This beloved prayer for peace asks to become a channel of God's love, pardon, faith, and hope in a wounded world. It is widely known as the Peace Prayer of St Francis.
The Prayer
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
When to Pray This Prayer
Whenever we long to be peacemakers, in times of conflict, and as a daily prayer of self-giving love.
About This Prayer
Though named for St Francis of Assisi and breathing his spirit, this prayer first appeared in the early twentieth century. The Church presents it as inspired by, rather than written by, the saint.
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Text: the Peace Prayer (attributed to St Francis; modern in origin, presented as inspired by him).