Lord, make me an instrument of your peace

The Peace Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi and our Peace Prayer Initiative

Order Cards

Our Peace Prayer cards are available free of charge to any who desire them. However, donations are encouraged to help defray costs. To make a donation, please send a check payable to the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany to:

Denise Bunk-Hatch, Communications Director

PO Box W

St. Bonaventure, NY 14778

Please note that it is a donation for the Peace Prayer Initiative.

History

The Peace Prayer of St. Francis

by an anonymous Norman c. 1915 A.D. Peace Prayer

According to Father Kajetan Esser, OFM, the author of the critical edition of St. Francis' Writings, the Peace Prayer of St. Francis is not contained in the writings of St. Francis.

It is recorded that this prayer first appeared sometime during World War I. It was found written on the back of a holy card that pictured St. Francis. The prayer bore no name; but in the English speaking world, on account of this holy card and its deep connection with St. Francis’ spirituality, it came to be called the Peace Prayer of St. Francis.

Spirituality

The Franciscan Charism has been one of peaceful witness to the teachings of Jesus Christ since the time of St. Francis of Assisi in the 13th Century. The Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, striving to live out that peaceful witness today, have prayed silently for peace every Thursday since 2003, first in Lincoln Park in Olean, NY, and now at the St. Elizabeth Motherhouse in Allegany, NY, every Thursday from 11:30 to 12:30.

In Kingston, Jamaica, Sisters began promoting the Peace Prayer within the schools where they minister in 1998. Sisters, Associates, friends, and partners in ministry were given bookmarks and encouraged to join the Sisters in saying the prayer at noon every Wednesday. Soon, a song was developed and the initiative moved to radio. Community members began to come to the schools to join the prayer, and a Peace Pole was erected at St. Francis Primary and Infant School.

Our Initiative

In September 2014, inspired by the longstanding Jamaican idea of a Wednesday prayer, the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany Spirituality Committee began developing a bookmark featuring the Peace Prayer and an invitation to join the Sisters and Associates in prayer. This initiative began as an invitation to prayer at noon on Wednesdays, but soon evolved to a request to say the prayer once a day. These cards are available to all, and feature a listing of the Congregation's houses of prayer. They are available in both English and Spanish for interested parties.