Peace Prayer of St. Francis
Also known as: Lord Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace Prayer of St. Francis Make Me an Instrument
English Text
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; 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.
Translation tradition: Standard English translation (origin: French, c. 1912)
Scripture: Matthew 5:9; Luke 6:37
When to pray: Personal meditation; beginning of meetings and apostolic work; the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi (October 4).
History & Background
Despite its universal association with St. Francis of Assisi (1181/82–1226), this prayer does not appear in any medieval Franciscan manuscript, and no text traceable to Francis himself has been found. The prayer first appeared in French in a 1912 issue of La Clochette, a small Catholic devotional magazine published in Paris by Father Étienne Bouquerel of the Ligue de la Sainte-Messe. It was republished in 1916 on a holy card bearing a picture of St. Francis, which led to the attribution. The attribution to St. Francis was popularized enormously when Cardinal Francis Spellman distributed printed copies to US soldiers in World War II and when Secretary General U Thant had it distributed to UN delegates in 1965. Pope John Paul II cited it in his Apostolic Letter on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of St. Francis (1981). Its spirit aligns closely with the Franciscan charism, even if the text is not authentically Francis's.
Related Prayers
Source