Dear St Francis, we thank you for the immense good that was accomplished by many of your Franciscan fathers, brothers, and sisters over the past 800 years. Your love towards nature, ecology, and animals inspires us to be more appreciative towards everything that we are surrounded with, especially the beauty of nature and everything God gave us to admire, cherish and treasure. Teach us to show respect towards the environment, by keeping our air clean, avoiding littering and showing negligence towards the little countryside we have left in our small island. Let us keep our seas clean, our streets without junk, dirt and clutter, and our air without any unnecessary fumes which cause health problems and do no good to anybody.
And we know how much the Maltese people love their pets and animals, and so we pray today for our four-legged friends and more, including centipedes. From dogs to cats, from birds to fish, from cows to horses, from chicken to rabbits, from ducks to baby chicks, as well as the many exotic animals that are being brought into Malta, we pray that everyone cares for them and takes care of them. And even though we do not fancy some other animals, like mosquitoes, snakes, and rats, we hope they don’t cause any damage to us and to other animals as well as the environment. As we say in the famous prayer you taught us, make us all instruments of your peace, and remind us to sow seeds of love while eradicating hatred, and above all spread a message of friendship towards everyone, respect towards nature, towards each other and every gift we are surrounded with. We pray also for our present Pope Francis, who took your name, and like you, have a special love for the poor, and showed a spirit of poverty in his life and in his messages. We pray all this through your intercession, dear St Francis of Assisi, patron of nature and animals. Amen.
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