Before our feet touch the floor, the day has already begun. The sky has grown a little brighter. A bird has looked for food. Someone has prepared bread. Our heart kept beating all night, even though we never told it to.
Sometimes we wake up happy. On other days, we open our eyes tired, worried about a test, a difficult conversation, or a task that seems enormous. Some mornings we would like to hide our head under the covers. God does not demand that we pretend to be joyful. He meets us as we are.
Francis of Assisi learned to contemplate the world as a family received from the Creator’s hands. The sun, wind, water, and earth were not unimportant things. They were brothers and sisters who spoke of God’s care. To begin the morning with a Franciscan spirit is to see that life is not property kept in a safe. It is a gift placed in our hands once again.
Perhaps you cannot change the world today. But you can give attention to the first person you meet, care for the place where you live, study honestly, and not leave someone alone. A new day does not ask you to be perfect. It offers a new opportunity to love.
Where does this prayer come from?
This is an original prayer by Portal São Francisco. Saint Francis of Assisi did not write it, and it must not be presented as an ancient work.
It grew out of three Christian sources. The first is the custom of morning prayer. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that tradition proposes daily times of prayer, including morning and evening. The second is Psalm 5, in which a person raises their voice to God early in the morning and waits for him. The third is Francis’s way of seeing, which finds in the sun and all creation a reason for praise.
The text also recalls that the present is where we meet God. We do not need to carry all of tomorrow’s problems today. We can welcome the light that has arrived and simply ask, “What good can I do today?”
Prayer to welcome the morning
God of all goodness,
I open my eyes and find another day.
Before my words,
receive my first silence.
Thank you for the life that continued within me,
for the air entering my lungs,
for the light visiting the window,
and for everything already awake in creation.
If I woke up joyful,
teach me to share my joy.
If I woke up tired,
stay close and guide my steps gently.
If a worry arrived before the sun,
help me not to go through the day alone.
Lord Jesus,
place truth in my words,
kindness in my eyes,
and care in my hands.
Do not let me hurry past
someone who needs to be seen.
May I know how to apologize,
give thanks, learn, and begin again.
Free me from the desire to seem better than others.
Give me Francis’s simplicity:
a heart content with what is needed,
ears attentive to small things,
and courage to love without drawing attention.
Bless my home,
the people I will meet,
my study, my work, and my rest.
Bless also those who woke without shelter,
food, companionship, or hope.
Show me how to share something real.
Father, I do not know everything this day will bring,
but I know I can live it with you.
Receive my plans
and make room for your will.
When night returns,
may at least one creature
have received greater care
because I lived through this day.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Original prayer by Portal São Francisco, inspired by the Gospel and Franciscan spirituality.
How to pray this prayer
You do not need to pick up your phone or get out of bed immediately. Sit for a moment and notice three things: your breathing, the light in the room, and a sound around you. Make the sign of the cross calmly.
Read the whole prayer or choose just one part. On busy days, you can repeat: “Lord, receive this day and teach me to care.” Then think about the people and tasks you will meet. Do not try to imagine every detail; offer God what you already know.
Finally, choose one simple action for the morning: tidy your place without complaining, thank the person who prepared something for you, carry water in a reusable bottle, greet someone who often goes unnoticed, or begin the hardest task honestly.
If you have woken up very sad or without energy for many days, prayer can walk alongside help. Tell a trusted adult how you feel. Asking for companionship is also a way of opening the window to the light.
The first opening of light
Imagine a room that is still dark. The window is closed, but a thin line of light passes through the wood. It does not light everything at once. Even so, it announces that night did not last forever.
Sometimes we think that, to live well, we need to feel enormous courage from the start of the day. Creation teaches us something else. Morning does not arrive like lightning; it begins through a narrow opening. A seed does not become a tree in an hour. A bird does not carry food for an entire month; it looks for what it needs at that moment.
You too can begin small. An honest word. A glass of water. A page read. Care for someone. Francis discovered joy not when he came to possess everything, but when he learned to receive everything as a gift. Today is one of those gifts. It is not finished yet. God invites you to write it with love.
Explore the sources
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2697–2699 — The life of prayer — presents morning and evening prayer among the daily rhythms of Christian life.
- Psalm 5 — United States Conference of Catholic Bishops — a prayer that raises its voice to God in the morning and waits for his answer.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2652–2660 — At the wellsprings of prayer — teaches us to find God in the present and bring the simple situations of each day into prayer.
- Pope Francis — Laudato si’, 1–12 — begins with the Canticle of the Creatures and explains Saint Francis’s fraternal gaze toward creation.