St. Francis Province, North India
Heavenly Father,
In the stillness of this moment, we come before You,
Seeking the peace that only You can give.
Quiet the storms within us, calm the fears around us,
And let Your presence fill our hearts with serenity.
Lord Jesus, Prince of Peace,
Teach us to be peacemakers in a world of division.
Help us to sow love where there is hatred,
Forgiveness where there is hurt,
And hope where there is despair.
Holy Spirit, breath of peace,
Move through our homes, our communities, and our nations.
Open our hearts to understanding,
And guide us to act with compassion and justice.
God of mercy and grace,
May Your peace reign in our hearts,
In our relationships, and in the world You created.
We entrust ourselves to You,
Knowing that in Your hands, peace is always possible.
Amen.
European Region
How we long for such a messenger in these days, but far and wide there is none to be seen, instead the spiral of violence goes on and on, fear and suffering grow, justice and truth are lost.
People, the whole of creation, are crying out for peace, for “Immanuel” - i.e. “God is with us” - as in the old Advent hymn:
„O come, O come, Immanuel, and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear…“
Come Immanuel to all who live in places of war and are without the basic necessities of life.
Come Immanuel to all those who are mourning their loved ones in places of war, who are mourning their dead.
Come Immanuel to all those who stand before the ruins of their lives, who have lost their home and their future.
Come Immanuel to all political, military and religious leaders, that they may distinguish between good and evil, that they may take steps towards a just peace.
Come Immanuel, despite all disappointments and adversities, let us never lose hope in your peace and justice.
Come Immanuel, fill our hearts with your peace and let us become messengers of your peace.
Come Immanuel, come soon, come soon!
International Leadership Team
Prayer for Peace in the Middle East
God of mercy and compassion,
of grace and reconciliation,
pour your power upon all your children in the Middle East:
Jews, Muslims and Christians,
Palestinians and Israelis.
Let hatred be turned into love, fear to trust, despair to hope,
oppression to freedom, occupation to liberation,
that violent encounters may be replaced by loving embraces,
and peace and justice could be experienced by all.
- Reverend Said Ailabouni
United States Province
Pope Francis’ Prayer for Peace
Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!
We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms. How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced; how much blood has been shed; how many lives have been shattered; how many hopes have been buried… But our efforts have been in vain.
Now, Lord, come to our aid! Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: "Never again war!"; "With war everything is lost". Instill in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace.
Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarreling into forgiveness.
Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way may peace triumph at last, and may the words "division", "hatred" and "war" be banished from the heart of every man and woman. Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands. Renew our hearts and minds, so that the word which always brings us together will be "brother", and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam!
Amen.
ULAF Region
Lord Jesus, you wisely guide the history of your Church and of the nations;
now hear our prayer.
Our languages are confused, as they were in the tower of Babel.
We are children of the same Father whom you revealed to us,
yet we no longer know how to be brothers and sisters.
Hatred sows more fear and more death.
Give us the peace that your Gospel promises,
the peace that the world cannot give.
Teach us to build it as the fruit of Truth and Justice.
Listen to the pleas of Mary, our Mother, and send us your Holy Spirit
to reconcile hearts and peoples into a great family.
May the Kingdom of Love come to us and assure us in the certainty that you are with us until the end of time.
Amen.
Peace.
(Father Ignacio Larrañaga)
European Region
Lord our God,
We long for justice and peace, security and truth. Yet every day we hear news of violence, war and terror, we see images of hardship, destruction and horror.
Lord, our God, protect us from getting used to it and from shutting our eyes and our ears. Protect us from getting used to violence in language, on television, in traffic, in families and communities, at work.
From all the information and news, help us to filter out what is true and genuine and don't let us fall for false advertising and fake news.
Give us insight and creativity to find and take good steps towards non-violence that can be practiced again and again.
Help us to overcome fears and mistrust between peoples, to build trust and good relationships. Let peace grow in the hearts of all.
Don't let us give up when faced with a world in which the contrasts between the powerful and the powerless, between whites and blacks, between the fed and the hungry, between the free and the imprisoned, between the indifferent and the suffering threaten to become ever greater.
Lord, our God, let us never tire in our commitment to a peaceful, just world - a world as you want it to be.