A Blessing
The Fourfold Franciscan Blessing is a remarkable and challenging little prayer.
Mary at Tensegrities cited this on Telling Secrets. I’ve been pondering this blessing all all morning.
“May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and turn their pain to joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.
Amen.”
Searching around I found this a slightly more amplified version,
“May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.
May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.
May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.
May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really CAN make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God’s grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.
And the blessing of God the Supreme Majesty and our Creator, Jesus Christ the Incarnate Word who is our brother and Saviour, and the Holy Spirit, our Advocate and Guide, be with you and remain with you, this day and forevermore.
Amen.”
I haven’t yet been able to track down a source for this, but if anyone has one, it would be greatly appreciated. It appears this was originally written by Sister Ruth Marlene Fox, OSB, of Sacred Heart Monastery, Richardton, North Dakota. Also I originally posted this saying it was a Franscican blessing but it appears it’s actually a Benedictine blessing. Thank you to everyone who commented with more details about this.
If you enjoyed this article you might also like other things I’ve written about poetry and spirituality, such as The Road Not Taken and Infinite Games And Finding Your Path In Life.
