European Province
- Ecumenical Prayer for Peace:
“Loving God, we long for a life of peace with one another. When egoism and injustice prevail, when violence breaks out between people, when reconciliation seems impossible, you are the one who gives us hope and peace. When differences in language, culture or belief cause us to forget that we are your creation and that you have given us creation to take care of as a common home, then you are the one who gives us hope and peace. When people are played off against each other, when power is abused in order to use others, when events are manipulated to deceive others, then you are the one who gives us hope and peace. Teach us to treat each other justly and with compassion and to withstand corruption. Give us courageous women and men, who heal the wounds that hate and violence have left upon bodies and souls. Help us to find the correct words, gestures and means in order to promote peace. In whatever language we confess you as the “Prince of Peace”, let our voices also be raised clearly against violence and injustice. Amen.”
St. Francis Province, North India
O God, Creator of the universe, in this world torn by strife and discord, make us ready for reconciliation. Renew for us the wonders of your MERCY and work in the intimacy of our hearts that enemies may begin to dialogue. Guide us so that adversaries may shake hands and peoples may encounter one another in harmony. May all commit themselves to the sincere search for true peace extinguishing all arguments.
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 and to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister. Help us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarreling into forgiveness. 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. But our efforts have been in vain. Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience, , 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.
Help us to devote our energy to the task of making peace. We pray for the power to be gentle and the strength to be forgiving. We ask for the patience to be understanding; and the endurance to accept the consequences of holding on to what we believe to be right. Fill us with love and unite us in this one spirit which makes you present in the world, and which makes you witness to the ultimate reality that is love. These we ask through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Assisi Province, South India
God our Creator,
Created in your image, we are a direct reflection of you. Every good thing comes from you. Every note of love and goodness we feel and extend is rooted in your great love for us. We all know what it feels like to love and to be loved. Help us to find the good in every person You place in our lives and in our paths.
Save us from our desire to hurt as we have been hurt, to punish as we have been punished, and to terrorize as we have been terrorized.
Give us the strength it takes to listen rather than to judge, to trust rather than to fear, and to try again and again to make peace even when peace eludes us.
We ask for the vision to be builders of the human community rather than its destroyers.
We ask for the humility as a people to understand the fears and hopes of other peoples. Give us the depth of soul, O God, to constrain our might, to resist the temptations of power, to refuse to attack the attackable, and to bring peace, not war and violence. - Amen.
International Leadership Team
Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Help us to recognize the evil latent in a communication that does not build communion.
Help us to remove the venom from our judgments.
Help us to speak about others as our brothers and sisters.
You are faithful and trustworthy; may our words be seeds of goodness for the world.
Where there is shouting, let us practice listening.
Where there is confusion, let us inspire harmony.
Where there is ambiguity, let us bring clarity.
Where there is exclusion, let us bring solidarity.
Where there is sensationalism, let us use sobriety.
Where there is superficiality, let us raise real questions.
Where there is prejudice, let us bring respect.
Where there is falsehood, let us bring truth. Amen.
Pope Francis
U.S. Province
The first words you spoke to your disciples
after your resurrection were “Peace be
with you.”
with us and with all of creation, groaning for peace,
we implore your mercy and forgiveness
as we listen to earth lamenting and people crying,
made poor by humility’s acts of aggression.
As your disciples of peace and nonviolence,
may our first words be
at this time of war in the Ukraine:
“Peace be with you.”
Peace be with you, people of Ukraine,
whose suffering is our suffering,
whose cries unite with our cries for peace.
Peace be with you, leaders of countries,
whose use of force and aggression
be transformed into justice that is restorative.
Peace be with you, protestors in the streets of Russia,
whose courage puts you at risk of your lives,
inspire us to stand up for nonviolence.
Peace be with each one of us,
that as we cry with our Ukrainian kin,
we may be moved to proclaim,
“No more war, War never again.”
Come, Christ of Peace, be with us!
By Sr. Pegge Boehm, PBVM
Pax Christi South Dakota
ULAF Region
God of love and peace, help us in the midst of so much migration impacting our countries in the marginalization and treatment of the simplest and humblest.
Taking the words of Pope Leo XIII, I invoke You with these words:
"O Lord, You see how everywhere the winds have burst and the sea convulses with the great violence of rising waves. Order, we ask, that the winds and seas calm down.
Restore peace between us, that peace that only You can offer us, and restore social harmony. Under your protective gaze and inspiration, men and women can return to order, overcome greed, become what we should be—a reflection of God's love, of justice, of charity with our neighbor, making orderly use of all things.
Make your kingdom come. May everyone recognize that we are subject to You, and that we must serve you, for you are truth and salvation, and without You, all that is done is in vain.
Your law, Lord, is just and paternally kind. You are always by our side with your strength and your abundant power to help us. Life on earth is a war, but You help humanity conquer what it needs. You hold the weak and crown them with victory."