Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
— The Prayer of St. Francis
St Francis was introduced to me by Master Choa Kok Sui through the Meditation on Twin Hearts. All of you who have meditated with me will remember the reference to this glorious saint in the MCKS Meditation On Twin Hearts. Here are the lines of the prayer:
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.
In MCKS Pranic Healing and Arhatic Yoga students from time to time are provided nurturing sessions to build upon our practice. This year we had a special nurturing session by Acharya Danny on the Power of Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi. This session was a life changer in many ways for me and created a deep deep respect for my spiritual teacher and The St. Francis.
I had heard Dr. Wayne Dyer narrating a story about his miraculous healing in Assisi and his divine connection with the saint . You can call it synchronicity while I call it grace,two days prior to my trip I get a newsletter from Wayne Dyer titled ” St Francis” with a link to his “Experiencing The Miraculous Seminar” where he is lecturing in the chapel where St Francis prayed and just freezes with tears pouring from his eyes… you can see the recording:
Wayne Dyer has done a lot of writing on St. Francis and is one of my favorite authors.
Our trip to Italy had a special agenda and it was a visit to Assisi. The town is slightly out of way as compared to the conventional iterinaries of Italy and we had limited days at hand so instead of visiting Florence or Venice I had chosen Assisi for obvious reasons 🙂
There was a calling to this holy place and somewhere I had felt an ecstasy to be there and to experience the presence of the great ones while I pray and meditate. It is difficult to explain things on the spiritual path, why I do what I do, Why I believe what I believe? Somehow travel in my family is a choice that I make and thankfully my partner just supports me without questions. I also see this as a blessing in my life. Last year we did ‘Stonehenge’
So we take a train from Rome to Assisi which was a comfortable ride and reach Assisi in 3 hours .As you stand at the train station of Assisi you can feel the peace and bliss in the air. Even my husband felt and remarked in the evening while church bells tolled that the place has a different feel. Hmm…and I was happy and silent at the same time.
We stayed in an awesome hotel Nun Assisi Relais Spa Museum in Assisi right in the heart of the town. A good place where the family could unwind after a 3 hour train journey. We spent the evening checking in hotel and then heading to the Spa Museum. The SPA Museum was nothing we had experienced so far, it is a well preserved historic site , it is said that they worshiped water here. Here is a picture of the SPA from internet as we did not have time to click pictures here, were busy enjoying the ambiance with Samaira my soon to be 2 year old daughter.
The Next day was an early morning as I had opted for 3 hours walking tour of Assisi with my guide Elizabeth. Assisi has a lot to see and experience and probably needs 2-3 days to experience the magic and mysticism as there is a lot of history.
The impressive basilica built over the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi in the early 13th century is one of Italy’s – and the world’s – most important pilgrimage destinations. Pics Above
The portico of the Temple of Minerva dates from the first century BC and was converted into the church of Santa Maria della Minerva in 1539 Pics Below:
We started from the Communal square and visited the Temple of Minerva ,the roman temple with baroque interiors the entire town of Assisi is connected by beautiful narrow stone roads with small souvenir and art shops lining up the streets that make you stop every 10 mins to marvel.
We visited the Basilica of Santa Chiara (St. Clare) one of the key disciples of St. Francis. The Basilica with its massive lateral buttresses, rose window, and simple Gothic interior, begun in 1257, contains the tomb of the St Clare and 13th‑century frescoes and paintings.
Elizabeth was an experienced guide and we connected over spirituality and meditation very well and she understood how important it was for me to visit Assisi.Though I had limited time as we had to catch a train in 3 hours she ensured I could meditate and experience the place. She showed me The San Damiano Cross which is a large cross before which St. Francis of Assisi was praying when he is said to have received the commission from the Christ to rebuild the Church. She gently handed me the prayer that St. Francis said in front of the cross and asked me to take my time and meditate at this place. The prayer was as below:
Most High, glorious God,
enlighten the darkness of my heart
and give me true faith, certain hope, and perfect charity,
sense and knowledge, Lord,
that I may carry out Your holy and true command. Amen
As I started reciting the prayer and looked at the cross , tears just rolled continuously from my eyes and I felt a deep connection and presence around me. It was an experience. The words of the prayer are so profound it could only come from someone who was serving the higher agenda of the Source. You can try to connect with the energy by just repeating the prayer and focus on the cross , may be you can experience what I am writing.
After this Elizabeth took us to Basilica of St Francis, there was a big event going on inside the basilica so she just explained a couple of frescoes and then took me to the basement of the church to the Tomb of St Francis and as no one is allowed to speak here she left me for 15 minutes here to meditate. I was so grateful and very emotional to be here, my trip to Assisi was accomplished by being in the aura of this great saint. I gently did Twin Hearts Meditation and paid gratitude for all the sacrifices these great beings have made to bring humanity where it is now. Sent loving blessings to everyone and paid my sincere reverence to my spiritual teacher Master Choa because of his grace I could understand the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi and be here.
The Inner Conversation that I had at this Shrine was to follow our higher purpose, to focus on the agenda of the soul ,rather than just be trapped in the needs of the incarnated soul. Life is all about living our higher purpose to allow ourselves to be available to grace to serve the will of God/Divine/Source ,whatever you may call.
Love Sargam!
For Pranic Healer’s Interested in knowing more about the Inner Meaning of The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi
You can access here http://www.globalpranichealing.com/magazine/master-dannys-presentation/