The Admonitions of St Francis

These are not something I had known of before,  the Irish Franciscans have a lovely page of the saint's spiritual writings.

How much lovelier and more eloquent is this than the prayer of more recent origin often inaccurately attributed to him.

HOW VIRTUE DRIVES OUT VICE

Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance.

Where there is patience and humility, there is neither anger nor disturbance.

Where there is poverty with joy, there is neither covetousness nor avarice.

Where there is inner peace and meditation, there is neither anxiousness nor dissipation.

Where there is fear of the Lord to guard the house, there the enemy cannot gain entry.

Where there is mercy and discernment, there is neither excess nor hardness of heart.