Prayer of trust and abandonment – Saint Francis de Sales

Father, I abandon myself into your hands,
do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you.
I am ready for all, I accept all,
provided that your will is done in me
and in all your creatures;
I desire nothing else, my God.

I place my soul into your hands,
I give it to you, my God,
with all the love of my heart,
because I love you.
And it is for me a requirement of love,
to give myself, to place myself in your hands,
without measure, with infinite confidence,
because you are my Father.

The “Prayer of trust and abandonment” is one of the most intense and beloved spiritual texts of the Catholic tradition, deeply rooted in the thought and life of Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop of Geneva and Doctor of the Church, who lived between the 16th and 17th centuries. This prayer, although it admirably synthesizes the entire mystical journey of the saint of ‘gentleness’, actually finds its most complete formulation in the texts of another great exponent of the French spiritual school, Father Charles de Foucauld, who made it the center of his existence in the Sahara Desert, inheriting its Salesian spirit through reading the work “Abandonment to Divine Providence” by the Jesuit Jean-Pierre de Caussade.

From a theological perspective, this text represents a milestone in understanding the relationship between the human creature and the Creator. Moving beyond a legalistic or fearful view of God, Saint Francis de Sales – and the spiritual tradition that descends from him – proposes a leap of faith based solely on filial love. The expression “because you are my Father” is the centerpiece of the entire theological framework: abandonment is not stoic resignation to fate, but the serene and joyful surrender of oneself into the hands of a good Father, whose will always coincides with the supreme good of man. Every anxiety for the future and every regret for the past are dissolved in the present moment, considered the only place where it is possible to encounter divine grace.

Curiously, this prayer is often defined as “the prayer of total abandonment” and has become over the years a spiritual viaticum for millions of believers going through moments of crisis, illness, or existential bewilderment. Its strength lies in the radical nature of the verbs used – “I abandon myself,” “I am ready for anything,” “I accept everything” – which do not express passivity, but a supreme and active act of love. Contemporary religious journalism often rediscovers it in moments of great global uncertainty, reminding us how the lesson of Saint Francis de Sales, founded on the conviction that “all things work together for good for those who love God,” remains shockingly modern and offers unparalleled comfort.