This prayer asks God to transform us into agents of peace and reconciliation. Though often called the “Peace Prayer of St. Francis,” it first appeared anonymously in a French spiritual magazine around 1912. You might pray it today when conflict feels overwhelming or when you’re tempted to protect your own consolation instead of serving others.
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 moves in two halves. First, it names six pairs of opposites: hatred and love, injury and pardon, doubt and faith, despair and hope, darkness and light, sadness and joy. The pray-er asks to become the person who brings the second thing wherever the first thing reigns. This is asking for a complete reversal of our instinct to seek comfort and avoid pain.
The second half turns inward. It asks God to reshape our seeking: not to be consoled but to console, not to be understood but to understand, not to be loved but to love. Though never attributed to St. Francis during his lifetime (1181-1226), it captures the spirit of his life perfectly. Francis kissed the leper, rebuilt the church with his hands, and preached to birds because he had stopped asking what the world owed him.
The closing paradox gives the reason: we receive by giving, we’re pardoned by pardoning, we’re born to eternal life by dying to ourselves. Pray this when you catch yourself rehearsing an argument, nursing a grudge, or waiting for someone else to make the first move. Say it slowly before a difficult conversation. Carry it with you when you walk into a room that feels hostile.
Pray it slowly today, one petition at a time.
