Novena for Peace – Day one

“If you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”
~ Matthew 5:23-24

The Pope tells us:

“Fraternity is an essential human quality, for we are relational beings. A lively awareness of our relatedness helps us to look upon and to treat each person as a true sister or brother; without fraternity it is impossible to build a just society and a solid and lasting peace.”

STEP ONE: Being grateful makes us human

“We are here to learn what it means to love and to be loved, to be grateful. What we lack is gratitude for the love that we receive from others.
We need also to learn to be grateful for the love, the affection, the time that others give freely to us.”

Prayer

“Lord, we have lost the delicacy of gratitude, of looking at one another as gifts, of valuing our gifts and helping us in our weaknesses. Touch our hearts, upset our prejudices, for peace is not possible if we do not recover a grateful outlook for everything and for everyone. Give us a grateful heart so that we can become peacemakers.” Amen

Novena for Peace – Day two

“A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good,
but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil;
for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.”
~ Luke 6:45

The Pope tells us:

“Alongside overt armed conflicts are the less visible but no less cruel wars fought in the economic and financial sectors with means which are equally destructive of lives, families and businesses.”  

STEP TWO: A contradictory heart

In spite of this undeniable experience of love that dwells in us and surrounds us, we are not slow to experience that our responses are not always faithful to the good we have received. We desire to do good, we enjoy responding to others with love and tenderness, with truth, with joy, being just and acting with solidarity, with so many good desires that we intend to put into action. But we do not always act as we would like, and so we experience contractions, inconsistencies between what we desire and what we do. We experience our weakness, our incapacity, we begin to realize that we are capable of doing harm.

Prayer

“Lord, give us a meek and humble heart capable of recognizing that the absence of peace begins with the violence and war that lives in our hearts. Give us a heart more like yours that acts with love, that inspires closeness, that always chooses harmony and peace, even though it means renouncing and forgetting our own interests. Make us peacemakers.” Amen

Novena for Peace – Day three

"You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.”
~ Matthew 5:21-22

The Pope tells us:

“In the past year, many of our brothers and sisters have continued to endure the destructive experience of war, which constitutes a grave and deep wound inflicted on fraternity. Many conflicts are taking place amid general indifference. To all those who live in lands where weapons impose terror and destruction, I assure you of my personal closeness and that of the whole Church.”

STEP THREE - A broken world

Wars that take lives, poverty that dehumanizes, abuses of one upon another, excessive consumption that turns persons into things, violent responses towards what we do not like, the attachment to our conveniences… are no more than the result of choices that, leaving aside syntheses rich in love and humanity, choose for our own convenience, yielding to deep fears that make it difficult to see the hand of God in creation.

Prayer

Lord, you invite us to choose the Life that You give us. But our fears, insecurities and lack of confidence in You and in your love draw us away from Life and Abundance, of having Life in You and of sharing it with others. Help us! Listen to our voice and save us from conflicts and death. Give us the courage to choose You always! Amen

Novena for Peace – Day four

"Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
This is the law and the prophets.”
~ Matthew 7:12 

The Pope tells us:

“(The church) has the mission to bring Christ’s love to the defenseless victims of forgotten wars through her prayers for peace, her service to the wounded, the starving, refugees, the displaced and all those who live in fear. The Church also speaks out in order to make leaders hear the cry of pain of the suffering and to put an end to every form of hostility, abuse and the violation of fundamental human rights.”   

STEP FOUR

Lord, Savior LOVE HAS A FACE, it is someone. Jesus Christ is the incarnate Love of GOD. In Jesus Christ, God reveals himself as the only One who can love and enter into the deepest levels of love, that is to say: dying for those that he loves and forgiving his enemies. In effect, the deepest manifestation of love is forgiveness; “God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”                                                                        

Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, stop our wars, soften our conflicts, heal our wounds, cure the damage of so much violence from useless and destructive confrontations. Save us from ourselves. May your love overcome everything, fill everything, cover everything! Only then we will have hope. Amen.

Novena for Peace – Day five

“Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?”  
~ Matthew 5:44-47

The Pope tells us:

“I appeal forcefully to all those who sow violence and death by force of arms: in the person you today see simply as an enemy to be beaten, discover rather your brother or sister, and hold back your hand! Give up the way of arms and go out to meet the other in dialogue, pardon and reconciliation, in order to rebuild justice, trust, and hope around you!" 

STEP FIVE - the Lord calls us to be his friends

Jesus invites us today to enter into friendship with Him, to accept his invitation to be one of his own who rise to the project of the Beatitudes, to those who work for the Kingdom of his Father with His style, so that we may be with Him and like Him share in the blessings of the Reign of God. The friends of Jesus will be those who live according to the plan of the Kingdom, and their works will reflect the light of the Father of Jesus.”

Prayer

Lord, Friend, make us faithful to your invitation to live as citizens of the Kingdom of your Father, witnesses of your blessings, followers of your plan of love for the world. Give us your actions so that our life may be a source where our brothers and sisters may breathe peace, concord, joy and love. Amen.

Novena for Peace – Day six

“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you."    
~ Luke 6:36-38                                                                              

The Pope tells us:

“For the world’s peoples, armed conflicts are always a deliberate negation of international harmony, and create profound divisions and deep wounds which require many years to heal. Wars are a concrete refusal to pursue the great economic and social goals that the international community has set itself.”

STEP SIX - He lives in our heart

The Holy Spirit helps us to discern what is really Love: the love of enemies and pardon for offenses. He leads us to the deepest part of the Heart of Jesus. He is its interpreter. This boundless Love finds its highest expression in the Cross of Jesus. Before the cross, we must let ourselves be transformed by the power of love that expresses itself in this death offered and in the pardon given to his executioners. This is the madness of love from which we should draw strength to follow with fidelity the care of the Spirit in our lives.

Prayer

Jesus Christ, enter into our hearts and in our ideas, make for yourself a place among us, among our neighbors, in families, governments, churches. Do not let any place in this world be without You. Only in You and with You will we be able to forgive ourselves, receive ourselves, accept ourselves, love ourselves, as You do. Amen

Novena for Peace – Day seven

“If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”
~ John 13, 14

The Pope tells us:

“We cannot however fail to observe that international agreements and national laws – while necessary and greatly to be desired – are not of themselves sufficient to protect humanity from the risk of armed conflict. A conversion of hearts is needed which would permit everyone to recognize in the other a brother or sister to care for, and to work together with, in building a fulfilling life for all.”

STEP SEVEN - Giving one’s life with Christ

Praying and mobilizing our lives for concrete necessities of men and women of our world. This, in the prayer of offering we say to the Lord and we are completely with Him for this mission that he has confided to us and that concretizes us, and it is the place of incarnation on the prayer intentions of the Pope. Thus, we are collaborations in the mission of Christ. We become Eucharist with Jesus Christ, in union with Him and available for his mission. He makes us bread to be shared with our brothers through our availability and our action.

Prayer

Lord of history, today we bring before You all those who suffer the catastrophe of war, the sorrows and the sufferings, the losses and the senselessness of so much death and destruction. We offer you our simple, humble but confident prayer. Accept our supplication; your sons and daughters ask this for our brothers and sisters who are suffering violence and war. Embrace them! Amen

Novena for Peace – Day eight

By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.”
~ Matthew 7:16-17  

The Pope tells us:                 

“Every war leaves our world worse than it was before. War is a failure of politics and of humanity, a shameful capitulation, a stinging defeat before the forces of evil. Let us not remain mired in theoretical discussions but touch the wounded flesh of the victims. Let us look once more at all those civilians whose killing was considered ‘collateral damage’. Let us ask the victims themselves.”

STEP EIGHT - A mission of compassion

In the same way as his disciples, today Jesus invites us to look at the world with his eyes, that we be infected by his gaze and forge a glance of committed disciples with the world that God loves so much. A gaze that and that sends us out to meet our brothers.

Prayer

Lord of history, today we bring before You all those who suffer the catastrophe of war, the sorrows and the sufferings, the losses and the senselessness of so much death and destruction. We offer you our simple, humble but confident prayer. Accept our supplication; your sons and daughters ask this for our brothers and sisters who are suffering violence and war. Embrace them! Amen.

Novena for Peace – Day nine

“This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.”   
~ John 15:12-13

The Pope calls us:

“In the name of God, who has created all human beings equal in rights, duties and dignity, and who has called them to live together as brothers and sisters, to fill the earth and make known the values of goodness, love and peace; “In the name of innocent human life that God has forbidden to kill, affirming that whoever kills a person is like one who kills the whole of humanity, and that whoever saves a person is like one who saves the whole of humanity.”

STEP NINE - A network of compassion

It is necessary to listen, receive, care for the wounds of those who suffer, rescue those are have been thrown into the ditches of existence. Only in this way will the Love of the heart of Jesus be able to manifest itself and make itself visible to men and women. Through our concrete gestures. The preaching of the Kingdom of God can only be made comprehensible if the persons whom we meet feel understood and received through our gestures.

Prayer

Lord, may we be your hands and your feet, your words and your voice, may we meet our brothers and sisters caring for their wounds, approaching the estranged, building bridges of listening and understanding, promoting the acceptance of all with joy and hope. Give us merciful hearts before all forms of human misery; give us perseverance and fortitude to wipe out evil and love good, to work always for peace, at all times, in every place and with all your sons and daughters. Amen

Prayers for Peace

PRAYERS FOR PEACE

Dear Heavenly Father, in a world torn by wars and violence, we seek Your powerful hand to bring an end to bloodshed. We pray for ceasefires, peace treaties, and healing among conflicting parties. Comfort the victims of violence and restore hope to the broken hearted.

Grant wisdom to world leaders to choose peace over conflict, dialogue over destruction.

We plead for the disarmament of nations and the dismantling of weapons that bring harm.

May your peace flood battlefields and transform hearts that hunger for vengeance into hearts seeking forgiveness and reconciliation. Protect innocent lives and bring justice to the oppressed. Lord, You are our refuge and strength, and in You alone we find true peace.  Amen.

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Lord, I pray for peace in places of war.

Protect those caught in violence and guide the hearts of those with power to lay down their weapons. 
Help me to be a voice for peace and justice in my sphere.
Fill me with courage to stand against violence and advocate for reconciliation. Amen.

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We pray for peace:

God Our Father, Creator of all Life and light;
Jesus, Prince of Peace 
Our Lady, Queen of Peace

Patrons of Peace: St. Francis of Assisi, St. Barnabas the Apostle, St. Rita of Cascia, St. Zachery, St. Michael the Archangel, St. Theresa of Calcutta, St. Elizabeth of Portugal, St. Olga of Kyiv, St. Vladimir, St. Irene of Thessalonica, St. John Paul II, St. Catharine of Sienna,… Include in this prayer, your saint-friends….

Complete this prayer using the words in song or spoken prayer of The Peace Prayer of St. Francis…

Make me a channel of Your peace, where there is hatred let me bring Your love, where there is injury, Your pardon, Lord; and where there’s doubt true faith in You.

O Master grant that I may never seek, so much to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love with all my soul.