Mason Delacroix
Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship with the primary purpose of helping its members stay sober and helping others achieve sobriety. The organization provides a safe, structured, and nurturing environment for individuals of all faiths. Members have access to a variety of prayers, including the St. Francis Prayer, also known as the Eleventh Step Prayer. The prayer is attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi, who was known for his partying and drinking before being captured and held for ransom. After his release, he dedicated his life to helping restore people's faith in God and rebuilding the Christian church. The prayer reflects his spiritual values and mission of Christ-like perfection.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Purpose | To help alcoholics achieve sobriety and stay sober |
| Prayer | Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace! That where there is hatred, I may bring love. That where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness. That where there is discord, I may bring harmony. That where there is error, I may bring truth. That where there is doubt, I may bring faith. That where there is despair, I may bring hope. That where there are shadows, I may bring light. That where there is sadness, I may bring joy. Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort, than to be comforted. To understand, than to be understood. To love, than to be loved. For it is by self-forgetting that one finds. It is by forgiving that one is forgiven. It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life. |
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What You'll Learn
Saint Francis' life of partying and luxury before his capture
St. Francis of Assisi, born in 1181 or 1182 in Assisi, Italy, was the son of a wealthy cloth merchant. He enjoyed a life of luxury and ease in his youth, indulging in fine food, wine, and wild celebrations. He was known for his charm and vanity and was loved by everyone. He was a natural leader, and many young people who spent their nights in wild parties followed him. His biographer, Thomas of Celano, described him as an "exquisite youth" who attracted "a whole retinue of young people addicted to evil and accustomed to vice."
Despite his father's wishes for him to become a merchant, Francis dreamed of becoming a knight and gaining glory on the battlefield. He learned the skills of archery, wrestling, and horsemanship, and when he rode off to fight against the nearby town of Perugia, he was dressed in a suit of armor decorated with gold and a magnificent cloak. However, he was quickly captured by enemy soldiers and spent nearly a year in harsh and dark dungeon conditions, awaiting his father's ransom payment.
During his imprisonment, Francis reportedly began to receive visions from God, and his life took on a very different direction after his release. He heard the voice of Christ, who commanded him to repair the Christian Church and live a life of poverty. He abandoned his former life of luxury and became a devotee of the faith, his reputation spreading throughout the Christian world.
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The Saint Francis Prayer as an example of a surrendered life
The Saint Francis Prayer, also known as the Peace Prayer or the 11th Step Prayer in AA, is a widely known Christian prayer for peace that has been adopted by Alcoholics Anonymous. The prayer is said to be a perfect example of a surrendered life, demonstrating how to live a life of service and be happy, joyous, and free.
The story of Saint Francis himself is one that many in recovery can relate to. Born in Italy around 1181-1182, Saint Francis led a life of luxury and indulgence, known for his drinking, partying, and rule-breaking. However, after being held captive for ransom during a war between Assisi and Perugia in 1202, he took an oath to live a life of poverty and dedicate himself to helping others restore their faith in God.
The Saint Francis Prayer reflects this transformation and surrender to a higher power. It begins with a request to be made into an instrument or channel of peace, followed by a series of intentions to bring love, forgiveness, harmony, truth, faith, hope, light, and joy to various negative situations. The prayer emphasizes the importance of giving, pardoning, and serving others, rather than seeking personal consolation, understanding, or love.
The prayer has been set to music and quoted by prominent leaders, and its inclusive language has resonated with people of various faiths. While it is often associated with Saint Francis of Assisi, the prayer in its present form has only been traced back to 1912, when it was published anonymously in a French Catholic magazine called "La Clochette." Despite this, the prayer remains a powerful tool for those in recovery, providing guidance and inspiration for living a life of service and surrender.
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The Saint Francis Prayer as the Eleventh Step Prayer
The Saint Francis Prayer, also known as the Eleventh Step Prayer in Alcoholics Anonymous, is a powerful tool for those in recovery. The prayer is attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi, who was known for his drinking, partying, and indulgent lifestyle in his early life. After being captured and held for ransom, Saint Francis underwent a spiritual transformation, dedicating his life to helping others restore their faith in God and leading a life of service.
The Eleventh Step Prayer is a reflection of Saint Francis' journey and a testament to the power of surrender and service. It captures the essence of the twelfth step of Alcoholics Anonymous, which focuses on carrying the message of recovery to others and helping them achieve sobriety. Here is the prayer:
> "Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. That where there is hatred, I may bring love. That where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness. That where there is discord, I may bring harmony. That where there is error, I may bring truth. That where there is doubt, I may bring faith. That where there is despair, I may bring hope. That where there are shadows, I may bring light. That where there is sadness, I may bring joy. Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted. To understand than to be understood. To love, than to be loved. For it is by self-forgetting that one finds. It is by forgiving that one is forgiven. It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life."
The prayer is a humble request for guidance and strength to bring peace and positivity to the world. It acknowledges that personal growth comes from serving others and seeking to understand and love them. By reciting this prayer, individuals in recovery can align themselves with a higher power, find purpose in their struggles, and discover the beauty of self-forgetfulness and service.
The Saint Francis Prayer encourages individuals to transform their lives by becoming instruments of peace and catalysts for positive change. It highlights the importance of forgiveness, understanding, and love in the recovery journey. By embracing these principles, individuals can find hope, light, and joy in their lives, and in turn, offer these gifts to those around them. This prayer serves as a reminder that recovery is not just about personal transformation but also about using one's experience to uplift and inspire others.
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Other prayers in the Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book
The Saint Francis Prayer, also known as "A Classic Prayer", is often used by Alcoholics Anonymous. The prayer is as follows:
> Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace! That where there is hatred, I may bring love. That where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness. That where there is discord, I may bring harmony. That where there is error, I may bring truth. That where there is doubt, I may bring faith. That where there is despair, I may bring hope. That where there are shadows, I may bring light. That where there is sadness, I may bring joy.
The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous also contains several other prayers:
- Morning Prayer (Page 87): Members ask to be shown what their next step is and to be given whatever they need to solve their problems. They ask for freedom from self-will and to act only for the benefit of others.
- All Day (Page 87-88): Members pause throughout the day to ask for the right thought or action when agitated or doubtful.
- Resentment (Page 67): Members ask God to help them show others tolerance, pity, and patience, and to remember that those who offend them are sick.
- Others Effected (Page 80): Members ask for permission, consult with others, and ask God for help.
- Infidelity (Page 82): Members pray about infidelity, keeping the other person's happiness in mind.
- Family (Page 83): Members ask the Creator to show them the way of patience, tolerance, kindness, and love. They ask God to remove selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fear.
- Night (Page 86): After meditating on the day, members ask God for forgiveness and inquire about corrective measures.
- Morning (Page 86): Before beginning the day, members ask God to direct their thinking, removing self-pity, dishonest, or self-seeking motives.
- Page 59: Members ask for God's protection and care.
- Page 63: Members offer themselves to God and ask to be relieved of self-will and to better do God's will. They ask God to take away their difficulties so that they may bear witness to His Power, Love, and Way of Life.
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The mission and purpose of Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a global, peer-led, mutual-aid fellowship that focuses on an abstinence-based recovery model from alcoholism. It is a spiritual twelve-step program that is free and open to anyone seeking to stop drinking. The primary purpose of AA is to help alcoholics achieve and maintain sobriety.
The Twelve Traditions provide essential guidelines that help AA groups navigate their relationships with each other and the outside world. These traditions foster an altruistic, unaffiliated, non-coercive, and non-hierarchical organization, limiting AA's mission to helping alcoholics at a non-professional level while avoiding publicity. Members are advised against using AA for personal gain or public prestige, and anonymity is emphasized.
The Twelve Steps are a set of spiritual principles that, when practiced as a way of life, can expel the obsession to drink and enable the sufferer to recover from alcoholism. The first step is to acknowledge powerlessness over alcohol and the unmanageability of life due to alcoholism. Subsequent steps emphasize rigorous honesty, including the completion of a "searching and fearless moral inventory", sharing the inventory with a trusted person, making amends to individuals harmed, and engaging in regular prayer or meditation.
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Frequently asked questions
The St. Francis Prayer, also known as the Eleventh Step Prayer, is a prayer that is often used in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings and literature. The prayer is attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi, who is said to have lived a life of partying and indulgence before finding his faith and dedicating his life to helping others. The prayer is a request to God to make the speaker an "instrument of thy peace" and to bring love, forgiveness, harmony, truth, faith, hope, light, and joy to the world.
The St. Francis Prayer is significant for Alcoholics Anonymous as it embodies the program's main purpose and mission, which is to achieve and maintain sobriety while helping others do the same. The prayer's themes of surrender, service, and transformation through God's power resonate with the AA philosophy of personal growth and helping others achieve recovery.
The St. Francis Prayer is often used in AA meetings as a way to open or close the gathering. It serves as a reminder of the spiritual principles that underpin the AA program and sets the tone for a meeting focused on recovery and mutual support. The prayer may also be recited during moments of reflection or meditation within the meeting.
