This prayer, often called the Peace Prayer of St. Francis, first appeared in print in 1912 in a French spiritual magazine. Though not written by the saint himself, it captures the Franciscan spirit of radical self-giving. Pray it today when discord—at home, at work, in your community—calls for a peacemaker.
Lord, make me an instrument of thy 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; and 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.
Anonymous, c. 1912
How this prayer works
The prayer asks God to make us instruments, not architects. We do not manufacture peace; we carry it. Each petition names a concrete human wound—hatred, injury, doubt—and pairs it with the gift we might bring. The structure is simple: here is the darkness; let me bring this light.
The second half inverts our instincts. We naturally seek consolation, understanding, love. The prayer of the day reorients us outward: to console first, to understand before being understood, to love before demanding love. This is not stoicism; it is the cruciform pattern of Christ, who gave Himself entirely.
The closing lines name the paradox: we receive by giving, are pardoned by pardoning, are born to eternal life through death. This is the calculus of the Kingdom, and it runs backward from every worldly ledger.
Pray it slowly before entering a difficult conversation today. Let each phrase reset your posture from defense to gift.
