

Chapter 8 And Where There Is Sadness, Joy 107

Chapter 9 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 119

Chapter 10 For It Is in Giving that We Receive 131

Chapter 11 It Is in Dying that We Are Born to Eternal Life 141

Conclusion: Amen 151

Appendix 1 A History of the Peace Prayer of Saint Francis 153

Appendix 2 The Earliest Version of the Peace Prayer 159

Appendix 3 The First Known English Translation of the Peace Prayer 160

Appendix 4 Pope Francis's Revision of the Peace Prayer for Journalists 161

Notes 163

Editorial Reviews

We live in a world of high anxiety where talk of peace is obscured by a noisy culture of chaos.   Francis of Assisi also lived in tumultuous times but turned his life around, from the darkness of worldly greed toward the light of God’s generous love. In the wellspring of God’s love, he found the deep joy of peace. Father Albert Haase has given us a workbook of conversion, following Francis’s spiritual path. Drawing from personal stories and Franciscan spirituality, Father Haase illumines the Peace Prayer as a way of turning from darkness to light, from anxiety and distress to the deep peace of God’s love. Each chapter concludes with a thoughtful “training workout” and reflection points to consider, as the soul is shaped in love. In an age of body workouts and exercise regimens, training the soul for peace may be one of the most important routines we take up on a committed basis. For there can be no peace in the world unless there is peace in the heart. 
—Sr. Ilia Delio, OSF, Josephine Connelly Endowed Chair in Theology, Villanova University
 
Inspired! Fr Albert Haase takes us on a panoramic tour into the human drama using the verses of the Prayer attributed to St Francis. With each phrase of the prayer, Fr Haase opens up a dimension of human pain and invites us to see the lives of those who have not only suffered but found spiritual freedom. Most interesting to me as a third order Franciscan are the stories from Francis' life that illustrate how this great saint emptied himself of all privilege and power in order to be transformed by the suffering. In this volume the reader encounters real people's stories, including the author's, the examples of numerous saints, and the spiritual principles that lead to a life of joy in following Jesus.
—Fr Dave Scheider, Episcopal priest, spiritual director, member of The Third Order Society of St. Francis (Episcopal)

From the Publisher