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in the Benedictine tradition are widely used by Christians of all kinds for a
Daily Office.
Franciscan prayer
Francis of Assisi (1181–1226) is known today as the patron saint of animals
and the environment. But his greater significance is in his determination
to live with ‘sister poverty’. His conversion at the age of 23 and his vibrant
street preaching led to the formation and papal approval of the Order of
Saint Francis, also known as the ‘friars minor’. They were not ordained and
they renounced all personal possessions to care for the needy. Active mission
work led to the spread of the Franciscan order and today its successors exist
throughout the world, including the ‘Poor Clares’, for women, and the ‘Third
Order’, for people not able to live in a community. A vibrant continuing
Franciscan tradition provides many prayers for daily use.
Prayers of Julian of Norwich (1342–1416?)
Little is known about the life of this Norfolk woman who took the name of
Julian. What we do know comes primarily from her book Shewing of Love,
which relates revelations of Christ during a serious illness in 1473. As a result
she became an anchoress, living a solitary life of prayer, and later recorded
further meditations and prayers on her ‘shewings’. These came, she says,
‘by bodily sight, by words formed in my understanding and by spiritual
sight’. Her book is significant because it is the first known literary work in
English by a woman. It displays an intensity of spiritual devotion as well as
theological insight and contains many lines of praise and personal prayer.
Prayers of Martin Luther (1483–1546)
Luther is credited with instigating the Reformation by objecting to the
theology and practice of the Roman Church of his day. In 1517 he wrote to
his bishop with 95 ‘theses’, which questioned matters he disputed. He had