Sometimes the room is full and the heart is still searching for something. Objects, screens, messages, tasks, choices, and desires are everywhere. It seems that we need to keep up with everything. If we stop, we are afraid of falling behind.
Saint Francis of Assisi discovered a different freedom. He did not think created things were bad. On the contrary, he saw the sun, water, fire, and earth as brothers and sisters. The problem begins when we want to possess everything and can no longer receive anything as a gift.
Simplicity does not mean despising beauty, living without joy, or treating the suffering of those who lack necessities as something beautiful. Forced poverty is an injustice and must be opposed. Christian simplicity is a choice of freedom: using things without allowing them to use our hearts; being grateful for enough; sharing; making room for God and for people.
This prayer is for days when there is too much noise outside—or within.
Where does this prayer come from?
The “Prayer of simplicity” below is a text inspired by Franciscan spirituality, written especially for this portal. It is not an authentic prayer by Saint Francis and should not be presented as though it came from his pen.
It draws inspiration from three sources. The first is the Gospel, in which Jesus invites his friends to observe the birds of the air and trust in the Father’s care. The second is the life of Francis, who chose minority: to stand among the little ones, depend on God, and live as a brother without wanting to control everything. The third is the encyclical Laudato si’. In it, Pope Francis explains that sobriety lived freely does not diminish life; it helps us appreciate people, nature, art, service, and prayer.
This is not, therefore, a prayer asking for “less life.” It is a prayer asking for less distraction and more presence; less accumulation and more gratitude; less haste and more love.
Prayer of simplicity
Good God,
when I think I need everything,
restore to me the joy of enough.
When many voices compete for my attention,
teach me to recognize your gentle voice.
When I compare my life with the lives of others,
help me remember the gifts already resting in my hands.
Give me eyes for the morning light,
ears for the laughter of those I love,
time for bread shared
and reverence for water that quenches thirst.
Free me from the desire to seem more important.
May I not need to win every conversation,
display everything I do,
or hide my mistakes in order to be loved.
Teach me to say “I do not need it”
when a thing promises to take the place of love;
and to say “Here I am”
when someone needs company.
Give me courage to put in order what is confused,
return what is not mine,
care for what I already have,
and share what may be useful to someone else.
May my home have a welcoming door,
my table keep a place,
my words be few and true,
and my hands be free to serve.
Brother Jesus,
you who were born in a manger
and washed your friends’ feet,
teach me the greatness that stoops down.
With Francis, I want to give thanks:
for the sun I cannot keep,
for the wind I cannot hold,
for the earth that does not belong to me,
and for the love that grows when it is offered.
Remove from me the excess that suffocates.
Preserve in me what gives life.
And make the empty space
a place where you may enter.
Amen.
Inspired prayer, originally written for Portal São Francisco.
How to pray this prayer
Choose an ordinary place: the kitchen table, the foot of a tree, a bench, or a corner of the room. There is no need to create a perfect setting. If you can, leave your phone at a distance for a few minutes and place before you just one simple thing: a piece of bread, a leaf, a bowl of water, or a safe candle.
Look at this small sign. Ask: “What gift from God do I often receive without noticing?” Read the prayer slowly. Do not hurry to finish. Pause briefly after each section.
When you finish, choose an act of simplicity. You might tidy a drawer and set aside something good to donate; eat a meal without a screen; repair rather than replace; thank someone for an unseen task; use water carefully; or listen to someone without looking at the clock.
If you have little because you lack necessities, this prayer does not say that injustice is good. Ask for help and tell someone you trust. The Christian community is called to share so that no one is left without bread, care, a home, or dignity.
A bowl that still has room
Imagine a bowl filled to the brim. If someone pours in clean water, it overflows without being able to receive it. Now imagine a bowl with room. It is neither sad nor incomplete: it is available.
The heart too can become full to the brim—with worries, possessions, comparisons, and haste. Simplicity does not break the bowl. It gently removes what keeps it from receiving. Then we realize that a conversation can be a celebration, that bread has flavor, that a tree offers shade, and that God was already near.
Pope Francis calls this “happy sobriety”: the ability to live fully without always needing to possess more. Saint Francis learned this joy by calling all things sisters. He did not look at creation as an owner, but as family. Those who receive the world in this way care for it better and find reasons to give thanks.
Today, you do not need to empty your entire life. You need only make a little room. God knows how to enter through small places.
Explore the sources
- Holy See — Laudato si’, 222–224 — presents sobriety, gratitude, and the joy of living with little as a Christian path of freedom.
- Holy See — World Day of Prayer for Peace in Assisi, 27 October 1986 — recalls Francis’s simple and austere life as an imitation of Jesus.
- Holy See — Address to the Friars Minor Capuchin, 14 September 2018 — recommends simple prayer, closeness, and reconciliation as features of the Franciscan charism.
- Bible — Matthew 6:25–34, on the CNBB portal — Jesus invites us to look at the birds and the lilies and trust in the Father’s care.