Pope Francis Prayers 

Prayers given by Pope Francis. 

For Peace

We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms. How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced; how much blood has been shed; how many lives have been shattered; how many hopes have been buried… But our efforts have been in vain.

Now, Lord, come to our aid! Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: "Never again war!"; "With war everything is lost". Instill in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace.

Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarreling into forgiveness.

Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way may peace triumph at last, and may the words "division", "hatred" and "war" be banished from the heart of every man and woman. Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands. Renew our hearts and minds, so that the word which always brings us together will be "brother", and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam!

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For Our Earth in Laudato Si’

All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love, that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with peace, that we may live as brothers and sisters, harming no one.
O God of the poor, help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth, so precious in your eyes.
Bring healing to our lives, that we may protect the world and not prey on it, that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.
Touch the hearts of those who look only for gain at the expense of the poor and the earth.
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing, to be filled with awe and contemplation, to recognize that we are profoundly united with every creature as we journey towards your infinite light.
We thank you for being with us each day.
Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle for justice, love and peace.

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For Immigrants

Merciful God, we pray to you for all the men, women and children who have died after leaving their homelands in search of a better life. Though many of their graves bear no name, to you each one is known, loved and cherished. 

May we never forget them, but honour their sacrifice with deeds more than words. We entrust to you all those who have made this journey, enduring fear, uncertainty and humiliation, in order to reach a place of safety and hope.
Just as you never abandoned your Son as he was brought to a safe place by Mary and Joseph, so now be close to these, your sons and daughters, through our tenderness and protection. In caring for them may we seek a world where none are forced to leave their home and where all can live in freedom, dignity and peace.

Merciful God and Father of all, wake us from the slumber of indifference, open our eyes to their suffering, and free us from the insensitivity born of worldly comfort and self-centeredness.
Inspire us, as nations, communities and individuals, to see that those who come to our shores are our brothers and sisters.

May we share with them the blessings we have received from your hand, and recognize that together, as one human family, we are all migrants, journeying in hope to you, our true home, where every tear will be wiped away, where we will be at peace and safe in your embrace.

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Way of the Cross

Lord Jesus, help us to see in your Cross all the crosses of the world: 
 the cross of people hungry for bread and for love; 
 the cross of people alone and abandoned even by their children and kin; 
 the cross of people thirsty for justice and for peace;
 the cross of people who lack the comfort of faith; 
 the cross of the elderly who struggle under the weight of years and of loneliness; 
 the cross of migrants who find doors closed in fear and hearts armored by political calculations; 
 the cross of little ones, wounded in their innocence and their purity; 
 the cross of humanity that wanders in the darkness of uncertainty and in the obscurity of temporary culture;
 the cross of families split by betrayal, by the seductions of the evil one or by homicidal levity and selfishness; 
 the cross of consecrated people who tirelessly seek to bring your light into the world and feel rejected, derided and humiliated; 
 the cross of consecrated people who, along the way, have forgotten their first love; 
 the cross of your children who, while believing in you and seeking to live according to your word, find themselves marginalized and rejected even by their families and their peers; 
 the cross of our weaknesses, of our hypocrisy, of our betrayals, of our sins and of our many broken promises; 
 the cross of your Church that, faithful to your Gospel, struggles to spread your love even among the baptized themselves; 
 the cross of the Church, your Bride, that feels constantly assailed from within and without; 
 the cross of our common home that is gravely withering before our selfish eyes, blinded by greed and by power. 

Lord Jesus, revive in us the hope of resurrection and of your definitive victory over all evil and all death.

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His prayer intentions for 2023

His prayer intentions for 2023

January         educators
February       parishes
March            victims of abuse
April              culture of peace and non violence
May              church movements and groups
June             the abolition of torture
July               a Eucharistic life
August          World Youth Day
September    people living on the margins
October        the Synod
November     the Pope
December     persons with disabilities

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A 7-word prayer taught to him by his grandmother

Jesus, make my heart more like yours.
           ~ Taught to the world in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday June 7th, 2020.

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A favorite prayer of the Pope

The Canticle of the Sun or The Canticle of Creation
Most high, all powerful, all good Lord!  All praise is Yours, all glory, all honor, and all blessing. To You, alone, Most High, do they belong.  No mortal lips are worthy to pronounce Your name.

Be praised, my Lord, through all Your creatures, especially through my lord Brother Sun,
who brings the day; and You give light through him.  And he is beautiful and radiant in all his splendor!  Of You, Most High, he bears the likeness.

Be praised, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars; in the heavens You have made them bright, precious and beautiful.

Be praised, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air, and clouds and storms, and all the weather, through which You give Your creatures sustenance.

Be praised, my Lord, through Sister Water; she is very useful, and humble, and precious, and pure.

Be praised, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom You brighten the night.  He is beautiful and cheerful, and powerful and strong.

Be praised, my Lord, through our sister Mother Earth, who feeds us and rules us, and produces various fruits with colored flowers and herbs.

Be praised, my Lord, through those who forgive for love of You; through those who endure sickness and trial.

Happy those who endure in peace, for by You, Most High, they will be crowned.

Be praised, my Lord, through our sister Bodily Death, from whose embrace no living person can escape.  Woe to those who die in mortal sin!  Happy those she finds doing Your most holy will.  The second death can do no harm to them.

Praise and bless my Lord, and give thanks, and serve Him with great humility.

~ a religious song composed in 1224 by Saint Francis of Assisi

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His prayer for children

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