# Is the St. Francis Prayer in the Big Book?

**In short:**
- No. The St. Francis Prayer ("Lord, make me a channel of thy peace…") is not in the Big Book, in the main text or in any story in our sources, and St. Francis isn't named there. The book's Eleventh Step directions ([pp. 85–88](https://recoverystarts.com/big-book/page-85/)) contain no set prayer of their own; they say members who aren't in a religious body "sometimes select and memorize a few set prayers" ([p. 87](https://recoverystarts.com/big-book/page-87/)).
- The prayer is printed in three later A.A. sources, each time tied to Bill W.: *A.A. Comes of Age* (1957), where Bill recites it at the 1955 St. Louis Convention; the pamphlet *The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous* (P-53), at the close of his last major talk, October 1969; and *Pass It On* (1984), which calls it "Bill's favorite" and has it read at his memorial service in 1971.
- Bill wrote in 1957 that in the years after early 1942 the Serenity Prayer took "its place alongside our two other favorites, the Lord's Prayer and the Prayer of St. Francis" (*A.A. Comes of Age*, 1957). The common name "the Eleventh Step Prayer" isn't in any of these books.

## What the search found

Our sources were searched for "St. Francis," "Saint Francis," "Francis," "instrument of thy peace," "instrument of your peace," "channel of thy peace," "where there is hatred," "Lord, make me" and "eleventh step prayer." Nothing matched in the Big Book's main text, pages 1 to 164. The only "Francis" in the stories is San Francisco ([p. 458](https://recoverystarts.com/big-book/page-458/)). "Instrument of thy peace," the wording many meetings use, is not in our sources at all; A.A.'s books print "channel." "Eleventh step prayer" is in no A.A. source here.

## Where the prayer is printed

**A.A. Comes of Age (1957).** In the section "Religion Looks at Alcoholics Anonymous," which carries the talks of Father Ed Dowling and Dr. Samuel Shoemaker at the St. Louis Convention of 1955, Bill closes the session after Shoemaker's address: "I think it is altogether fitting if, as my concluding part of this session, I recite to you the prayer of Francis, one of the saints whose example is so near and so dear to us all" (*A.A. Comes of Age*, 1957). The full prayer follows, beginning "Lord, make me a channel of thy peace, that where there is hatred, I may bring love" (*A.A. Comes of Age*, 1957). This is the earliest printing of it in our sources: a recitation at a convention, not program text.

**The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous (P-53).** The pamphlet reprints Bill's last full-length talk at an A.A. meeting, "transcribed from a recording made October 11, 1969," at a New York Intergroup dinner for the 35th anniversary of his sobriety (P-53, 2017 printing). He ends the talk with it: "I would like to conclude with the memory of one of history's great figures and with words dedicated to him that have come down through the centuries. His name was Francis." (P-53, Bill's talk, 1969). The prayer follows in full.

**Pass It On (1984).** The afterword describes the private memorial service at Stepping Stones on January 27, 1971: "The St. Francis Prayer, Bill's favorite, echoed through the trees around the house" (*Pass It On*, 1984), and prints the text. *Pass It On* also quotes a speaker calling St. Francis of Assisi "Bill's patron saint" (*Pass It On*, 1984).

The three printings differ slightly from one another (the 1955 recitation has no "discord … harmony" line, and only *Pass It On* ends with "Amen"), and all three say "channel," not "instrument." None of them says when or by whom it was written. In 1955 Bill called it "the prayer of Francis" (*A.A. Comes of Age*, 1957); his 1969 wording is more careful: "words dedicated to him that have come down through the centuries" (P-53, Bill's talk, 1969).

## St. Francis elsewhere in Bill's writing

Bill named St. Francis in *A.A. Comes of Age* for something other than the prayer: he says "the philosophy of St. Francis of Assisi," a lay movement pledged to corporate poverty, was "a big factor in our thinking" about money and service (*A.A. Comes of Age*, 1957), and that "St. Francis had given us the idea, but John D. wisely forced us to live up to it" (*A.A. Comes of Age*, 1957). That is a 1957 account of the Seventh Tradition's background, not about prayer, and the Long Form itself ([pp. 563–566](https://recoverystarts.com/big-book/page-563/)) doesn't mention him.

## What the Big Book's Eleventh Step does say

The Big Book has prayers of its own, in Chapter 5 (the Third Step, [p. 63](https://recoverystarts.com/big-book/page-63/)) and Chapter 6 (the Seventh Step, [p. 76](https://recoverystarts.com/big-book/page-76/)), and Chapter 6's Eleventh Step directions ([pp. 85–88](https://recoverystarts.com/big-book/page-85/)) are not built around a set prayer. At night "we constructively review our day" ([p. 86](https://recoverystarts.com/big-book/page-86/)); on waking "we ask God to direct our thinking" ([p. 86](https://recoverystarts.com/big-book/page-86/)); the morning period ends "with a prayer that we be shown all through the day what our next step is to be" ([p. 87](https://recoverystarts.com/big-book/page-87/)), asking "especially for freedom from self-will" ([p. 87](https://recoverystarts.com/big-book/page-87/)). Then this: "If not members of religious bodies, we sometimes select and memorize a few set prayers which emphasize the principles we have been discussing." ([p. 87](https://recoverystarts.com/big-book/page-87/)), and "Be quick to see where religious people are right. Make use of what they offer." ([p. 87](https://recoverystarts.com/big-book/page-87/)). Through the day the member pauses "when agitated or doubtful" and says "Thy will be done" ([pp. 87–88](https://recoverystarts.com/big-book/page-87/)).

So the book leaves the choice of set prayers open, and points the reader to his own "priest, minister, or rabbi" for suggestions about helpful books ([p. 87](https://recoverystarts.com/big-book/page-87/)). The St. Francis Prayer is one that Bill chose for himself, as the 1955, 1969 and 1971 records show; the Big Book neither prints it nor attaches it to Step Eleven. See: *What do Steps 10 and 11 ask, day to day?* · *Where did the Serenity Prayer come from in A.A.?* · *Why do some meetings close with the Lord's Prayer?*

## Read it yourself
- Chapter 6, "Into Action" (Step Eleven, [pp. 85–88](https://recoverystarts.com/big-book/page-85/)): https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_chapt6.pdf
- Chapter 5, "How It Works" (the Third Step prayer, [p. 63](https://recoverystarts.com/big-book/page-63/)): https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_chapt5.pdf
- *The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous* (P-53), the pamphlet with Bill's 1969 talk, is free on aa.org; *A.A. Comes of Age* and *Pass It On* are books: https://onlineliterature.aa.org

## Sources
| Source | Pages | Date |
|---|---|---|
| All our sources (searched): Big Book, pamphlets, history, stories, service | — | various |
| *Alcoholics Anonymous*, Chapters 5–6 | 63, 76, 85–88 | 1939 |
| *A.A. Comes of Age* (Bill at the 1955 St. Louis Convention; St. Francis and money; the Serenity Prayer) | — | 1957 |
| *The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous* (P-53), Bill's last major talk | end of Bill's talk | talk 1969; pamphlet printing 2017 |
| *Pass It On* | — | 1984 |

*Recovery Starts is independent and not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. Quotations are brief and cited; the Big Book is © A.A. World Services, Inc. P-53's talks are © AA Grapevine, Inc., reprinted by A.A. World Services, Inc.*