February the 40th

I have written about February being my month. It is, after all, my birth month. Allow me to share a little about part of my life that was imparted to me during my formative years until I graduated from high school. I studied at Lourdes School where the Capuchin Fathers guided us in our Christian education.

I believe that the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi is a very powerful reflection and one that is apt in our everyday lives. It is something that I start my day with upon waking up in the morning. It is something that I never forget to pray especially on days I anticipate to be difficult. The video below is the prayer sung in English by the Philippine Madrigal Singers during one of their recent tours in Europe.

Another prayer is the Canticle of the Creatures or Canticle of the Sun. It is a very beautiful prayer proclaiming appreciation of the things around you. It is something appropriate in these times when our environment has seen so much degradation, when we have failed to appreciate even the most simple things for their deeper and not necessarily commercial value. Below is the Canticle sung by Andrea Bocelli in Italian.

  

This is probably more familiar in the popular form taught to us in school. The video below is from the film "Brother Sun, Sister Moon" that was shown to us back when we were in grade school. The clip features Sts. Francis and Clare of Assisi discovering God in their own way and proclaiming this through the Canticle.

I am thankful that these prayers or reflections are now available through YouTube. The media should be among the instruments for sharing such material for generations to come who might no longer have the time to meditate about what's happening around us and to us in this electronic age.
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