CHAPTER XXIII.
Prayer and Thanksgiving to God,
Almighty, most holy, most High and Supreme God, holy Father and just Lord, King of heaven and earth, we give Thee thanks because by Thy holy Will, and by Thy only Son and the Holy Ghost, Thou hast created all things spiritual and corporal, and having made man to Thy image and likeness, didst place him in Paradise, whence he fell by his own fault. And we give Thee thanks because, as by Thy Son Thou didst create us, so by the love with which Thou hast loved us, Thou didst cause Him, true God and true Man, to be born of the most blessed ever-Virgin Mary, and didst will that He should redeem us by His Blood and by His death. We give Thee thanks likewise, because this Thy Son will come again in the glory of His Majesty to condemn the wicked, who have not known Thee, nor done penance for their sins, to eternal fire, and to say to all who have known and adored Thee doing penance, ‘Come, ye blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the beginning of the world.’ And since we miserable sinners are not even worthy to name Thee, we humbly beseech Thee that our Lord Jesus Christ Thy beloved Son, in whom Thou art well pleased, and the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete, may give Thee thanks as it pleases Thee and Them, for all Thou hast done for us. Alleluia. And we earnestly beg the glorious and ever-blessed Virgin Mary, blessed Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, with all the Choirs of the blessed Spirits, Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominations, Principalities and Powers, Virtues, Archangels, and Angels ; Blessed John the Baptist, John the Evangelist, Peter, Paul, the blessed Patriarchs and Prophets, Innocents, Apostles, Evangelists, Disciples, Martyrs, Confessors, Virgins, blessed Enoch and Elias, and all the Saints who have been, are, and shall be, for Thy love’s sake to give worthy thanks for all these things to the most High, Eternal and Living God, together with Our most Blessed Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen. Alleluia. And we, the Friars Minor, their useless servants, humbly entreat and beseech all who wish to serve God in the holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, priests, deacons, sub-deacons, acolytes, exorcists, lectors, door-keepers, and all clerics ; all religious men and women, all youths and children, the poor and needy, kings and princes, labourers and husbandmen, servants and masters, all virgins and married people, laymen and women, young men and old, sick and healthy, small and great, and all tribes and tongues and nations, all men in all the earth, who are and shall be ; to persevere in the true Faith, and in doing penance, without which no one can be saved.
Let us all love with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind and with all our strength, with all our understanding and with all our powers, with all our might and all our affection, with all our faculties, our desires, and our will, the Lord God, Who has given, and gives to us all, our body, our soul, and our life, Who has created and redeemed us, and by His pure mercy saved us, Who has done and does nothing but good to us, although we are most miserable, wretched, vile, ungrateful, ignorant and wholly evil. Let us desire nothing, wish. for nothing, and let nothing please or delight us but our Creator, Redeemer and Saviour, the only and true God, Who is all Good, perfect Good, entire Good, the true and supreme Good, Who alone is good, merciful, kind and gracious, gentle and sweet. Who alone is holy, just, true and upright. Who alone is benign, pure, undefiled, from Whom, through Whom, and in Whom is all mercy, all grace, all glory of all penitents and just men, and of all the Saints rejoicing in heaven. Let nothing therefore hinder us, let nothing separate us, let nothing come between us and God. Therefore let us all, at all times and in all places, daily and hourly, firmly believe, and humbly hold in our hearts, let us love, honour, adore, serve, praise and bless, glorify and exalt, magnify and thank the Most High, Supreme and Eternal God, Three in One, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the Creator of all who believe in Him, hope in Him, and love Him, Who is without beginning or end, immutable and invisible, ineffable, incomprehensible, blessed and worthy pf praise, glorious, exalted, sublime, most high, sweet, amiable, lovable, and wholly desirable for ever and ever. Amen.
Exhortation to the Brethren.
In the Name of the Omnipotent God, I beseech all the Brethren that they understand the tenor and sense of those things that are written in this Rule for the salvation of our souls, and frequently recall them to mind. And I pray to God that He Who is Almighty, Three and One, may bless all who teach,
learn, remember and fulfil those things which are there written for our salvation. And I, humbly kissing
their feet, entreat all greatly to love, keep, and lay to heart these things ; and on the part of Almighty God, and of our Lord the Pope, and by virtue of obedience, I, Francis, strictly command and enjoin that.no one diminish anything that is written in this form of life, nor add anything thereunto, and that the Brethren have no other Rule.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.