Francis of Assisi and Martin Luther. If this were a Protestant poll, it might be no contest. But there have been a few surprises in polling so far. Here’s your ballot:
Fortress outpolled Lord of the Dance in round 1 21-13. Prayer of St Francis was an even easier winner 24-8.
It’s the second “battle hymn” the peace prayer faces in as many rounds. The Luther hymn dates to the early days of the Reformation, and many commentators have referred to it as the “Battle Hymn of the Reformation.” If the Sebastian Temple tune was prominent at Princess Di’s funeral, “Fortress” might almost match it–it was sung at a prayer service three days after 9/11 at the National Cathedral. Listen to it here in German.
As for the “Prayer of Saint Francis,” there may be some doubt as to it dating back to the Assisi saint. According to wikipedia:
It is attributed to the 13th-century saint Francis of Assisi, although the prayer in its present form cannot be traced back further than 1912, when it was printed in France in French, in a small spiritual magazine called La Clochette (The Little Bell) as an anonymous prayer, as demonstrated by Dr. Christian Renoux in 2001. The prayer has been known in the United States since 1949, when Cardinal Francis Spellman and Senator Albert W. Hawkes distributed millions of copies of the prayer during and just after World War II.
Catholic Sensibility 