St. Francis of Assisi understood the spiritual and psychological toll that life could bring. His tired feet carried him to faraway lands to spread the Gospel, and yet he craved solitude so acutely he would hide out in caves to recharge. Understandable given the task laid before him: He was a repository of the good news and a channel by which that news spread to the world. Little wonder he craved solitude!
None of his life’s work would have been possible without a vibrant and complex prayer life. Through prayer, he celebrated the world around him, it is where he longed for peace, and it was how he embraced his own mortality. Prayer was both Francis’s compass and his destination: his every step and his journey’s end. It was more than communion with the divine. It was a sacred call to action.
—from the book Pause+Pray: Reflections, Prayers, and Actions for Everyday Life
by Franciscan Media
