| An ancient prayer for peace from the Gaelic tradition: |  |
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| May God grant us peace, Peace between neighbors, Peace within families, Peace between friends, In the love of the King of life Peace between person and person, Bless, O God, our faces, Adapted from an old Gaelic prayer found in prayers for Healing, pp. 123-124 |
God of our Fathers,
great and merciful,
Lord of peace and of life,
Father of all.
Your plan is for peace and not for suffering,
You condemn war
and You humble the pride of the aggressor.
Your sent Your Son, Jesus
to proclaim peace near and far,
to unite men
of every race and every ethnicity
in a single family.
Hear the unanimous cry of your children,
the heartfelt supplication of all humanity;
no more war, an adventure without return,
no more war,
a spiral of grief and violence.
In communion with Mary, the Mother of Jesus,
we pray to you again:
speak to the hearts of those who decide
the destinies of peoples,
stop the cycle of retaliation
and revenge,
suggest with Your Spirit ne solutions,
generous and honorable gestures,
periods of dialogue and patient waiting
more fruitful than the swift actions
of war.
Grant in our time days of peace
No more war.
Amen.
Pope John Paul II
January 16, 1991
“Eternal rest grand onto them, O Lord, and may perpetual Light shine upon them and may they rest in peace, Amen.”
Remember in your prayers, today, the twelve people who died in a terrorist attack in France today as well as their grieving families. Also, pray for the complete recovery of the twenty people injured in the same attack. Pray for a resolution to the turmoil in the world and peace.
“Belligerents are not reluctant to have peace, but they want a peace to their own liking.” St. Augustine: The City of God, 15th Century
“Grant, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that the course of this world may be so peaceably governed by Thee, that Thy Church may joyfully serve Thee in quiet devotion.” Roman Missal, Collect for Fourth Sunday after Pentecost 5th Century.
On September 17, 1978, after thirteen days of negotiations at Camp David, two framework agreements were signed by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israel Prime Minister Menachem Begin. The two framework agreements were signed at the White House and witnessed by U.S. President Jimmy Carter. The first framework (A Framework for Peace in the Middle East) dealt with the Palestinian territories and was written without the participation of the Palestinians and had little impact and was condemned by the United Nations. The second of the frameworks (A Framework for the Conclusion of a Peace Treaty Between Egypt and Israel) led to the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty.
Thirty-six years later, many of the reasons for the treaties have returned and history repeats itself only on a more powerful, dangerous scale. The 1970 Prayer for World Peace is needed even more today.
Lord, we pray for the power to be gentle; For the strength to be forgiving; the patience to be understanding; and the endurance to accept the consequences of holding to what we believe to be right. May we put our trust in the power of good to overcome evil and the power of love to overcome hatred. We pray for the vision to see and the faith to believe in a world emancipated from violence, a new world where fear shall no longer lead men to commit injustice, nor selfishness make them bring suffering to others. Help us to devote our whole life and thought and energy to the task of making peace, praying always for the inspiration and the power to fulfill the destiny for which we and all men were created.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, help us to conquer the menace of evil, which so easily takes root in the hearts of the people of today, and whose immeasurable effects already weigh down upon our modern world and seem to block the paths toward the future.
From famine and war, deliver us. From nuclear war, from incalculable self-destruction, from every kind of war, deliver us. From sins against human life from its very beginning, deliver us. From hatred and from the demeaning of the dignity of the children of God, deliver us. From every kind of injustice in the life of society, both national and international, deliver us. From readiness to trample on the commandments of God, deliver us. From attempts to stifle in human hearts the very truth of God, deliver us. From the loss of awareness of good and evil, deliver us. From sins against the Holy Spirit, deliver us.
Accept, O Mother of Christ, this cry laden with the sufferings of all individual human beings,laden with the sufferings of whole societies. Help us with the power of the Holy Spirit conquer all sin: individual sin and the “sin of the world,”sin in all its manifestations.
Let there be revealed once more in the history of the world the infinite saving power of the redemption: the power of merciful love. May it put a stop to evil. May it transform consciences. May your Immaculate Heart reveal for all the light of hope. Amen.
by Pope John Paul II
Novena for Religious Freedom
[This Novena begins August 1st]
Novena for Religious Freedom
With threats to religious liberty around the world, here is a novena dedicated for religious freedom.
“The saints have always been the source and origin of renewal in the most difficult moments in the Church’s history.” – St. John Paul II
This novena was written to be a prayer to all Saints and particularly to Martyrs.
Oh great cloud of witnesses! Oh host of Angels and Saints worshiping God for all eternity! Oh holy ones in heaven above, Pray for us!
You who were once part of the Church on earth, you who were faithful servants of the Church Militant, you who suffered for the love of God, Pray for us!
In all ages, the Church is persecuted and hated. We pray, oh Lord, through your holy Saints, that we may be blessed with the freedom to worship and adore you at all times! We pray that you may bless your Church throughout the world and me personally with your grace to persevere with love in the face of persecution just as You did on the Cross.
(Mention your personal intentions here)
Litany of Martyrs:
Day 1:
St. Joan of Arc – Pray for us!
St. Valentine – Pray for us!
St. Carmen Monreno and St. Ampara Caronell – Pray for us!
St. Sebastian – Pray for us!
St. Peter – Pray for us!
St. Stephen – Pray for us!
St. Denis – Pray for us!
Day 2
St. Maria Goretti – Pray for us!
St. Ignatius of Antioch – Pray for us!
St. Lawrence – Pray for us!
St. Lorenzo Ruiz – Pray for us!
St. Agnes – Pray for us!
St. Anastasia – Pray for us!
St. Oliver Pluckett – Pray for us!
St. Dorothy – Pray for us!
Day 3
St. Edith Stein – Pray for us!
St. Maximilian Kolbe – Pray for us!
St. Thomas Moore – Pray for us!
St. Margaret Clitherow – Pray for us!
St. Julia – Pray for us!
St. Polycarp – Pray for us!
St. Peter of Verona – Pray for us!
St. Gonsalo Garcia – Pray for us!
St. Thomas Becket – Pray for us!
St. John Fischer – Pray for us!
Day 4
St. Philomena – Pray for us!
St. John the Baptist – Pray for us!
The Jesuit Martyrs of China – Pray for us!
St. Cecilia – Pray for us!
St. Jude – Pray for us!
The Vietnamese Martyrs – Pray for us!
St. Boniface – Pray for us!
St. Vitalis of Gaza – Pray for us!
St. Menas – Pray for us!
St. Expeditus – Pray for us!
Day 5
St Christopher – Pray for us!
St. Charles Lwanga – Pray for us!
St. Kizito and the Ugandan Martyrs – Pray for us!
St. Paul Chong Hasang and the Korean Martyrs – Pray for us!
St. Genesius – Pray for us!
St. Cyprian – Pray for us!
St. Luke – Pray for us!
Blessed José Luis Sánchez del RÃo – Pray for us!
St. Andrew – Pray for us!
Holy Innocents – Pray for us!
St. Catherine of Alexandria – Pray for us!
Day 6
Blessed Miguel Pro – Pray for us!
St. George – Pray for us!
St. Perpetua – Pray for us!
St. Felicity – Pray for us!
St. Dymphna – Pray for us!
Blessed Jose Maria Sanchez – Pray for us!
St. Eulala – Pray for us!
Blessed Teresa of Augustine and the Martyrs of Compi̬gne РPray for us!
St. Pedro Poveda Castroverde – Pray for us!
St. Thecla – Pray for us!
Blessed Pedro Calungsod – Pray for us!
St. Elias and St. Jeremy – Pray for us!
Day 7
St. Anthony – Pray for us!
St. Paul – Pray for us!
St. Agatha – Pray for us!
St. Simeon – Pray for us!
St. Isaac Jogues and the North American Martyrs – Pray for us!
St. Simon – Pray for us!
Servant of God Archbishop Oscar Romero – Pray for us!
St. Faustinus and St. Jovita – Pray for us!
St. Meinrad – Pray for us!
St. Tarcisius – Pray for us!
St. Daniel – Pray for us!
Day 8
St. Lucy – Pray for us!
St. Paul Miki – Pray for us!
St. Gabriel Lalemant and Canadian Martyrs – Pray for us!
St. Andrew Kim and Japanese Martyrs – Pray for us!
St. Roque Gonzalez de Santa Cruz – Pray for us!
St. Toribio – Pray for us!
St. Jean de Br̩beuf РPray for us!
St. Barbara – Pray for us!
St. Alban – Pray for us!
St. Tanco – Pray for us!
St. Winefride – Pray for us!
Day 9
St. Edmond Campion – Pray for us!
St. Ursula – Pray for us!
Blessed Peter Torot – Pray for us!
St. Dominic Henares – Pray for us!
St. Erasmus – Pray for us!
Blessed Father Jerzy Popieluszko – Pray for us!
Saints Nunilo and Alodia – Pray for us!
St. Andrew Bobola – Pray for us!
St. Miguel de la Mora – Pray for us!
St. Tatiana – Pray for us!
Pope Saint Sixtus II – Pray for us!
Amen.
Find the Original Here: http://www.praymorenovenas.com/novena-for-religious-freedom/#ixzz38nabrGcF
“I do not ask, O Lord, that Thou shouldst shed
Full radiance here;
Give but a ray of peace that I may tread
Without a fear’
I do not ask my cross to understand,
My way to see—
Better in darkness just to feel Thy hand
And follow Thee.
Joy is like restless day; but peace divine
Like quiet night;
Lead me on, O Lord—till perfect day
shall shine
Through peace to Light.”
Adelaide Procter: Per Pacem ad Lucem (19th century)
Immaculate Heart of Mary, help us to conquer the menace of evil, which so easily takes root in the hearts of the people of today, and whose immeasurable effects already weigh down upon our modern world and seem to block the paths toward the future.
From famine and war, deliver us. From nuclear war, from incalculable self-destruction, from every kind of war, deliver us. From sins against human life from its very beginning, deliver us. From hatred and from the demeaning of the dignity of the children of God, deliver us. From every kind of injustice in the life of society, both national and international, deliver us. From readiness to trample on the commandments of God, deliver us. From attempts to stifle in human hearts the very truth of God, deliver us. From the loss of awareness of good and evil, deliver us. From sins against the Holy Spirit, deliver us.
Accept, O Mother of Christ, this cry laden with the sufferings of all individual human beings,laden with the sufferings of whole societies. Help us with the power of the Holy Spirit conquer all sin: individual sin and the “sin of the world,”sin in all its manifestations.
Let there be revealed once more in the history of the world the infinite saving power of the redemption: the power of merciful love. May it put a stop to evil. May it transform consciences. May your Immaculate Heart reveal for all the light of hope. Amen
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