Daybreak for October 4, 2023

Wednesday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time
Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi, 1181-1226; following an illness, prayer led Francis to a self-emptying like that of Christ, climaxed by embracing a leper he met on the road; he gave up all of his possessions; he had no intention of founding an order, but once it began, he protected it and accepted all legal structures needed to support it; during his last years, blind and seriously ill, he received the stigmata; on his deathbed, he repeated the last addition to his "Canticle of the Sun," "Be praised, O Lord, for our Sister Death.” 
Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 10/4/23
Gospel: Luke 9:57-62