An Instrument of Your Peace: Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

by Helen Steiner Rice, John A. Ruthven, Virginia J. Ruehlmann

Poems centered around the themes from St. Francis of Assisi's famous prayer are accompanied by full-color illustrations of woodland creatures, appropriate verses from Scripture, and meditative thoughts.

96 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2001

Reviews

[Stacie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pleasant way to experience and enjoy the poetry of Helen Steiner Rice. It has been collected here to match the phrases in the famous prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi. Her poetry is fairly simple, full of praise of God and His creation and what we may learn of Him through it. It doesn’t require deep thought. I enjoyed a few of the selections quite a bit, and a few fell flat with me. The illustrations are quite lovely.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rice's poems are an acquired taste. They're inspirational and well constructed, but there isn't much imagery, they're pretty much all tell and no show. But, I don't think she was setting out to wow the literary world with her poems. I think her main concern was praising God and inspiring other to do so as well. And in that respect I think she succeeded.

This particular collection was put together after the poet's death to support her Foundation, which assists the elderly in Ohio. The editor of the collection collected Rice's poems in sections headed by a phrase from St. Francis of Assisi's prayer of peace. Each page is beautifully illustrated by the painter and naturalist John Ruthven. While the beautiful lettering is reminiscent of illuminated manuscripts from the 2ns century and lend themselves well to both the word of St. Francis and those of Helen Steiner Rice, the animals don't really addanything to the words and can at times be distractions. Though I'm sure the saint, who loved all creatures great and small, would have appreciated them.

A spiritually inspirational and calming read for a gloomy winter's day.